Week 4: August 25, 2014

Dear Room 19 Families,

It was so great to see so many of you at back to School Night Last week! I hope you found the information valuable and are clear on 5th grade expectations. If you have any further questions or suggestions, please contact me through email or phone. 

Our learning this week includes:

*Reading - Unit 1, Lesson 1 in Journey's. We will be going over Reading stations, but groups will not be established until all individual reading assessments are complete. 

* Social Science - Physical features, latitude and longitude, mapping, sinking and floating, the scientific steps of inquiry

* Writing – Typing personal narratives on lap tops. Narratives should include a strong hook and introduction paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and conclusion.

* Math – We will continue working on decimal place values up the thousandths place, ordering decimal numbers and fractions, and plotting points on a number line, and rounding. There are some great games and resources on the class website.

Assessments this week will consist of:

 Daily Math Review Quiz –Friday

Decimal Quiz-Wednesday

Weekly Journey's Quiz-Friday

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!

srahrig@msdwt.k12.in.us

317-259-5478 ext. 12219

Week 3: August 18, 2014

Dear Parent(s) and/or Guardian(s),

Students in Room 19 are working hard on new skills and reviewing. We are also practicing active listening, following directions with a sense of urgency, and participating. Please be sure to reinforce our learning at home.

Here’s a quick recap of what students have been learning and will continue working on this week:

*Reading - Students are almost finished with reading the novel Frindle and completing a novel assignment packet on the book. They analyzed the book’s plot, characters (personality and physical traits), point of view, genre, and setting. Each chapter should have 3 post-its showing thinking (visualize, connection, question, like, don’t like, or prediction). We have gone over all types in class. We will also be continuing practicing fluency, plot, characterization (character traits/physical traits), Answering Short Answers Strategy (ACE)

* Social Studies - In groups, students read, took notes, and  will present this week an assigned section of Chapter 1 on the Geography of the United States.

* Writing – Students have been brainstorm and prewriting for a personal narrative. We will type this, so please send flash drives in by Friday. Students’ will have an organized 5 paragraph (introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and conclusion) essay by the end of this week.

* Math – Students applied what they know about money to learn about place value, rounding, and comparing decimals. We will be focusing on the thousandths place this week, multiplication and division with multi-digits, and number lines. There are some great games and resources on the class website.

Assessments this week will consist of:

·      Daily Math Review Quiz –Friday

·      Place Value Check-Wednesday

·      ACE strategy and fluency comprehension check-Friday

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

srahrig@msdwt.k12.in.us

317-259-5478 ext. 12219

Lastly, this newsletter will be posted on our weekly blog. Please subscribe at: http://rahrigsweekly.blogspot.com  **correction from last week!

Week 2: August 11, 2014

We have had an amazing first week back in Room 19! Students came in ready to learn and participate. I am so impressed with each student's desire to learn, encourage, and preform at a high level of excellence. It is evident through students' ability to follow procedures, ask questions, participate, and focus, that your fifth grader's final year in elementary school will be a great one!

Last week was an extremely busy week! I know many of you have more than one student at Crooked Creek that you were filing paper work out for and trying to keep up with the changes, so let me take this time to give you a few expectations in Room 19.
Nightly Homework:

• 30 minutes reading
• Students should be filling out a summary/retelling of what they have read(About 3 sentences). This does count as a reading and language arts grade. You may help your child, but please have your child turn in work at their ability level. Link Logs should also have a parent signature nightly. Please monitor your child's reading to ensure that they are reading for the full 30 minutes.
• Math
• We have been taking our math facts timed tests. If your child has not passed all timed tests he/she should be practicing nightly. Students have been introduced to many ways to do this including: flashcards, creating their own problems, using playing cards or dice, ixl, thatquiz.com.
• Students should also be reviewing DMR (Daily Math Review) to prepare for Friday's DMR Quiz. 
• Finally, a nightly worksheet to practice or reinforce math skills will also go home.
• Assignment notebooks
• Assignment notebooks should be signed or initialed by a parent or guardian nightly. I will check all assignment notebooks before each student leaves school, so if there is any additional homework or reminders it will be recorded there. 
• If a student's homework is not completed and turned in before 8:30, then he/she will lose one ClassDojo point per assignment. The student will then complete the homework during our Morning Meeting time or recess if it is still not done. If a student is dishonest about homework, they will lose an additional recess time and a ClassDojo point for not being honest. Homework is an essential part of life in fifth grade. Thank you for understanding and supporting your child's academic growth. 

Graded Papers:

• Graded papers will go home on Thursdays. 
• Please remove ALL papers from the folder and sign the attached log inside your child's folder.
• To best utilize your learners' take home folder, go over all graded papers and use the extra time you have on the weekend to review, practice and reinforce skills your child may have struggled with the previous week. 

Class Dojo-if you have not already connected on ClassDojo please contact me by email or phone by the end of the week so we can discuss how you will receive your child's weekly behavior report. 

Please continue to ask your student what he/she is learning in school daily and encourage them to take opportunities to teach the class! This week, we will be learning about:

• Math: Multiplication, Division, Place Value with Decimals, Number Lines
• Reading: Fluency, Plot, Characterization (character traits/physical traits), Answering Short Answers Strategy
• Writing: Coming up with Ideas, Personal Narratives
• Social Science: Geography, Latitude and Longitude, States, Countries, Continents 

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

srahrig@msdwt.k12.in.us

317-259-5478 ext. 12219

Lastly, this newsletter will be posted on our weekly blog. Please subscribe at:   srahrig.blogspot.com

Respectfully,

Miss Sarah Rahrig