Khala Kim's Fifth Grade
Language Arts
and Social Studies HOMEWORK:
Write a one page essay about your cultural heritage. Include the following:
Introduction: What is your cultural background? How do you feel about your culture? Include a thesis statement.
Body: Why is your heritage important to you? How can you be an American and part of your culture at the same time?
Conclusion: How is your culture an important part of American society? How can you share your culture with others?
Describe some examples for each of these questions. Be sure to use sensory details and active, expressive language. This essay is worth 10 points!
Optional: Create a family tree showing all the "branches" of your relatives. If possible, include country, birthdates, and some interesting facts. Decorate your family tree to make it beautiful! Include as many relatives and details as you are able to find out. (Worth up to 5 e.c. points)
SS:
5A group projects are due Friday. Students will each turn in individual paragraphs describing their part of the group's project. The group will turn in their posters, speeches, brochures, scripts, etc.(whatever each project included in the instructions.) Each group will present their work on Friday in class.
5B should be ready to present their Boston Tea Party Reader's Theater play in class on Thursday.
KEEP IN TOUCH!
Insha'Allah this website will keep you posted on supplies needed, classroom activities and procedures, volunteer opportunities, our wish list, and other information.
Feel free at any time to email me or leave a message with Halima, the school's receptionist, at (408) 980-1161 if you have questions or need information. My email address is kimw@granadaschool.org.
For parents who would like to meet with me, I am available during my preparation periods. Please schedule an appointment by sending me an email or leaving a message with Halima. Please schedule at least one day in advance.
Please scroll through this entire page to read more about fifth grade! Below you will find important dates, supply list, wish list, classroom programs, and much more. Read on!
CLASSROOM SUPPLY LIST
Please clearly label all items with the student's name:
* Pencils, erasers, sharpener
* Green ball point pen and black ball point pen
* Markers
* Crayons
* Colored pencils
* Glue sticks
* 12 in. ruler
* Scissors
* Pack of 3 1/2" x 5" notecards
* Clipboard
* One 1/2" or 1" binder with filler paper
* One hard-cover composition notebook
* One plastic 2-pocket folder
* Small packets of tissues
* Bottle of liquid hand sanitizer
* Medium-sized rolling backpack (no carry-on luggage, due to limited storage space)
* Small container, bag, or box to store supplies in desk
* Lunchbox full of healthy snacks and lunch items, juice or water
Super Reader Reading Logs & "Just Right" Books
- Read every day at least 20-30 minutes for your reading logs. Read out loud to someone for at least 5 minutes a day. After every few pages or at the end of a chapter, summarize: setting, characters, and main events.
- Find books that are "just right" for you! When you are reading, are you able to understand the story and summarize parts of it easily? Can you pronounce most of the words out loud? Can you figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words? Is this book so exciting or interesting that you want to keep on reading it? If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, your book is probably "just right!"
- Visit the link to the Santa Clara library to see the list of fifth grade level books for suggestions on many different kinds of exciting books!
CLASSROOM INFORMATION
Wish List for 2011-12
We need the following items for our classroom. If anyone would be kind enough to donate something from this list, please let me know:
Tissues
Construction paper
"Fancy" paper with borders
Pencils, erasers, sharpeners
Crayons, glue, markers
Notecards
Puzzles and games
Books for classroom library
Sheet protectors
Tabbed dividers for binders
Posterboard
Prohibited Items
Please do not bring these items to school:
Toys of any kind, candy, gum, or soda, cd players, cell phones, ipods, MP3 players, etc.
Sharing Treats with the Class
Please arrange for any treats you'd like to distribute at least one day in advance. The teacher reserves the right to cancel treats if deemed inappropriate for the following reasons:
1. We do not celebrate birthdays at GIS. Any treats related to birthdays are not allowed.
2. Some students are allergic to certain foods. To be fair, treats will not be given out if even one student is allergic. We don't want anyone to feel left out. We usually have one or two students who are allergic to nuts especially.
3. Please do not bring food items that contain ingredients that are considered prohibited by most Muslims, i.e. gelatin, non-zabiha meat products, lecithin, etc.
Below is some information about activities in our classroom.
ON-GOING CLASSROOM PROGRAMS
Classroom Helpers
Some of our helper tasks include keeping the room clean, neat, and organized, passing out materials, organizing library books, and much more. We will rotate these positions every three to four weeks.
Volunteer Parents
If anyone would like to join our fabulous group of volunteers, we always need help with the following activities:
* Filing
*Managing book orders
*Organizing field trips
* Field trip chaperones
* Organizing social events, i.e. classroom parties, Eid activities
* Special school events such as Reading Day, Living History Day...
* Bulletin boards
* Cleaning the classroom
Also, we'd love it if you or someone you know would speak to our class about your special skills, hobbies, or interests that are related to topics that we are studying.
Homework
There will be homework almost every day for Language Arts and Social Studies, depending on the lesson/topic we are studying. Each day assignments will be posted in class and on this website. Students must also write them down in their daily planners. Homework excuses will not be accepted unless related to an illness or serious family emergency.
If you think your child needs additional practice or more challenging work at home, students can always practice the same skills in different ways. For example, for Language Arts, they can read stories and write summaries, make a chart of all the main ideas and details, draw pictures to illustrate their favorite story, make a diarama of a story scene, make their own book of poetry or stories...be creative! They can bring these projects to school to share with the class and we can display them. For vocabulary, they could make their own "word tree." On a large posterboard, draw and color a tree. Use cut-out leaf shapes to write each new vocabulary word. Add more leaves as we learn more words. Invent daily activities for using these words, i.e. choose 5 words from the tree to include in a story; write jokes using 3 words from the tree...etc. Endless possibilities!
KHALA KIM'S TOP TEN TIPS TO HELP YOUR CHILD SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
Please try the following suggestions at home to help your child be the best student they can be!
1. Teach them by example that a good Muslim follows rules, respects the rights of others, and is kind and thoughtful toward everyone.
2. Although all of us are busy, try not to say "I don't have time" when they ask you to become involved with their school work or school activities. If you do, they feel you are rejecting a part of them. Conversely, do not make homework your only interaction with your child. They need to have some "down" time with you too. Play some games, tell jokes, or just chat. Not everything has to be about school, believe it or not!
3. Speak respectfully and be positive about your child's school and their teachers to set a good example for their behavior in school.
4. Check your child's work, BUT NEVER DO IT FOR THEM OR DICTATE THE ANSWERS. Give your child permission to make mistakes so that they can learn from them.
5. Limit television and computer games. Use these only after all school work for the day is completed. After school work is done, this leaves time to memorize Qur'an, play outside, play board games with the family, read, or just talk and tell jokes!
6. Use resources like libraries, on-line homework help, tutoring centers, or other help to reinforce what we are learning in school when extra help is needed.
7. Do not ignore your child's difficulties in school. For example, if your child is having trouble understanding place value in math now, chances are that he/she will have trouble with double-digit addition later. All skills are related. Try to check your child's understanding by giving them short oral pop-quizzes while you prepare dinner, for example.
8. Make sure your child is eating a healthful diet and getting at least 9 hours of sleep each night. This is crucial for brain development at this age level. (Not to mention that I don't want them to fall asleep in my classroom!)
9. Parents and students together: try to memorize as much of the Qur'an now as possible. If you work on this together as a family, everyone benefits in more ways than we will ever know!
10. Even though we are stressed out at work and home, try not to forget what it was like to be a kid. Be silly sometimes!
Thank you for visiting our website. May Allah reward you for your support of our classroom!
Jezakum Allahu Khairun,
Khala Kim
