"Whatever you are, be a good one."

-Abraham Lincoln

Week of January 9, 2012

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, January 9th: 5th Grade Winter DIBELS Testing
• Friday, January 13th: 2nd Quarter Ends
• Monday, January 16th: No School-Professional Day & Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Tuesday, January 17th: 3rd Quarter Begins; 5A's MAP Reading Assessment
• Wednesday, January 18th: 5A's MAP Language Assessment
• Friday, January 20th: 5A's MAP Math Assessment; 2nd Quarter Report Cards Come Home

Homework:

1. Read Daily for Calendars and AR: The new goal is to read at least 600 minutes. Calendars must be signed by a parent and returned by Wednesday, February 1st, for full credit. Those students who fulfill their minutes AND return their calendars on time will receive a coupon for a free personal pan pizza through Pizza Hut's "Book It" program.

Students are required to read a minimum of one Accelerated Reader book at their level per month and take a minimum of one Accelerated Reader Test per month on that book. This test will be a monthly 100 point test grade in Language Arts. Students are certainly encouraged to read more than one book, and those who do will earn more points good toward Bulldog Bucks (free homework coupons) as well as earn more words good toward becoming a member of fifth grade's One Million or Two Million Word Reader Club.

2. Study Spelling...We began Rebecca Sitton's spelling program as of October 21st. Please look for the spelling word cards and parent letter with a weekly activity that will come home each Friday. Spelling tests will continue to be on Thursdays. However, the tests will look different. Students will write words within a paragraph (cloze passage) rather than in list form. We will use completed spelling tests to practice oral reading fluency, too.

3. Practice Math Facts...It is important that you know all of you addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts in 5th grade. If basic facts are still hard for you, be sure to practice at home because you will need to know them for the more advanced math we will be doing this year. You can even make some flash cards at school and take them home if you need to. :) YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR FACTS!

Notes from the School Week:

Math: The majority of students have passed the multiplying by 2-digit numbers DSPA and are now working on division.  For those who did not pass the DSPA, I will be reteaching them and retesting them.  We will begin a quick division unit, since it is review from 4th grade, and then taking that DSPA.  We will also do a quick measurement or graphing activity daily in addition to Mountain Math and Daily Word Problems.  My goal is to begin fractions next week.  We will also be getting to geometry before PAWS begins in March.

Other weekly events in math:

1. Mountain Math (the problems on the pocket charts pointed out to you at conferences)

2. Daily Word Problems with a new theme each week so that students are problem solving daily.

3. Hands-on algebra with Mrs. Jones

Language Arts: We concluded Unit 2 in Treasures, so we will be taking the Unit 2 Grammar Test (part of the DSPA) this week.  We will also begin a second unit on narrative writing to review what we learned this fall and to expand on that knowledge.  This will be in preparation for the narrative DSPA.  After that I would either like to start Unit 3 in Treasures or begin a unit on informational reading and writing.  I will keep you posted.

Science: We will move on to a couple physical science lessons this week.

Social Studies: We concluded our study of explorers and have drafted what our HyperStudio cards will look like and what they will say.  Students began their explorer projects in Technology class last week and will continue work on them at the end of January when they get to go back to Technology class (no class during MAP).  They will eventually present their multimedia projects to the class.  It will be graded in Social Studies for me, and it will cover three DSPAs in Technology for Mr. Brandon.  We are moving toward a unit on colonies and the French and Indian War.

Reminder: As always, if you see science or social studies work come home, please send it back for their final grade in the units. Thank you!

Other: You may have heard from your child, but we have been partnered up with Mrs. Pennington's second grade class as Reading Buddies. Every FRIDAY (new day), we meet up to read with one another. We alternate classrooms and the second grade and fifth grade buddies both get a chance to read and share books with one another. It's been a very positive experience so far.

Important Reading Links:

*Accelerate Reader Book Find:

http://www.arbookfind.com

Accelerated Reader is a fairly new program the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders will be using at school for reading. However, they can use this site to look for books that are a part of AR and have a test at school or to see if one of their books from home is an AR book. Students earn points and test grades from these books and tests. Students are required to read a minimum of one AR book per month in 5th grade. Additionally, they are to take an AR test on their books, so careful reading is crucial. This test will count as a 100-point test grade in Language Arts each month.

*Lexile Book Finder:

http://fab.lexile.com/

At this site, students can enter their Lexile range listed on the reading MAP report sent home with their report card last year. Students will be receiving their new MAP Lexile ranges soon after they have all taken the test to determine their current Lexile. It is important that students read books at their level when they are reading independently.

Helpful Math Websites:

www.mathfactspro.com This site is pretty neat. You can choose your grade level, which multiples you want to work on, and state about how many facts you know. It then records the facts you get correct, how many correct in a row you does, and how fast you are able to do the problem. You can then make a printout of which facts you do or don't know.

I will try to update my SchoolNotes with other helpful sites. In the meantime, please see our district's technology page for other great sites!

Students, if you are looking for some extra credit, be sure to email that you've checked out my School Notes page by December 16th. If you tell me one thing you found helpful with this page, you will earn one extra credit point in each subject! :)

IMPORTANT FIFTH GRADE REMINDERS: (These are the same reminders that appeared in my back to school letter.)

• SCHOOL NOTES: This serves as our classroom newsletter with important dates, homework reminders, and other information. Just a reminder that you can sign up in the box above if you'd like to receive an e-mail alerting you each time my School Notes page is updated. You can remove your e-mail from the mailing list later on should you feel the need.

• E-MAIL: E-mail is a great way to keep in touch with me if you have questions. I usually check it before and after school and will get back to you promptly. My e-mail address is: mrocchio@ccsd.k12.wy.us. You can e-mail me directly from my School Notes page as well. Feel free to call me at school, too, if you have questions or concerns (682-1676).

• POWERSCHOOL: Students and parents will all be given user names and passwords to enter PowerSchool. Please check PowerSchool frequently to check your (or your child’s) grades and to see if you have any missing assignments (or your child has any missing assignments).

• GRADING SCALE: Here is the district’s grading scale for the 2011-2012 school year:

A+ 98-100

A 93-97

A- 90-92

B+ 88-89

B 83-87

B- 80-82

C+ 78-79

C 73-77

C- 70-72

D+ 68-69

D 63-67

D- 60-62

F 59 and Below

• HOMEWORK CORRECTIONS: It is highly recommended that students make corrections on their daily work. Corrections are due the day after work is handed back to the student. Students may correct up to a 73%, which is a C.

• MAKEUP WORK: Makeup work will be given AFTER a student’s absence here at Pronghorn. I appreciate knowing when a student will be gone for an extended period of time, but I will save any work for his/her return, as lesson plans can easily change from day to day.

• LATE/MISSING WORK: Assigned work is due the day after it has been assigned at 9:00 a.m. unless another date or time is noted by the teacher. Students will have time to work on most assignments in class, and study hall is at the end of the day before specials, so not a lot of homework will come home other than the usual reading minutes, spelling words, etc.
• LATE homework will be marked down one grade per day. After three days, students will receive a “0” for that particular assignment.
• A “0” will also be entered if an assignment is missing at the time I enter grades in the gradebook, whether students were absent, sick, late, etc. Students who were absent/sick will be able to makeup this work, but the 0 will alert you to the fact that they have missing assignments. Again, please check PowerSchool frequently to check if your child is turning in his/her work in a timely fashion.
• I encourage students to write down all assignments in their Trackers to avoid late work and to stay on top of their tasks. It can also serve as a place to communicate between home and school.
• If late work becomes a problem, we can always agree to put your child on Signed Tracker so that he/she must show each of his/her Tracker daily with any homework and get our signatures. It's a great and easy way to communicate between home and school.