First Newsletter

September 12, 2011

Dear Families - We survived the first few days of school and, according to the kids, it was successful and fun. We played many games, learned about fifth grade and classroom procedures, started Spelling and Vocab, had our first Morning Meetings, had Interactive Arts classes, read together, got our books and folders, and had lunch and recess with our friends.

I want to give you a brief overview of the academics in fifth grade at Union Elementary School -

The fifth grade curriculum is heavy on Writing and we’ll be integrating different writing genres (persuasive, procedural, narrative, report and poetry) as they relate to our content areas. We will spend considerably more time editing and assessing our writing than we did last year. We will also have daily journal writing and monthly letter writing to our pen pals.

Spelling will be taught with a direct instruction approach using the Working Words In Spelling program. The students will be placed in a small leveled group based on their needs and will be tested every Friday. For Vocabulary, we use a program called Wordly Wise, with workbooks and activities.

The Reading program will be Literature Circles and a monthly (or bimonthly) book project. This will encourage kids to read at least two books per month at their instructional level. The literature circles will focus on reading comprehension processes that reflect their ability for automaticity, oral fluency, making inferences and connections, and summarizing. Text levels will generally be differentiated based on each child’s reading level. Students will be expected to read at least one book in each genre this year. The genres are nonfiction, realistic fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, fables/folktales, fantasy, mystery, informational, poetry, biography and autobiography. There will be a chart in the classroom to monitor this.

The Social Studies program this year will focus on mapping, North American explorers, Colonial Times, Revolutionary War and Immigration. We have some great field trips planned that focus on Colonial Times. I will also support these topics with historical fiction novels when possible. We will also use a textbook called “Building a Nation”. Additionally, to support the students’ knowledge of current events, we will be reading and discussing Time For Kids magazine weekly.

The fifth grade Science curriculum includes Force and Motion, Cells, and Interconnectedness of Body Systems. Our class will also continue our work with our Service Learning Project. We will be in charge of the school’s Recycling program and we’ll be incorporating other aspects of our Environmental Service Learning Project throughout the year, based on the kids’ interests. I am meeting with Gwen Lyons-Baker this week, our community partner at CVSWMD, to plan projects and trips. One of the most exciting things we’ll do is to sell reusable cloth snack bags to the school community.

The fifth grade Math program is Bridges, a new program.

Each lesson can be differentiated around the same concept to meet the needs of struggling AND high achieving students. it involves a daily group lesson, individual work and daily Number Corner. The homework will begin tomorrow.

Union School will still have a daily HOMEWORK CLUB that meets at 8:00 each morning. I’ll let you know when that will begin. You do not need to sign them up, they can just show up if they need extra time or assistance with any of the assignments. The expectation for fifth grade students is that they will have about 50 minutes per night of homework, including 30 minutes of reading (either aloud or silently). I do not give weekend homework.

Your child has a pink folder with him/her every day, which will act as the HOME folder, to go back and forth every day, for notices and homework assignments. It should be well taken care of and used for notes from you as well, as it will be the first item checked in the morning. Be sure to check it EVERY night and please SIGN IT so I know you have seen the homework.

I will be sending home a biweekly newsletter, generally on Fridays, to keep you abreast of the goings on in Room 219. I would like to have as many families as possible receive the newsletter through email so please send me your email address if you have one (and if I don’t have it already) and would like to communicate this way. You are always welcome to call me at school (225-8243) or email me (melissap@mpsvt.org) about anything at all. Also, check out our classroom blog! Thanks!