F IFTH G RADE C URRICULUM Santan Elementary Mrs. Ross’ Class 2011 – 2012 School Year

R EADING Harcourt Reading Series Literature Groups/Circles Independent and Partner Reading Guided Reading to meet individual needs On-going assessments for comprehension and fluency Vocabulary, comprehension, & fluency development

C AFÉ : C OMPREHENSION, A CCURACY, F LUENCY, AND E XPANDING V OCABULARY Engaging all students in daily literacy assessment and instruction This “Café” is a menu that supports students in becoming comfortable linking their knowledge to standards The Café book provides technical expertise necessary for individual students to receive exactly what they need to improve as readers.

R EADING S TANDARDS Narrative Elements Prefixes and Suffixes Cause and Effect Drawing Conclusions Sequencing Locating Information Elements of Non-Fiction: Text Structure Word Relationships Main Idea and Details Summarizing Literature Fact and Opinion Author’s Purpose Compare/Contrast Inferencing

S PELLING Santan 5 th grade No Excuse List Words Their Way sorts specific to fifth grade standards Dictation Sentences

W RITING 6+1 Traits Writing Process / Write From the Beginning (focusing on thinking maps) Genres of writing Persuasive essays Narrative essays Expository Essays Descriptive Essays Poetry Literature Response

W HAT IS AN I NTERACTIVE N OTEBOOK ? A working portfolio – all of your students’ notes, classwork, homework – in one convenient spot. These personal, creative notebooks become a record of each student’s growth in writing, thinking, recording, and organization skills.

T HE B ASICS : L EFT - SIDE /R IGHT - SIDE An open notebook can be seen as a two page spread. For our purposes, a two-page spread is one lesson. LEFT IS FOR LEARNING The left side is for teacher input – notes, articles, questions, any way you would normally deliver the content of your lesson. RIGHT IS FOR REFLECTION The right side is for student output – graphic organizers, drawings, interpretive writing, any creative way for students to demonstrate their understanding of the content

G RAMMAR Modeling through mini-lessons Daily grammar review Application in every day writing

M ATHEMATICS The overall goal within the curricular area of mathematics is for students to have not just a basic knowledge of each concept that they learn, but for them to apply it with a certain depth of knowledge. Due to this, students will be required to solve more detailed questions and problems. Visit the Arizona Department of Education or Chandler Unified School District website to see more about standards changes. Arizona Department of Education homepage Chandler Unified School District homepage ww2.chandler.k12.az.us

W ORKING WITH C ORNELL N OTES … 5 TH GRADE S TYLE

M ATH S TANDARDS Some standards covered in math this year: Fractions Decimals Order of Operations Multiplication & Division ( expected that basic 0-12’s are memorized coming into 5 th grade) Patterns Euler Paths & Circuits Integers Algebra Geometry Mean, Median, Mode & Range Estimation Graphing

S OCIAL S TUDIES Social Studies Concepts: American Colonization and the thirteen colonies American Revolution Westward Expansion Civil War Economics Geography Foundations of Government

S CIENCE Science Concepts: The Solar System Forces and Motion Properties of Matter Simple Machines Human Body Systems Science Fair * In the past I have put on a Science day for the kids… this requires about 10 – 12 volunteers and does take some prep work on your end.. Would anyone be interested? I supply the lessons

M ISCELLANEOUS I NFORMATION Fundraisers- Grade level T-shirts and Gold Canyon Candles (on sale now!) Tax Credit Donations Possible Field Trips: Biz Town Arizona Science Center Traveling Benjamin Franklin Exhibit Arrowhead Pool (End of Year Celebration!) o Possible Class visitors EVIT Marine instructor compare/contrast military training then and now ATF SWAT – Bulling Chandler Fire fighters – CPR information * If you know anyone or if you yourself does something connecting to our standards and you’d like to come and share with the class, please let me know! It’s important to bring in visitors and show the kids how their knowledge connects

H OW WE USE THE A GENDA … Throughout the day and at the end of class your child and I will be filling out the agenda with important information. If you see it highlighted in yellow, then it’s important for you to know and/or homework. If the item is not highlighted then they may have completed the work or the “permission slip” may have already been turned in. You will find all information in the yellow folder Yellow is the only color I use – important information from me will also be sent home on yellow paper. I ask that you frequently check in with your child and take a peek in their agenda, I am not having kids get it signed each night, but if certain friends become frequent flyers on my missing work list, we will need to make different arrangements

T HANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO BE A PART OF YOUR CHILD ’ S LIFE ! Y OU HAVE MY PROMISE THAT I WILL TREAT YOUR CHILD IN THE PROFESSIONAL MANNER THAT I WOULD EXPECT FOR MY OWN CHILD. I MEAN IT WHEN I REFER TO US AS TEAM ROSS … I BELIEVE IT TAKES ALL OF US TO MAKE YOUR CHILD AS SUCCESSFUL AS HE / SHE CAN POSSIBLY BE ! If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me via or simply just come on in

C LASS D ONATIONS & N EEDS Yellow highlighters Candy for our jar (no gum please) Kleenex Lysol wipes Ream of white copy paper Ream of yellow copy paper Scotch tape rolls CD of calm music, no words for writing time I’m always picking up little extra’s here and there for classroom activities, gift cards to the following stores are helpful… Walgreens Barnes and Noble Target/Walmart Frys/Basha’s