Welcome to 5th Grade Back to School Night Deborah Hollingsworth & Andrea Buffington

SMSD Strategic Plan for Student Success Core Beliefs: Every student learns and continually achieves to high and challenging standards. Education includes both social and academic competencies. The teacher is the most important influence on student achievement. Everyone has an individual, collaborative, and collective responsibility for each student. Everyone in the educational community continually reflects and learns in an empowering culture. Change is inevitable and necessary; our response is intentional. SMSD Mission: The educational community will relentlessly empower each student to succeed through an intentional multi-tiered system of support Dr. Posny references that it starts with dialogue – our district has developed a set of core beliefs and a mission statement that direct our efforts. Big Picture Items are: Each student Academic and behavior Shared responsibility Importance of the teacher Embracing of change As we are building our plane while flying, it became apparent that not everyone was on the same page. Engaged in a dialogue to have common language and philosophy 2

Specials Schedule Monday – MUSIC & PE Tuesday – LIBRARY BAND & STRINGS Wednesday – MUSIC & PE ENHANCED LEARNING Thursday – BAND & STRINGS SPANISH Friday - ART Specials Schedule

~ Reading ~ Mrs. Hollingsworth will teach all reading classes * Daily Homework * Reading for Meaning * Text Structures * Story Elements * Texts Type * Reading a variety of literature Combination of guided reading & direct instruction (whole & small groups ) to meet all children’s needs. Reading Logs: Students set individual quarterly reading goals. They read an agreed upon number of pages each quarter for part of the reading grade. The number of pages should increase throughout the year.

Spelling The Everyday Spelling program is linked directly to vocabulary, reading, & writing with a focus on developing word knowledge and spelling skills. Spelling packets go home on Monday and completed by Friday. Students take a post-test Friday.

~ Math ~ Mrs. Buffington will teach all math.. Daily Homework Practice Super Six & Daily Warm-ups every morning. Quick Check & Weekly Review Friday Math Basic Skills Tests 1,2,3rd Quarter Place value of whole numbers & decimals Division & Multiplication of larger numbers Verbalizing Math Processes & Skills Interpreting graphs, tables, & charts Simplifying fractions Adding, subtracting & multiplying fractions Mixed numbers Problem Solving Decimals

Written Language Mrs. Hollingsworth will teach all reading classes Six-trait writing Journal Writing Short essays & research papers 4-Square Writing Heroes Project Proofreading & Peer Editing Grammar Figurative Language

Social Studies Mrs. Hollingsworth will teach social studies classes Maps American History-Explorers, American Revolution & Government Economics-Mini Society, Junior Achievement

Science Mrs. Buffington will teach science classes Scientific Method – in class science experiments Weather and Water Changing Earth & Environment Astronomy Health and Body Systems

Organization Student Binders ~ contains daily work by subject area & must be at school each day. Planner ~ contains assignments & must be filled out completely & returned to school each day. Friday Take Home ~ contains information from the office & classroom as well as work from the previous week.

Daily Assignments * 5th graders are expected to read every night and record pages read in their Reading Log. These are returned with a parent signature the last Wednesday of the quarter. 5th graders are expected to have an average of 50 minutes of nightly homework. This means solid time on task-not interrupted or sporadic effort. * Assignments not completed in class are considered homework & are due the following day unless otherwise noted.

Field Trips Feb – Celebrate American Heroes @ SMS – cost $0 Field trips are currently in the planning stage. 5th grade teachers are looking at the trips that have the best cost & benefit to our students. You will be hearing about them soon & have an opportunity to volunteer to accompany us.

Homework Club Homework Club is an Incentive for students to * complete assignments * Turn in homework on time * Show their best effort on assignments Missing or incomplete assignments results in removal from Homework Club for that week. Students start over each week.

Celebrating Birthdays Please feel free to send treats for your child’s birthday. Please send treats that can be cleaned up easily & do not require cutting. For example: Cupcakes, Cookies, or Ice Cream Bars. Please send napkins, spoons, forks, etc. if needed. Birthdays are celebrated at different times throughout the day, so it is best to send treats in the morning.

Communication Webback Pack Handbook ~ paper copy & posted to classroom websites. Monthly Newsletter – emailed to parents & posted on classroom website. E-Mail: deborahhollingsworth@smsd.org. andreabuffington@smsd.org Note in planner. Phone: before or after school. Hollingsworth 993-3337 Buffington 993-3336

I promise you every day your children will learn something. Some days they’ll bring it home in their hands. home in their heads. And some days they’ll bring it home in their hearts.