Back to School

Kirsten Julin                                             http://msjulinsclass.blogspot.com

BACK-TO-SCHOOL-NIGHT                                  kajegret@yahoo.com  or

FIFTH GRADE                     kjulin@sanleandro.k12.ca.us      

SEPTEMBER 2011                                                   618-4350 x3214

                                  

Grade Level Highlights

Social Studies - United States major pre-Columbian settlements, explorers, relations between new settlers and Native Americans, colonial era, American Revolution, U.S. Constitution, patterns of colonization, immigration, settlements and general information about the fifty states

Math - application of the four basic arithmetic operations to fractions, decimals, and positive and negative numbers, determine length, area, and volume of simple geometric figures with the use of formulas, understand angle measurement and use a protractor and compass to solve problems, use grids tables, graphs, and charts to record and analyze data

Reading - Houghton Mifflin state adopted reading series and literature books aligned with the grade level standards focusing on comprehension, word analysis, fluency, systematic vocabulary development, and language conventions

Science - earth, life and physical sciences emphasizing the scientific method of hypotheses, observations, and experimentation and validation of hypotheses

Language Arts - writing paragraphs and essays in the different genres (narrative, expository, summary, persuasive, response to literature, and letter writing) with a 5^th grade focus on personal narratives, persuasive essays, and research reports

Snacks – All students are allowed to eat a healthy snack during their morning recess.  Please try to send snacks that will feed their mind and body as well as their appetites.

Differentiated Curriculum - Curriculum is designed to accommodate varied learning styles and capabilities.  We do this with dynamic multiple groupings, with open-ended assignments, with pre and post testing, and most importantly with a rigorous and challenging curriculum.

Report Cards – Reports are based on grade level standards.  They will be distributed in December, March, and on June 14.

Assessments – In addition to our on-going classroom evaluations, we participate in the district’s math and English/Language Arts assessments that will be given at the end of each trimester.   We also administer Reading assessments to each student three times a year.  The scores will be recorded on the report cards.  Students also take the California STAR Tests.  This year our test window is April 23 – May 18. 

Learning Academy - 4/5 grade groupings. It is 40 minutes a day. Students will go to different classrooms. This is part of our reading intervention program. Students have been assessed and will either attend classes for extra support in reading or participate in other classes to enrich their learning.

5^th Grade Promotional Ceremony and Party – These are both on the last day of school and are organized by parent committees.

Parent Volunteers – District policy requires that all volunteers complete the district application before working in the classroom or going on field trips.  If you have a packet on file, please stop by the office to verify that all of your information is up to date.  If you are driving on a field trip, you will also have to complete the district’s auto insurance form, which needs to be completed every year.

                    

Classroom Volunteers – Parents are always welcome in the classroom.  Students welcome the personal attention and assistance they receive from adults.  If you are interested in working in the classroom, please let me know so we can work out a schedule.  If you have a special interest that you would like to share with the students, such as a science lesson, please contact me to set up a time.

Outdoor Education - All 5th graders are invited to an Outdoor Education Program.  It will be located at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, a program we know well.  It will be 3 days and 2 nights. **It is never too early to begin fund raising.

DAY-TO-DAY LIFE IN THE CLASSROOM:

“Common Sense” built around discussions and experiences as we analyze relationships such as problems and solutions, causes and effects, actions and consequences and privileges and responsibilities.

Our class will focus on a program that deals with respecting one another and solving conflicts. We are learning how to better express ourselves with the “I message”, and we are learning how to give a meaningful apology with “the clean up.”

 

I message I feel… When I… I need… Will you…?

The Clean Up I know that I… I apologize. What can I do to make it right? Next time I will… Will you forgive me?

I encourage you to use these powerful tools in your home to support what we are working on in school.

Weekly Schedule

Computer Lab – Monday 1:05-2:05

P.E. – Monday 2:15-3:00 and Wednesday 9:00 – 9:45

Art – Tuesday 2:15-3:00

Music – Thursday 1:05 – 1:50

Library – Friday 1:15-2:05

Learning Academy – 11:20-12:00

5^th Grade Instrumental Music

Wednesdays 12:20 – 12:50 “A” Group

Wednesdays 12:55 – 1:25 “B” Group

Fridays 1:15 – 1:45 “A” Group

Fridays 1:50 – 2:25 “B” Group

Homework - All students are expected to have and use a Roosevelt Planner that they copy their daily assignments into and carry back and forth from school to home every night.  Homework will be assigned every day and occasionally your child will need to work on their long-term projects over the weekend. Homework is a chance for students to practice and apply skills learned in the classroom.  Given that, I understand that occasionally assignments are a bit much. When this happens please send me a short note so I can address the particular issues. Please don’t forget that every fifth grader should be reading 30+ minutes or more each week. Please help teach your child organization and responsibility by looking in their backpack, folder, reviewing their homework, and removing notices.

Monthly Reading Project – Beginning in October your child is expected to turn in a reading project based on the reading that your child does each night.

After School Help – Your child is always welcome to stay after school to get help on homework provided that I do not have a meeting on that day.

Classroom Blog – Find out what we are doing in class and read about upcoming events.  Join our blog (http://msjulinsclass.blogspot.com)

Field Trips – We are scheduling a variety of field trips that enrich our grade level standards.

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art       October 7

·      NASA/AMES                                  December 16

·      Pigeon Point                             January 11 – 13

·      The Tech Museum                         March 23

·      Marine Science Institute                 May 31                               

Helpful Websites –

http://hornetlab.pbworks.com - This is the site the students use in the computer lab.

 http://www.studyisland.com - test prep

All second through fifth grade students have a Study Island account.  Student usernames are typically their last name and first initial, plus Roosevelt (e.g. for Joe Smith the username would be SmithJ.Roosevelt).  The password for all students is hornet.

https://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com - math

www.edupace.com

http://www.ca-hss.com - social studies

http://activities.macmillanmh.com/science/ca/index.html - science

www.spellingcity.com

www.freerice.com - practice math facts and feed the world

What's Up In Class

We have two new students. Victoria and Xavier. They are a great addition to our class. That puts us at 31 students.

I was so happy to hear Ms. Forrester compliment our class on their restaurant behavior. We also have received compliments from Ms. Tronvig. We have turned over a new leaf and I am very impressed with the class’ behavior.

Please note that Back To School Night will be on Thursday at 6:15 in the multipurpose room. Ms. Lipka, Ms. Thomas and I will be presenting together. I will post the back to school packet of information on the blog.

Biography Poster final draft is due Friday

This week we begin Reading Academy. If your child has signed up for instrumental music, that will begin next week.

Students have been placed in reading groups based upon their testing results from beginning of the year assessments as well as last year’s CST Scores. If your child is in one of our intervention groups they will be tested regularly to assess whether they have met benchmark goals and will be moved to another group if needed. I have let them know that in order for them to switch out of a group they must work very hard, including working on their reading at home. Notes to families of students who are in our reading intervention will be sent home soon.

In Math we are working on equivalent fractions, comparing and ordering fractions and mixed numbers, fractions in simplest form, tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. Last week we worked on improper fractions and mixed numbers and converting them back and forth. Some students still need extra support in this. We will continue to work on this in class but please provide extra support for your child at home.

We have begun the district adopted reading curriculum. Theme 1 is Nature’s Fury. This week we are reading Earthquake Terror. We are working on sequence of events, using a thesaurus, different kinds of sentences, subject and predicates, and base words.

In writing we continue to focus on narrowing a topic, staying focused on the main topic, choosing the best details, and including all the information a reader needs.

Michelle has found that there is free tutoring at the Castro Valley library. Please see the link below

http://www.aclibrary.org/branches/csv/default.asp?topic=CastroValley&cat=CSVHomeworkCenter

Thanks,

Kirsten

Biography Poster Report

This will go out to students tomorrow

Biography Poster Report

Is your person known for leadership, science/inventions, the arts, sports, new ideas, being first, and/or courage? Your person may be known for more than one thing.

Portrait-you may either print a portrait from the internet (good) or draw a portrait (better)

Dates – When was your person born? If they are dead, when did they die?

Read All About It

Carefully research the life of your person and organize it into a short biography that tells the important details about their life.

Mini-Movie

You will draw and describe the 3 most important scenes of your person’s life and think of a creative title for your movie

Creative Quickies

Quotable Quote – record something meaningful that your person said

Life Lessons – What important lesson did you learn from your person?

In Five Words – Describe your person in just five words

Final Fact – Share one more fact that you found particularly interesting

Super Resource – List books, web sites, and resources you used to complete the poster

You are required to write a 1^st draft before I will give you the poster to work on.

The poster must be neat and colorful.

First draft due_________________

Final Poster due__________________

What's Up In Class

Our class is off to a wonderful start!

The students are doing a good job with their behavior in class and in the restaurant. With such good behavior we are making very good use of our time.

We are working on assessments in reading, writing, and math.

In Math we are working on prime numbers, divisibility rules, prime factorization, and greatest common factors and will be heading in to working with fractions. The first trimester of math in the fifth grade can be very challenging. We focus on using the operations on fractions and decimals. Please support your child with his/her homework.

We are currently reading The Hundred Dresses by Elanor Estes. I am introducing the strategies that good readers use and that will be reinforced throughout the year.

They are predict/infer, phonics/decoding, monitor/clarify, question, evaluate, summarize. If you want to know a bit more about them as to see you child’s PB Practice Book) They are described at the beginning of the book.

In writing we will be focusing on the six traits. The first trait we will work on is Ideas. We will learn about narrowing a topic, staying focused on the main topic, choosing the best details, and including all the information a reader needs.

We have started to look at our social studies book and are looking at North America’s first inhabitants.

Thanks,

Kirsten

Beginning of 5th Grade

Welcome Back!

I am excited about this year! Fifth grade is an exciting time. Students are expected to be responsible for their work, behavior, and actions. We will be working intensely on classroom protocol to prepare for middle school.

         Roosevelt Homework planners have been handed out. Please make a donation of  $5.00 for your Homework Planner.

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Supplies needed for 5th grade:

1.    A 2 pocket folder

2.     Zippered pouch for school supplies

3.    Pencils – a lot of them*

4.    Dry erase markers*

5.    Small piece of cloth or old sock to erase dry erase board

6.    Black sharpies one fine, one ultra fine

7.    Small Simple pencil sharpener. Put it in a zip lock bag for pencil shavings. This will need to fit into the zippered pouch

8.    2 Spiral Notebooks 70 pages each (bring one to school)

9.    Colored markers

10.                  Colored pencils

11.                  Binder paper for homework (leave at home)

*(bring only enough needed for school, leave the rest at home for use as needed)

We always need tissue and dry erase markers.

Please let me know if you cannot get these items. I have some already prepared.

Remember the first two weeks of school (8 days) are minimum days.  Everyone arrives at 8:10 and is dismissed at 1:50.  Please remember to make after school arrangements with your parents before the day begins. During the time after school I will be testing students on their reading fluency. Please ask your child for the sheet indicating the day that they are to stay after school.

I expect students that bring snacks to school, to only bring healthy snacks. I want all of them to be healthy individuals and ready to learn each day.

Remember if you have any questions, please call my voice mail, 618-4350 #14 or email me at kajegret@yahoo.com.