Mrs. Shutter s Room 106 Fifth Grade Handbook Welcome to fifth grade! I am looking forward to getting to know you and your child this school year. My name is Makenzie Shutter and this will be my eleventh year here at Lincoln having spent three years in fourth grade and the seven previous in fifth. I graduated in 1993 from Jefferson High School right here in Alex. I then went on to get my four-year degree from the University of Minnesota in Duluth in Early Childhood Special Education. I taught for a year at Northwoods Children s Home there in Duluth before spending half a year traveling around Australia and New Zealand. After I returned home, I spent the next two years attending the University of Minnesota in Morris getting my Elementary Education license as well as substitute teaching here in District 206. It was great to come home! What a wonderful area to live and work! During those years, I spent many summers running a residential children s horseback camp and got to enjoy two of my greatest passions: working with children and riding. I also enjoy reading, fishing, running, movies, and spending time with my friends and family. My husband Justin and I have a 4 year old son, Glenn, and his little brother Sam who is now 1 ½ years old. They are both so much fun and we are enjoying watching them grow My favorite time with them is bath time!!! I think they would spend all day in the water if we would let them. We also have two very naughty, but sweet, dogs a black lab/retriever named Grizzly and a teacup poodle named Bear. (Named separately years before my husband and I met and yes, the poodle was his!!! ) Grizzly and Bear don t always like to listen and like us here at LES, they are also continuously working on following the Code of Conduct. COMMUNICATION: Please know that anytime you want to stop in or need to call me you are always welcome. I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH! You can get me directly at school at 762 3320 most mornings from 7:30 to 8:15 or most afternoons from 2:45 3:30. You are also welcome to call me at anytime after school hours at 320-491-1216. If I am not available when you call, I will be sure to return any messages I receive as soon as possible. Students are also encouraged (even expected I truly welcome the calls!!!) to call me whenever they have any worries, questions, or homework concerns. My school e-mail address is mshutter@alexandria.k12.mn.us. Please feel free to use e-mail to contact me anytime. I will check it daily. It is also fine to send notes to school with your student. The assignment notebook is a great place for this! Newsletters & Calendars will be sent home monthly to keep you informed of what is happening in the classroom. Reminders of major events and special activities will come home at various times. Friday Folders will be sent home with the students every Friday with any important school news, newsletters, and all of your student s loose work, excluding workbook pages. At the end of the month I will be sending home an AR report indicating AR points and test results for that month. The Assignment Notebook will be sent home each day. This is where daily assignments will be listed as well as any notes or reminders from me to you as needed. SUBJECT AREAS:
Language Arts: This year we will be running a Reader s/writer s Workshop Model. This model delivers literacy instruction that has a goal of preparing all students for the 21st century. Instruction is delivered through the workshop model. Daily rituals and routines are established and practiced enabling students to function independently with a high level of accountability. A natural effect of the workshop model is a gradual release of responsibility from teacher directed modeling to student directed work, which leaves teachers more time to devote to individual and small group instruction. SAMPLE: Reader's Workshop Opening Read Alouds Instruction: Teacher Modeling/Think Alouds around comprehension, fluency, phonics, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary Work Period Independent Reading with Just Right Books Partner Reading Individual Reading Conferences Small Group Instruction Guided Reading Responding to Literature Literature Circles Literacy Activities Closing Refelct on what was learned SAMPLE: Writer's Workshop Opening Study Writer's Craft Modeling/Shared Writing Connect Reading to Writing Work Period Small Group Instruction Writing Conferences Writing Process: Planning, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing Closing Author's Chair: Students share writing Refelct on what was learned One very important thing we can do for children is to help them develop a love for reading. As your child s teacher I hope to help to do just that! Students will also be required to do some independent reading for the Accelerated Reading Program (AR) outside of school. Each month students will be required to successfully achieve a minimum of 3 AR points and we will be focusing on keeping our quiz averages above 80%. We will do most of our writing at school, but some writing may come home from time to time. Your child will be evaluated on the six traits of writing throughout the year and scores will appear on the report card. The six traits include: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, fluency, and conventions.
Math: We are continuing this year with Everyday Math however we have just adopted the newest version so it may look just a bit different than it has in the past. Three things to keep in mind when you work with your child in math: 1. This series uses many ways to solve problems that may not seem traditional, or of the same formulas you may have learned in your years at school. 2. When a problem is solved, ask your child, How did you get that answer? The process of getting to an answer is as important as the answer itself. 3. When going over homework with your child please try to help lead them to the right answer as opposed to giving it to them. The answers to the Study Links are given in the parent letter that comes home at the start of each unit. Spelling: Spelling lists will be sent home on Fridays. Both the pretest and the posttest will be given on Fridays. Please practice the words with your child every night. If a student receives an A on the pretest, they will get a stretch list of challenge words to practice for the Friday posttest. Social/Science/Health- In Science and Health we ll be learning about Simple Machines, Body Systems, Hygiene, our Environment and Bus Safety. Our Social Studies program covers American history. This year our classes will be departmentalizing for Social & Science with Mr. Witt and Mr. Rudolph. Isn t it fun that your child will get a chance to have all three teachers for a bit, and that I will get a chance to get to know all of the 5 th graders! MISCELLANEOUS: Homework Policy: At the fifth grade level students are expected to have approximately 45 minutes of homework each evening. The daily assignments include practicing spelling, reading for AR, and practicing math facts. There is, at times, other work that is also sent home such as math worksheets, project work, finishing daily tasks, etc. If there is ever a time the expectations for an assignment or project are unclear, please call or contact me. If there is ever a night where your child is overwhelmed with a certain assignment and have given it his/her best effort, you can at ANY TIME write me a quick note or sign your name on the unfinished work and let me know that an honest attempt was made and I will adjust accordingly. The goal of homework is to further practice skills, not to frustrate your child. Late Work: If work is not completed on time it will be considered late. Your child will be required to complete and hand in any late work. Students will not be staying in during recess time to complete their work (other than possibly a quick minute or so to chat if the need pops up.) If a student ha consistent problems with turning in work on time, we will set up a meeting to problem solve between parents, students, and myself. A set number of AR points are required monthly and AR reading is included as assigned work. Please see Late Slip example.
Code Slips and Detention: If students break the Code of Conduct, they will receive a Code Slip. A second Code Slip within a one-month time frame will result in detention. Detention will be assigned immediately for any violent behavior, cheating, or stealing. Please see Code Slip and Detention example Afternoon Break: We will have an optional break time every morning during math. You may choose to send snacks for your student if you would like for this time but please send snacks that are nutritious. Do not send any pop, chips or candy. We also encourage water bottles on a daily basis that students will be allowed to keep at their desks. Birthdays & Parties: Students may choose to celebrate their birthdays in class. We ask that if you do choose to send in a treat, that you send in something that complies with the Wellness Plan as towards healthy foods and snacks. Another option might be to use the money instead towards a classroom donation such as a board game for those rainy days, a new book for our classroom shelf, fun types of pens or pencils for the class, etc. Weather: Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. We go outside each morning and afternoon for recess unless it is raining or extremely cold. Please clearly mark your child s outside clothing. This will help them to hang on to their things and reduce the amount of lost and found. Attendance and Medication: Call the school health office at 762-7782 if your child is going to be absent. DO NOT CALL THE SCHOOL OFFICE. If your student takes any medication, be sure you have signed all of the required forms in the health office. Other important numbers: Transportation 762-3317 Food Service 7652-3315 Notes: If there is a change in your child s daily routine during or after school, please send a note, e-mail me, or call the office as soon as possible. If you do email me a change in routine, I will always email you a reply back that I received the information. If you do not get a reply from me, it would be best to call the office to be sure the message is received. Drop Off and Dismissal: School begins at 8:15 AM. PLEASE be sure your child is in the classroom and ready to go by 8:10AM. There is no supervision in the school until 7:45 so we ask that no student arrives prior to that time. The Compass Program does offer on-site child care prior to that time. (320)762-2210 Dismissal will be 2:42 for those who walk and are being picked up and 2:45 for students taking a bus.
Code of Conduct: Not just for school, but for life. KINDNESS, REPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, HONESTY, FAIRNESS We are all responsible for our tomorrow. We cannot change what has already happened, but we can learn from it. We have a responsibility to look at our choices, or the mistakes that we made, and decide how to learn from them to make tomorrow more successful. And if what we try still doesn t work we simply try again, something new, until we find what fits for us. Late Slips are our classrooms way to communicate between home and school, as well as track student responsibility. These slips are meant to help us remember that we all make mistakes (forgetting an assignment once in a while is something everyone will do.) For the first slip sent home each month we think of it as a reminder that we need to double check that we are prepared for each day. However, if we are forgetting our work consistently, something needs to be changed so that each student can be successful in their learning and development in fifth grade. Therefore, a second Late Slip in a month will mean I will be giving a call home to check in and see if there is anything I can do at school to help or assist that student with their routine. A third slip within a one month time frame will tell us we need to do some more problem solving. We will schedule a short meeting at school for the student, parents, myself, and Mr. Bogart where we can sit down together as one group and discuss/develop additional ideas for future success. Fifth grade is a big transition year for students in their maturity as learners. Middle School is right around the corner. We will be working quite a bit on students owning their work, choices and decisions and in students setting and following routines such as doublechecking their backpack before they leave in the morning and not relying on parents to do it for them. (The dead give-away for this is when a student checks in with me in the morning and doesn t think they have their homework for the day but runs to check their backpack to see if teacher for this year most likely will feel a little different than they have felt in the past as these kids are moving towards those middle school years. This year we are here as support for them, there to ask them if they checked for their work, there to give them those gentle reminders, to help develop new ideas or routines with them when needed but not to do for them. I am in the classroom to teach, and I love my job and take a lot of pride in making the classroom fun, exciting, motivating, and a place where each student can learn and feel successful. So it is my job to teach, but it is your child s job to learn. Learning is each student s own responsibility and organizational skills are a very important part in student success. I remind them often that parents are there in the evenings to work with a student when needed or asked, read with them for fun, listen to them recite newly memorized material or spelling lists, glow and gush over papers students are proud of, achieved goals, students success, and report cards!! It is students who need to pull out their homework or books at night, do what they can and ask if they do get stuck. And if there is something that is unclear and can t be done that night NO PROBLEM! A student needs only to ask me during check in
the next morning if I could look over something with them. Now we are back to my job and I will be more than happy to make things a bit clearer when needed! It is that kind of student responsibility we will be working towards and looking for in each student throughout the year. It doesn t come easily to everyone so we will use this year to work together as a team to help each student leave fifth grade with a successful strategy for being responsible. Questions? PLEASE don t ever hesitate to ask