Fifth Grade Information Mrs. McPherson TEACHERS: ART Mr. Casson MUSIC Mrs. Cole P.E. Coach Davidson LIBRARY Mrs. Letterly GUIDANCE COUNSELOR Mrs. Damery SPECIAL EDUCATION Mrs. Warren READING/MATH SPECIALIST Ms. Grebner, Mrs. Farris SECRETARY Mrs. Froman HOMEWORK: Homework in our room consists of work which students are unable to complete in class. Any assignments not completed during the day are to go home as homework in the purple assignment folder and should be returned the following day. Please make it your child s responsibility to check their planner and make sure all assignments are in the folder each day. MATH Math assignments will be given on a daily basis. Please practice mastery of basic facts at home. If your child knows his/her facts, daily work will be much easier. I have drill sheets available, if you would like to use them for at home practice. Students will also practice their basic math facts on the NEO to help gain mastery. READING Students will continue to work on the reading strategies introduced to them in fourth grade to help them become better readers. Please encourage your child to read at home independently. Students will set an individual reading goal each quarter and will be encouraged to read books in their independent reading zone. Developing an enjoyment for reading helps build lifelong readers!
LANGUAGE In language, we will focus on the writing process, as well as the parts of speech. Students will write for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. SPELLING A list will be given to your child with the words for five units at a time. This list will be placed in the clear cover of our homework folders. Pre-tests will be given on Tuesday. The final test will be given on Thursday. On the posttest, your child will only be tested on the words he/she missed on the pretest. An assignment will be given each week. This assignment will be due on Thursday each week. SOCIAL STUDIES/SCIENCE We will have homework assignments in these classes. Our science units focus on the ocean and the human body. Also, as part of our science curriculum, during one of the semesters your 5 th grader will participate in the R.I.S.E. program (Responsibility Increases Student Excellence), sponsored by the Williamsville Police Department. Officer Harmon will present a weekly program to our class either first or second semester. Due to the R.I.S.E. Program, your child will only receive a science grade two of the four quarters. In Social Studies, our focus will be on American History. We will cover explorers through the Civil War. GRADING Listed below is the 5 th Grade Grading Scale: 92-100 A 84-91 B 76-83 C 68-75 D LATE WORK Ten points will be deducted each day until the assignment is turned in to the teacher. Parents will receive a note listing late assignments which are due the following day. This note should be signed and returned with the completed work the next morning.
ASSIGNMENT PLANNER One of our fifth grade goals it to help students become better organized. Each student has an assignment planner. I will stress to them the importance of writing down all assignments for the day, even the assignments they have finished. If the assignment is finished, they may check this off as finished in the notebook. Once again, any unfinished work is homework. It is each student s responsibility to make sure their work is taken home and finished for the following day. Students were given homework folders to help keep their assignments organized. Papers on the right side of this folder are to stay at home. This will include notes, graded papers, and newsletters. Papers placed in the left side are to be returned to school the next day. These will include assignments, signed notes, and review sheets. Although your child may need your guidance at the beginning of the school year, please, please, please, make it your child s responsibility to go through the folder to determine what should stay and what should be taken out of the folder. I will not require your child to have his/her planner initialed each day by a parent, unless he/she starts having problems with organization/homework completion. SNACKS Due to our late lunch shift (12:35), students will be allowed to bring a snack from home to have with the morning milk break. Each child will be responsible for bringing in his/her own snack each day. Please help your child choose appropriate snacks for the classroom nothing that requires a spoon, or could cause a mess if spilled. There will not be extra snacks available in the classroom, so please help your child remember to bring a daily snack. In your child s packet is a list of ideas that your child may want to consider for snack or you may have some other great ideas, too! PARTIES We will have classroom parties for Christmas and Valentine s Day. The students plan the party, and parents send the treats. Sign up sheets for contributing treats were available at Meet the Teacher Night. If you were unable to attend, and would like to contribute to a party, just send a note to school, and I will add your name to the list. Birthday Treats Your child is welcome to bring in birthday treats; whatever day is convenient for you, it will be fine with me. If your child has a summer birthday,
he/she may bring treats for his/her half birthday or pick a day in May. I do ask, out of respect for the limited amount of time that we have to distribute treats, that you do not send in anything that needs to be cut (cookie cakes, sheet cakes, etc.) Thanks for understanding. Party Invitations: Please do not send party invitations to school for your child to pass out, unless you plan to invite the entire class. Also, please do not allow your child to bring gifts to school for a boyfriend or girlfriend. WEEKLY REPORTERS My weekly newsletter called the Weekly Reporter will be posted online and I will also email it to those of you that provide me with an email address. If you prefer to access the Weekly Reporter online go to the Williamsville Middle School website (www.wcusd15.org) and click on 5 th Grade, Mrs. McPherson. The link to the Weekly Reporter will be found on my homepage. This weekly communication will tell you about upcoming tests and provide you with other important information. I usually have the Weekly Reporter updated by Friday afternoon. I will send a hard copy home for the first few weeks of school. EMAIL/PHONE/VOICEMAIL Please do not send time sensitive email messages to me, as my time for checking email varies each day, depending upon my schedule. Messages regarding absences, travel arrangements to/from school, and homework requests need to go through the office. Thanks. HOMEWORK REQUEST: If you would like to request homework be sent home for your child during his/her absence, please give the school a call by 9:00 a.m. (566-4070) Thank you for taking the time to read through this information. I look forward to an exciting year! Feel free to call or send a note, if you have questions or concerns. The school number is 566-4070. Let s work together to make this an outstanding year for your child! Sincerely, Mrs. Julie McPherson
Mrs. McPherson s Classroom Rules Be RESPONSIBLE Listen and follow directions. Be prepared for class. Do your best work. Be on task. Be RESPECTFUL Be polite and courteous. Use kind words. Respect school property and property of others. Be SAFE Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself. Consequences Every student begins every day on GREEN. 1st Infraction VERBAL WARNING Student moves their identified marker into the Warning Zone.. 2nd Infraction YELLOW Student moves their identified marker to the Yellow Zone. This student will lose 5 minutes of game break for that day. 3rd Infraction. RED Student moves their identified marker to the Red Zone. This student misses all of game break for that day. A behavior note is to be sent home to the parents, signed, and returned for any student moving to the Red Zone.