November 5, 2014

Fifth Grade

Newsletter

Parents,

    Well, the school year is slipping away from us, and this time of year we have a lot of events going on that will make time fly even faster.  Many of these fun activities coming up will be held after school and some are for parents, not students.  Please mark the following dates on your calendar, if you wish to attend any of these programs.

    We know that many parents struggle with helping their children with the new “Go Math” program, and we want to help with whatever questions you may have, so we are having a “Parents Night”, tomorrow(Thurs., Nov. 6th), from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.  This will be held at South Elementary.  Have all your questions ready to ask, and hopefully we can help you understand the program a little better.  If you cannot make this time, then try going into our school web page and click on the thinkcentral.com link, under the Go Math “On The Spot” post, and then click on the 5th grade link. This will have lessons and videos for you to learn from, that go along with the lesson samples being taught in the classroom.  Check it out, it will be very helpful to you and your child.  There is also a seminar on the Choking Game, tonight.  It is at the District Office and will be starting at 7:00 PM.  You can read more information about this on the school web page.

    The Maturation program will be held this Friday, Nov. 7th.  The boy’s session will be at 1:00 PM, in the gym, and the girl’s session will be held at 2:00 PM, in the gym.  If you want to take your child home with you after the program, you can do this, just make sure that your child checks with his/her teacher, first.

    The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Night will be on Monday, Nov. 10th, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.  There are going to be a lot of fun art displays, as well as your child’s Reflection project(s) at the art show.  It is going to be an exciting time, so please come join us. See the flyer on the school web page.

    Your child should have brought home a Share Fair letter, along with interview questions on Monday.  If you have not read through the letter, will you please make sure to do so?  Your child will need to interview someone within the family, preferably a grandparent, about an ancestor that immigrated to the United States.  We will be hosting our Share Fair on Friday, Nov. 21st from 2:00 to 3:15.  The interview questions are due next Wed., November 12th.  The whole project will be due on Thursday, Nov., 20th.   We will be sharing our projects in class on Thursday and Friday.   If you have any questions about the Share Fair, please feel free to contact any of the fifth grade teachers.  We do have projects that you can come and look at if you need some ideas.

    Your child should have their SAGE testing scores, from last year, with them today.  Be sure to ask them for those, so that together you can go over areas they did well on and other areas that they might have struggled with.  Remember that the SAGE testing that was given last year, was a new test; therefore, it was a trial year for our district, as well as the whole state.   The state average for language was 42%, math was a 47% and science was 43%. The average state score was a “level 2” in all content areas.  As you can tell, this test was much more rigorous than what we have had in the past years, so don’t be discouraged if your child’s scores are lower this year.

    Students need to start practicing their typing skills at home.  Please look for a practice sheet to be coming home with your child today.  Students should practice all the skills they are taught in class, such as sitting straight, with their hands on the home row keys and keeping their eyes on their practice sheet and not on their hands.  Please make sure that you watch them do their practicing, so they are learning to do it the right way.  This will really help them with their writing part of the SAGE test this year, if they practice the right way.

    Be looking for the next newsletter to be posted on November 19th. We will be having our next Worker’s Holiday before the Thanksgiving break.

    Remember that there will be no school on Nov. 26th, 27th and 28th, because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.

    Please sign the bright orange verification slip and return in to school with your child.

    We appreciate you parents so much with all that you do to help us with your children.

                                                                  Sincerely,

                                                                  Mrs. Little, Mrs. Payne and Mrs. Williams