 2nd Trimester Awards Assembly will be on Wednesday, March 11, at 9:15am to recognize 25 students in our class who have achieved AR goals, Honor Roll, i-Ready, Growth, Most Improved, and other achievements. We invite parents to share in this special occasion with our class. Invitations were sent home last week.
There are quite a few students in our class, although did not receive a certificate, have worked hard to improve academically as well as citizenship in the classroom. Congratulations! Keep up the good work. HAGGIN MUSEUM FIELD TRIP 5th Grade Students are going on a field trip to the Haggin Museum on March 12, 2020 for an exciting Art and History Tour.
HAPPY SPRING BREAK Rio Calaveras will be on Spring Break from March 16-20. During the break, students are encouraged to read everyday for 30 minutes, and 20 minutes on Lexia/Reading Plus or i-Ready. Please make sure your child continues to learn even when not in school. :) Thank you and have a wonderful Spring Break!
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 Report cards will go home on Wednesday. Grades are given in rubric format in relation to the 5th grade standards. Here is the percentage range for each of the rubric score:
4 = Exceed Standard (98-100%) 3 = At Standard (70% - 97%) 2 = Near Standard (40% - 69%) 1 = Below Standard (1% - 39%) The goal is for all students to reach the score of 3 or “At Standard”. Please encourage your child to continue to do well or give more effort in the 3rd Trimester. I will also include a gradebook copy which shows the grade percentages your child receives for each subject. A detailed final 2nd Trimester grades are posted on our class website. As always, please let me know if you have questions or concerns. Thank you! 3RD TRIMESTER AR READING CONTRACT For the 3rd Trimester, all students in class signed AR 100% Contract in which they promised to read everyday and to support each other so that EVERYONE in class will achieve our AR goals! We are doing this because we know the importance of reading in education and we want to develop a lifelong love for reading. Please support the students in this very difficult challenge by making sure that they have a time and place to read at home everyday for at least 30 minutes. Thank you, Parents! WEBSITE PROJECT Our Website Project continues with students creating their own designs and adding favorite things. We will use our websites to publish our Black History, Women’s History, and State Reports. SQUISHY CIRCUITS In this week’s STEM time, we will create exciting gadgets. Squishy Circuits are a fun way to learn and explore the basics of electricity and electrical circuits using play-dough, lights, motors and buzzers. J  This year has gone by so fast. As we go into the last Trimester of 5th grade, I ask all parents to continue to support your child in their learning effort. Usually, toward the end of the year, students will begin to let go and not have the same excitement for school like they did at the beginning of the year. In class, we continue on with our curriculum, assignments, and projects. I will do everything I can to keep your child engaged and motivated. At home, please remind/enforce homework and reading time and not let your child make excuses for not fulfilling their responsibility.
Thank you for your support. WEBSITE PROJECT Our Website Project continues with students creating their own designs and adding favorite things. We will use our websites to publish our Black History, Women’s History, and State Reports. OZOBOTS Part 2 In this week’s STEM time, we will continue our Ozobot exploration. Students have been using markers to draw lines for the Ozobots to follow. This time, they will use the iPad to program the mini robot. TIPS FOR SUCCESS Send Your Child to School Ready to Learn #2 Kids need the right amount of sleep to be alert and ready to learn all day. School-aged children need 10-12 hours of sleep a night. Bedtime difficulties can arise at this age for a variety of reasons. Homework, sports, after-school activities, TVs, computers, and video games, as well as hectic family schedules, can contribute to kids not getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can cause irritable or hyperactive behavior and might make it hard for kids to pay attention in class. It's important to have a consistent bedtime routine, especially on school nights. Be sure to leave enough time before bed to allow your child to unwind before lights out and limit stimulating diversions like TV, video games, and Internet access.  February 18, 2020, 8-10am
Dear Parents, You are invited to come to Rio Calaveras AVID Open House on February 18, 2020. If possible, please stop by our classroom anytime from 8-10 and see the things we do in class. We will be happy to have you visit us! TRIMESTER 2 ASSESSMENTS Trimester 2 is ending this week. The students will be taking assessments in Math and Reading this week. Please have your child in school every day to get the support they need to complete the tests successfully. Thank you! TECHNOLOGY UPDATE Our Website Project continues this month and the students are hard at work making their websites look great with their own designs and favorite things. We will use our websites to publish our Black History, Women’s History, and State Reports. TIPS FOR SUCCESS: Send Your Child to School Ready to Learn A nutritious breakfast fuels up kids and gets them ready for the day. In general, kids who eat breakfast have more energy and do better in school. Kids who eat breakfast also are less likely to be absent and make fewer trips to the nurse. You can help boost your child's attention span, concentration, and memory by providing breakfast foods that are rich in whole grains, fiber, and protein, as well as low in added sugar. If your child is running late some mornings, send along fresh fruit, nuts, yogurt, or half a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Our school provides nutritious breakfast options before the first bell. (to be continued...) February 18, 2020, 8-10am
Dear Parents, You are invited to come to Rio Calaveras AVID Open House on February 18, 2020. If possible, please stop by our classroom anytime from 8-10 and see the things we do in class. We will be happy to have you visit us! TRIMESTER 2 ASSESSMENTS Trimester 2 is ending next week. The students will be taking assessments in Math and Reading this week and next. Please have your child in school every day to get the support they need to complete the tests successfully. Thank you! VALENTINE'S DAY CELEBRATIONS Our class will celebrate Valentine with a “RoAch” on February 14th in the afternoon. The students are encouraged to share with each other Valentine cards and treats. We will also have a “Valentine Container” challenge in class. Mrs. Morales will be stopping by our classroom to judge our creations. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mention prizes will be awarded for the most creative containers. Good luck and remember to have lots of FUN!!! Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! Time goes by so fast! There are only 3 weeks left until the end of Trimester 2. We have many projects, assignments, and tests to complete. AR goals must also be met within the next few weeks. Please support our efforts by having your child at school every day, no tardies or leaving early. Encourage your child to complete all assignments as best as they can. Please also make sure your child reads and do their homework everyday at home. Thank you.
ART APPRECIATION Through this year, we have been working on improving our skills in art. We learned to mix colors, to draw, and to shade and blend using different mediums such as crayons, color pencils, acrylic & tempera paints, oil pastels, and watercolors. Our artwork is displayed on our class website (www.Journey5th.us). In the month of February, we will continue with watercolors. Afterward, we will go into perspective drawings and charcoal. It’s going to be fun learning different art techniques. PERMISSION TO BRING DEVICES Dear Parents, In this week’s STEM activity, we will be exploring 3D augmented reality. In these activities, students will use hand-held devices with a camera to create 3D images of maps, cells, and other interesting and exciting creations. Therefore, please allow your child, if they have one, to bring a device (iPad, iPhone, android phone, or tablet) to class on Friday this week. I will also show the students how to download and install an app called “Quiver” on the devices before bringing it to class. The app is available for free on the App Store or Google Play. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your support.  This week, students will learn more about who was Martin Luther King and the things he did to fight for equal rights for all people. Following Dr. King’s famous 1963 speech at the “Civil Rights March” in Washington, students will also write their own “I Have a Dream” discourse about what changes they’d like to see in the world today.
STEAM NIGHT Rio Calaveras’ annual STEAM Science Night will be on Monday, January 28, 2019 from 4-7. Our class will have “STEAM Stations” in our class which consists of 6 projects. Families are encouraged to attend the STEAM Night to enjoy the different activities offered around the school. Any students that come to the STEAM Night is asked to help our class to run the stations for half-hour shifts. J Please join us for this fun learning night with the students and the Rio Calaveras community. ACCELERATED READER Please continue to encourage your child to read at home everyday for at least 30 minutes to achieve their AR goals for the 2nd Trimester! Thank you.  This Friday, our class will celebrate Lunar New Year with a special “Welcome to the Year of the Rat” class social. We will learn about the history of the Lunar New Year and how it’s celebrated in different cultures. We will also play New Year “games of chance” using our class money.
It’s going to fun celebrating Lunar New Year 2020. TECHNOLOGY UPDATE The website project was started this month and the students are hard at work making their websites look great with their own designs and favorite things. We will use our websites to publish our Black History, Women’s History, and State Reports. STEM This week in STEM, we will start an exciting project never been done before in class: RASPBERRY Pi !!! Sounds good??? We will have more information once we know more about the… RASPBERRY Pi !!! But we know that it’s going to be exciting to learn about the… RASPBERRY Pi !!!  THANK YOU to the parents and students that have taken the time to come and discuss about current progress, future goals, as well as share concerns for 5th grade. I am ALWAYS available by Remind, email, contact form on our class website, phone call, or send a note to school for questions or to arrange a meeting after school. Open communication between Parents and Teacher is the best way to support Students. Thank you!
A FEW FRIENDLY REMINDERS FOR PARENTS SCHEDULE STUDY TIME Set up an area for homework and reading away from noise and distractions. Post a family calendar that schedules school project deadlines, after-school activities, test dates, progress reports, and report cards. Use our class website calendar, this learning schedule, and the student planner to find out about upcoming activities. Our Class’ Learning Schedule should be displayed at a place where you and your child can check regularly. SUPPORT 100% ATTENDANCE Attendance is VERY important to a good education. While some kinds of absences are unavoidable (sickness, injuries…), but taking students out of school unnecessarily is disruptive for learning. Please schedule appointments after school if possible. ACCELERATED READER Please continue to encourage your child to read everyday for at least 30 minutes to achieve their AR goals for the 2nd Trimester! Thank you.  Hoping that all families have had a wonderful Holiday Season and a restful break for the students. Now it’s time for our class to get back together to continue with our Fifth-Grade year. I’d like to thank all parents for your support the past year. It takes everyone to make the year successful! Time goes by very quickly (even though some students will disagree with me), and the end of the year is not far away. Please continue to encourage your child to try harder in this new year. In class this week, each student will make New Year Learning Resolutions. They will come up with ways to achieve and maintain that goal. At home, you can also help your child to set up goals for this new year and motivate them to achieve those goals. Some examples are: Perfect attendance, perfect homework, at least 30 minutes of reading a day, clean up room once a week, homework before TV… and many other positive goals that the family can achieve together. 2nd TRIMESTER PROGRESS REPORT 2nd Trimester Progress Report is going home with your child this Wednesday, January 8, 2020 showing the current status of your child in class. We will have many more activities, assignments, and projects to complete. These grades could go up or down, depending on the work your child does between now and at the end of Trimester 3 (Feb. 21, 2020). Please look over and either encourage your child to continue doing good work or talk about trying their best in all assignments, turning in all classwork and homework. i-Ready scores and AR progress will also be included with the Progress Report. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. PARENT-STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES Our 2nd Trimester PST Conferences will begin this week from January 8-10 for the first round. Requests were sent to Parents on the REMIND app to sign up for a day and time. If you did not receive a request and would like to have a conference, please let me know and I will schedule a second round the week after on January 15-17. Thank you. I-READY, LEXIA/READING PLUS PRACTICE Our class has been using i-Ready, Lexia, and Reading Plus in class for reading/math improvement. Students are assigned practices to do at school and at home. These programs offer practice, exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning path that empower students to study at their own pace, at their level, in and outside of the classroom. Please have your child work on these programs for at least 20 minutes everyday. The logins are on our class page under “Class Links” The more they practice, the better they will be! JANUARY: WATERCOLORS This year, during “Art Appreciation” time each week, the students learn about lines, shapes, colors, techniques, perspectives, and other concepts. We also explore art styles from art masters and then create our own art using those styles. Studies have shown that involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills. Art learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork. Finally, drawing, painting, and creating arts can be a relaxing, non-pressure activity that refreshes the mind. Please purchase an inexpensive set of watercolors for your child at stores like Walmart, Michael’s, Office Depot, or online at Amazon. * In the case students don’t have the supplies, not to worry, I will have enough materials for them to use. STEM 2020 As the first half of the year STEM program was about hands-on building activities, the second half projects will be mostly on computers, electronics, and robotics. In January, we will build game consoles with Raspberry Pi mini-computers. We will also create our own personal websites to post assignments as well as play games!!! It’s going be a lot of fun! Our Class would like to thank families that had donated goodies to our Winter Carnival’s “Santa Store” on December 20th. We couldn’t have a successful Carnival without these treats. We also like to thank those parents that came to our classroom to share the fun with us. We had a great time at the Class Carnival. The year-end carnival will be on May 26, 2020!
Thank you so much students and parents for the generous gifts that I have received including candies, cookies, mugs… and especially the gift-cards/cash that will be used directly for our classroom! I feel so lucky and blessed to have a great group of students this year and parents that support us. Let’s have a wonderful NEW YEAR together! |
WEEKLY MESSAGE
To inform parents of curriculum progress, classroom news and activities. Please ask for the Learning Schedule that goes home every Monday. Archives
March 2020
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