All parents and guardians of fifth grade students are cordially invited to a Sixth Grade Orientation on Tuesday, May 22, at 6:00 P.M. in the middle school library.  Don’t miss this opportunity to learn what to expect during the next school year and how to help your child with the transition to middle school.

Tomorrow (Friday, May 11) is Field Day for fifth grade. Each  student should bring a bottle of water with his or her name on it.   Students need to remember to wear play clothes and athletic shoes (no flip-flops or sandals.)  Field Day runs approximately from 8:20 – 11:45 on the football field.  Parents are welcomed and encouraged to attend.  Students who will be staying at school after Field Day may want to consider bringing an extra change of clothes.  I hear there will be some fun-filled water activities!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As you know this week the students on the Intermediate campus will be taking various STAAR tests.  The third and fourth grade will test on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The fifth grade will take the STAAR science test on Thursday.  The fifth grade are allowed to bring two pieces of gum and a bottle of room temperature water.  Please do not deliver lunch to your intermediate children during these three testing days.  Students can bring a lunch from home or eat a lunch from the cafeteria on testing days.

Also, three assignments have been entered into Skyward today.  I have asked the students to turn in any incompletes or corrections by Friday.  I am very proud of the students’ hard work.  We are going to continue to work hard, enjoy learning, and end the year on a strong note.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This Thursday, April 5, is the end of the 5th marking period.  All corrections are due by the start of the Easter Party at 1:15.  It is preferred to have the corrections submitted by Wednesday if at all possible.  Due to the fact that your son or daughter received math instruction from just one teacher for both computation and problem solving during this marking period, Mrs. Smith and I decided that the assignments recorded during this marking period will be reflected in both the computation and problem solving grades on your child’s report card.  Report cards will go home next Thursday, April 12.

Special Reminders:

The Easter Party will be held on the high school football field from 1:15 – 2:00 on April 5.  You may check your child out after the party.

Please remember to have your child bring 12 plastic Easter eggs filled with goodies for the party as well as a carton to hold the eggs.

There is no school on Good Friday, April 6.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This Wednesday, February 22, and Thursday, February 23, fifth grade students will be taking a 4- hour benchmark test in math and reading which is a practice for the upcoming STAAR tests on March 27 and 28.  Students are allowed to bring two pieces of gum to school to chew during this test.  One piece is for before lunch and the other piece is for after lunch.  Students may not chew gum outside of their testing locations.  Please do not bring food to your child during these two testing days.  Students may bring a lunch from home or eat a lunch from the cafeteria.  The goal is for students to feel comfortable with the testing procedures so that on the real test day they can do their very best.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

On Monday, January 23, the focus of the weekly math homework will shift from practicing mathematical processes to test preparation.  As you know the state mandated test has been changed from the TAKS to the STAAR, which will be implemented this year for the first time.  Due to the fact that it is an inaugural year for the STARR, the students will be issued the same test preparation workbook that was purchased with our current core mathematics curriculum, and so being will have the TAKS label.  Within the next year as the STAAR becomes fully implemented your child’s materials will shift from the TAKS to the STAAR label. 

The workbook your child will receive for test preparation was issued for the following reasons:

1)    Review of key skills and applications in a mixed concept format

2)    Practice solving math problems in a standardized test format

3)    Time management practice (the students will have only 4 hours to complete 50 math problems on the STAAR and the time does not stop for bathroom breaks)

If you see that your child is consistently doing well on the assigned pages in this workbook with no assistance, completes the questions in a timely manner, and is performing well in both my class and in Mrs. Smith’s class, it is all a very good indication that your child has a solid command of 5^th grade mathematics, and along with continued hard work and effort, should succeed on the STAAR.

The 5^th grade STAAR mathematics test will be administered on Tuesday, March 27, followed by the 5^th grade STAAR reading test on Wednesday, March 28.  The 5^th grade STAAR science test will be administered on Thursday, April 26.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.  

Due to the short school week, I will not be assigning regular homework. Students may correct two assignments on their grade sheets if they have not done so already: #1 Muliplication Properties p. 56 and #3 Estimate Products p. 21. These corrections are due tomorrow, November 22. I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and will see you back at school on Monday, November 28.

This Friday, November 4, is the last day of the second grading period. Report cards will be going home on Thursday, November 10. The latest grades have been entered into Skyward. All grades are correctable except for the “Beat It or Keep It” quizzes. However, students have an opportunity to take these quizzes two times. I will keep the highest score. On Wednesday, the students will take a 20 question math test designed by myself and Mrs. Smith. It will cover multiplication concepts involving problem solving, factors, and arrays that we have been working on during the last several weeks. This will be not a correctable assignment. Thus far I have entered 4 correctable assignments into Skyward. They are item #1 Basic Multiplication, item #2 Vocabulary Quiz 1, item #3 Advanced Multiplication, and item #5 Problem Solving p. 36. Additionally, I have not assigned regular homework last week or this week. Students are to be working on their corrections, studying for the multiplication facts tests called “Beat It or Keep It”, and working on the same bonus opportunities that I offered last week. Many students are not taking advantage of the chance to correct their papers and earn bonus points in order to raise their grades even though I have extended the deadlines. The latest date I can accept late assignments, corrections, or bonus is this Friday, November 4. The next “Beat It or Keep It” is also Friday, November 4, and will cover the 6-9′s multiplicaton facts.

The optional bonus opportunities that are available through Friday, October 28, are the following:

1) Homework workbook p. 22 #27 amd #28
2) Homework workbook p. 21 all questions

Please submit all bonus work on a separate sheet of notebook paper. Please include complete sentences in context for all answers to story problems.

All corrections for graded papers except for “Beat It or Keep It” 0-5 basic multiplication facts are due on or before Friday, October 28.

Please continue practicing basic multiplication facts. Students who received a “90″ or higher on the 0-5 Beat It or Keep It basic facts test, may try for a “100″ on the 0-5′s this Thursday, October 27, or they may take the 6-9′s Beat It or Keep It instead.

Today students were issued new homework workbooks. Students can write in these workbooks. If the assignment contains one-step mental math questions, such as the type of questions for tonight’s and Tuesday night’s homework, then students do not have to show their work in their math journals. Please see the ‘Weekly Homework’ page for further instructions on this assignment. I asked students to keep this homework workbook in their homework folders for safe-keeping.