We will be having a vocabulary quiz on Friday. The students should know the properties of the numbers. They have notes and have been using the properties all week.
Welcome Hello, I would like to welcome you to your child's last year in Elementary School. My name is Liz Merrill, and I have been teaching at Hamilton since 1998. My husband and I live in Sherrill and have two rambunctious boys. Robbie is 10 years old and will attend fifth grade in our home district. Danny is 7 going on 15. Cross your fingers for his second grade teacher, she will have her hands full this year. Fifth grade tends to be the year where many children try to become more independent and often forget to share information with their parents. For instance, you might find out you need cupcakes for a birthday bash at 8:00 the night before. To help eliminate the marathon baking sessions or cramming for a big test, I try to put all important information on the homework page.
Organization
I never have to wonder where my oldest son has been. All I have to do is follow the trail of socks, shoes, and toys to find him. Where as my youngest is obsessed with having everything just so. His shoes are always in the same place, and he usually puts everything back where he found it. They are as different as night and day. This holds true at school as well. Some children leave a trail of paper, pencils, and snack wrappers around the room. While others are neat and tidy. In fifth grade, we focus on being organized and responsible. Some students are naturally organized and need very little help. While, others need to be explicitly taught how to organize their binder, desk, and locker. I am asking for your help with teaching organizational skills. Although, it is much easier for us as parents and teachers to put the P.E. clothes in the back pack or put the paper in the folder, we are not helping our children learn how to be organized. So, whenever feasible, please assist your child rather than doing it for him or her. With a little patience and a lot of practice, we will teach them a valuable life skill.
Investigations Math Ughh.... I know that the Investigations program tends to cause many headaches for parents. The math looks completely different than the way you and I were taught and you may feel helpless when you cannot help your child with his or her homework. I have been there with my own children and can completely commiserate with you. With that said, education is changing. We need to prepare our children for an unknown future. Colleges and businesses are not satisfied with the work force. We hear about how Americans lack the ingenuity and problem solving necessary to be competitive. This program forces children to think, problem solve and learn how to work together. It requires children to be flexible thinkers. The skills that are learned in this researched-based program, go far beyond basic math concepts. On the math blog page, I will post videos that I hope will help your child if he or she gets stuck at home. If all else fails, have the students start the problem and record where his or her thinking gets fuzzy. We will work on it at school.
Math Facts Can you imagine if your child was still sounding out every single word as he or she reads? This would greatly impede his or her ability to comprehend and think deeply about the text. Lacking math fluency has the same impact. If your child struggles in math and you want to know what you could do help him or her? My suggestion is to make sure your child has mastered his or her math facts. Math fluency is essential to success just like fluency is essential is to reading. Without fluency, students cannot be flexible in their thinking. Too much time spent trying to recall facts impedes learning. Students entering fifth grade should be fluent in addition, subtraction and multiplication facts up to and including the twelves. I realize that not all students are there yet. My own son is still struggling to memorize his facts, but we practice every night.
Fluency will be practiced in school through number talks, quick images, and mental math activities throughout the day. Students must also practice for 10 to 15 minutes at home as well.
Birthdays We do celebrate birthdays in fifth grade. There is nothing better than knowing that we will be eating a ooey-gooey delicious creation at the end of the day. If your child has a birthday during the summer, we celebrate his or her half birthday. If possible, birthday treats should be at school brought to school at the beginning of the day. I am asking that children do not bring birthday invitations into schoolunless they are inviting everyone in the class of the same gender to the party. It is heartbreaking to watch a child realize that he or she was not invited to a party. This is easily avoided by mailing invitations. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter.
I am very excited to start the new school year. I look forward to meeting you.