Our Classroom Procedures

Kids...

A coastal boho theme sets the mood in our room. Besides being a fun theme designed to give our classroom personality, many of the ways we organize ourselves to accomplish academic and character goals are tied to this nautical theme.

Earn points for a job well done! Personal responsibility is highly stressed in this 5th grade classroom. An economy system helps you, a member of the “crew," develop responsibility for your learning and choices, and allows you to accumulate points toward classroom privileges. At the end of each quarter you may use your points to participate in a class auction for fun and useful items. In addition to earning points for behavior and academic goals, expect to be assigned a weekly classroom job to help our class run smoothly and earn you personal points as well.

C R U I S E (Capable Readers Use Imagination and Strategies Every time they read) is the acronym used to describe independent reading. When you CRUISE in the room, you will read your independent reading book while practicing a reading strategy or signpost of some sort (ie. envisioning). Likewise, for CRUISE homework, you will spend 30 minutes or more reading at least 20 pages of your book, and completing a CRUISE LOG. The most fun part of our Reader's Workshop is going to be getting to talk about your book with your own Reading Partner or Book Club! I know when I read a book, I want to tell someone about it. You will get to do that EVERY DAY! Students will read in a reading band of levels determined by ability and interest, and each quarter you will have a goal to meet for CRUISE. Reading will be fun, fun, fun this year!

S A I L (Students At Independent Learning) is the acronym used to describe some center activities that you will participate in during morning rotations in the classroom. These are self-paced/self-motivated activities where progress is documented in a SAIL folder, and you can earn big-point bonuses every time a component is completed.

Parents...

Volunteers are welcome in our classroom, especially during our Morning Rotations. I need at least one parent per day to help supervise these Rotations while I am engaged with a small group of students. It is imperative that you are consistently present each week on the day you choose to volunteer. It is a big commitment, but one that will be extremely appreciated and helpful. The specific time that you are needed will go home the first couple weeks of school after we have gotten into a normal routine.

“What do you need?” is a question parents often ask. Instead of being a classroom volunteer, there are other ways to contribute. Be a chaperone for field trips or serve as room mother (or dad), and coordinate holiday parties (I’d appreciate a parent who can take charge of everything from setup to cleanup, including games!) If you can’t give time, other ways to help are to buy some games for our game closet, make a donation earmarked to replace worn out books in our classroom library, provide the craft supplies for an upcoming project, or send in extra field trip money to cover the cost for a less fortunate student.

Auctions are my way of rewarding students for hard work and good choices, but they do get expensive! There is no school budget to help with the cost, and I welcome all donations. Some of the best places to look for treasures for 5th graders are The Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Walmart, Amazon, and Five Below. Auctions are held at the end of each grading period, or every nine weeks.

Birthdays are special days for eleven-year-olds! Unfortunately, by 5th grade we cannot stop our instructional day to celebrate with goodies, though a lunchtime snack is perfectly appropriate to share with classmates. Birthday party invitations can be a source of hurt feelings, and for this reason, I do not allow them to be passed out at school unless every person in the class is included (or boys invite all boys, girls invite all girls), nor do I allow anyone to deliver invitations to another classroom. Please make other arrangements for distributing invitations before or after school, unless no one gets left out.

Homework is where you can personally observe your child's development in the area of personal responsibility. A child who can be depended on for homework will have it written clearly in the agenda daily, will bring home needed materials, will understand the assignments or make phone calls to classmates or me for clarification, and will need minimal help to complete the work. Your child should also be the one responsible for securing signatures and returning homework to school. I don’t accept statements like, “My mom forgot to sign,” or “My dad was checking it but forgot to put it in my backpack.” I do realize unforeseen things happen. If a student gets sick, has a family emergency, or the dog really does eat the homework, a note from you will excuse it. Busy schedules, recreational activities, or poor time management are unacceptable excuses for not doing homework. On occasion I will allow a student to call home to ask a parent to run something to school, but the consequence for not bringing the homework will still be enforced. Feel free to say, “No,” should you not wish to be inconvenienced to bring the requested item to school.

Snack: All students may bring a nutritious snack and a bottle of water is provided every day. Also, if the water bottle becomes a distraction, the use of the water fountain in the room will have to suffice.

Reach me by phone any time you have a question or need to give me information about your child. Email is another way to reach me, especially after school hours. I will give my phone number out the first week of school, primarily for student use. I am usually on a first name basis with parents, and I know we will have a productive year with your 5th graders.