Fifth Grade Guidelines
Mirror Lake Elementary
Stamp Cards
Stamp cards are used to reward students for positive behavior. Students collect their stamps on their stamp cards which are index cards with the students name on it. Students can’t lend or trade stamps. It is the student’s responsibility to keep up with their stamp cards. Only teachers or designated students may put stamps on or cross out stamps on the cards.
Reward stamps – students get stamps for positive activities such as getting their agendas signed, bringing in completed homework, getting behavior cards signed, helping the teacher or another student, etc.
Redeeming stamps – students can use stamps to buy privileges such as the use of missing materials, sit anywhere in the cafeteria, wear a hat, bring a CD player, or buy a mark off of the chart. A list of privileges and their prices will be posted. When a student buys a privilege, a teacher will cross out the correct number of redeemed stamps.
Behavior Cards and Clipboards
Individual student behavior cards are attached to the academic clip boards. They will be color coded by homeroom. Behavior and work habit marks will be made on the clipboard and the cards. The students will bring home their behavior cards weekly and return them signed. Parents and teachers will make any necessary comments on the back.
Marks Key
1 – talking A - homeroom
2 – off task B - morning classes
3 – disruptive C- afternoon classes
4 – disrespectful D - specials
5 – missing assignment E - recess
6 – missing materials F - transition
G – before or after school
H – lunch
1st mark – warning
2nd mark – time out in a specific spot in the classroom
3rd mark – time out in a specific spot in another classroom
4th mark – call home and conference request
A student will be sent directly to the office if they use any profanity, violence, threat of violence, or if the student brings inappropriate items to school.
Assignments and Materials
If a student is missing an assignment, they will use recess to complete the assignment until it is finished. A mark on the chart will indicate that the student did not complete their work on time. Assignments a week or more overdue will receive a zero. Parents will be notified of the zero via a note attached to the agenda. The note must be signed and returned to be put in the student’s file. Daily assignments and projects are essential to the learning process.
Students will be expected to bring required materials to each class. If a student is missing any materials, a mark will be made on their behavior chart. Entire class instruction is delayed when students are missing needed materials.
Independent Reading Books
Students should have a self-selected reading book with them at all times. Reading from this book during the day can be counted towards their 20 minute daily requirement.
Agendas
Students will fill out their agendas daily with assignments. Agendas will be checked every morning for a parent signature. Daily, students will receive a stamp on their stamp card for this achievement, or a mark on the chart for an incomplete agenda and no parent signature. The agenda will be used as a tool for communication between parents and teacher. It is the student’s responsibility to call attention to any notes to parents and/or teachers.
Binders
Students will keep an organized binder. These binders should have rings at least 3 inches in diameter. One binder might not make it through the year. The binder should include their agenda, subject dividers with pockets that contain assignments in progress and assignments completed, important papers for individual classes, notebook paper, graph paper, and a zipper pouch attached to the binder rings that contains pens, pencils, etc. These binders should go home every evening. These binders will be checked periodically for organization. Parents are encouraged to help students keep these binders organized and filled with appropriate supplies.
Mornings
Students may enter the building at 7:15. Please do not drop students at school before this time. No teacher may be present before that time. Students may stop in the cafeteria for breakfast. Students will be seated quietly in the hall near their classroom until the bell rings at 7:50. This time may be used to silently read or finish independent work. Students may not move about once they are down the hall and seated. When the bell rings the students will enter the classroom, put their backpacks away, make a lunch choice and begin seated bell work. It is essential that students arrive at school, ready to enter the classroom at 7:50. Starting the day in a calm organized way sets the tone for the entire day.
Water, Restroom and Gum
Students may bring to class water bottles that have pop-up spouts. Only water will be allowed in the bottles. The goal is to restrict trips to the water fountain, thereby cutting down on unmonitored traffic in the hallway and keeping students in the learning environment.
Students will be able to use the restroom as needed during independent time. They will be asked to sign in and out of the classroom.
Students may not chew gum in school.
Class Parties and Graduation
A parent representative will be responsible for organizing and gathering materials for grade level class parties and graduation. All parties will be treated as whole grade activities to keep the unity of the grade and not individual class functions. If there are no parent volunteers, there will be no functions.
Meet the Teacher Evening
Two to three weeks into the school year the fifth grade team will host an evening meeting to discuss guidelines and goals for the year. It will consist of a short briefing by each teacher and a short question/answer session. It is not the time for individual student needs, but a sign up for conferences will be available. Any household not represented will be sent a packet home for signature.
Student/Parent/Teacher Communication
Constant and open communication between key players is a goal. Teachers will keep a checklist of contacts made for each student that they have in their homeroom and their academic classes. The goal will be one contact per involved teacher every grading period. Contact may include emails, phone calls, positive phone messages, positive notes home, and conferences at school.
Fifth Grade Math Guidelines
The goal of fifth grade math is to prepare students for middle school math programs and to provide the skills and confidence to score well on the fifth grade math CRCT. Passing the fifth grade math CRCT is a prerequisite for passing fifth grade.
A group effort is necessary to achieve these goals. Students must become independent learners that listen, ask questions and do their assignments. Students must be responsible for their learning. Parents must support their students by providing a structured environment for homework, check for completion and inquire for understanding. Parent involvement is a very important factor and sends an enormous message to the student. Teachers will provide students with instruction and a classroom atmosphere conducive for learning. Constant monitoring and reinforcement will be there for the student. Together the goal is achievable for every student.
Typical Daily Schedule:
10 minutes – Drops in the Bucket (daily math practice)
5 minutes – Number of the Day
15 minutes – Skill Review Activity
10 minutes – Grade and Correct Assignments
35 minutes – Acquisition, Extending/Refining, or Culminating Lesson
15 minutes – Independent Work
- Drops in the Bucket is a daily math practice that students work on independently. Students will pick up the Drops as they enter the math classroom and begin work immediately. As they finish, they turn them in. The teacher will grade the Drops and return them to the students on Monday. On Monday the students put the Drops in order and staple them to a piece of notebook paper. Any problems that are incorrect need to be redone on the notebook paper. Students need to show their correction work. Students will write the new, correct answer next to the missed problem on the Drop. The students will compute their grade, put the grade on the top Drop, get the corrected Drops signed by a parent and turn them in on Wednesday. Only work that is completely corrected will be accepted.
- Number of the Day will be started independently in the homeroom as bell work. The students will write as many things as they can think of about the number of the day in their math journal. The number of the day represents the number of school days. As an example, for the number 2 they could write that it is the only even prime number, it is the number that represents a pair, it is the denominator of only one proper fraction, etc. Their Number of the Day thoughts are shared in math class.
- Skill Review Activities are fun, hands-on activities that keep math skills and vocabulary fresh and sharp. These activities might include drill doughnuts, number please, hundreds chart, patterns, number tiles, etc.
- Students will grade their own assignments from the previous day. Assignments will generally be given from daily math workbooks that connect to the lesson that day. The students will not write in the workbook, but do the assignment on a sheet of notebook paper. The students must allow room to show their work and space for any potential corrections. The students will grade their work in red pen. Any problem that is incorrect must be redone in blue pen next to the problem missed. Correct answers will not be written down during grading. An assignment will only be considered complete when all problems are done correctly. Corrected assignments are due the day after grading. Daily assignments are graded on completion. Every student begins the year with a 100 for daily assignments. Any assignment not completed will reduce their daily grade by 5 points. Daily assignments are essential to mastering math skills.
- Teacher directed lessons will introduce, refine, extend or culminate a skill. Students will follow the lessons carefully, ask questions for clarification and write into their math journals important points and examples that they need to remember. Their math journals will also be used to summarize their thoughts in writing. These math journals are an essential tool to help the students become independent learners. They must be brought to class daily and used as a reference when working independently.
- Independent work time is for students to finish their corrections from the previous assignment and work on the assignment from that day’s lesson. Work done well the first time will require little correction time. Assignments not completed in class become homework. Students that use time wisely in class will have less daily homework to do at home. It is imperative that parents check this work at home for completeness and correct work.
- Other graded activities will include periodic quizzes, reviews, tests and projects. Projects will reflect the real world application of math skills. These assignments will be weighted.
- Multiplication facts are an essential tool for mastering fifth grade math. The understanding of division, fractions and ratios all rely on a quick recall of multiplication facts. It is strongly urged to review multiplication facts with your child and work with them until they can recall them within seconds. Multiplication facts should be mastered by third grade. Using class time to teach multiplication facts in a fifth grade math class would greatly impair the completion of the fifth grade curriculum.
