Weekly Update 5th Grade

We're excited about our upcoming year in fifth grade!

We strive to create an environment that helps our students to meet their highest potential.

Please read our newsletter each week to get important updates and reminders.

• Aug 13 - Free Vision Screen with Vision to Learn

• If you do not want your child screened, an opt out form will be coming home soon!

• Aug. 15 - OPEN HOUSE, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
• Aug 30 - Donut Day (PTA will be selling for $2.00 before school)
• Sept. 2nd - Labor Day, No school
• Sept. 23-27, FALL BREAK, No school
• October 10 - PTA mtg #2, time TBD
• Oct. 14-18, Conference Week, school dismisses at 1:15 p.m.

• Students must be pre-registered for after school program for Conference Week.

Students had another great week in fifth grade! We are off to a great start! Each class has a whole group behavior goal. Every time they receive a compliment from another staff member, they receive a point. Pictured below is 5A enjoying a pizza party after earning their group goal! Also pictured from 5B are two students showcasing their new journals created in readiness to support the new Wit & Wisdom ELA curriculum. In math this week students created a birthday line plot and worked cooperatively to solve mathematical story problems using the line plot data. Students also used cubes to build rectangular prisms to calculate volume. Fifth grade students also participated in the Runaway Pepper Experiment. They practiced using the scientific method to create questions, predictions, collect data, and form conclusions!

At the end of the day during dismissal, students participate in study hall! Teachers are busy assisting students with classwork or homework! We have many dedicated fifth grade learners!!

Math - We will continue unit one in mathematics. Our goals of coverage are listed below.

–Area/Perimeter/Volume

-Powers of 10

-Measurement Conversions

-Memorize multiplication facts.

Social Studies -- Last week we focused on the Scientific method in Science. This week will cover social studies focusing on basic world geography, basic geography of the USA, and map skills

ELA - We will begin module one in the New Wit & Wisdom curriculum. Fifth Grade Module 1, "A Cultural Perspective," helps students explore what it means to belong to a culture and how beliefs and values guide actions. Through studying U.S. westward expansion and its impact on the Nez Perce tribe, students learn about cultural conflicts and the losses Native Americans faced. They read the historical novel Thunder Rolling in the Mountains and analyze Chief Joseph's "Lincoln Hall Speech" to understand and write about how cultural values shape people's actions.

Enjoy the slides below explaining the benefits of knowledge-based learning!

Teachers will be using Classroom Dojo to reward positive behaviors. Students earn points and are able to "shop" with their points to purchase items. Teachers also use Classroom DoJo to send quick text messages when needed.

Weekly Communication Folders are sent home each Thursday, to be returned on Friday. Inside the folders you will find your student's weekly homework. Your student is expected to complete all homework AND read 20 minutes each night. Homework is turned in on Thursdays and will be graded.

Arrival / Dismissal

Change of Transportation

If there is a change in transportation arrangements, we require notice from the parent before allowing students to be transported by anyone other than a parent. You may send in a note with your child or email parkstreet@marietta-city.org with the details of the change. We do not allow students to walk or to ride home with unauthorized people.

At dismissal time bus riders will be put on the school bus unless a parent is present for pick-up, or the parent has notified the school office of another arrangement.

Students are not permitted to change buses to ride home with friends without a note from their parent. Please make arrangements for your child before he/she comes to school. If you must make a change during the day, notify the school office staff before 2:30 p.m.

Pick-up by Car in the Afternoon

Anyone picking up a child must have his/her Panther Car Tag. If you do not have a Panther Car Tag, you may get one at Sneak-A-Peek or by coming to the front office.

Please do not park across the street and have your child designated as a “walker”.

This is extremely dangerous, and teachers on duty will stop children crossing the street

unescorted by a parent or adult. If you need to come into the building, please park in a parking space.

Tardy Drop-Off

When a student arrives late (after 8:30), an adult must sign the student in at the office.

Early Pick-Up

Please limit early pick-up of children to emergencies and appointments. If a child is out for any portion of the school day, the missed time is recorded as a tardy. A note sent in the morning will help us to have your child ready. To avoid interruptions to instruction, no student

will be released between 2:45 and 3:15. Parents will be asked to wait for the dismissal bell. Come to the office to check out a student. Please be prepared to present photo identification upon request. No student will be released to an unknown or unauthorized person.

Late Pick-Up

Students waiting to be picked up will be supervised until 3:30. After 3:30 they may be sent to the After School Program if they are pre-registered ($10 fee). Regular after school charges will apply. Many parents sign up for the program so their children can attend in case of emergency.

Attendance is a critical component to the success of an elementary student. If an unavoidable situation necessitates an absence, the parent must notify the school office in writing within 2 school days of the student’s return. You may send a note to your child's teacher or email parkstreet@marietta-city.k12.ga.us

An excused absence means that your child is absent for a legitimate reason, for example, personal illness, illness or death in the family, religious holiday, court appointment, quarantine, or conditions rendering school attendance hazardous to health and safety. All other absences will be considered unexcused.

Georgia Law requires school action after five unexcused absences or ten tardies. The process begins with parent notification.

Students are tardy after 8:30 a.m. A parent must sign the student in at the office if arriving after

8:30 a.m. A student is counted present for the day if he/she arrives at or before 8:30 a.m. and stays until at least 11:55 a.m. or arrives before 11:55 a.m. and stays until 3:15 p.m. Partial attendance of a day is considered a tardy.

Good attendance is vital to the academic success of students.

• After three parental excuse notes in a semester, parents must submit documentation from a physician explaining the student's absence.

• If documentation from a doctor is not provided after three parental excuse notes in a semester, subsequent absences will be marked as unexcused.

• Excessive absences can result in the intervention of the school social worker.