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Mrs. Swartz: Language Arts and Science
Reading, speaking, listening and writing are all a part of language arts. Therefore, in my class, we will be reading, speaking, listening, and writing. Students will often work in smaller groups at Reading Skill, Comprehension, Writing or Grammar Stations.
Reading: The students will be given choices of what they can read and they will respond to their choice in a variety of ways including book reviews/reports,written response, and individual/group projects. They will be graded based upon the quality of their responses. Quality includes content, accuracy, penmanship, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Guided Reading group work with novels will take place throughout the year, and one whole-class novel will be studied.
Writing, like reading, will be going on all of the time. Students will be writing to prompts, in their journals, possibly for the web site, and during writing lessons. They will have lessons where new skills will be taught and practiced. During that time, students will be writing about topics taken from all areas including important topics from the 5th grade curriculum (science/social studies). They will be graded based upon the quality of their responses. Quality includes content, organization, accuracy, penmanship, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
English, spelling, and vocabulary lessons will also be held during language arts time. Students will be given vocabulary books. These cannot be written in. They will complete lessons both at school and at home. Students will be tested on their knowledge of the definitions of these words after we've completed the lessons. Students will also receive spelling words to learn. The spelling and vocabulary lessons will alternate on a weekly basis. English lessons will be held on a daily/weekly basis.
The skills that they will learn in English will be helpful to them in reading and writing, as well as the rest of their subject areas.
Homework Schedule: This is what you can expect on a daily/weekly basis. This is
subject to change.
Wordly Wise: This is a weekly activity that we alternate with spelling. There are five activities for each lesson. They are lettered A-E. They are to do A+B by Tuesday, C+D by Wednesday, E for Thursday, and study for the quiz for Friday. I will give students the Part E which has CMT-based questions; they do not complete the 15 questions in the Wordly Wise book.
There is a quiz on Friday on the meanings of the words.
Spelling: This is a weekly activity that we alternate with Wordly Wise. There are three different types of spelling words. They are words that follow a rule, content area words, and personal words. Personal words are words that students misspell often, or are words they know they have trouble with. Encourage them to choose appropriate words. There are three to four activities per week and the students get a schedule to follow on the first day. There is a spelling test on Friday.
English/Writing: These lessons are usually done in school so you won't see much homework coming home. There may be occasional quizzes and monthly writing prompts.
Reading: Reading work is usually an in-class weekly assignment. Students may take their unfinished reading work home on Thursdays or Fridays.
Work Quality: I expect that each assignment be done carefully and neatly. This means that all directions are followed, all words are spelled correctly, and that it is done neatly. It also means that students ask if they don't know or understand something. Students may be asked to do work over again if they turn in sloppy work.
Science
In fifth grade, we have 3 units of study. Our first is sound. We will learn about sound waves, pitch, amplitud
e, frequency, and sound discrimination. We will also learn about how our ears hear. It's interesting and exciting to perform the many hands on investigations. Most students really enjoy our Battle of the Bands that we do with our individually made instruments.
Earth, moon and sun is our second unit of study. We will learn about our Earth, why our star, the Sun, is important to us, and how our moon influences Earth.
Light and color is our third unit. We will learn why we see the colors we do and how our eyes perceive light and color. It will be a busy and fun year!