Grade 5

Click here to see an overview of the curriculum of this grade.
Click here to view the School Handbook (general policies for grades K through 8)
Click here to see photos from 5th Grade
Click here to see the Classroom News for this year.

Parent Information

Opening Day Letter

August 27, 2008

Dear Parents and Fifth Graders,

Welcome back. I hope that you all had an exciting summer. I had a relaxing summer and am looking forward to being your homeroom teacher. I send a warm welcome to our new classmate, Nick, our new principal, Miss Barry, and our new music teacher, Mrs. Johnson. I am looking forward to teaching the fifth grade math class with Mrs. MacDonough. Mr. Ferdella is the fifth grade physical education teacher.

The school day for students in grades 5-8 begins at 8:00 a.m., with the prayer bell at 8:10 a.m. There will be a 10-minute homeroom period to start each day. Morning homeroom time is used for preparing for the day, organizing plan books, announcements, an opportunity for students to speak with teachers, taking care of homeroom business, and taking attendance. Students arriving after 8:00 a.m. will be marked tardy. Please make every effort to be on time, students will not want to miss homeroom period.

Our Life Threatening Allergy Policy requires that I be notified before an event, birthday or class party, of the type of snack you intend to send to school. I will let you know if there is an allergy issue with the planned snack. Please be considerate of others that have allergies. Thank you for your cooperation.

Grade 5 students make birthday cards, on a monthly basis, for the residents of Notre Dame Long Term Care Center. This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to share their talents with the elderly.

I have included a copy of the grade 5 weekly schedule. Please note that there is a double period of Literature, Science, Math, English, and Social Studies each week. This counts as two classes and means students will not have every class every day.

If you have any questions or concerns, please give me a call at (508) 842-1601 or email me at ethiere@stmarysparish.org and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

I wish you all a successful school year.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ethier

Some hints on how to help your child succeed in science

Science is perhaps the most dynamic subject that a middle school student will study. It is forever changing as new information and understanding displaces the outdated and unknown.

With this in mind, St. Mary School replaced all of the science texts with the most up to date middle school books that Prentice Hall offered. These texts are a system that will take the student from grade five to grade eight using a similar format. The texts not only provide current scientific information, but they also contain information on how to learn science.

Every chapter begins with a title page that includes the publishers web site (www.phschool.com) that has activities related to the material in the text, and a list of other activities that the students can do. Some of these I incorporate into the classes, others can be done at home. The Discover activities that begin each section are nice into to the subject being studied and can often be done out side of the class. Some of the “Try This” activities are specifically designed to be done at home and involve the family. These activities can be a great tool for understanding the important ideas of the section.

Each section begins with Guide for Reading which is two to three questions, that when answered, are the essence of the section. There are also checkpoint questions mixed into the text that the students should be able to answer before they move on.

Each chapter includes a study guide at the end of the chapter, as well as a practice test that has questions similar to the type that will be found on their quizzes and tests. I encourage the students to take these practices and correct them because it is better they discover what they don’t know before the quiz, then I discover what they don’t know during the quiz.

Every text has a skills handbook near the end. These are the science skills that the students will be developing as they study science. They are not a separate block of instruction in the curriculum; these skills are part of all the activities related to science. As such, they will be continually part of the curriculum. As their teacher I am continually assessing the students on their strengths in these skills and adjusting the curriculum when a greater emphasis is needed on a given topic. The individual students should be referring to these sections as needed.

Lastly, I strongly encourage all students to have an appropriate dictionary available in their study area at home. Although the text provides a glossary for the key vocabulary included in the book, there will be times when they will be presented with an unfamiliar term.

I will continually encourage students to understand the importance of critical thinking and understanding in science so they will be better positioned to deal with the new information as it arrives.

Thank you,
Michael T. Moakley

Classroom News - Fall 2008

Grade 5 students have done a great job getting used to the routine of new teachers, changing classes, 45 minute class periods, and double block scheduling. Using the homework planner has been a benefit to students, parents, and teachers. Our homeroom period each morning is used for class business and for getting ready for the day’s activities.

Service projects in grade 5 include maintaining the garden at the flag pole and the garden areas near the Summer Street entrance to the school and each month students make birthday cards for the residents of Notre Dame Long Term Care Center that are celebrating their birthday. The students’ cards are beautiful and are greatly appreciated by the residents and their families. This year the we are participating in the “Caps to the Capital 2008” sponsored by Save the Children. A group of students meet weekly to learn crocheting and are making baby hats for newborns in developing nations

To celebrate our cultural heritage, students in grade 5 created a classroom museum containing family artifacts. The artifacts represented the countries of the Italy, Canada, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Italy, China, Poland, Scotland, and Portugal, to name a few. This was a great way for the students to learn about other countries and the family traditions of their classmates.

Literature

We are in the midst of the first theme in our new Storytown Literature anthology. The stories in Theme 1, “Finding a Way,” are stories of how people face challenges every day, some small and some great. The characters in the theme discover their inner strengths and find ways to succeed. They overcome physical challenges and stereotypes, they make journeys in record time, and they overcome challenges posed by nature. Many will face challenges similar to those that students face in their everyday lives. Skills that we are working on include understanding a story’s plot, and understanding a character’s motives as well as learning story vocabulary. We are reading works from several different genres of literature, including fiction and non-fiction, magazine articles, poetry, historical fiction, biography and autobiography.

English

In English, we have been working on subjects and predicates, the four types of sentences plus interjections, subject and predicate, and parts of speech. All of these skills are helping with our writing! Students have been doing a great deal of writing, both formally and informally. Writing across the curriculum is an everyday occurrence.

Spelling

In Spelling, we are studying lists of frequently misspelled words. Students have been doing very well on their daily and weekly spelling tests. There is more to good spelling than spelling tests, though, as the fifth graders can attest. Spelling in day-to-day writing is also quite important, so everyone is encouraged to spell all grade level spelling words correctly whether they are writing a science lab, a social studies test, or an English paper. Good spelling counts!

Study Skills

In our twice-weekly Study Skills classes, we have spent a great deal of time talking about what it means to be a good student. We have talked about the importance of having a good attitude. We are learning how to organize our planners, our days, and our homework. Currently, we are focusing on skills that will help students more fully understand the material presented in their textbooks.

Social Studies with Mrs. Ethier

Students will soon complete Unit 1, People of the Americas. This unit focuses on the land and the first Americans. Students have learned how to read various types of maps and time lines and how the land is divided into regions. The use of graphic organizers allow students to compare and contrast information presented. Students will then be involved in a project about Native American tribes using print and Internet resources. Students will research a Native American Tribe and must answer the question, How does the tribe provide for the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter for its members? Students will create a Power Point slide show as a way of sharing information with each other. Upon completion of this project, students will begin Unit 2, Different Worlds Meet. Topics to be covered include trading, exploration, and founding of European colonies.

Math with Mrs. Ethier

I share the fifth grade math teaching assignment with Mrs. MacDonough. Students are divided into two heterogenous groups. One group stays in the fifth grade homeroom for math with me, the other group has their class with Mrs. MacDonough in the math room. We have completed the first two chapters which deal with whole numbers and decimals and are currently working in chapter 3, multiplication of whole numbers. Problem solving activities occur frequently. Soon we will be studying division of whole numbers followed by collecting, organizing, and using data. Thursday’s math class is a bouble block, which allows for flexibility in our activities. Students are involved in a program we call Skills Drills. This is an opportunity for the students to practice their basic facts and to improve on their performance. Students that have not mastered the basic facts should continue to practice with their flashcards.

Religion with Sr. Borzi

Welcome to our Fifth Grade Religion classes! The Fifth Graders are learning that the seven Sacraments are divided into three categories of Christian Initiation, Healing, and Service. Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation are Sacraments of Christian Initiation. Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation are Sacraments of Healing, and Matrimony and Holy Orders are Sacraments of Service. The children are realizing that Sacraments are effective signs that bring us closer to God’s life and love. They are instituted by Jesus and given to us as precious gifts to be respected and cherished throughout our lives.