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 letter handed out at Curriculum Night
Click here to read the quarterly Curriculum News

Parent Information

Opening Day Letter

August 30, 2011

Dear Parents and Fifth Graders,

Welcome back. I hope that you all had an exciting summer. I had a busy summer and am looking forward to being your homeroom teacher. I send a warm welcome to our new students: Bridget and Julia and our new music teacher, Ms. Gibbons. Mr. Ferdella is the fifth grade physical education teacher and Mrs. MacDonough and I teach fifth grade math.

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 8:05 a.m. will be marked tardy. Please make every effort to be on time, students will not want to miss homeroom period.

Students may bring a birthday snack to share with the class. However, I need a copy of the ingredient list 24 hours before distribution of the snack. If I do not receive the ingredient list, the snack will not be distributed. It is imperative that snacks be safe for all students.

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 artistic talents with the elderly.

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 It is forever changing as new information and understanding displaces the outdated and unknown.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

Curriculum Night Handout

Homeroom time: Our school day begins at 8:00am. Students arriving after 8:05 are marked tardy. The time from 8:00 to 8:10 is used for class meetings, community building, planning, and getting organized for the morning classes.

Prayer time: Every day we start and end our day with prayer and say Grace before lunch. Students are expected to stop whatever they are doing and participate.

Homework board and student planbook: All students are given a planner at the beginning of the school year and are expected to have it with them for every class. Students are to record their homework assignments in their planbook. A homework board is maintained in the classroom where assignments are recorded. At the end of the day students should check the homework board to verify that they have written all assignments in their planner.

Homework: Fifth Grade students can expect between 60-90 minutes of homework per night. Homework is given on Fridays.

Books and possessions: In addition to their desks each student has a cubby for storing books, notebooks, folders, etc. Students are expected to keep their desk and cubby neat.

Snacks and water bottles: Snack time for the upper grades is at 9:45am. This is a working snack. Students are asked to put their snack in their desk in the morning to avoid interruptions to their class. Students are encouraged to have a water bottle.

Bathroom breaks: One boy and one girl are allowed out of the classroom at a time. Students must sign-out in a log where they record the time they left the room and the time they returned. Students are encouraged to use the bathroom before class and at lunch time to avoid leaving the room during class time.

Jobs: Classroom jobs are assigned on a rotating basis. Students are expected to do their assigned jobs.

Service projects: Students make birthday cards on a monthly basis for the residents of Notre Dame Long Term Care Center. Students should make an effort to do their best work on the cards as the residents cherish them. Fifth grade also maintains the garden at the flag pole and at the Summer Street exit from the school. Small groups of students work with me after school weeding and planting in the fall and the spring. Also this year, students are invited to make crafts for a table at the Holly Fair. Proceeds benefit the mission of St. Mary’s students to aid impoverished, rural Colombian students striving to obtain a high school diploma.