August 22, 2008
Dear Parents,
I’d like to take a moment to welcome you to fifth grade and to introduce myself. My name is Judy Rocke. I have lived in Danvers for 29 years. I have taught fifth grade for the past nineteen years. Before that, I worked as a substitute teacher at Danvers.
I am very interested in making this a successful and happy school year for you and your child. To ensure this success, we must keep the lines of communication open. I respect the fact that you know your child very well, and so when either you or your child fell worried, please contact me. Likewise, if there is an activity or project that you enjoy, please let me know. I will be contacting you throughout the year about projects, upcoming events, the nice things I see you child doing, and problems, if any arise.
On Tuesday, September 16, starting at 5:30, our school will have its annual Parent Orientation. At that time I will discuss in detail the academic program, our class web page, my discipline procedures, the Student Leader program, grading, progress reports, and my goals and expectations for this year. I encourage you to attend this special evening because it will give you an opportunity to understand the fifth grade program and to become better acquainted with the room and materials that your child will be using throughout the coming year.
I look forward to meeting you on September 16.
Sincerely,
Judy Rocke
Other News…
Assignment book - Each student will be expected to keep an assignment book listing each day’s assignments. Please ask to see the assignment book every night and sign it each weekend so that I know you have seen it. Students will be expected to take their books home each night, even if there are no assignments for that day.
Web Page – Our Fifth grade class has a class web page. This page contains lots of information about our class including a list of daily assignments, newsletters, links to interesting sites, and photographs of students. To find this page go to www.olympia.org Then click on Olympia North. On the drop down menu select “teacher pages”. Follow this to our class page.
Stickers – If your student has had no late work for the week and remembers to get your signature in the assignment book, your student will receive a sticker on Monday morning. Four of these stickers can be used to skip a daily assignment of their choice, or they may save their stickers for an end of the year auction.
Snacks and drink bottles – Lunchtime for fifth graders is not until 11:50. Because of this, they may bring nutritional snacks. Please do not let them bring candy or snacks which contain a lot of sugar. Popcorn, fruit, chips, or crackers are some suggestions. Snack time is not sharing time. Please send only enough for your student to eat. Drink bottles (water only) may be kept on the students’ desks. Make sure the bottle isn’t breakable and has a lid to prevent spills.
Progress Reports – Each Monday I will send home progress reports for mathematics, spelling, language, and social studies. Please look for these each Monday. Students will staple these in their assignment books. Mrs. Wurmnest’s class will receive weekly progress reports for mathematics and social studies.
Fifth Grade End of the Month Math Tests – There will be a math test at the end of each month in fifth grade. These tests will review all the material we have covered up to that point in math. In order to help students study for these tests I will give students a list of page and problem numbers that they can study to help them prepare for the test. This list will be given out about a week before the test date. Please encourage your student to spend some time reviewing the problems on the list before the test.
Student Leaders – This program rewards students that follow school rules, are respectful, and complete assignments on time. Student Leaders get extra privileges. For example, one thing they will be allowed to do is go to lunch, music, PE, and other places in the school without walking in a line with a teacher.
Fifth Grade Book Reports – Mrs. Wurmnest will be assigning a book report due at the end of each month. Each month students will prepare a different activity for the book report. Mrs. Wurmnest will explain the activity or project for each month well in advance. In this way, students can begin working on their book report early. September’s book report will be on a book of the student’s choice.
Late Assignments – Assignments are considered late if they are not complete at the start of class. The best grade I will give on a late assignment is a C. Please encourage your student to complete work on time.
Spelling – Each week students will be given a packet with their spelling list words on Friday. Students will be expected to complete the packet by Thursday. In addition, students will need to write ten sentences using the list words and complete the practice explained on the first page of the packet also by Thursday. The spelling test will be on Thursday of each week.
Daily Journals – Mrs. Rocke’s class has a topic each day for students to write about. At this time, students should write at least a half page for each topic. The Daily Journal topics are listed each day on our classroom web page.