Mr. Keilen

Fifth Grade General Information

Attendance Policy

Please call the school if your child is going to be absent or tardy. As soon as your child returns to school, we must receive a note, signed by a parent or guardian, stating the reason for the absence or late arrival. Students arriving after 8:30 are considered tardy. Also, if your child is to go home in a way other than the normal procedure, a signed note from the parent or guardian is required.

Homework Policy

The average fifth grade student should have approximately one hour of homework each day. This includes silent reading, daily review of notes, and written assignments. Each teacher posts the homework in his/her room. The students are given ample time to record the assignments in their planners. This website can also serve as a backup to these planners. Work handed in late will be marked down.

Interim Progress Reports

Students will receive progress reports at the halfway point of each trimester. These notices serve to notify parents and guardians that a student is doing well, improving, or having difficulty. It should be remembered that these notices are given so that a student may improve before report cards are sent home.

Medication

If a student required medication during the school day, including cough drops, a note signed by the parent or guardian must be sent in, along with the medication, to the Health Office.

Homework Overview

Math

• complete written homework assignments Monday - Thursday (occasionally Fridays)

• master multiplication and division facts

• make corrections to tests and other assignments

Reading

• read silently at least 30 minutes at home

• reading comprehension passages will be assigned on Fridays and will be due the following Monday

• additional work assigned at teacher's discretion

Science

• study notes on a daily basis when there are note packets to study

• occasionally complete classwork projects that were not completed in school

• take advantage of extra credit that is available every month

Social Studies

• study notes on a daily basis when there are note packets to study

• occasionally complete classwork projects that were not completed in school

• complete skill practice constructed response questions or maps on a weekly basis

• take advantage of extra credit that is available every month

Spelling

• study for tests each week

• complete practice work as required

The following is a general overview of the curriculum.

Dates given are approximate and will change based on the needs of the students.

Standard Math

Pre-New York State Assessment (September - March)

• Chapter 1 Place Value of Whole Numbers and Decimals

• Chapter 2 Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers

• Chapter 3 Multiplication of Whole Numbers

• Chapters 4 & 5 Division by 2 Digit Numbers

• Chapter 9 Number Theory and Fraction Concepts

• Chapter 19 Percentages

• Chapter 10 Addition and Subtraction of Fractions

• Chapter 11 Addition and Subtraction of Decimals

• Chapters 13 & 14 Multiplication and Division of Decimals

• Chps 15, 16, &17 Geometry and Measurement

Post-New York State Assessment (March - June)

• Chapter 18 Ratios and Proportions

• Chapter 20 Probability

• Chapter 21 Equations and Functions

• Chapter 22 Integers

• Chapter 23 Coordinate Graphing

Reading

Throughout the year, the objectives of the reading program are to help students to:

• read voluntarily and often

• read a wide variety of materials

• have confidence in themselves as readers

• present themselves as readers to others

• read to become informed on a wide range of topics

• read to improve their lives

• read to have satisfying and rewarding experiences

• read to expand their world beyond the now

• collect books and refer to favorites again and again

• recommend books to others

• talk with others about what they read

• know authors and illustrators, genres, and styles

• develop preferences and constantly expand them

• reflect on their reading

• make connections between and among the things they have read

• think critically about what they've read

• develop their language skills

• develop their writing skills

• develop their oral language skills

• develop and maintain daily, independent / leisure reading habits.

English

Throughout the year, the objectives of the language arts program are to help students to:

• write often (on demand, informally, and using the writing process)

• organize writing in a logical and appropriate manner

• stay on task in developing writing without digressions

• develop topics fully using supporting details and examples

• utilize sentence variety

• develop confidence as a writer

• notice and practice the writer's craft

• use writing as a tool for learning and thinking

• write for different purposes: to share experiences, to express feelings, to give instructions, to persuade, etc.

• write in different genres (including fiction, memoir, persuasive writing, essays)

• develop language skills

• have successful daily writing experiences

• use proper grammar, usage, capitalization, and punctuation

Science

• Unit 1: Ecosystems (September-February)

Students will learn about the interdependence of living and non-living parts of the environment. They will design and conduct experiments using a scientific method to test the effects of salt, fertilizer run-off, and acid rain on ecosystems. The students will also keep notebooks of observations and note packets will need to be studied at various times throughout the unit.

• Unit 2: Electromagnetism (February and March)

Each class will act as a business whose products are motors and buzzers. Students may opt to interview for the job of team captain. All students will work as part of the business and will be evaluated on their ability to solve problems, work as a member of a team, be flexible, and maintain a good work ethic. They will also have the opportunity to use spread sheets to keep track of the business's profits and losses as well as maintain and use an on-line data base of problem solving solutions. At the end of the unit there will be notes to study.

• Unit 3: Properties of Air (April and May)

Students will learn that air is matter and it exerts pressure through a discovery approach. In this method, students existing concepts of air will be challenged by various demonstrations. Culminating notes will be given at the end that the students will need to study.

• Unit 4: Weather Prediction (June)

Students will have a brief unit on predicting weather (high and low air pressure, fronts, precipitation, prevailing winds). Students will participate in an activity to predict the weather for a given day in this area.

Social Studies

• Overview

The fifth grade students will be learning about the western hemisphere. In doing so, there will be three underlying concepts:

1) historical events happen as people try to meet their needs and wants

2) history is not isolated events from the past, but a series of causes and effects

3) historical figures are real people who lived lives that included problems and successes

The students will be participating as teams in a simulated race through the western hemisphere. There will be various activities and projects that will allow them to earn points in the race culminating in a fiesta in June. While students will earn race points as a team, grades will be earned individually. All units will include notes that need to be studied on a daily basis, project work, and weekly homework assignments. There will also be weekly opportunities for extra credit. Projects will include physical and political maps of the following:

~ The United States

~ Canada

~ Mexico and Central America

~ West Indies

~ South America

Homework will include practice in the following skills:

~ finding distances on a map

~ finding directions on a map

~ finding latitude and longitude on a map

~ answering constructed response questions based on maps, charts, graphs, tables, drawings, reading passages, and political cartoons

• Unit 1: The Indigenous People of the Western Hemisphere (September & October)

Students will learn how humans first came to the western hemisphere to meet their needs and wants. They will also learn about some of the major groups including the Arawak, Aztecs, Carib, Maya, Inca, Inuits, Plains People, and Woodland People.

• Unit 2: The European Age of Exploration (November - January)

Students will learn why the Europeans, specifically the Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, needed to explore beyond Europe to meet their needs and wants. They will then learn about the resulting colonies.

• Unit 3: U.S. Independence and Government (February - April)

Students will learn about the events leading to American independence beginning with the French and Indian War and concluding with the American Revolution Battle of Yorktown. They will then learn how the new United States formed a new government including both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

NOTE: During presidential election years, the executive branch portion of this unit will be taught in October and November to correspond with the national election.

• Unit 4: American Neighbors: Revolutions to Present (May & June)

Students will also learn how the people of the western hemisphere meet their needs and wants today. Emphasis will be placed on the diversity of ethnic groups, religion, sports and recreation, and how people make a living.
Students will learn about events leading to independence in other western hemisphere nations and their resulting governments. Particular emphasis will be placed on the governments of Canada and Mexico. Students will need to be able to compare and contrast these governments with that of the United States.

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Last Modified: Friday, August 24, 2012

Mr. Keilen

General Information & Curriculum Overview

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