Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I have a couple of things to tell you. Tomorrow we are doing an
activity with an orange, gumdrops, caramel, raisins, and candy worms. We
will do this in the classroom. Thanks for sending in an orange for your
child, and thank you to the ones who sent in the supplies!
We are on the 2nd Trimester now. I was getting many corrected
papers or make up work from absences long after the time we did them. I
will accept these items for two weeks after they are assigned or handed
back. I do write down assignments when a child is absent and give that
paper to them. So your child knows what he/she needs to do. Remember
anything turned in late does have points taken off of it.
I hope you have signed up for conferences with Mrs. Levine and me.
We look forward to meeting with you.
Thank you for helping your child have a successful first trimester.
Sincerely,
Rita Miller
5th Grade School Fees 2009-2010
Parents,
Listed below are the fees for the 5th grade this year. If paying by
check, please make checks payable to St. Mary School. Please enclose money
or check (no staples) in an envelope with your child’s name on it. As
always, if paying these fees should be a hardship, please just send in a
note to let us know. The deadline for this payment is Friday, September11,
2009. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Donna Levine and Mrs. Rita
Miller
Student Assignment Book/Planner $4.00
Art Fee $9.00
Technology Fee $9.00
Total $22.00
August 26, 2009
Dear Parents,
Hello. My name is Rita Miller, and I am the 5th grade Language Arts
and Social Studies teacher. I am married. My husband's name is Dale. My
daughter, Joy, works downtown as a paralegal. My son, Chris, is in 12th
grade. I’m happy to be back for my fifth year at St. Mary School and this
will be my 28th year of teaching. I taught for 2 years at Our Mother of
Sorrows, 17 years at Nativity School and 4 years in Oklahoma. I’m looking
forward to working with your children and you this year at St. Mary School.
We’ll be doing many exciting things throughout 5th grade. We will
be “traveling” to many places throughout the year without even leaving our
own community. Flat Stanley, George’s Marvelous Medicine, and Charlotte’s
Web will help us start off the year. We’ll read about many places in our
Reading and Geography, Africa, and The Ancient World books. Most
importantly, the children and I will be getting to know each other and
helping one another learn and grow to be the best we can be.
Here are my homework expectations for the year. EACH EVENING your
child is expected to:
1. LANGUAGE ARTS -
Study SPELLING Words or homework assignment
Study the week’s words that are assigned on Monday. Parents, please give
your child a pretest on Wednesday night, grade it, sign it, and return it to
school on Thursday. Final tests are given in class on Friday with some
dictation. Spelling lists may come from the books we read, vocabulary, or
even social studies, science, religion and math.
READING homework assignment and/or Pleasure Reading
Complete the READING homework assignment.
VOCABULARY assignment – Vocabulary tests will be about every 2 weeks. Your
child has a Wordly Wise workbook that we will use most of the year.
Vocabulary lists will also come from books that we read as a whole class.
Encourage your child to read at least 30 minutes a day, silently or orally.
Your child is expected to read Accelerated Reader books (besides what we
read
as a class) and take tests on the book/s each trimester.
ENGLISH homework assignment
Complete the English homework assignment which may be a grammar or a writing
assignment.
2. SOCIAL STUDIES
Do the homework assigned, whether it is short or long term.
ALL homework assignments are written EACH day in your child’s
Assignment
Book/Planner. The first week or so, I try to make sure your child sets up
his/her Planner correctly. During this time please initial the bottom of
the
Planner EACH night if the work has been done. After that, I will spot check
Planner. If your child isn’t keeping it up, she/he may have to show it to
me
daily, and you may be asked to initial it again. All homework assignments
are an important part of your child’s education. Homework will be
considered
late if not finished and turned in at the beginning of class the day it is
due. If the assignment is brought in after it was already asked for, it
will
still be considered late. Each completed homework assignment is worth 5
points. Late assignments receive less points. It is important for your
child to be independent and responsible for himself/herself. Please
encourage this at home, too. One way to do this is to have your child put
her/his things in the backpack for school. If something is left at home,
your child is responsible to bring it to school, NOT YOU! Check the School
Handbook for homework guidelines. If there is ever a problem with homework,
please let me know so I can help solve the issue with your child/you.
For everyone to have the best year possible, each child is expected
to
respect others (students, teachers, parents, etc.) and to do his/her best
work at all times. We have started a new policy in 4th and 5th grade this
year to encourage your child to be responsible for himself/herself. Please
see the Responsibility Card attached to your child’s Assignment
Book/Planner. Consequences for following appropriate behavior, being
prepared, working well, or being helpful or kind could be stickers,
certificates, free time, work displayed, teacher’s praise, and the personal
satisfaction of being proud of oneself. Consequences for unacceptable
behavior or lack of work are Responsibility Card mark, missing part/all of
recess, detention, notes/emails/calls home, desk by oneself in the room,
extra work, nonparticipation in an activity, and not learning as much as
she/he could have.
I will collect/correct/check for/review various classwork and
homework assignments during the week. On Monday (usually) I will return
papers to your child. I hope you will go through your child’s work with
him/her. It is good practice for your child to correct any papers handed
back. All Tests 76% and below are to be corrected, signed by a parent, and
returned the next day. Some extra credit points may be given for
corrections
to bring the grade up to passing. Papers that are correct, but have
misspelled words that are on that page or words that should be mastered by
this time, will receive less than 100%. Points will be taken off for
misspelled words. Every item on a paper is worth 1 point. Items on tests
are worth 2 points each. Points are totaled at the end of the trimester.
Your child is expected to participate in all assignments or
activities throughout the year. Report card grades are determined by
classroom work and homework, tests, quizzes, projects, and participation and
attitude during class time. You can view grades on Option C.
I do have a webpage. I try to update it weekly, but I do not put
daily homework on it. This first letter will be on the webpage all year for
you to refer to as needed. If you go to the school website, you can get to
it or here is my webpage address
TeacherWeb.com/OH/StMarySchool/MrsRitaMiller
As you know, the school has a “Wellness” policy. Please encourage
your child to eat a good healthy breakfast each morning. Children may have
water bottles at any time during the year. I also encourage the children to
be part of the “Mileage Club” at recess. Birthday treats/items are fine.
All classrooms are NUT FREE zones. I encourage sending in a pen, pencil,
bookmark, pad of paper, etc. instead of an edible item for a
birthday “treat”. Any edible treats have to be packaged with the ingredients
available to be read.
Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation to help your
child
have a GREAT year. It is very important that we communicate with each other
throughout the year. You may check the Homework Hotline each evening. I
might write a note in your child’s Assignment Book/Planner for you. This is
a good place for you to write to me, such as, if there was a problem with
the
homework. Be sure to sign it and tell your child to show the message to me
at the beginning of class. Email is usually the easiest and quickest for me
to respond to. My school email is rmiller@smshp.com. I check my email and
voicemail messages when I get to school around 7:30 and after school. You
may also write a note and send it in with your child. I will try to respond
within that day. If you ever have a question, please let me know. I will
contact you as soon as I can. Let’s work together to have A TERRIFIC year
for your child.
Sincerely,
Rita Miller