Student+Handbook



=  = =FIFTH GRADE STUDENT HANDBOOK =

INTRODUCTION
Things have changed a lot since your mom and dad went to school. Today's kids are expected to learn more and learn it faster than at any time in the history of education in this country. While this may sound really hard (and might make you think that you will spend all your time doing homework!), this is not true. Actually, thanks to research done by some very awesome scientists and educators, your teachers know just how to teach you so that you can learn the best way for you, learn it better, and remember it longer. Very cool, huh?

There is a caution that goes along with this, however. If you plan to wait for your teacher to come along, open the top of your head, and pour all the stuff you need to learn into your brain, you will be very disappointed and very lost within the first few weeks of school. For you to learn, you must be actively involved in your learning. You must stay focused and give every bit of energy you have to learning while you are in school. You must constantly be questioning what you see, read, and hear. If you will do these things, we promise to teach you in such a way that you will get the most out of every minute you are in school and do it in a way that should be fun, challenging, and bring out the amazing problem solver lurking deep within your brain!  

   MS. HENSLEY **. ............................................... ......... **MRS. WEST**  .................................................... ahensley@waynesville.k12.mo.us <span class="wiki_link_ext">............. .. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|candicewest@waynesville.k12.mo.us] <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">....................................... <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(573) 329-6262<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.... (school)<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...................................... (573) 329-6262<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">..... (school) <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">........................................................................................................................................... ... (573) 528-5948<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">..... (cell) <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">............................................................................................................................................... (573) 765-2990<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">..... (Please call before 9:00 p.m.)
 * <span style="display: block; font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">HOW TO CONTACT YOUR TEACHER <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Parents, __**please** **do not ever hesitate to contact us**__. The more quickly a situation can be addressed and resolved, the more quickly your student can get back to the job at hand--getting really smart, really fast!

<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">**CURRICULUM** <span style="text-align: left; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Before we discuss our curriculum for this coming year, we want to take a moment to share our philosophy about //fair// and //equal// with you. We do not believe that //fair// and //equal// are the same. To ensure that every student in the 5th grade is deeply involved in the best educational experience, assignments and expectations will often differ from student to student. What will be consistent is that you will be expected to work at your highest ability level at all times.

Since you are going to need to learn more, learn it better, and learn it faster, we are teaching things differently in the 5th grade here at Pick. (To see exactly what you will be expected to learn this year, click on this link: [|District Grade Level Expectations] .) Instead of having separate subjects like reading, grammar, spelling, math, science, and social studies, we have tossed many of the subjects together and created unit plans where the subjects will be taught together centered around a social studies theme. Math and English will be taught using a different sort of unit plan, including direct instruction every day. Of course, it is expected that the math and English skills you learn will be applied in the other units. **The most important thing you must understand about these units is that __you__ are responsible for actively participating and learning the information presented; __you__ will be held accountable for your learning.** Your teachers will provide you with everything you need to learn using a teaching model called layered curriculum, but you must take these things and commit to doing whatever is necessary for you to learn what we present.

The layered curriculum model presents skills and concepts through three-layer units. Each layer requires more in-depth thinking than the layer before. The first layer of each unit, //Layer C//, presents the information, concepts, and skills you must master. The second layer, //Layer B//, has activities that will let you practice applying the information, concepts, and skills you mastered in Layer C. The final layer, Layer A, will give you the opportunity to evaluate and solve problems in real-life situations that reflect the information, concepts, and skills you will have studied in the previous two layers. Layer A will allow you to form and present your own opinion using what you have learned in that unit.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">Most of the units will last 1 to 3 weeks. The first units we do have many required assignments and a few assignment choices. As the year goes on, there will be fewer required assignments and more assignments from which you can choose to earn points. At the beginning of each unit you will be told which concepts, skills, and information you are expected to learn. We will give you several ways to learn them. When working on the //C Layer//, you might decide to listen to a few mini-lectures and complete the mini-lecture outlines, do some online research, read a book or magazine article, read a chapter in a textbook and answer some questions, do some worksheets, make some flashcards, take a quiz or test, create a PowerPoint presentation. You may create artistic, musical or dramatic items. You may choose to make your own game. You will need to do several activities to earn the points required at each level. You may be thinking that this sounds a lot like what you've been doing for the past few years in school, and you are right. . . so far. <span style="text-align: left; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> However, this is where things get interesting. While you are required to earn a certain number of points, you will not be able to earn any points just for completing assignments. To earn points, you must be able to talk with your teacher about what you have learned from doing the assignments. Most of the work you will be discussing with your teacher will be evaluated using a rubric. To learn more about rubrics and see the actual rubrics we use to evaluate your work, click on this link: Rubrics for 5th Grade.

You will receive 100% of the points available for the assignment when, through discussions with your teacher, you show that you have learned everything expected and your work is of the highest quality you can produce. If your work is of good quality and the discussion with your teacher shows you have learned most of what is expected, you will receive between 80% and 90% of the available points. If the discussion you have with your teacher shows that you have learned some of the information but still need to do more work to learn what the assignments were designed to teach and/or your work is of adequate quality, you will earn a grade between 70% and 79%. When discussing the assignments with your teacher, if it becomes apparent that you have learned very little from the completed assignments and/or you have produced poor quality work, you will receive a grade between 60% and 69%. If you are not able to demonstrate any significant learning from the assignment and/or you have not turned in the required work, you will receive a grade of 0%.

While most everyone wants to master all the information and earn a grade of 100%, sometimes it takes more effort than we realize. There is nothing wrong with earning a grade of less than 100%. However, it becomes a huge problem when you allow yourself to be satisfied with less than complete mastery and/or are not willing to put forth the additional effort needed to achieve complete mastery. Not only do you miss having important information when you need it, you also head yourself down a very slippery slope. You may ask, "What kind of slope are you talking about?" The slope you will be heading down is one that undermines your opinion of yourself, your self esteem. After enough experiences of getting by with not mastering everything presented by your teacher, you will begin to believe you are not capable of complete mastery of anything. This belief, coupled with the impact of not having the information you need when you need it, is very likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, because you believe you can't do something, you won't even try to do it, and you eventually just give up. The consequences of this can affect you for the rest of your life, making it impossible for you to realize your dreams. For a devoted teacher, this is a tragedy beyond description and must be avoided at all cost.

Layered curriculum units are a great way to be sure that this does not happen. If you receive a grade below 100%, you will have the opportunity to redo assignments or do other assignments that might be a better fit for your learning style, then have another discussion with your teacher to earn a better grade. Your daily schedule is pretty packed, so you might have to make arrangements to have this discussion outside of the regular school day, but your teachers will always make time to sit down and discuss things with you and give you the necessary support to achieve a high level of mastery. When you show that you are willing to put forth whatever effort is necessary to achieve a high level of learning, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure that you have the tools you need to succeed.

Once your teachers have determined that you have learned the necessary foundational information in Layer C, we will move you on to //Layer B// and provide you with several activities to choose from that will allow you to explore the concepts and information at a deeper level. At this level you may have the opportunity to do some experimentation, designing, building, graphing, creating a product or demonstration to show what you have learned, do research to see how the ideas and concepts you've been exploring occurred in other settings, comparing and contrasting, creating a dramatic production, speaking before the school board or civic organization, or similar activities. The activities will allow you to apply what you have learned and give you a deeper understanding of the concept you are studying. Again, you will have to complete the assignments you choose to the best of your ability but you will not earn points for this. You will need to discuss your assignments with your teacher. Just like Layer C, your grade will be based on how well these discussions go and the quality of your work.

The final level for each unit, //Layer A//, will allow you to take what you have learned and form an opinion about a topic. You will use research to defend your personal opinion on a topic related to the concepts you have learned during the unit. Usually the questions you will be addressing at this level relate to what is going on in the world today and will almost never have single right or wrong answers. Instead you will have to take a stand on a controversial situation and defend your position to others. To earn points at this level you may be asked to write a letter of persuasion to an individual who has the power to change something, do a 2-5 minute presentation arguing your position, or engage in a debate with your peers. Your grade will be determined by the quality of your work, how well prepared you are, and how well you defend your position at Level A.

If you or your parents would like to know more about layered curriculum, please visit [|help4teachers.com].

If you or your parents would like to see the units we will be planning and doing this year, visit the 5th grade layered curriculum wiki at [|5thgradelc.wikispaces.com]. We will be adding units throughout the year so check this wiki from time to time to see upcoming units.

<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">** GRADING** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">The vast majority of your grades will come from the curriculum units described above. At the beginning of each unit you will receive a Unit Guide. All the assignments for each layer, the points you can earn for each assignment, and the required number of points for each layer will be listed at the very beginning of each unit. As you work through a unit, your teacher will record the points you earn for each assignment on the record page of your unit guide. Be sure you show your parents this record page frequently so they can see how you are progressing. **(Be sure to keep this record page in your binder at all times. If you lose this record sheet you will have to redo any assignments for layers not yet recorded in the electronic grade book.)** Each layer of a unit will be recorded as a percentage grade in PowerSchool.

Many English and math grades will be taken from work done in class, in- and out-of-class projects, and assessments. Please check out the detailed math page and the detailed English page on the 5th grade layered curriculum wiki at [|5thgradelc.wikispaces.com] to see the daily assignments, when you can expect quizzes and full scale assessments, and what the full scale assessments will cover.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Some assignments we do will be graded together in class, either by you or a classmate. Other work may be graded by a teacher. All graded work is to be checked by you as soon as you get it back. Grading mistakes can and will be made. If you disagree with the grading done on your paper, it is __your responsibility__ to bring this to your teacher's attention immediately (and in an appropriate way). Once the situation has been resolved, if a grade for the assignment was recorded in the gradebook it will be corrected by your teacher. Always put returned papers in the correct section in your binder, with the most recent work (by date) on top. Never take anything out of your binder, unless told to do so by your teacher.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">PARENTS, please check your child's grades regularly on PowerSchool at [|powerschool.waynesville.k12.mo.us/public/]. To keep our paper usage to a minimum, paper progress reports will not be sent home. Rather, you will be sent an e-mail reminding you that the grading period is half over and that you should check your child's grades on PowerSchool. You will be asked to reply to the e-mail, stating that you have gone to PowerSchool and checked your child's grades. Also, if you check your child's record page in each unit and the papers in your child's binder on a regular basis, you will know exactly how your child is doing at any moment in time. This will actually give you a much quicker and more accurate reflection of your child's progress than a standard progress report. If, after checking your child's work, you would like to schedule a conference with your child's teachers please send your request via email. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">Much of what you will be doing throughout this year will be done in a small group or with a partner. Obviously, if you are not at school you cannot participate in these activities, cannot make up the work done as a group, and what you learn will suffer. Therefore, it is very important that you are at school every day, all day. Also, it goes without saying that you should arrive at school each day well rested (Research shows that at your age you should be getting 10 to 11 hours of sleep every night for optimal learning.), eat a good breakfast, and have all your necessary supplies at your fingertips. School begins at 8:30 on the dot so you need to arrive no later than 8:20 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and at 8:50 on Wednesdays. If you plan to eat breakfast at school, be there at 8:00 when the doors open (8:30 on Wednesdays). <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> PARENTS: Please schedule appointments for your child before or after school, whenever possible. If this is not possible, please try to schedule appointments during the lunch and recess hour (12:00 -1:00) or as late in the day as possible.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">A BRIEF COMMENT ON PLAGIARISM <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">Plagiarism is taking work done by someone else and claiming it as your own. It is stealing someone else's intellectual property. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form, no matter how small. If you want to use somebody's words or ideas, you must give them credit by telling your audience where you found the information. If you wish to use someone's words, you must put these words in quotes and give the credit in the form of a reference. If you are using someone's words or ideas but putting them in your own words (paraphrasing), it is still a good idea to give a reference stating where the original work can be found. This will be covered thoroughly in our first layered curriculum unit of the year, //Research: Using the Library and Computer Lab as Resources//.

<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">** ABSENCES AND MAKE-UP WORK** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">One good thing about our curriculum units is that you will always know what is going on each day and what you need to get accomplished. If you are absent, you will have your curriculum guide with you in your binder and can work on things as you feel up to it. You can also find out about any additional assignments you may be missing by going to [|5thgradelc.wikispaces.com] and looking at the detailed plans for the various subjects.

In spite of your best efforts, there may be times when you get sick and cannot come to school. You will be able to make up the work you have missed for an excused absence. Obviously, you cannot make-up listening to a mini-lecture or doing group work so you will have to choose a written assignment or an assignment you can do on your own at home as your make-up work. Most of our testing will be done electronically using the clicker system. If you miss a test, __you__ need to make arrangements with your teacher to stay after school or come in early to take the missed test. District policy allows you two days for each day you are absent to make up any missed work ( e.g, if you are absent on a Tuesday, you will have until Thursday to turn in any make-up work; if you are absent for three days in a row, you will have six days from the day you return to school to turn in make-up work). Please respect this policy and do not ask your teacher for an extension.

If you need one of your textbooks to do your work but have left your books at school, no problem! Just select the Online Textbooks page from the menu at left or click on this link: Online Textbooks. You will find links to the online version of all your textbooks on this page.

If any worksheets or notes are handed out while you are absent, your copy will have your name on it and be put in the //Missed Work// basket located on the bookshelf by the door in Mrs. West's room. It is __your responsibility__ to check this folder as soon as you return from an absence.

<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">** ASSIGNMENTS AND HOMEWORK** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">As a rule we do not give homework, except for projects that must be done at home. However, if you work slowly, need additional one-on-one instruction, or do not stay focused (talk too much to your neighbors, daydream, play with things in your desk, etc.), you are likely to have unfinished class work that you will need to finish at home. Another situation that will result in your having homework is a paper that you had difficulty with that your teacher has asked you to redo. Suggesting that you redo a paper is not a punishment. Rather, it is a second chance to learn something your teacher believes is important. It is __your responsibility__ to keep track of classwork that needs to be completed/redone at home, put it in the //Homework// divider in your binder, do the work at home, and to //turn it in first thing// the next morning. Please put work completed at home in the //Homework// basket on Mrs. West's desk first thing in the morning.

This is as good a time as any to talk about our expectations for the work you do. We expect that your work will be done in pencil, **never** pen. All assignments are expected to be written in neat, legible, cursive. (Remember, if we can't read your writing, we cannot give you a grade!) Every piece of paper you write on should have the proper heading, including your first and last name, your class student number, the date, and your homeroom teacher's last name. It is very important that you immediately put returned papers in the correct section in your binder, with the most recent work (by date) on top. Remember, never take anything out of your binder unless told to do so by your teacher.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">To find out how your binder is to be set up/organized, click on this link: Binder Organization.

Description of Header on all 5th Grade Papers <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">............................................................................................... Your First and Last Name Today's Date Homeroom teacher's last name ||> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.. Margin<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">..<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.. Margin<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">..<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> ||> Your class number
 * || Subject: Assignment Name ||  ||
 * Number ||  ||   ||
 * your ||  ||   ||
 * work ||  ||   ||
 * in this ||  ||   ||
 * margin. ||  ||   ||

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Example of Header on all 5th Grade Papers Ozzy Osborne 8/24/09 West || <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.. Margin.. ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.. Margin.. ||> #35
 * || Math: Fraction Word Problems<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">....................................................................................... ||  ||
 * 1. ||  ||   ||
 * 2. ||  ||   ||
 * 3. ||  ||   ||
 * 4. ||  ||   ||
 * 5. ||  ||   ||
 * 6. ||  ||   ||



<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">**BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">We are proud to be part of the Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Support in Missouri. This research-based program supports the establishment and sustainability of a positive school environment that promotes an exemplary learning and social environment for all children. It is our goal to ensure that every child has a positive environment in which to learn and grow here at Pick. Any behavior that interferes with this environment will not be tolerated. While everybody has a bad day from time-to-time, if your behavior is having a negative impact on your classmates, other students in the school, or your teachers, you will be expected to change your behavior immediately. Our basic philosophy is //"The Golden Rule."// In other words, treat others the way you would like to be treated. . . period. . . end of discussion. We expect all of our students to embrace this same philosophy and act accordingly.

If you or your parents would like to know more about PBS, please click on this link: [|pbismissouri.org/practices.html].



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">AFTER-SCHOOL ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> One or both 5th grade teachers will be available after school at least one day a week* to provide tutoring for any 5th grade student who could benefit from additional instruction or assistance. There is no charge for this service. Academic Assistance will go from 3:30 - 4:45 p.m. To be sure that everybody is safe and where they are supposed to be, students who stay for Academic Assistance will not be permitted to leave early unless a parent calls or notifies a teacher by e-mail ahead of time.

You and your parent will decide if you should stay for Academic Assistance. Please be sure you know, __**before**__ you leave home in the morning, if you are to stay for Academic Assistance. (Unless there are extenuating circumstances, you may not call a parent to get permission to stay for Academic Assistance. Such arrangements should be made **before** **you leave for school** on Academic Assistance days.) <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">All students who stay for Academic Assistance will be required to sign the logbook. Your signature in this book indicates that your parent has given you permission to stay after school that day. If you stay for Academic Assistance without your parent's permission, you will not be allowed attend Academic Assistance for the remainder of the year! <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Parents, if you have children who attend Pick Elementary School and are to walk home with your 5th grader, those siblings are welcome to come to the Academic Assistance room and read, do homework, or engage in any other quiet activity that does not disturb Academic Assistance students. Please talk with these siblings so they are aware of how they are expected to behave in the Academic Assistance room. Siblings will be allowed to stay in the Academic Assistance room as long as they behave appropriately. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

All students who attend Academic Assistance will be released through the front door of the school at 4:45 p.m. If nobody is there at 4:45 p.m. to pick you up, you will be released to walk home.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Parents, if your student is expecting you to pick him/her up from Academic Assistance and an emergency should occur that prevents you from being at the school at 4:45 p.m., call Mrs. West's cell phone (573-528-5948) and alert us to the situation. In the event of impending or actual inclement weather, we will not have Academic Assistance. Please call the school if the weather is questionable and you are not sure if we will be having Academic Assistance. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * Please check the Announcements page pick5thgrade.wikispaces.com/Announcements to see the day of the week that has been reserved for Academic Assistance. This posting will be done after meeting schedules have been set for the year. Academic Assistance will begin after we return from the Labor Day holiday.

<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center; display: block;">** MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION YOU SHOULD KNOW** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Parents, there are several forms to be completed and returned to us by e-mail. To see these forms, click on this link: Forms. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Toys, electronic devices, and/or cell phones are not allowed at school. (If your parents want you to keep a cell phone with you, it must be turned off and kept in your backpack during school hours.) With this said, should you chose to bring anything like this to school you are assuming full responsibility for the item. Should such an item get damaged, lost, or stolen, the responsibility is yours alone. If we see such an item, or are made aware of the presence of stuff like this, we will confiscate it. The only way you can get an item back is to ask your parent to come to school and get the item from your teacher.

We have scheduled two class parties for this school year. The first party will be a Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza party on Friday, December 18th and an Earth Day Celebration on Thursday, April 22nd. As we approach these dates, please check the Announcement page for party details. Please note: We **will not** have a Valentine's Day party in 5th grade.

If you are having a party at home, you are welcome to pass out invitations at school only if you have an invitation for every student in the 5th grade. If you do not have an invitation for every one of your classmates, you will not be allowed to distribute them at school.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about anything in this 5th Grade Student Handbook or any of the pages on this wiki. We firmly believe that the more open the communication among everybody is and the more transparent the education process is, the greater the student learning will be.

Here's to a great year! Ms. Hensley and Mrs. West