Self Starts

When students are absent, they are responsible for making up the work. Students will have their "absent work" on their desk when they return. All missing work must be turned in one week from the day returning from the absence.

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Students will receive a classroom A.R. goal for each semester. (This will be determined in their reading class) Each student who meets his/her goal will receive a certificate from Mrs. Miller. The points earned will go toward extra credit for Reading, Language, or Spelling in Mrs. Miller's Reading class.

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Classroom assignments are generally due the next school day after they are assigned. Class is always given time to complete assignments. Students may need to finish an assignment at home if it is not completed during the given class work time. This is in addition to the normal assigned homework.

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 On the last day of each week, students will receive next week's autobiography assignment. On the following Friday, or last day of the week, students will have class time to work on their autobiography assignment. It will be due the next Monday. Link to Autobiography page.

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 During the year some book orders may be sent home. Book orders are optional. If you choose to order, please return the order form and a check made out to the book club in an envelope with your child’s name on the outside. We cannot accept cash. Book orders are a wonderful way for your child to build a home library in an inexpensive manner, and the class bonus points are used to supplement our reading program with literature sets.

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 5th Grade Class Slips In 5th grade, we are firm believers in positive reinforcement. For example, verbal praise is heard all the time and every fifth week a reward party is held for those who qualify. Upon occasion, however, your child may receive a 5th Grade Pink Slip due to his/her choices. We feel it is important to keep you informed about work habits and behavior. Also, we believe in reinforcing with our students the importance of being responsible, respectful and self-reliant.
I am delighted to meet with parents any time there are concerns. You can catch me before or after school, or leave a message with the office and I’ll call you to arrange a meeting time. During the school day, my energies are focused on the children, so I prefer conferencing with you before or after school. You may also contact me through school e-mail.

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 Every Friday, my math class goes to the Computer Lab for math instruction. The students spend the first part taking a YYP math test. (Yearly Progress Pro) The student will have the rest of the time completing their assignment on the computer. They will go to various sites that I have previously chosen to complete the assignment. In the past, this has been my math class favorite day. If they do not complete the assignment, they need to complete it at home for homework. Link to my math page.

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 I believe in providing excellent communication to parents and students in my class. You will find my classroom web site loaded with information for parents and students. I update our site daily, so you can be sure what you are reading is up-to-date information. I must admit, I'm proud of our web site and its contents, so be sure to check it out!

You will find daily home assignments, calendar of events, spelling sentences, word roots, autobiography assignments, curriculum, helpful web sites to reinforce our grade level skills, classroom projects, Daily Happenings that the students wrote, parent conference schedules, our class supply list, our schedule, and much more! Be sure to bookmark our site or add it to your favorites list for quick access.
Address: http://www.graniteschools.org/el/eastwood/miller/main2.htm

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 Click here for 5th grade curriculum. Go to Curriclum Services Documents. Click on the down arrow and scroll down to 5th grade curriculum. It will be in a pdf format.

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 A respectful learning environment is crucial. Schoolwide rules are:
• Accept responsibility for your behavior.
• Show respect for and follow the directions of all staff members.
• Keep all nuisance items at home such as: toys, candy, gum, harmful instruments, etc.
• Keep hands, feet and all objects to self (snowballs are objects).
• Show respect for school property of others.
• Walk quietly in the halls.
• Keep the school grounds free of litter.
• Eat food only in the lunchroom
• No unwanted touching of other people.

More to come on 5th grade discipline.

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 Parents, I check my e-mail throughout the day. It is a great way to get instant feed back to your questions or comments, and I encourage you to contact me this way. My e-mail address is lhmiller@graniteschools.org

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 The parental donations to our class funds will be used for field trips and supplies. If you know of a field trip or guest speaker that is appropriate for our students, please let us know! We would like to go on field trips that relate to the following subjects - American history, earth structure, electricity, magnets, matter, and heredity. Parents are our best resources for great field trips.

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 The grading scale used by the 5th grade teachers is based on percentages and weighted factors for typical A through N grades.

Grading Scale
A = 95
A- = 90
B+ = 88
B = 85
B- = 80
C+ = 78
C = 75
C- = 68
D+ = 65
D = 62
D- = 57
N = 1

In addition to the above letter grades, some assignments may come home with a:

"check+" means above average work
"check" means average work
"check -" means late, incomplete or poor quality work

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 We are working hard to encourage students to be responsible. It is important that they learn to turn in all work on time. Work turned in one day late can receive a maximum of ½ credit (50%).
Work will not be accepted after that, and missing scores will be recorded as “0's”.

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Learning to solve problems is the underlying reason for studying mathematics. It is the principal mathematical skill that needs to be developed in children. Math Olympiads will give students exposure to challenging probleems, interesting puzzles, and associated rich mathematical topics which are essential for the development of skill in problem solving.

Students will receive 5 Math Olympiad problems each Friday. They will be discussed and corrected the following Friday. Along with weekly Math Olympiad problems, students will take 5 tests throughout the year.

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Expect to see a computerized midterm progress report come home once each semester. They typically come home on a Tuesday. The purpose of the midterm is to keep parents and students aware of schoolwork and progress. Please sign the note that comes home with the midterm report. Students receive extra credit in a subject of their choice with a signed note.

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Parent Informational Websites are sites that I thought you might be interested in. I will add to them as I come across good sites. If you know of some good ones, let me know and I will add them.

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I cannot imagine teaching without the assistance of parent volunteers! Parents play a critical role in the functioning of our classroom. Let me know what your interests are and what you would like to do in the classroom. I would love to have you be part of our class. Make sure to check in at the office before coming down to the classroom.

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To promote environmental responsibility, I prefer to use recycled paper as much as possible. If you have access to used paper from your work place, printed on one side only, please send it in. Scrap paper in any size, shape, or color from a print shop is also needed. Please make sure the staples are removed.

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Report cards will be brought home by students on these dates:
•1st semester: End of term November 19, 2009
•2nd semester: End of term March 4, 2010
•3rd semester: Last day of school

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Music:

PE Monday - 1:20 - 2:00

After lunch, the schedule varies. Science, Social Studies, Health, and Art will be Monday through Thursday.

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Spelling words and sentence tests will be given every Tuesday. New words and sentences will be assigned on Tuesdays after the test. This schedule allows students an entire week to study rather than just four nights. It also puts spelling tests on days when school is almost always in session. Link to Spelling Lists.

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All of our grades are on the Internet and can be accessed at any time. You will need to know your child's student number (the office can give you that information) and social security number. You will be asked to create a pass code. Don't forget it!
•Go to graniteschools.org
•Click on Parents & Students
•Click on drop down menu then Student Grade Progress

Direct link to Student Grades

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Each student has been given a planner to record his/her daily assignments and to keep track of whether they are complete. Parents should see these planners every night. This will help parents know what homework their child has and be aware of upcoming projects and tests. These planners will be turned in on Friday or Monday to be checked by their teacher.

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My reading class begins learning Word Roots in January. More information will be coming this fall. A link to Word Root page.

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 Students at Eastwood participate in Art Start once a month. As part of this program, they are exposed to information about various artists and then as a culminating activity, they create an art project in the style of the artist they learned about. This is a program that is run through the PTA and has been a lot of fun for both parent volunteers and the students involved.

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 Eastwood students learn about various authors from Avi to Van Allsburg as they participate in author study. The author study program is run by parent volunteers who provide rich and interactive lessons focusing on an author's writing style and their life experiences that have influenced their writing

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 Once a month, parent volunteers provide the children with different exposures to music. During this program, children will learn how to read music, recognize music components and appreciate different musical expressions.

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Parents often ask if there is anything their child needs in order to start the school year. While paper, pencils, glue, crayons, textbooks and other supplies are provided by the school, there are a few items that would benefit your child throughout the year.  It would be helpful if you could donate these items and send them with your student.

    • Two LARGE boxes of Kleenex or tissue
    • Colored pencils
    • Colored markers (fine point)
    • Scissors with the student's name on them
    • 3 large glue sticks
    • Small pencil sharpener and #2 pencils with erasers   
    • 12 inch ruler
    • USB Flash Drive (256 or higher)
    •  Crayons (24 count box or higher)
    •  4 two-pocket folders with prongs
    •  Container of Disinfecting Wipes
    •  A small paperback dictionary and thesaurus  

DONATIONS
    • Liquid hand soap
    • Recycled paper for photo copies
    • Miscellaneous games to be used on rainy days
    • Small prizes for Friday's "reward drawing" (Ask your child what he/she would like as a prize)
    • Glue Sticks
    • Plastic sandwich bags/gallon bags

Each day, a student in our classroom is assigned to be the Roving Reporter. His or her job is to write a short article about what took place in class that day. Using a computer at home or at school, students type their articles and turn them into Mrs. Miller via e-mail, CD, or USB drive. This way, students get an opportunity to write using technology, and Mrs. Miller can easily upload the articles to The Daily Happenings Log. This web page is updated daily, so be sure to check back often to read about life in Room 18! Link to Daily Happenings page.

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 Lessons and assignments will be posted daily on our web site. A link to Daily Assignment page.

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 MillerCast is Room 18's very own podcast! Recorded by the students, each broadcast highlights some of the exciting things we're learning in our classroom. MillerCasts can be listened to on our website. We hope you enjoy listening!

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 Part One (Calendar): Independent Reading. Utah Standards require fifth grade students to develop independent reading habits. The students will fill out a reading calendar recording the books they read and how many minutes read each night. They are required to read 600 minutes each month. That equals to 30 minutes a night - 5 nights a week.
Part Two (Response): Reading Response. Utah Standards require fifth grade students to respond to reading and be able to discuss elements of the story, analyze the author’s choices and use of language, and respond to comprehension questions requiring comparing/contrasting, inferring, and making connections. Students will complete a response form about one of the books they read each month. Responses count as a test score worth 100%. A link to Calendars and Response Forms.

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Soaring Eagles Club is an educational club that was created to help Mrs. Miller's students learn new "stuff" by researching things in books and on the Internet. For additional information, go to Soaring Eagles Club link.

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For the safety of student, staff and visitors to your school, the Granite School Board of Education has a strict SCHOOL SAFETY policy. It provides guidelines for dealing with disruptive incidents at school and student activities. The intent of the policy is to give all students the right to attend school and school-sponsored activities without undue concern for their physical safety.
The SCHOOL SAFETY policy establishes procedures and penalties for:
• Any act of violence.
• Possession of any type of weapon (real or look-alike, or pretend) regardless of intents
• Any form of organized gang activity.
• Any type of criminal behavior.
• Destruction or defacement of school property.

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Granite School District guidelines provide that a fifth grade student should have at least an hour of homework per night. We feel that 30 minutes of that time should be free choice reading. There will be projects specifically designed for completion at home. Some of these projects will require utilization of the public library for research materials. Most homework, however, will be the result of not completing assigned work during class time.

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 Each morning students complete a daily "self Start" activity. They are designed to get students into using their and learning about the world around them, thinking about relationships and vocabulary words, and doing a little editing. We correct the day's self start orally. Students fill in the correct answers on their sheets and take them home on Thursday evenings to review because each Friday there is a quiz over the exact same material. The quiz consists of two questions from each day. It also asks for the definition and part of speech of the Word of the Week. The students will need to use the word correctly in a sentence. I grade the Friday quiz and that's what goes in my grade book.

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