St. Theresa School Oakland, California

Welcome to the 5th grade! This is an exciting year of discovery, questioning and learning.

As the core teacher, I am in charge of teaching Language Arts, Social Studies, Math and Religion.

Language Arts consists of three sections:

*1. Literature- as a class we read four novels over the course of the year, focusing on literary elements such as plot, characters, setting, themes, cause and affect, vocabulary, historical significance and the use of figurative language.
Individually, the students complete eight book reports throughout the year based on different genres. for example, historical fiction, biography, non-fiction, fantasy, fables/folktales and mysteries.

*2. Wrtiting- there are a variety of methods used in the 5th grade writing curriculum.
-Write Traits- The 6 Traits Writing program is used to help shape and guide students writing through its 6 principles: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency and Conventions.

-Creative Writing- Once a week the class will have writer?s workshop to allow students to write creatively or finish an assigned topic. Through mini lessons, the writing process (brainstorming, mind/story mapping, writing a rough draft, proof reading, peer editing and publishing) is emphasized.

-Research paper-Time is spent in class teaching how to write a research paper- taking notes, skimming, writing in an informative (expository) way and citing documents for bibliographies.

*3. Grammar-Spelling, vocabulary and grammar are addressed daily with D.O.L. and through weekely spelling tests. Time is also spent on reviewing basic grammar skills such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions and sentence structure.

Social Studies

The 5th grade Social Studies curriculum focuses on early American history. Topics that are covered include:
? Geography- parts of maps. Latitude/longitude, reading maps, routes/roads, calculating distances, finding different places in the world.
? Explorers- Reasons why people began exploring, who they were, what they found, why they were important to American history
? Colonies:
South- Jamestown, Plantations, Slaves, farming, wealthy
North- Pilgrims/Puritans, Witch trials, strict way of life, trade
Middle- William Penn, Quakers, Diversity, farming and trade
? American Revolution- French and Indian War, Taxes/Acts (Sugar, Stamp, Townshend, Declaratory, Intolerable), Events (Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre), People (Jefferson, Henry, Franklin, Washington, Revere, etc.), the Sons of liberty, women in the American Revolution, and the War itself- important battles, weapons and ways of fighting
? Forming a New Nation- the Articles of Confederation, Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution
? The Louisiana Purchase- Lewis and Clark, Pike and the idea of manifest destiny
? The War of 1812- National Anthem- Ft. McHenry
? Civil War- causes and outcome
? Timeline Projects (Technology/Social Studies activity)

Throughout the Social Studies curriculum, it is emphasized that things happen for a reason and one event does not take place on its own; it is the cause of something that came before it. Connecting and seeing these patterns is the focus of the Social Studies curriculum.

Math

The fifth grade math curriculum focuses on understanding and working with fractions and decimals. Students will learn how to add, subtract, divide and multiply fractions and decimals. They will also learn about data and graphing, measurement, integers and depending on time, will begin work on algebra; expressions and equations. This course of study will help students develop proficiency in conceptual understanding, computational skills and problem-solving ability.

Religion

The fifth grade religion curriculum focuses on the sacraments as special gifts from God which nourish and strengthen us. We have three other components to the religion curriculum, which are service projects, family life and Safe Environment. The fifth grade service project is to volunteer at the Alameda County food bank. We go twice during the year to help them sort and box food they receive. A representative comes into our classroom to talk about why and who we are helping by volunteering. We also spend other times during the year talking about why it is important to help others and what are other ways we can do this in our lives. This is a great way for the students to be of service and see how they are helping others.
Family Life emphasizes what it means to belong to a family community within the context of the Catholic faith.
The Safe Environment for Children program is designed to help children, teachers and parents alike create a safe environment for all children.



Other curriculum subjects will be taught by different specialty teachers. Science will be taught by Ms. King. Music will be taught by Mrs. Miller and band will be taught by Mrs. Fox. Spanish will be taught by Mrs. Goodner. Art will be taught by Mr. Fortune. P.E. will be taught by Mrs. Haines.

Check out our links to find more information about the 5th Grade!

Student Projects
5th Grade San Francisco Bay Trip	Fifth grade tours the San francisco Bay
Geography Photos	5th Grade Geography Photos
Timeline Projects	Revolutionary War Timelines
The Boston Tea Party	The fifth grade wrote a script and performed their interpretation of the Boston Tea Party.
Shoes

Select a NewsletterMay 11, 2010March 3, 2010February , 2010January 6, 2010October , 2009December , 2009November 4, 2009September 20, 2009

May 11, 2010

End of Year News!!!!

May 2010

Dear 5th Grade Parents,

I can't believe how quickly we are approaching the end of the school year. I remain delighted by the progress and insights of your children. Every single one of my students is unique, creative, caring and inquisitive, which makes my job, as their teacher, a little crazy at times, but entertaining and fun! I will be very sad to see them go, and will miss working with them, as well as you, their amazing and helpful parents. Thank you all for making this year fun, exciting and very enjoyable!!

Important information

Portfolios
Portfolios go home Thursday, May 7th, along with progress reports. It is critical that any missing work, as well as the portfolio, is turned into me by the next Wednesday, May 13th, if the student wants to receive any credit. (Only work due after April 8th will be accepted.)

Brown Bags and sponges
I would like every student to bring in one brown bag and one sponge (preferably a scrubber sponge) by Friday, May 30th. The students will use these to clean their desks and take home notebooks and supplies. (They will be bringing both of these home by the end of the school year.) Please only send brown grocery bags. I will collect them in one stack and then hand them out as we clean up and take items home.

End of the Year Party
We will have our end of the school year picnic during the last week of school, Wednesday, June 9th, from 11:30am-12 noon. This will be a nice celebration to close the year and say goodbye. All are welcome to attend!

Thank You
I want to thank my head room-parents Mrs. Shilliday, Mrs. Olofson Mrs. Lorch and Ms. Corona for all their hard work and creative ideas. They made this year run smoothly and efficiently. Thank you, thank you!
Thank you as well to everyone else who assisted with parties, field trips, gathering supplies or supervising. You helped me tremendously and made the year extra special for the students! I couldn't have done this without you!


Curriculum Updates

In social studies we have finished studying the US Constitution and have discussed its affect on America today. Last week we looked at the beginnings of our country and focused on the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812. This week of school we continued to discuss the movement west, studying the Mexican American War and Gold Rush. (As the students spent most of 4th grade studying this, we did not take too much time with it.) We will finish the year with a brief study of the Civil War. We will identify the causes of the war, the war itself and the effects the war had on our country. All of these events played a significant role in shaping America into the country it is today. In June we will review and take a test on this information, as well as take our dates test!

In language arts, we have been looking at the trait of Organization. We have looked at what makes up organization in our writing and how to identify this in other places. We have examined pictures and played a "Lead's" game, where we write interesting and exciting beginnings. We will continue to study other Write Traits throughout the rest of the year, as well as focus on conventions and organization in our writing.
Later this month will begin our unit on poetry. We will spend time looking at different types of poems and writing our own. We will focus on the form and language of poems, like stanzas, beats, figurative language, alliteration and rhyming. We will also write many different types, such as Haikus, nursery rhymes, limericks, and cinquains. In the last few weeks of school, we will look at performing poetry and how to read with feeling and intonation. I am excited by the students' enthusiasm and their creativity.

In literature, we continue to read the book, The Phantom Tollbooth. The students are becoming better at recognizing figurative language and how the English language can be used in a variety of humorous and interesting ways. They enjoy the subtle nuances with which Norton Juster creates the world Milo discovers, solely by using the English language as a backdrop. (We will have a Phantom Tollbooth day the last week of school- your children will give you more detail as this approaches!)

In math, we are finishing up chapter eight, measurement, this week. This was a nice break in our math learning, as it was more of memorization of customary and metric measuring systems, rather than learning equations and performing difficult multiplication or division problems. Next week we will begin chapter 9, integers, and will focus on this for the remainder of the year. If we finish this chapter early, we may even move into geometry for a bit! (I do hope we get to this as shapes and angles can be enjoyable.)

In religion we are finishing our last sacrament, Holy Orders. We will then spend the remainder of the year on our Family Life Unit, talking about our lives from the Church's perspective. We will focus on respecting our bodies, being chaste and living a strong moral life. We will begin by looking at ourselves as unique individuals, and living a responsible life mirrored in Jesus' image. I think ending the year with Family Life is a wonderful way to sum up all that we have learned and discuss our feelings as a class.

Question of the month:
What are your summer plans?

Trevor: Texas
Emily: Going to Frontier Ranch with my friend.
Logan: To go swimming
Sophia: I'm going to go to a lot of camps and I'm going to Montana where there are lots of horses. There are going to be foals born which is also really exciting.
Rebecca: In the summer, I am going to Stanford-overnight Basketball ball camp for 4 days.
Bennett: I am going to Fallen Leaf Lake J .
Christian: I'm going to have a lot of sleepovers and will hang out with friends.
Nick: We're going to South Dakota, Arizona and maybe Maryland.
Juliana: I am going to LA and Arizona for my niece's baptism.
Julia: I am going to a lot of camps and going to Cancun and Mexico.
Lucas: We will go swimming a lot and we might go to Washington.
Bryce: I think we are going to Texas.
Francesca: 1. Surf Camp (favorite) 2. Going to my sister Danielle's graduation at UCLA.
Michael H.: I will go to Colorado.
Max: I am going to Italia!!!
Emma: I go to Colorado with Michael and then Michael and I fly to Connecticut.
Emily S.: I am going to Tahoe with my cousins and to a Stanford (ha ha Ms. L-M –PS you are the coolest J) basketball camp.
Kendall: My plan for summer are to go to Florida with my cousin grandparents.
Stefano: I am going to Vegas and I'm going to camp. Vegas is cool!
Will H.: Watch baseball ($50 to Chicago).
Riley: Go to a fun summer camp-YAY!
Lily: I'm going to grandparents.
Christopher: ???
Michael S.: I'm going to Europe.
Ana: I'm going to DC and New York City.
Molly: Going to Colorado, Oregon and a few summer camps.
Maura: I'm going to my cousin's cabin and my cabin. I am also going to the pool. J
Benjamin: Going to the Philippines.
Jackson: I'm going to a skateboard camp.
Evan: I am going to Los Angeles.
Will F.: visiting my grandparents.
Grace: A month of horse camp in Colorado.
Isabel: I am going to a lot of camps!
Thomas: I am going to the US Open in Pebble Beach and go to Santa Cruz.
Jay: I am going to Camp Winthers and I'm going to San Diego.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me with a note, call to the school, or by email at m_leroemunoz@sttheresaschool.org. Thank you again for a wonderful year and have a great summer!

Sincerely,

Ms. Leroe-Munoz

Student Links
1st 5 questions Information about the witch trials	1st 5 questions Information about the witch trials.
2nd 5 questions. Facts about the witch trials.	2nd 5 questions. Facts about the witch trials. Click on "Education" then FAQ
Time machine... Salem Witch Trials
Salem Witch Trials: Search home page
Inter-active Witch Hunt: Salem Witch Trials

5th Grade Supply List

Welcome to the 5th grade! Because space is limited in the classroom, it is important to follow these guidelines for supplies. These quantities are the maximum needed, however as some supplies do get used up or run out, be prepared to replace them. (Things such as notebooks, and paper will need to be restocked throughout the year, and other things may be requested.) Extras may be kept at home until needed at school. Please label all supplies with the student's name. We will check through these supplies on the first day of school to be sure they adhere to the guidelines on this list.

Thank you.

Ms. Leroe-Munoz


1. 1 box of 24 blue or black medium point ballpoint pens (Erasable or not)*
2. 12 red ballpoint pens*
3. 1 box of 24 #2 pencils with erasers *
4. 1 small, manual, self-contained pencil sharpener (NOT electric)
5. I pair, pointed scissors
6. 1 large glue stick
7. 1 set of markers (no more than twelve count- NO larger. NO SHARPIES!!!)
8. I small box of crayons (1 box of 32. NO larger)
9. Lined college-ruled binder paper
10. 1 small personal stapler
11. 1 ruler with both inches and centimeters
12. 7 pocket folders- one for each subject: Language Arts, Social Studies, Religion,
Science, Math, Music/Spanish and Homework (please, no binders)
13. 7 single subject notebooks, one for each subject, plus one extra: Math, Science, Social
Studies, Language Arts, Religion and Library
14. 1 pocket dictionary
15. 2 boxes of tissues (large size)*
16. 1 container of disinfecting wipes (handy wipes)*
17. I dry-erase marker *

* Items that will be collected and distributed evenly to the class throughout the year



5th Grade Summer Reading

The book you will be reading this summer is Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. This needs to be finished by the first day of school, as we will be doing assignments with it. Please keep in mind the theme of the story, characters, and cause and affect. You will need to turn in the questions(found after this letter) on the first day of school. We will spend some time at the beginning of the year discussing these questions and themes of the story.

This summer, you will also be asked to read a book of at least 100 pages from the author list below. This book will need to be completed by the first day of school. During the year, you will have a book report once a month. Each will differ in length and type of book, but this list of authors can help you choose books for your reports. Each book read must be at least 100 pages-No Exceptions!

Alcott, Luisa May Montgomery, Lucy Maud
Avi O?Dell, Scot
Burnett, Frances Hodgson Paterson, Katherine
Carroll, Lewis Paulsen, Gary
Cather, Willa Peck, Richard
Erdich, Louise Sachar, Lewis
George, Julie Craighead Speare, Elizabeth George
Hesse, Karen Spinelli, Jerry
Konigsburg, E.L. Taylor, Mildred
L?Engle, Madeline Uchida, Yoshiko
Lewis, C.S. Yep, Lawrence
Lowry, Lois

How do you choose a book? There are some guidelines to follow. Don't choose a book you've already read on your own or in a class. During the year we will read three or four novels as a class, so do NOT choose those. They will be chosen from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Fighting Ground, Julie of the Wolves, Johnny Tremain, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Jacob Have I loved. If you?ve read a book and enjoyed it, check and see if the author is on the list. If the author is on the list, find another book by the same author. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Happy Reading!!


(Please answer these questions after you read Esperanza Rising.) This is due the first day of school!!!

Name: ___________________________________

Date: ________________

5th Grade Summer Reading Questions
(These are for Esperanza Rising ONLY)

Please answer the following questions completely. For some, a sentence will suffice, nut for most you should write more.

1. What is the title and who is the author of the book?




2. When and where does the story take place?





3. Write three or more sentences describing the main character.








4. Briefly describe the basic plot. (What happens at the beginning, middle and end?)








5. What do you think of the ending? Do you think the author wrote an appropriate ending? If the story could end differently, what changes would you make?





6. What is the biggest the challenges the main character faces?







7. Describe any aspect of the main character's life that you admire or envy.






8. Describe any aspects of the main character's life that bother you.






9. Describe any similarities between you and the main character. (How are your personalities similar? How are your lives similar?)








10. How would you rate this book on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being low, 10 being high)? Explain your rating. Please also describe the type of person you think would enjoy this book.