Fifth Grade News

August 2008

Mr. Beebe and Mrs. Pitzer

Welcome back Hoover fifth graders!  We hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable summer and are returning to school ready to accept challenges and grow your brain.  You have an exciting year ahead of you.

As you were enjoying the sun and pool this summer, many people have changed at Hoover.  We have many new faces to welcome to our Hoover family.  While Mrs. Stilley is home with her new baby boy, you will be up and moving with Ms. Harkins in gym.  Mrs. Staub will welcome you into the library this year.  We also have some new teachers in a few of the grades.  In second grade we have Mrs. McMullen, in third grade we have Mrs. Scouvart, and joining us in fourth grade will be Ms. Sholders.  You may also notice a familiar face in fourth grade!  Mrs. Thompson has come back to Hoover and is in fourth grade.  Please be sure to welcome them to Hoover and introduce yourself. 

Hopefully you all took some time over the summer to get outside and exercise!  You’ll need the arm strength to carry your books and supplies between classes each and every day!    You will be moving classrooms for different subjects.  All fifth graders will have Mr. Beebe for math, science, and social studies.  Language Arts and writing will be taught to all fifth graders by Mrs. Pitzer.  We are looking forward to getting to know all of you and teach you!

Your last year of elementary school…. are you ready for it?  Fifth grade is certainly a year of transitions.   In today’s classroom and world, you are expected to work together successfully.  To achieve an optimum learning experience, it is imperative that all students enjoy working with others.  In order to help you work together as a team, we will be spending time during each week helping you build these skills and learning respect, tolerance, and the rewards that come from helping others.  We hope this team building time will develop life like skills that can be seen both inside and outside the classroom.  We expect much more out of you and will look for you to show us three important skills… the three R’s.  The first ‘R’ is for respect.  Respect is required for each and every student.  You will be expected to accept everyone’s different ways of learning and the various strengths each of your classmates possesses.  The second ‘R’ is responsibility.  You will be expected to be responsible for assignments and homework completion, as well as being the bearer of information to and from school.  You will be required to keep an assignment notebook which will greatly help you be a responsible student.  Finally, you must be ready to learn and do your best each day.  Being ready means getting to school on time (8:40) and being prepared for class.    All work should be top quality and completed with your best effort.   We look for you to contribute to our classroom family each and every day. 

Language Arts will begin with our first theme, Look Inside!  Not only will you be working with the anthology, but also using novels and various groupings to challenge your abilities and extend your thinking.  You will be experiencing both whole group lessons and small group lessons.   Spelling, reading, grammar, and vocabulary skills will all be worked on throughout the year.  As a homework assignment each month, you will be required to read a novel of a different genre and complete a project to present to the class.  More details about these projects will be available at the end of September as well as at Curriculum Night.

Writing workshop will continue in fifth grade.  We will be writing both self selected topic pieces and prompt writing.  We will refine your skills in the narrative genre, narrative procedure, informational, prompt writing, and response to literature.  Make sure to jot down any topic ideas that come to you!

We are thrilled to be continuing the new math program again this year.  Please be sure to read the attached letter so you able to access the site on the internet and peruse the materials.   Careless mistakes account for many of the errors we see in math class and activities.  Be responsible about your learning by taking your time and checking over your work.  You will be given the opportunity to engage in some challenging math activities throughout the year.

Science this year will begin with a kit called Energy, Machines, and Motion.  We will be building different simple machines and cars.  Also, we will discover the tiny world of microorganisms in our kit called Microworlds.

Our social studies series is called History Alive!  This series will take us from Native American times through 1824.  The emphasis will be on American and Pennsylvania history.  It will be very exciting to dive into this series and experience our American history.     

It will be an exciting year filled with challenges, learning, and hopefully some fun!   The ability to be successful and have a year full of learning is in your hands.  By being respectful, responsible, and ready to learn, you will be choosing to undertake the challenges of fifth grade and work your hardest at conquering them.  We look forward to a wonderful year getting to know each and every one of you.  Welcome back Hoover fifth graders!

Mr. Beebe rbeebe@mtlsd.net

Mrs. Pitzer lpitzer@mtlsd.net