Ramsay's Fifth Grade Language Arts Class
Welcome to my 5th Grade Language Arts page. I
hope that this page will assist in making every student in my class a more
successful student.
*Preparing for Success
I believe that all of my students have the ability to be successful in my
classes. In order to ensure this, I give them a criteria sheet (study
guide) at the beginning of each unit. The criteria sheet has two
sides, a question side and a graphic organizer side. They are always on green
paper. In class we will complete the graphic organizer for the
material that we covered in class. The answers, from the class
discussion, will be written on the overhead/digital projector so that every student has the
correct answers on his/her graphic organizer.
To improve success, each student will need to
have the binder and pockets dividers requested on the supply list. The
notebook will be divided into sections to assist students in staying organized
and prepared for class at all times. I will help the students set up their
notebooks at the beginning of the school year so that each one can maintain it
throughout the the year. Also, each student needs to have an agenda to
write down the nightly homework. For the first semester, when I come to
each student's seat to grade homework, each student is required to have written
down the homework for that night. I will initial it so that it will be
easier at home to keep up with your child's success in my class.
*Homework
For homework, the student is to complete the questions on the other side of the
criteria sheet. I expect for the students to have well thought out
complete answers. Grammar usage and language mechanics are tied into
each unit and included on the criteria sheets. A couple of nights a
week, students will also have some grammar and mechanics practice.
I grade the homework at the beginning of class the following day. I
go to each student's seat to grade his/her homework. This is a time that I can
give extra help to students who had trouble on their homework. The students
should have about 10-15 minutes of Language Arts homework almost every night.
*Tests
When I make out the test, I use the criteria sheet. Since the
students have the criteria sheet, they have the answers to the test. I
announce tests several days before they are given. I urge all of my
students to spend a little bit of time every night studying for the upcoming
test. We will have four to six tests every grading period.
*Class Update
October through December we will be focusing on our Expository Writing in preparation for taking the ADAW (Alabama Direct Assessment of Writing) in February. We will complete several different assignments such as Ancient Egypt travel brochures, digital stories on an American Revolution Patriot, bio poems on Patriots, and work with the book Mistakes that Worked. Students will receive criteria for each of these assignments. Additionally, they will work on their five paragraph essay in this mode. Writing will be graded according to a rubric based on the one that the assessors use for the ADAW.
Incorporated into each week will be grammar instruction and practice. Practice will come out of the Grammar and Writing Workbook that accompanies the Scott Foresman Reading Street series. Below is a list of the skills and the weeks that we will be working with each of them. Grammar Tests are given on the computer on Wednesday for my class and on Thursday for Mrs. Wicker's class.
Grammar skills by week:
Week of November 17-Subject-Verb Agreement
Week of December 8- Past, Present, and Future Tense Verbs
Week of December 15-Principle Parts of Regular Verbs
Week of January 12-Principle Parts of Irregular Verbs
Week of January 19-Troublesome Verbs
Week of January 26-Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
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