Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving Fifth Graders!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Hey out there!
Today is Thanksgiving and I hope that all of our students are either in their pajamas watching the Macy's Parade or on the way to Grandmas house :) Please enjoy your short vacation. When we come back to school on Monday there will be several changes occuring. Remember your in between class time is going to be lowered to 4 minutes and you need to be completely prepared for classes so you don't get an infraction!!! This does not apply to 98% of you so don't worry :) Enjoy your break and rest your brain, we are starting two new novels on Monday!!!!!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week is going to be a short one. We have 2 1/2 days to finish up our unit on Pilgrims and the Plymouth Plantation. Please make sure that you are doing your nightly reading this week. We have free reading, so read whatever your heart desires because starting next Monday we will be starting our new chapter books. Enjoy your Thanksgiving break and come back next week ready to learn and to explore some classic holiday novels!!!!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

New Marking Period!

Parents and Students,
It's a new marking period and we are well under way! We have several things that are coming up soon;

Friday 11/6 9am Honor Roll Breakfast all students that made honor roll this marking period will be honored with a yummy breakfast in the cafeteria :)

Friday 11/13 8-5:00pm Field Trip to Old Salem
parents are welcome and encouraged to attend this field trip. Students must ride the bus to Old Salem to count as present for the day but parents may sign students out after lunch to ride home in the family vehicle. We have found a $2.00 off coupon for parents to use on their admission ticket. If you would like one please return the reminder slip to your homeroom teacher!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

26th Day of School!

Parents and Students,
Can you believe that it is the 26th day? I cannot!!! I guess when you are out with the Swine flu for 4 1/2 days you lose some perspective :) Mrs. Goins and I wanted to let parents know that we are going to try to update this website more often with classroom announcements as well as homework updates! Please check back often!! We are also going to put the classroom newsletter on here if we can figure that out :) If you subscribe to our webpage you will be notified when it has been updated!!!!

Thanks!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Curriculum Night!


Don't forget that curriculum night starts at 6:00 pm on Monday! After our short talk you can wander down to the cafeteria and buy a hotdog or two and support the 8th grade field trip fund!!! Community night starts after the brief PTO meeting at 7:00.


Thanks for the great week last week!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

TGIF tomorrow!

Hey out there! I answered some questions today about the reading homework. Here are the highlights;

Q: Do we have to read 2 chapter books?
A: No, if your book is LOOONNGG you may use that book for both of the reports/reviews.

Q: Can we do the homework if we are not done with the book?
A: yes, please complete the questions even if you are not done.

Q: I lost my report/review paper can I have another?
A: yes, and they were given a copy today after I asked several times who needed one.

Q: Do our parents need to sign our planner/agenda each night?
A: YES!!! Please record the title of the book that was read and how many minutes.

This is a learning process for all of us as we are starting a new school year. Please just roll with us as we are getting all the kinks out of our system!!! I think we have solved the locker problem with reading and social studies! I will keep you updated on that :)

Remember to study those words for the spelling test tomorrow!!!!
See ya at the Creek!

Starting on Monday we will not be accepting "I forgot" as an excuse for homework and we will have to go with the 5-8th grade homework plan that could result in a detention for students that are not completing their homework.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Week Two!


Well it is beginning, HOMEWORK! Most of the other grades have had homework already but we were being kind and generous before the onslaught of work. Now reality is here and so is the work :) It's really not that bad.


Here is your tentative schedule;


Reading: Read 25 minutes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

write at least 2 book reviews that are due Friday morning (form will be handed out).


Spelling: Study your words every night.


Math: You will have a math sheet on Monday that is due Wednesday and a Math Sheet Wednesday that is due on Friday.


Other: There might be other assignments along the way that need to be completed at home. These are on a need basis and will be fully explained before being sent home.


Thanks for your attention to these items. These assignments are not mindless time wasters but activities that we hope will review what we are learning in class and help them to practice new skills that are needed.


See ya at the Creek!

Mrs. Efird

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Day #2 of Fifth Grade


Today was the second day of school and it was fun! I am having such a good time with all of you! It has been eye opening to say the least. I cannot believe how much trouble these lockers are :) I know that the students love them, BUT until they fit into our daily procedures I am still not BFF with them.


Just a reminder that we do not have any "assigned" homework this week other than decorating your cow/marble journals. Next week will be soon enough for the homework to begin.


I will be awarding students with 100% of their paperwork turned in on Friday with their homework passes. These passes can be used for any REGULAR assignments, they cannot be used for projects though :) Sorry guys!!! You will still have to do the Atlas Project.
Thanks for coming to meet me in person, or I should say get reaquainted with me at Open House. I know most of you from being at RCS, or from the first go around in second grade. Please be on the look out for our newsletter to come home this week as well as a date for Curriculum night!!!

See ya at the Creek!

Mrs. Efird

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Welcome to 5th Grade!!!


Students,

I am so excited to be part of the fifth grade team! I have taught many of you when you were a much smaller second graders and I was a much bigger second grade teacher :) Now we are geting ready to strike out on a new journey, FIFTH GRADE!! I hope that you are as ready as I am to get things rolling and to get the fun and learning underway! I have already mapped out much of the first semester and look forward to all of the projects and lessons we will be doing together!


First of all Open House night you will get a welcome packet. These packets include information about RCS , our class as well as fifth grade specific things! If you can, please fill out the things that need filling out and bring them back asap, so that we can get the housekeeping things done and over with!


Secondly we will be starting homework (I know it's a bad word) on the first full week, which is Monday, August 31st. Don't worry I am going easy on you the first week. The first week you will only be required to read (your choice of material this week) for 30 minues. We will build up to the full load by the end of September :) I don't want homework to be overwhelming but I do want it to be informative and to help you use what you learn in class.


If you are having trouble getting something done, please come to me. Do not wait until the day before something is due to make excuses. Also if you are not getting your nightly reading done this will affect your reading grade so please see me ASAP if you need time during the school day to get your reading in. I don't want to make this a habit but I want you to succeed!!!


Lastly for today, please talk to your parents about volunteering :) We will not have an assistant this year and I can always use help getting bulletin boards done, doors decorated, copies ran, one on one with students, whatever their gifted area I can find them a job in our class :)


I can't wait until I see everyone at open house! If you want to bring your supplies that night you can, there will be places on the side counters for you to put everything. Just look for the right tags!


Until open house,

Mrs. Efird