WELCOME TO KHALA KIM'S LANGUAGE ARTS AND SOCIAL STUDIES FIFTH GRADE WEBPAGE
for 2008-2009!
Assalamu'alaikum Students and Parents!
My name is Kimberly Wright, and I am teaching Language Arts and Social Studies for 5A and 5B. I am the homeroom teacher for 5A. This website will include homework, assignments,special events, and other information that all fifth graders will need to know throughout the year.
UPCOMING TESTS & ASSIGNMENTS
*****Homework, assignments, and special events will be posted here throughout the year.****
KEEP IN TOUCH!
Insha'Allah this general classroom website will keep you posted on classroom activities and procedures, volunteer opportunities, our wishlist, and other information.
Feel free at any time to email me or leave a message with Halima, the school's receptionist, at (408) 980-1161 if you have questions or need information. My email address is kimw@granadaschool.org.
For parents who would like to meet with me, I am available during my preparation periods. Please schedule an appointment by sending me an email or leaving a message with Halima. Please schedule at least one day in advance.
Please scroll through this entire page to read more about fifth grade! Below you will find important dates, our class list, supply list, wish list, classroom programs, and much more. Read on!
CLASSROOM SUPPLY LIST
Students will need the following items for class. Please clearly label all items with the student's name:
* Pencils, erasers, sharpener
* Markers
* Crayons
* Colored pencils
* Glue sticks
* 12 in. ruler
* Scissors
* 3 1/2 x 5" notecards
* Clipboard
* 2 ring binders with wide-ruled
* Hard-cover composition notebook
* 2 two pocket folders
* Small packets of tissues
* Bottle of liquid hand sanitizer (waterless soap)
* Backpack
* Small container, bag, or box to store supplies in desk
* Lunchbox full of healthy snacks and lunch items, juice or water
* All required workbooks and textbooks will be needed the first week of school
CLASSROOM INFORMATION
Wish List for 2008-09
We need the following items for our classroom. If anyone would be kind enough to donate something from this list, please let me know.
Tissues, hand sanitizer, and cleaning wipes
Pencils, erasers, sharpeners, crayons, glue, notecards
Puzzles and games
Books for classroom library
Listening Center: Tape/CD player with multiple jacks for headphones
Rolling easel for large flip chart
Flip chart paper
Giant chart-paper size Post-Its
Bags of timothy hay, bedding, and food for the guinea pig
Prohibited Items
Please do not bring these items to school:
Toys of any kind, candy, gum, or soda, cd players, cell phones, etc.
Sharing Treats with the Class
Please arrange for any treats you'd like to distribute at least one day in advance. The teacher reserves the right to cancel treats if deemed inappropriate for the following reasons:
1. We do not celebrate birthdays at GIS. Any treats related to birthdays are not allowed.
2. Some students are allergic to certain foods. To be fair, treats will not be given out if even one student is allergic. We don't want anyone to feel left out. We usually have one or two students who are allergic to nuts especially.
3. The food item contains ingredients that are considered haram by most Muslims, i.e. gelatin, non-zabiha meat products, lecithin, etc.
4. Foods that cannot easily be stored in the classroom until they are to be distributed.
Below is some information about activities in our classroom.
ON-GOING CLASSROOM PROGRAMS
Pets
We have a Pet Center in 5A with a fluffy guinea pig named Little PetPet. She has been in second grade for three years, and now she is moving to fifth grade! We are learning many things about animal habitats, how to responsibly care for someone who depends on us, and many things about animal behavior. Insha'Allah we will also get a pet for 5B after we vote to decide what kind of pet the students would like.
Classroom Helpers
Some of our helper tasks include feeding pets, keeping the room clean, neat, and organized, passing out materials, organizing library books, and much more. We will rotate these positions every month.
Super Reader Program
Fifth grade students are super readers! Students must read at home at least 30 min. a day. Students should read out loud to parents for 5 minutes, then silently on their own for 25 minutes. We will keep weekly, monthly, and yearly reading logs to track progress. After completing each reading log with a list of 20 books, students bring this to me to receive a small prize, move their star on our chart to the next level, and start a new reading log. The reading logs are graded in Language Arts as part of the participation grade. We will also complete at least one book project or report each trimester.
Volunteer Parents
If anyone would like to join our fabulous group of volunteers, we always need help with the following activities:
* Projects
* Photocopying, stapling, cutting, pasting, filing, checking work
* Field trip chaperones
* Organizing social events, i.e. classroom parties, Eid activities
* Special school events such as Reading Day, International Day...
* Bulletin boards
* Cleaning the classroom
There are many more opportunities available! Contact me for additional tasks. Also, we'd love it if you or someone you know would speak to our class about your special skills, hobbies, or interests that are related to topics that we are studying.
Homework
There will be homework almost every day for Language Arts and Social Studies, depending on the lesson/topic we are studying. Each day assignments will be posted in class and on this website. Students must also write them down in their daily planners. Homework excuses will not be accepted unless related to an illness or serious family emergency.
If you think your child needs addtional practice or more challenging work at home, students can always practice the same skills in different ways. For example, for Language Arts, they can read stories and write summaries, make a chart of all the main ideas and details, draw pictures to illustrate their favorite story, make a diarama of a story scene, make their own book of poetry or stories...be creative! They can bring these projects to school to share with the class and we can display them. For vocabulary, they could make their own "word tree" similar to the one we have in class. On a large posterboard, draw and color a tree. Use cut-out leaf shapes to write each new vocabulary word. Add more leaves as we learn more words. Invent daily activities for using these words, i.e. choose 5 words from the tree to include in a story; write jokes using 3 words from the tree...etc. Endless possibilities!
KHALA KIM'S TOP TEN TIPS TO HELP YOUR CHILD SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
Please try the following suggestions at home to help your child be the best student they can be, and still have fun in school!
1. Teach them by example that a good Muslim follows rules, respects the rights of others, and is kind and thoughtful toward everyone.
2. Although all of us are busy, try not to say "I don't have time" when they ask you to become involved with their school work or school activities. If you do, they feel you are rejecting a part of them. Conversely, do not make homework your only interaction with your child. They need to have some "down" time with you too. Play some games, tell jokes, or just chat. Not everything has to be about school, believe it or not!
3. Speak respectfully and be positive about your child's school and their teachers to set a good example for their behavior in school.
4. Check your child's work, BUT NEVER DO IT FOR THEM OR DICTATE THE ANSWERS. Give your child permission to make mistakes so that they can learn from them.
5. Limit television and computer games. Use these only after all school work for the day is completed. For example, in my own home, my children are not allowed to watch television or play computer games on weekdays at all. After school work is done, this leaves time to memorize Qur'an, play outside, play board games with the family, read, or just talk and tell jokes!
6. Use resources like libraries, on-line homework help, tutoring centers, or other help to reinforce what we are learning in school when extra help is needed.
7. Do not ignore your child's difficulties in school. For example, if your child is having trouble understanding place value in math now, chances are that he/she will have trouble with double-digit addition later. All skills are related. Try to check your child's understanding by giving them short oral pop-quizzes while you prepare dinner, for example.
8. Make sure your child is eating a healthful diet and getting at least 9 hours of sleep each night. This is crucial for brain development at this age level. (Not to mention that I don't want them to fall asleep in my classroom!)
9. Parents and students together: try to memorize as much of the Qur'an now as possible. If you work on this together as a family, everyone benefits in more ways than we will ever know!
10. Even though we are stressed out at work and home, try not to forget what it was like to be a kid. Be silly sometimes!
Thank you for visiting our website. May Allah reward you for your support of our classroom!
Jezakum Allahu Khairun,
Khala Kim
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