Who is Mrs. Ham?
Welcome Parents to 5th grade! I will be your child’s teacher this year. This is my 3rd year at Alta and my 4th year teaching, with 2 years prior subbing experience. I have taught 4th and 5th grade and have come to love the personalities, the curriculum, and the maturity your children gain in this special year of school.
I have two children of my own: Lacie, a first grader here at Alta and my son Jesse who is in Pre-School. My wonderful husband, Rusty, is also a teacher at the new Murrieta Mesa High School as the P.E. Department Chair, head Boys Basketball Coach, and Assistant Baseball. So, as you can see we love what we do and we are very involved with the community.
What are the expectations for 5th Grade?
5th graders definitely have to step up to the plate. There are many changes from lower to upper grades. A challenge this year is the number of students in our class and in ALL Rotations. This can present a problem with noise level and the individual attention your child may receive.
Another change is the level of responsibility expected by your child. 5th grade students are required to keep an organized binder and daily agenda. We will work on both together in class. I specifically tell students where to put certain papers and where and what to write for their homework. If you notice that your child is having a hard time adjusting to writing down their homework in their daily agenda, please let me know so we can work as a team to get your child organized!
Classroom Rules
As a class, your children established the following rules:
1. Be Respectful, Responsible, and Honest to teacher and classmates.
2. Be Responsible for your own actions.
3. No talking while the teacher and your peers are speaking!
4. Raise your hand to speak.
5. Stay focused and organized.
6. Be a good listener by listening to directions the first time.
7. Keep hands, feet, and belongings to yourself.
Consequences for Our Actions
Along with the rules, as a team, we collectively gave consequences if a rule should be broken. If a student chooses to break a classroom rule and not live up to the “Six Pillars of Good Character” the following steps will be taken:
1. Warning
2. Loss of recess and/or lunch recess; “I Am Benched” Slip sent home for signature.
3. Note home, to be returned next day signed by a parent/legal guardian.
4. Call home to parents/legal guardian.
5. Sent automatically to Mr. P.’s office for conference.
Rewards
Students will be praised and rewarded for good behavior. Students may receive “Ham Rewards” Ticket, marbles for team points, Principal’s Recess, and be assigned weekly jobs. At random other helpers will be chosen for special help in the class. (i.e. messenger, teacher’s assistant, etc.)
Our class is also working towards earning a class pet. A family has been kind enough to provide a turtle named Fern for this year. I have discussed this with the class and we are on our way to earning 100 points, easily called “Fern Points”. Once we have reached our goal, as a class, we will discuss our duties, the job in taking care of a class pet, and Vacation Pet Sitting.
Rewards may also be given to groups of students (tables, rows) or the whole class. Some rewards may be popcorn parties, a special treat, or watching a movie.
Homework
Homework will be assigned Monday-Thursday. All assignments are to be written in the agenda and are DUE THE NEXT DAY unless otherwise noted. Usually the homework will consist of 20 minutes or Accelerated Reading and Math. Other homework may be from reading/language arts, social studies, science, or writing. Students may also have projects from time to time or ay need to finish up a classroom assignment.
Communication
All students in 5th grade have received a Daily Planner/agenda. The student agenda book must be used to keep homework assignments and upcoming events scheduled. It is very important that you review it nightly to ensure that your child has completed that day’s work. After you have ensured that all work has been completed, please sign on the line provided for that day. I will randomly check agendas and grade for completeness.
The best way to reach me is by e-mail at . You may also call the school at 696-1403 extension 8011. I may also communicate with you through Bench Slips and your child’s agenda/planner.
Accelerated Reader (AR)
Your child will be required to read AR books this year. The purpose of the program is to monitor your child’s reading comprehension during independent reading time. I will meet with every student’s to discuss their book level and goal for completion. I will then check in with your child periodically to make sure he/she is on track to meet their goal. AR books can be checked out at the school library as well as my classroom library. Please ensure that your child reads an AR book every night for 20 minutes. Occasionally, students will be assigned Core Literature reading in place of AR reading.
Tests
Your child will be tested on spelling, reading comprehension, grammar, key vocabulary (social studies) (in rotations), math (in rotations), and science (in rotations). Students will record test dates in the daily agenda. You can also check my website for test dates as well. J
Physical Education
We will have P.E. on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. On these days we will rotate through stations in order to prepare students for the 5th grade state physical fitness testing. I strongly recommend that your child bring in tennis shoes for P.E. and they may leave them in the class to wear. Students should also dress accordingly for those days activities.
In addition, if you have an old towel, bath or beach, your child can use this for sit-ups, push-ups, sit-n-reach, and trunk lift which are performed on the ground. Finally, it is HIGHLY recommended that your child brings a water bottle labeled with their name or initials and wears sunscreen to school. If your child is not able to participate in P.E., they must have a signed note by a parent explaining why they can not participate.
Box Tops
Please help our school by clipping, saving and sending “Box Tops for Education” to school with your child. Each box top that is turned in will help our school purchase much needed items. I have a special place in the class for students to drop them in. Please place them in a zip-loc bag and write your child’s name on it so that they may get credit for their donation.
Scholastic Book Orders
I will be sending home a book order each month. These orders offer books that are much cheaper than bookstores. By buying books from the order forms, our class will earn points that will allow me to buy books for our classroom library. Please help our class spend $200 on the first order, which is due Friday, September 4th. If our class reaches $200 we get 6,000 bonus points which is equal to an estimated $150-$175. I would be able to get a lot of new books for our library. J
Daily Schedule
8:45-9:00 Opening/Roll/Lunch Count/Warm-Up Activities
9:00-9:30 P.E. (M, W, Th)
Homework Review/Corrections (T)
9:30-10:35 Math Rotations
10:40-11:00 Recess
11:00-12:50 Language Arts/Social Studies/Writing
12:50-1:30 Lunch
1:30-1:50 Read Aloud (T,W,TR, F)
Additional Review/Support (M)
1:50-2:00 Clean-Up/Pack-Up/Agenda Writing
2:00-2:55 Science Rotations (T,W,TR)
Early Release Mondays ONLY!
Principal’s Recess/Extension Activities
2:55-3:00 Return Un-Needed Items to desk.
· Computers will also be used throughout the year depending on the project and/or unit studied with constant use of Math/Reading/Social Studies/Science Programs to enrich learning.