Parent Information

Welcome to Our Class:

 I love teaching and look forward to working with your child. This is my 21st  year teaching and I have taught Science Lab, fourth, and fifth grade.  I am a highly qualified teacher and I currently have a Bachelor’s in Education, plus 18 credits towards my Masters.  I am also a Clemson Upstate Writing graduate. Your child will be working very hard in school this year, and our goal is to help your child reach his or her full potential. I will be your child's ELA teacher, which means that I will be teaching reading, writing, grammar and word study. I will be working on mastering fifth grade ELA academic standards, and building a cooperative community of independent workers who model strong work ethic. Character education is a very important part of the school experience and is embedded throughout our day along with Love and Logic which is the guiding principal of our class.

Students in our class quickly discover that team-work is the key to success. Fifth graders sit in small groups and work together to problem-solve and create solutions. This approach is training for future success in the workplace. I place emphasis on achieving individual academic goals, identifying students' strengths, organization, and responsibility. These will help prepare your child for middle school. Our class is a cooperative community, where individual learning styles are celebrated. I believe that school should be fun and that students should be active participants in their learning.

I will communicate with you about your child throughout the year and especially if your child is struggling academically in our classroom. You and I are your child’s advocates. We need to work together to help your child be successful.  Below are things you need to be aware of so you can help your child be successful in 5th grade. 

• Your child will have an agenda that will come home on Mondays with the weeks assignments in it. It will need to be signed and returned Tuesday morning.   

• You and I can write notes in their weekly agenda to communicate back and forth. 

• Students will be required to read 20 minutes or more a day. ( please read the “Why Read Every Day” handout). It is very important that you help your child find a quiet place without distractions to read everyday. 

•  Students will have spelling tests. Please check their Agendas on Monday for their spelling list and the date of the test. We will be working with words in a word study. Students will work with synonyms, antonyms, definitions, prefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, using words in a sentence and using context clues to help them figure out the meaning of a word.  

• Your child will have a RED folder coming home on Tuesdays.  This will have graded work from the previous week along with a log that you are asked to sign so that I know you have seen their graded papers.  Please be on the lookout for this every Tuesday and return it on Wednesday so that I know you saw their work.  I do not need the graded work back but it is always helpful to go over it with your child.  Praise them for their successes and work with them on things that show a weakness.  Many times I have sat with my own child and we redo math problems or look at their misunderstandings and work together on how to fix them.  

• We do have snack time in the morning.  Please have your child bring a healthy snack (Please no candy or red, blue, orange chips - Thank you)) to help them stay focused throughout the morning.  They can also have clear water bottles with lids, with only water in it.  I highly recommend this.  Studies show that students who stay hydrated and eat a healthy snack increase their ability to stay focused and learn better.

• Please check out our school website.  It is loaded with helpful information.

• Always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at 355-0300 or email me at rsurfus@greenville.k12.sc.us .  I look forward to seeing you at conferences in October. I know that we will have a great year in Fifth Grade. Thank you for trusting me to do my best for your child.