Mr. Ganzer's 5th Grade

Mr. Ganzer, Grade 5, Room # 10 Google Classroom Code: wuhiasp

Contact Information: steven.ganzer@twinriversusd.org

Dear Fifth Grade Families, August 18, 2022

Welcome to 5th grade. I am very happy to have your child in my class this year. Pioneer Elementary School is committed to excellence in education. Established rules and procedures help attain this goal. I am dedicated to working with you to provide the best education possible for your child. The fifth grade is such an exciting time. We have many wonderful experiences ahead of us and I am looking forward to a productive year. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to email me or send a note with your child. I greatly appreciate your interest and support.

ATTENDANCE/ ABSENCES: School begins promptly at 8:00 am and class dismissal is at 2:42pm except on Wednesdays when we have early release at 12:42pm. Attendance is extremely important to the success of your child. It is important if your child is absent, that you call Pioneer at (916) 566-1940 to leave a message, or send a note when your child returns to school stating the reason for absence. If there are multiple absences due to illness or personal reasons, I will be more than happy to prepare a homework packet for your child. In this case, please contact me as soon as possible so I can have this prepared for you in a timely manner.

Reading & Language Arts: This year we will have a focus on historical and scientific literature. The goal is to introduce your child to quality literature, practice reading, comprehension, grammar, and writing skills. We will be doing a number of different activities that will assist us in this endeavor such as shared reading, practicing good reading techniques, buddy work, checking for understanding, chanting, and descriptive multi-paragraph writing. Each student will be required to read at home each night (20 minutes silently at a minimum) and to complete the independent reading sheet Please sign this sheet each night that will be up on Google Classroom each week to ensure that your child is receiving the practice he or she needs to improve his/her reading skills.

Math: Math will be a combination of learning basic skills and developing creative problem solving strategies. Your child will be working in our math program titled SWUN. Please set aside some time each night to help your child work on multiplication and division facts if they are not currently mastered. They are very important for your child to have the most success possible in 5th grade.

Social Studies: In 5th grade, we study American History. We will be doing several hands on projects throughout the year to help us understand the interesting history of America along with weekly assignments loaded onto Google Classroom.

SCIENCE: This year we will be studying a large variety of topics in science, The Building Blocks of Matter, Changes in Matter, Structures of Organisms, Water on Earth, Weather, and the Solar System. We will be using several methods to cover this material during the school year.

Homework: Children in the 5th grade should spend approximately 50 minutes each night on school work. On some days homework may be more if there is an upcoming test or if work was not completed in class. If your child finishes the work for the day early, he/she should spend the remaining time reading, studying for tests, or practicing other skills such as multiplication and division facts.

Please help your child select a schedule and a place to study so that it is consistent. ESTABLISH A HOMEWORK ROUTINE AND STICK TO IT!

Classroom Standards: Students are expected to come to class prepared, and be positive, respectful and ready to learn. I am a firm believer that this is the only route to establishing a classroom that is conducive to learning. We have classroom rules along with school rules which all students are required to follow. To help your child to learn and to ensure a productive learning environment I have the following expectations:

I expect your child to arrive to class on time and be prepared with all materials to work (homework, pencil, paper and textbooks).

I expect work to be done neatly and accurately.

I expect your child to respect all school property and that of others.

I expect your child to take responsibility for his or her actions.

I expect your child to bring their laptops fully charged to school each day.

CONSEQUENCES: My management system consists of a chart of cards-one set per child. Each day students will start on a blue card (great) and move through yellow (warning), orange (loss of privilege ), red (a behavior contract and/or a call home), if they show a lack of responsibility with either their work or behavior. The goal is for students to remain on blue the entire day. If there is a behavior problem or work that is not finished by the end of the week, a child may not participate in Enrichment Friday, a weekly enrichment activity. Students will earn points for behavior based on the color of the card that they attained for that day, blue (5 points), yellow (3 points), orange (2 points), red (0 points). In order to have earned Enrichment Friday students will have had to earn at least 75 percent of the points and have the majority of school work completed.

REWARDS/INCENTIVES: Our classroom will be organized into teams and compete against each other for points. Teams will be given points for good behavior. The team with the most points at the end of the week will be given a prize. Each Monday students will be given two blue tickets that may be used to get drinks or use the bathroom during class time when the teacher is not directly instructing. Each Friday, there will be a drawing that students may put their left over tickets (if they were unused during the week) in for a prize. At the end of the year we will auction off prizes using any leftover tickets.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS: Students might find it useful to have the following items in class as well: A student pencil sharpener, a pencil box (or something to hold student supplies), pencils, headphones for use with the computer (Computers will be used daily), colored pencils/crayons, a white board marker, and a water bottle.

School Website: http://pioneer.twinriversusd.org/index.html

All of your child’s grades will be entered into an online database. As a parent, you can log into Aeries in order to have access to all of your child’s graded assignments and emails from the school. Please see the attached form to follow step by step instructions on setting up your Aeries account.

100%-90% = A(advanced).

89%-80% = B (proficient)

79%-70% = C (basic)

69%-60% = D (below basic)

59% and below = F (far below basic)

I am looking forward to working with you and your child this year. Your continued help and encouragement will contribute greatly toward your child’s learning.

Parent Tip:

1-Homework and assignments will be placed onto Google Classroom each day. All work will be there. For daily math homework (which is a paper copy), I would prefer for the work to be done on paper instead of on Google Classroom. However, in a crunch, the assignment will be there! So, if your child is absent, they can still get their assignments completed.

2- To see if your child has completed their work, go to Google Classroom and click on the “Classwork” tab. If the assignment is greyed out, it has been turned in. If it is not greyed out, it has not been turned in.

3- Sometimes students turn in work blank, so that parents think they have done everything. It just takes one click on the assignment to see if the work is actually completed or not.

Sincerely,

Mr. Ganzer