Please review the school/parent compact, then complete the approval form. Thank you.

In The Classroom – As your child’s teacher, I promise to…

· Use the latest research to teach students.

· Provide open communication through folders, conferences, phone calls and notes.

· Establish collaboration with the classroom teacher for student instruction and scheduling/pull-out.

· Provide materials that are interesting and motivating.

· Help parents understand instructional practices, class expectations, and grading policies.

· Plan meaningful lessons that meet individual student needs.

· Provide a safe school environment that promotes learning and encourages a partnership with the school.

· Employ effective classroom management skills.

· Promote a feeling of belonging for all.

At Home – As the child’s parent/guardian, I promise to…

· Read nightly with my child.

· Help my child with his/her homework.

· Provide an appropriate area for doing homework.

· Engage in activities that encourage learning.

· Provide encouragement and positive reinforcement.

· Talk with my child about his/her school day.

· Attend school activities & parent-teacher conferences.

· Show respect with my words and actions for my child, other children, and their families, the teachers, and the school.

· Communicate and work with the school to encourage my child’s learning and positive behavior.

· Ask specific questions to stimulate my child’s conversation/oral language skills.

· Encourage regular & prompt attendance.

A sample of what your child will be learning in 5th grade Language Arts:

• Summarizing the key details of stories, dramas, poems, and nonfiction materials

• Integrating information from several print and digital sources

• Writing and reporting on opinions with a logical sequence of ideas and sufficient facts and details

• Identifying and judging information that supports particular ideas in an author’s argument

• Writing stories that unfold naturally and developing a plot

• Producing writing on the computer

Some activities you can do to support Language Arts learning at home:

• Invite your child to read his or her own writing out loud to other family members. Ask questions about your child’s word choices and ideas.

• Discuss your family stories and history. Encourage your child to ask relatives questions about their lives. Put the information together in an album or brainstorm different ways to tell family tales, such as poems or short stories.

• Go to a play or musical with your child. Discuss the ways the actors bring the words to life.

A sample of what your child will be learning in 5th grade Math:

• Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators and solving word problems

• Multiplying and dividing fractions and solving related word problems

• Generalizing the place-value system to include decimals

• Multiplying whole numbers quickly and accurately and dividing whole numbers

• Understanding the concept of volume, and solving word problems that involve volume

• Graphing points in the coordinate plane to solve problems

• Analyzing mathematical patterns and relationships

Some activities you can do to support Math learning at home:

Look for “word problems” in real life. Some fifth grade examples might include:

• Doing arithmetic with decimals, for example when balancing a checkbook.

• Multiplying with fractions-for example, if you used about 2/3 of a ¾-cup measure of vegetable stock, then how much stock did you use? About how much is left?

• Using length, width, and depth of a garden plot to determine how many bags of garden soil to buy.