First Week Success

    Week one is in the books :)....and just what I want to talk about!

    This week, we will officially begin our 30 book reading challenge.  Please help your child have a “free choice book” that they may read at school.  I’d also like a separate “free choice book” read at home each night for 20-30 minutes.   My hope is that by the end of this term 1, we will have at least 6 books read.  This includes the book we are reading together as a class, Wonder.

  It’s very important that the books your child chooses are “free choice” and that they are interested in them.  I also like to encourage them to read across all genres, including nonfiction.  If you find your child is always reaching for Historical Fiction, be sure that they get some exposure to Fantasy, or Science fiction this year as well.  In general, each book that is at least 100 pages in length will count toward the 30 book goal.  Some books that are really long, (300+ pages),  will count as two books toward the goal.

   High-interest books are important to choose because I do not want the students to choose a book, then stop reading 5 chapters in.  I also do not want students to choose books that they struggle with conceptually or with vocabulary.  Many times, a student doesn’t like to read because they have chosen books at a level too high, and cannot understand what is going on, or it pains them to read.  This shouldn’t be the case!

    During Open House, I spoke briefly about Ipass and the information that will be helpful for you as a parent.  IPass can help you monitor your child’s grades throughout the year, but it will also reveal your child’s SRI scores.  This information is in the “Test Scores” tab on the left.  The SRI or Scholastic Reading Inventory is a reading assessment test given to our students at MURSD every year.   This testing gives us something called a Lexile Score.  Lexile Scores can be used to find books for your child that are at their “comfort level”.  It is the level that they can comfortably understand what they are reading and understand the plot in the text.  When choosing a book, it’s a good idea to choose books slightly above the Lexile score, for a little challenge, but also choose books right at their comfort level.  The Lexile score can also give you book recommendations.  At this website: https://lexile.com/fab/ you will find an easy website for matching your student readers to names of books at their level.

    This week, I hope to take my classes to our school library and have students meet Ms. Arnold, our Librarian.  She knows of our 30 book challenge and is very excited to help our students always have access to high-interest books and to always be reading!

    Please also know that I am very sensitive to the reluctant readers!  Not all students will reach the 30 book reading goal.  That’s why it’s a goal!  It’s something to aspire to, and reach for,  that is high enough of a reach to also be a challenge.  Many students who finish the year off tell me that they are extremely proud of how many books they have read this year.  Perhaps they didn’t reach 30, but they read more than they ever did!  Then….before you know it, they’re hooked :)

September 2016

 We are very excited to be back and ready for another year of learning. These last two days getting to know all of our students has been very enjoyable!  In class, we have been learning our schedule, and where everything is located in the building, learning about expectations in class, and getting to know and work with new people.   If your child feels overwhelmed after these two days, it is a very normal feeling!  Hopefully, your student is sharing with you all of the new things going on in their lives.  After a few weeks, we are sure they will get the hang of things!
     One of the first homework assignments your student receives in fifth grade is to bring in an interesting book to read during silent reading time.  We take reading very seriously, and our goal is to have all children read more books than they have ever read in a school year!  We will explain more about this at Open House, but guiding your child in their book choices is important.  Please read with them to determine a "just right" book.  If the book is too hard, it becomes a chore for the student to read.  Instead, find a book that will help them develop the love of reading by not being too hard, or too easy.  One way to do this is by using the five finger rule.

   Today, your student was able to see an instrument demonstration from the Music Department.  They were pretty excited to begin learning a new instrument! There are so many benefits to getting your child involved in music.  A quick google search will reveal many interesting articles!
     Next week, we plan on jumping right into our curriculum. We will begin homework, and our content areas.  Soon, we will be using Google Classroom,  once students receive their Ipads.  We will also be using email notices, and this blog as a means to communicate.  Mrs. Langdon is also on Twitter!  If interested, follow her @mrslangdon303.  Please do not hesitate to contact us through email if you have any concerns or questions.  Please also sign up for Ipass.  This is the electronic grade book that you have access to and is a way for you to monitor your student's progress. You will find Ipass on the new MURSD website.  It is under the category, "Parents".
     Next Wednesday September 7th, is our Open House.  We look forward to meeting all of you!    There will be a presentation from administration at 5:30 in the auditorium.  We will follow with a presentation from 6-7, in the classroom.  Picture Day will be held on Wednesday, September 7th.  Students should have the photography forms in their accordion binders.  We also sent home instructions for instrument selection for those students interested in taking part in band.  Please return these forms as soon as possible.
          A lot of materials have come in these past few days!  Thank you so much!  Donations can be made throughout the year, so if you wanted to wait on donating that works too ;)  We appreciate items like tissues, Clorox wipes, sticky notes, etc.  they really help us a lot in the classroom to be clean and organized.
     It has been a pleasure meeting and working today with this class of students!  We have seen so many smiling faces, and students excited to jump right in and learn!  This positivity is awesome, and the start of a great year!

Welcome to a new year! 2016-2017

Welcome to Miscoe! 2016-2017

Welcome to fifth grade!!  We hope that you are enjoying your summer vacation with your friends and family.  We’re looking forward to hearing all about your summer adventures when we get back to school.

We (both Mrs. Langdon & Sra. Crawford) started off the summer by attending a class on the New Generation Science Standards and are looking forward to using some new ideas in our science classes with you.  

  Mrs. Langdon’s summer included exploring Cape Cod, and Martha’s Vineyard with some friends from Michigan.  We showed them how much fun Massachusetts can be in the summer by kayaking salt marshes, taking on huge waves at Marconi Beach, and hiking.

Mrs. Crawford's family took a trip to Minnesota; we spent one week in Minneapolis and another week in Washkish, a small town close to the Canadian border.  We spent our days swimming, canoeing and hiking around Upper Red Lake (its area is 440 square miles!)  Something new we tried was geo-caching - have you ever tried that?  In order to find “caches” you use a GPS and specific coordinates to unearth these hidden containers.  Maybe some day you will find some of the same caches we were able to find.    

By now, like us, you have probably started to think about the upcoming school year.  Here are a couple of reminders:

1.  Hopefully you have had a chance to see our supply list: Here it is if you need to see it :)

 Don’t worry about labeling any of your folders, binders or notebooks; we will take care of that in the classroom during the first few days of school.

2.  Please bring your summer reading information sheet with you on the first day of school as we will be working on some activities related to the books that you read over the summer.  If possible, you may want to bring along the books (just the fiction books) as well.  Just a reminder that you can find the summer reading information sheets on the “Summer Reading” link on Miscoe’s homepage. It is also attached here.

3.  When you come to school on the first day you can bring all of your belongings into your homeroom class and we will show you your locker later on in the day.  You will be able to buy a lock for your locker during the first few weeks of school.  

We hope to meet all of you at the ice cream social on Thursday, August 25th between 6:00 and 7:30.  

We are really looking forward to meeting you!

See you soon,

Sra. Crawford & Mrs. Langdon