Mr. Wall's In the Know Page

Here is the homework for tonight:

Math- pg. 55 #9-27 odd and pg. 57 #9-27 odd

Spelling Test on 9/25

Language Arts- Writing Prompt on “Wanted:  A Brother or Sister” or tell the “Looking for a Home” through Lee’s eyes due 9/25/

Science- Answer questions on A122

SS Test on 9/24 on first 11 words from Lesson 3-6, then on 9/25 test on the last 12 words from Lesson 3-6, Chapter 2 test on 9/29.

Please advise if you have any questions.

Mr. Wall

Words for Friday 9/11:

1. glacier

2. migration

3.theory

4.archaeologist

5.artifact

6. descendant

7. origin story

8. ancestor

9. time line

10. decade

11. century

Words for 9/15:

1. millennium

2.nomad

3.technology

4.extinct

5.argriculture

6.tribe

7.civilization

8.class

9.slavery

10.pueblo

Here is the homework for 9/9:

Math: pg. 39 #13-29 odd

Spelling test 9/11

Social Studies Voc Test on Friday 9/11 on first 11, then last 10 on 9/15.  These are the words from lesson 1-3 starting on pg. 56

Please advise if you have any questions.

Mr. Wall

Math- Test on Chapter 1 Friday

Science- Answer questions on pg. A87

Reading- Test on “Diary of Leigh Botts”  Thursday 9/3

Spelling Test 9/4

Math- pg. 7 #15-33 odd (odd means every other problem); Test on Chapter 1 Friday

Reading- Test on “Diary of Leigh Botts” Thursday 9/3.  It is an open book test, except for vocabulary.

Spelling Test on Friday.  Your child has the list of 5 words that they will be tested on.

Science- Answer the four questions on A82.

Please advise if you have any questions.

Grading and Spelling:

On spelling, your child will have a test on 10 words on Friday.  This does not count for a grade, but it will determine which 5 spelling words they will have.  If they get all 10 right, then they get 5 challenge words.  The students will get their word list on Monday to study for Friday.  It is their responsibility to keep up with their list.  Everybody’s list will be different!! If your child loses his list, they will test on all 15 words.  Your child may want to write their words down in their homework assignment notebook.

On grading, I am a performance based teacher that means that the majority of our grades are taken from what they do in class.  I will give a homework/participation grade in each subject during the 9 weeks grading period, this is where the more times you do your homework/participate, the higher your homework participation grade will be.

I will average the grades from across the board which means everything is weighted about the same, since our work is performance based.  If something is weighted differently than this, I will let you know.

I do give students to correct their work for better credit.  This is how it works.  Anything that is handed back to the student can be corrected for half credit.  For example, If the student makes a 50 on a paper, and corrects it with the right corrections I will raise the grade to 75.

Here are the rules on this:

1. The grade must be 84 or below.
2. Spelling tests cannot be corrected for better credit.
3. The work must be corrected during the nine weeks that the grade occurred.
4. The student must write the word “corrected” across the paper to tell me that they have corrected the work.  If it is not written, then half credit will not be granted. They will put the papers in my work basket at my desk.
5. Students are responsible if they want to do this.

Make Up Work:

If your child is out for any reason out of my room, they are responsible for the work that was missed. I have a basket at my desk that will have your child’s make up work in it with their name on it.  Your child will have the number of days they were out to make the work up.  For example, if your child is out for 3 days, they will have 3 days to get the work back to me, etc.  After that they will be 10 points off each day until I get it.  If you know that your child is going to be out ahead of time, please let me know and I will try to get the work together.

August 25, 2009

Welcome 5^th Grade Parents,

Hello, my name is Thomas Wall and I will be working with your child in this upcoming school year.

Here is a little background information about myself.  I have taught in Burlington for 5 years and have been married for over a year.  I am a big Carolina fan (sorry Duke and Wake Forest fans).  I have actively worked with youth and children for the last 8 years.

I have enclosed a supply list that I would like everybody to have.  Please stick to what is on the list due to space considerations.

These will be our 5^th grade rules:

Be Respectful to everybody.

Follow Directions the first time.

Be prepared daily.

Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.

Stay seated, raise your hand, and wait for permission to speak or move about the room.

The consequences will be the following:  1^st offense- Verbal Warning 2nd offense- Isolated Seating 3rd offense- E-Mail/Note sent home 4th offense- Office Referral.

Homework:

I will give an average of 1 hour for homework each night.  The homework will be in math, science, history, and reading.  I do not give a grade for homework for right and wrong, but your child does get credit for doing it.  Homework will reinforce what we have done in class.  If your child is spending more than one hour a night on homework, please let me know and I will look into it.

Communication:

I can be reached in several ways.  One is here at the school at 336-748-3838; all messages will be returned within 24 hours.  Another way is through my email address, thomaswalldtms@hotmail.com.  I do have a blog site at http://twall31.edublogs.org.  This site will contain the nightly homework (I would still encourage your child to copy it down), and other class information such as letters that you may find helpful.  If you have a problem or a concern with your student, please address me first with it, I am a very open person and so we can deal with it.

Volunteering:

I would love for parents to volunteer in our room this year.  There will be opportunities for things to be done at home or at school.  If you would like to volunteer at school, please let me know in advance so that I can be prepared.

I am also including a syllabus of what will be learning this year in 5^th grade.  Please take a moment to look over the information.  I look forward to working with you and your child this year.  Please advise if you have any questions.

Thomas Wall

These are some of the topics that we will be studying this year under North Carolina Standard Course of Study:

Math:

Adding and Subtracting Fractions, Problem Solving,  Measuring of objects, Angles of plane figures, Collecting  and analyzing data and graphs, and understanding patterns.  It is very important that your child knows his multiplication and division tables.

Science:

Understanding of ecosystems especially in plants and animals, building an understanding of landforms, knowing weather and climate, using force and gravity.

Social Studies:

Applying knowledge of North America, Canada, Mexico, and Central America through the people, culture, economics, technology, and land.

Reading/Language Arts:

Reading to learn and be able to analyze a text.  Writing about they have read and be able to come up with an opinion of what they have read.  Students will be able to use their writing and speaking skills to influence others.  Students will also have a working knowledge of everyday grammar and language skills.

I will give you an update each week of what we are learning and what is going on and if you have any questions, please advise.  Thank you for your time.

Mr. Wall