Welcome to Ms. Caine’s 5^th Grade Class

I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with you and your child this year!  5^th grade is an exciting year for students and their families as the students prepare to move onto middle school.  I firmly believe that family participation in a child’s education is an important part of student success.  I have three daughters ages 13, 15 and 16.  You can be assured that I understand how demanding life can be.  Yet, any way you can support your child and our class will be encouraged and appreciated. 

This is the fifth year I have taught 5^th grade.  One of my goals throughout the year is to help the students think about the life long habits they are developing now that will affect them throughout their lives.  This includes academic, behavior, health and nutritional habits.  As a class, we will take a brisk walk to help activate our minds for learning and I will incorporate movement in our lesson when feasible to enhance brain function.  

“Our physical movements can directly influence our ability to learn, think and remember. Our physical movements call upon the same neurons used for reading, writing and math. What makes us move is also what makes us think.” -- Dr. John Ratey, Harvard clinical psychiatry professor and author of A User’s Guide to the Brain.

My lessons will all be based on the State Standards and Benchmarks.  The fifth grade standards build on the skills the students' have been leaning throughout their elementary school career and takes these skills to higher levels of application.  Students will further develop their writing skills in all content areas.  We will write in mathematics as students increase their depth of knowledge.   All 5^th grade students will be required to complete a science fair project on their own.  I will provide information on format along with a timeline.  Remember, you have completed 5^th grade.  This project is your child’s responsibility to carry out with support from you.  Our class will also complete research projects throughout the year.  I will gather research materials and these projects will be completed in class.  Rubrics will be provided with each project so that students know exactly what is expected and how they can show proficiency in the subject area.  Human Growth and Development (puberty) will also be addressed this year in our science standards. 

Please feel free to contact me throughout the year as the need arises.  It is usually best to use e-mail, but if that is not a convenient method of communication for you, call the school and leave a message in my voice mail box.  299-2111 x 54