Mr. Curry’s 5 th Grade Class Welcome Students!

Welcome to 5 th Grade!  This is an important year for you!  I will give you an introduction to 5 th grade and to our classroom.  If you have any questions, please be sure to ask me.

All About Me  My Background  I grew up in San Francisco.  I attended parochial grammar school and attended St. Ignatius College Prep.  I attended San Francisco State University and graduated with a Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential and 2 BA degrees in Liberal Studies and in History.

All About Me  My Experience  I’ve been teaching since 1981, in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.  I am now starting my sixth year at Vinci.  I have taught 4 th through 8 th grades, but 5 th is my current favorite grade to teach.

My Family  5 boys and 3 are teachers I teach 7 th grade Near Seattle I teach 5 th grade in Yuma Arizona I teach 5 th grade at Vinci Park I work for Fandango in San Diego, but I live in Tijuana, Mexico

My Family  My Wife – Noel She often helps us out by going on field trips when she can.  I met her when I was 18 and finally asked her to marry me 17 years later. Talk about procrastination!

My “Family”  My Foster Son, his wife and their 2 kids  Antonio  Maravic  Analyn  AJ (Antonio Jr.)

Goals  Students will learn the content and the skills needed to succeed academically and socially.  Students will learn in a supportive, safe and nurturing learning environment.  We will have fun while we learn.  Students will be introduced to the jobs of the future and they will be encouraged to start preparing for their future.

Class Content  We will cover all the subjects and topics that our state believes are important for students to learn during 5th grade.  We will use a Project Based Learning approach, especially in the content areas. This will also involve cooperative learning activities and the use of technology throughout the curriculum.

Math  We will learn the basics of math using the 4 basic operations with whole #s, fractions and decimals this year in Math.  Students will also use algebraic thinking in solving problems.  Students will be familiar with perimeter, area and volume.

Math  We will learn the strategies needed to solve problems  Students will also demonstrate basic math facts through regular Math Fact Tests  Students will be able to create and interpret graphs, charts and tables.  Students can take challenge tests and can move at their own level.

Reading/ Language Arts  We use the state adopted Houghton- Mifflin Reading program.  We also have students read a variety of quality literature as well..

Reading/ Language Arts  This year, the 5 th grade teachers have decided to have students change classes for Reading so that we can better serve the students by grouping them according to their reading level and their instructional level.  This “literacy” block will normally be for 75 minutes each morning  We will also be using Accelerated Reading to help students find their appropriate reading level from which they can succeed.

Reading/ Language Arts This year, Mr. Curry’s class will be participating in 3 additional reading programs.  Reading Is Cool – Students keep track of the # of pages they read each month and they can qualify for awards. Last year Mr. Curry’s class got a trip to the Shark Tank! Reading Is Cool  Book It! Students can earn free Pizza Hut pizzas for reading books. Book It!  Newspapers In Education- SJ Mercury News Free weekly newspapers Newspapers In Education- SJ Mercury News

Writing  We will be using the newly adopted “Step Up to Writing” writing program throughout the district in grades K-8.  Mr. Curry requires a minimum of 3 compositions per week plus book reports and research projects.

History / Social Studies  Students will study the United States from prehistoric times through the 1850’s.  We will study the land forms, Native Americans, Explorers, Colonization, the American Revolution, The New Nation and Westward Expansion.  We will also do a special unit on slavery and modern Civil Rights.  Students will also do a long term State Project. For more details, see:

 There will be 5 areas we will cover this year in Science.  One area is “Systems of Living Things” We will study plants and animals, as well as several systems of humans.

 Two other Units are on:  Weather  Water We will connect these units with our Eco-Project in cleaning up Upper Penitencia Creek

Space Science  We will do a major unit on “The Solar System and Beyond”  This will tie in with our trip to NASA, our school Star Party & our Project Astro Teacher, Mr. Lin who will visit us from Lockheed Martin Space Systems.  Groups will do Power Point Research Projects on the planets

 Another Major unit is on Matter Students will research and present what they learned about an element in a Power Point and in a web page.

Art & Music  Art is taught in my class usually as a means of learning in the content areas, such as making Soc St maps out of clay, or illustrating a book for a report.  We hope to get accepted for several Arts Express field trips this year.  Students are encouraged to sign up for instrumental music class.

 Learning Geography by building mountains, valleys and continents

Science Camp  Scheduled for April 2005  Fundraising Encouraged  Check it out at:  Official Walden West Website,Walden West Website  Vinci Park at Camp Camp