1. Dates to Remember for September
Classroom News
What’s Happening in Literacy This Month?
Fiction skills we will be working on in September:
Making an inference
Comparing and contrasting two or more characters and settings
Themes, or lessons, in a story
Nonfiction Skills we will be working on in September:
Main Idea
Vocabulary
Home of the Brave – I will be reading this in class.
(980)
Social
Studies
We will be focusing on the history of our country starting in October. We will use the month of September on working to be great writers 
Writing
We will be learning to write personal narratives this month. This will include:
The writing process
Thinking of one’s life experiences
Descriptive details to help the reader feel like they are there
Word Work
Please check with your child about their words and the work that goes along with their words. These are not class wide goals as all of our students have different needs.
Homework Policy
Per the CMS district, 5th grade students are expected to read each night for 30 minutes. In order to follow these guidelines and still get practice time for the skills we are working on, I expect my students to do the following while they read:
-Make jots practicing the strategy we used that day to meet a certain skill. (minimum of 2)
-Make jots using other strategies they know (minimum of 2)
These will go in their reader’s notebook on the back of the work we did in class that day. I will be checking that homework was complete each day. I do understand that some of us have very busy schedules and days. If your child cannot read for homework that night due to scheduling, emergencies, or any reason that is substantial, please have them write in their notebooks about the skill and strategy. They may skip the reading, but must write about the strategy and a time they used it, either in class that day or a time in the past.
*If homework is missing, incomplete, or not done to expectation, 2 points each time will be deducted from the student’s reader’s notebook grade that will be given monthly.
Dates to Remember for September
September 5: No school
September 16: Word work Contract 1 Due
September 23: Unit 1 Post test
September 26-30: Notebook checks