Welcome to

Room 5

Mrs. Whitestine

Who is Mrs. Whitestine ?This is my 16th year teaching, and my 7th year at

Hahn. I have taught grades 2nd-7th. I have a wonderful husband and 3 (usually) delightful kids! Maddie is my oldest in 7th grade. Colton is in 4th, and Cassidy is in 1st. As a family, we love to camp, travel, and snow ski! Tahoe is our absolute favorite place to visit (winter or summer)!

My Philosophy and Expectations

Philosophy: For each student to feel safe, respected, and successful in order to create a learning environment that is beneficial to all!

Expectations:

• Complete all work (class work and homework)

• Working in successful collaborative groups/partners

• Stay Organized (PLANNERS!)

• Follow school and classroom rules

• Positive attitude and mutual respect

• Ultimately, doing their personal best!

Standards and the Common Core

Mission: The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.

More complex words/tasks expected = Interpret, explain, compare

Smarter Balance Test

Website to view sample questions:

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/

“The Smarter Balanced assessment system—including summative, interim, and formative components—is aligned with the Common Core State Standards and will accurately measure student achievement and growth toward college- and career- readiness.  These assessments will go beyond multiple choice to include performance tasks that allow students to demonstrate research, writing, and analytical skills.”

Curriculum Overview Language Arts:

•Houghton Mifflin Medallion Series

•Walk to Read

•Individualized Reading Stations “Daily Café”

Math:

•Everyday Math

•Harcourt Math

Science:

•Foss (Earth: Weather, Solar System; Life: Human Body, Plants; Physical: Atoms, Molecules, The Periodic Table)

Social Studies:

• Scott Foresman (U.S. History)

Project Based Learning (P.B.L.)

Classroom Management

Individual:Positive- Gratitude GramsNegative – Clip Chart Dark purple= “W” Bucks Light Purple= Gratitutde Gram Orange= 10 Minutes on Thinking Wall Red= Detention and/or phone call home*Applies at the end of the day!

Tables:

Positive/Negative- Table points

Whole Group:Positive/negative- P.A.T. points

Homework Policy

1st: Freebie- Because we all have a bad night! Work is due the following day!

2nd: Homework Note 1- Needs to be signed and returned with homework the following day!

3rd: Homework Note 2- Needs to be signed and returned with homework the following day!

4th: Detention- Needs to be signed and returned with homework the following day! Detention will be served after school for 20 minutes!

5th: Start over from Homework Note 1!

Homework passes will be given out! These are a reward for a night off! No homework needs to be turned in! However, homework passes are not applied to projects or multiple day assignments!

Every trimester the entire process starts over! A new freebie!

* Your child was given a homework calendar at the beginning of the year! It is essential for your child to write in this nightly! This is an organization piece that will help them be successful throughout their life! Please check it frequently to see if it is neat and accurate!

Online Grading / Grading Policy

We use an online grading program called Engrade! Please check this regularly for your child’s grades and missing assignments.

Website: https://engrade.com/

Use your access code to login.

District Grading Policy:

5 (Advanced): 97%-100%

4 (Proficient): 75%-96%

3 (Basic): 65%-74%

2 (Below Basic): 31%-64%

1 (Far Below Basic): 30% and below

Sample Weekly Schedule  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

8:20-8:30 GMW GMW GMW GMW GMW

8:30-9:10 Intro. to Week Walk to Read Walk to Read Walk to Read Walk to Read

9:15-10:25 Lang. Arts: Read Story Lang. Arts: Read StoryDaily Café

(2 groups)Daily Café

(2 groups)Daily Café

(2 groups)

10:25-10:45 Snack Recess Snack Recess Snack Recess Snack Recess Snack Recess

10:45-11:15 Read Aloud

Math Pack/Go Home @12:00

Small Group time (1 group)

Read Aloud / Buddies Mile

11:00-12:30 Math Math Math Math

12:30-1:15 Lunch   Lunch Lunch Lunch

      Read Aloud   Read Aloud

1:15-2:00 Daily Café (1 Group + Music) ?

 1:30- Social Studies /

Science LabDaily Café (2 groups + Music)?

1:30- Social Studies / Science Lab

1:55-3:00 1:55-2:25 P.E.      

1:55-3:00 2:30-3:00 Library     2:30-3:00 Computers  

Monthly Book Reviews

Every month your child will turn in a book review on the last school day of the month. Each book review will differ in expectations. The guidelines will be discussed at the beginning of each month. For September and October, the guidelines are the same. Sentence frames will be available on my website.

Monthly Genre

September: Fiction October: Historical Fiction

November: Non FictionDecember: Your choice

January: BiographyFebruary: PoetryMarch: Dr. SeussApril: Your choice

TechnologyI LOVE technology and hope to use it regularly in the classroom! We will have access to our own 9 chrome books in our classroom! I will be helping students create an educational Gmail account where they will be able to put documents, powerpoints, etc. in a Google docs. account. This Gmail account will follow them as they continue on in CRPUSD.

I’m hoping to get more IPads to help quick research in the classroom!

*** Any help from knowledgeable parents is GREATLY appreciated!

Field Trips (tentative)

•Wells Fargo Center “School House Rocks”... Oct. 12th

•Charles Schultz Museum (Approx. $13)……… Dec. 18th

•Sonoma Cty Water District (free)…….………..Feb/Mar

•AT & T Park (Approx. $25).………………….……….April

•Safari West (Approx. $40)…………….……………. May

•P.A.T. Parties ??

On Site

• Colonial Day ($5)……………….………………..…………. Feb/Mar

• Dissecting Squid ($1)..……………………………......... TBD

Hygiene

Hmm… here comes the awkward part! Your children are growing up and their bodies are changing! Please talk to your children about deodorant, teeth brushing, and other hygiene issues! Walking into a 5th grade classroom after lunch can be quite an experience! Especially in the spring! So, please help me avoid any awkward conversations later in the year!

Dress Code

Dress code is a school rule and will be enforced in class. All students need to wear shoes with heel straps…no flip flops! We encourage students to wear comfortable shoes everyday as we try and do some PE activities every day.

Shorts need to reach past a students’ fingertips and tank top straps need to be at least “two-fingers” wide. No halter tops or bare midriffs.

Classroom Volunteers and Donations

We really appreciate both of these!!!

Volunteers needed:

Room Parent: the liaison for the PTA (does not have to attend meetings), helps plan parties in class, coordinates classroom events

Clerical Parent: makes copies, corrects papers, etc.

Art Docent: Lead art docent lessons (training available)

Reading center: work with small group of children, needs to be reliable. (Wed, Thurs, Fri - 9:00-10:30 and Thurs. 1:45-2:20)

Book order parent: place order every month, organize book orders to go home, distribute books

Field Trip chaperones

Donations: white board pens, gently used computers (nothing older than 2008), ultra fine point black sharpies, glue sticks, baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, and graph paper

Snacks / Birthdays / Morning Walk / Buddies / Wednesday Folders / Band

•Please make sure your child has a HEALTHY snack everyday!! They don’t go to lunch until 12:30!

•We have a school policy of no birthday treats in the classroom. We will still celebrate your child on their special day !

•Please encourage your child to walk every morning from 8:10-8:20! This is a great way for them to get a little exercise before school, and research shows it gets the brain ready to learn!

•We will be buddies with Mrs. Dale’s class in room 24!

• Graded work and school notes usually go home on Wednesdays. Please review these items and sign & send the folders back the following day!

•Band will be 30 minutes a day on Mondays and Thursdays. No drop outs after 1st six weeks!

P.T.A.Please become a member of our AMAZING PTA!! These parents work extremely hard to provide our school with fabulous opportunities!

Family fun nights!!!

Technology funding

Art docent lessons

Field trips

And SOOOOO much more!!!!

Conferences

• Conferences will be held in late October and November.

• Sign ups are on back table.

• I do set one Saturday aside for conferences.

Scholastic Book Orders

• We put orders in at the end of every month and we accept late orders. So, if you find an old book order sitting around, feel free to send it in. I can’t guarantee that it won’t be on back order, but it’s worth a shot!

Website / Email

My email: shawnawhitestine@gmail.com

Website: Will be updated once a week (usually on Mondays). Homework is usually posted daily.

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