What is the Common Core?

Over the course of the past two years, those of us in the classroom have heard a lot about the Common Core State Standards. This initiative, started by the National Governor's Association, began as an idea to develop a common curriculum that could be taught to all students in the United States. With the increase of movement around the country, there was concern about the differences in student expectations from state to state.  The goal of the standards is make all students college or career ready by graduation.


North Carolina was among the first states to adopt the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Language Arts, and we will begin implementing these standards in our classrooms at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year. Teachers across our county have been participating in professional development to learn the Standards during this past year. North Carolina has also been a leader in developing materials and resources for teachers that coordinate to the Core.

While the math and language arts curriculum have been redesigned through the adoption of the Common Core, North Carolina has also revised all other curriculum areas as well. Essential Standards have been developed for all other subjects and will also be implemented this year as well.

As a parent, expect to see some different things this year, especially if you have had a child in fifth grade in a previous year. Curriculum have been realigned, and big differences are there especially in math. More specific information will be coming home as we work through the year.

Stay tuned for more updates as our year progresses. If you have any questions about our new curriculum, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Some of the tools in our online toolbox...

During the course of this year, your child has had the privilege of using a variety of online learning tools to. They have been very excited to learn about these new tools, and they are excited about the options they now have with them.

By now, many of you are familiar with our use of Edmodo. Edmodo has allowed your child to have online access to assignments and projects, and it gives them direct access to a forum that allows them to get answers to their questions at any time. Each student has been assigned a code to access our class, and all of their questions or comments to the class are posted for the class to see. Many of our students are taking advantage of this system to ask questions about their posted projects or assignments, but also about other things that are happening in class. As a reminder, each of you have also been assigned a parent code so you can have parental access as well. If you have lost your code and would still like to have parental access, please contact me so I can get it to you.

A more recent addition to our web-based resources is Prezi. Some of your students have taken a real liking to this online presentation tool. They like the fact that it is a way to do a presentation with the same information they would put in a power point, but it is much more interesting. This site does require an email account to open an account, but the students are able to access it from any computer. If you have not already sent in parental permission for your child to use this site and would like for them to be able to use it, please send a written note to me at school. I have demonstrated the use of the tool to those who are interested, but am also available to help them trouble shoot any issues they may have. There are also tutorials under the "learn" tab on the site as well. These presentations can be easily linked to assignments in Edmodo.

As a parent, I know you are concerned about the availability of what your child can find on the web. Randolph County Schools has subscribed to a search engine that works to block questionable images and articles from your child's search. Because NetTrekker is a web-based program, it is available for student use from any computer. If they are using it for research to complete a specific  assignment for school, they should check to see if I have already located some appropriate, specific resources for their use. These can be found by going to my portfolio, and opening the link to our school. You will then find my folder there. An account has already been set up four our students to use. If you need the access information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

These are just a few of the online resources we have been using this year. Information on more tools such as Wordle and Glogster will be given to you and your students soon. Please continue to check back often for more updates.

Have you found an online resource that might be helpful to us?  Please let us know. We are always looking for unique ways for our students to learn or demonstrate their new knowledge.

Reason #1 to be involved...

Being a parent of a fifth grader isn't always an easy task. This year, I am blessed not only to teach almost 50 fifth graders each day, but I also am the proud parent of one of them as well. In talking with many of my parents this year, I find they are experiencing the same struggles that I am as a parent. I want to be involved in my child's life, but not overly so. I feel it is very important to give my children room to learn responsibility as they grow, but I also need to know about their lives so I can step in when needed.

One of the big issues your fifth grader will face is bullying. Chances are if they haven't been impacted by it in some way before now, they will be soon. Bullying, according to Dan Olweus in his book Bullying at School:What We Know and What We Can Do, occurs when someone "is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself."

National and Local media across the country have been running stories lately of how different students respond to bullying. It is important to know that bullying involves more than the person who is being bullied and the person who is doing the bullying. In fact, the bullying circle details how other individuals are involved in bullying as well. Each person in the circle has a unique role to play. At any point, one of them can speak up to say something, but so many times they don't. We as parents need to help give our child the support they need to feel comfortable to speak up when they see someone being bullied.

It is important to understand bullying is a crime and is subject to criminal action under state and federal law.  State and local governments are working within these statutes to take action against those involved, especially when cyberbullying is involved. Just this past week, local authorities  in North Carolina took action against a group of teens that have been targeting others online.  As a parent, it is important to be involved in what your child is doing, especially online.  By being knowledgeable about your child's activities and friendships, including those online, you are in a position to step in and do something about it. If your child is part of the problem, don't be afraid to step in to stop bullying.

If you think your child is being bullied, it is important to know the signs to be looking for, even if they aren't telling you what is happening. Often, teens are afraid to speak up out of fear the bullying will get worse. Those who know what is happening are often afraid to speak up because they are afraid they will become a target themselves.  Make it a point to keep the lines of communication open with your child, and maintain open lines of communication with the other adults in their lives.  It will take all of us working together to put an end to bullying.





http://mrsmcase.wordpress.com/the-bully-pictures/no_to_bullying_group/

Fractions- Friend or Foe?

For some students, the study of fractions can either make or break their year. We spend a large amount of our math time making sure students understand the basics so that addition and subtraction of fractions (including mixed numbers) can be more easily understood.

Despite the practice we do in class, sometimes students need some additional help remembering the steps to solve problems involving fractions. Are you looking for resources to refresh your memory or to see what strategies we have been using in class?  

• Study Jams - contains multiple links to specific examples of adding and subtracting fractions with common and uncommon denominators, as well as mixed numbers
• Math Made Easy youtube video demonstration- subtracting fractions with unlike denomonators
• Adding and Subtracting Mixed Numbers youtube video demonstration- adding and subtracting mixed numbers with a common denominator
• Sheppard  general fraction practice
• ixl math site that offers unlimited practice with subscription, but also allows some free practice as a trial

I hope these sites will help both and your child better understand the work we are doing in class adding and subtracting fractions. Fractions are our friends!