September 21, 2009
Dear 5th Grade Parents;
Hopefully, your child is enjoying the 5th Grade so far, and you’ve seen a lot of growth happening. I wanted to let you know about some things going on that I think will benefit your child’s learning as they prepare for middle school.
The biggest change this year is “Prime Time.” Arcadia is focusing on reading instruction this year, and really trying to include all students in the core curriculum. In addition to this push, we are also providing a focused period for reading interventions called “Prime Time.” “Prime Time” happens every day between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. It is geared to meet the needs of all students – those excelling and those struggling. Every student in the school will be provided strategic interventions meant to improve reading ability and comprehension. Some of our pull out times may change in order to allow your child better access to this school wide instruction. Additionally, more in class support will be provided by special education staff for science and social studies as well.
5th Grade Boography projects are also getting started. Most students have chosen the “person” they’ll study, and we will assist with research and information gathering. We’ll also provide a speech template that will help each student organize their research for their presentation. Most of this project is an at-home project and student’s love to get family support – however, if you feel your child needs more assistance at school, please let us know. We can arrange for support during lunch recess and some afternoons. This is a big project, and we want to make sure that every student has what they need in order to be successful.
Finally, Arcadia’s Special Education Department now has a website! While it is still being developed, access to teacher email links and pages as well as important information for you and your child will be posted. We hope to develop pages on learning styles and disabilities that might also prove useful. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or ideas as we create this resource!
A few important upcoming dates are:
No School – October 9th.
5th Grade Boography on Friday, October 30th.
Fall conferences on November 23rd and 24th.
Thank you for all you do to support your child! I am excited to work with you to make 5th grade a great year.
Lisa Snyder