29 Sea Road | Kennebunk, Maine | Phone: 207.985.1105 | Fax: 207.985.4274
Home | Grade 5
Grade 5 Team
Ms.
Bragdon
Ms. Campbell
Mr. Steere
Ms.
Thompson
Ms. McCarthy
Photo Gallery
Curriculum
Resources
Document Library
All 5th grade students will be reading Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman and Hatchet by Gary Paulson. In addition, there will be many other books read at each student’s individual reading level. As a general rule, teachers assign book reports and/or projects throughout the year. In addition to these, students may take vocabulary, comprehension, and reading skills quizzes on a regular basis.
Consisting of the Step-Up-To-Writing program, grammar, vocabulary, research skills, and penmanship. Language Arts is an important part of your child’s Literacy curriculum. Basic sentence structure, parts of speech, letter writing, creative writing, expository writing, vocabulary development, research skills, and cursive handwriting are also included in Language Arts. Spelling and Word Study are also part of the Language Arts curriculum. Daily Oral Language (DOL) consists of proofreading and grammar rules. In addition, students will be participating in Word Masters, a vocabulary-building program in which the students will be exposed to over 100 new words.
The Everyday Math program includes the following areas of study: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, fractions, and decimals, as well as geometry and problem solving. Calculators will be used from time to time in class. Homework assignments will come home Monday – Thursday. Make sure you look for the pink packet that comes home at the beginning of each unit. It has the answers for the Study Links (homework) and explains what the students will be learning during the next few weeks.
Units to be covered this year include: systems of the human body, Earth’s changing surface, and energy. A unit covering changes that occur during puberty will be taught by local medical practitioners.
This year is your child’s first formal exposure to American History. The area of study will be expanded upon in grades eight and eleven. Topics we cover include: Native Americans, explorers, colonization, the American Revolution, the Westward Expansion, the Industrial Revolution, and the Civil War. Most weeks, your child will receive a copy of Scholastic News with a set of questions that are due on Friday, and a quiz will also be given.
Our Computer Lab, Writing Lab, and Library are equipped with Windows workstations networked to the server, as are our classroom computers. All students are expected to reach a keyboarding speed of 25 words per minute by the end of 5th grade.
To enhance our curriculum and to make education more hands-on, meaningful, and memorable for your child, we will be going to Old York Historical Society to find out what life was like during the Colonial period. We will also be going to Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth to experience life in New England from the 1700s – 1900s. Finally, the Allied Arts team will be hosting a trip to see the Portland Symphony Orchestra perform. We will have speakers and presenters throughout the year to enhance many other areas of our curriculum.
Every student at Sea Road School is encouraged to read a minimum of 30 minutes each night. This could include independent reading, as well as you reading to your child. Besides this free reading, your child should be prepared to spend an additional 45 minutes per night, Monday through Thursday on homework. Students will have homework in math four nights a week and other subjects on an individual basis. Weekends are time to work on long-term projects such as research reports or book reports.
In order to practice the research and writing skills emphasized in our library and language arts curricula, teachers may assign research reports throughout the year on a variety of subjects.
Later in the year, all students in grade five will participate in the Civic Oration School Speech Contest. This provides students the opportunity to develop and exercise oratorical skills.
If your child is going to buy lunch or have milk/juice, you should send your child with money for the week each Monday or pay ahead. We will have a snack time every morning, so please send your child with a healthy snack. Recess will be outdoors on the playground and field (weather permitting), so your child should be appropriately dressed. Boots are required when snow is on the ground. Snow pants are required if your child wants to play on an area that is snow-covered. Hats and mittens, as well as a warm jacket, are recommended for comfort and good health.
Each classroom’s Allied Arts specials include physical education, art, music, computer lab, and library.
Cadet band meets Fridays from 11:25 – 12:15. Beginner Band Lessons are also on Fridays from either 12:15 – 1:05 or 1:05 – 1:55, depending on your child’s instrument. Cadet group lessons will be before school at 7:45. Buses may not arrive in time for morning lessons, so parents should plan on bringing their children to school on those mornings with their instruments. Monday – Flutes, Tuesday – Clarinets, Wednesday – Saxophone, Thursday – Brass, Friday –Percussion. Chorus will meet during your child’s scheduled music class each week.
This is Mrs. Fortier-Oosterman’s seventh year at Sea Road School, and the second year that she will be here full-time. Teachers invite her into their rooms as needed to provide education or support around specific issues for the whole class. Students may also meet with her for a brief time regarding concerns. For children with longer-term issues related to school, she provides ongoing supportive counseling services. Small groups last several weeks and are specific to a given topic, which might include changing families, making friends, or having a disabled sibling. Parent permission is required for participation in groups. Mrs. O. is also very active in supporting transitions from Kennebunk Elementary School and to the Middle School.
It has proven most helpful for each student to have an assignment book to carry with them at all times. This way, your child will learn to become responsible for recording and remembering his/her assignments and any notices that need your attention. Therefore, Sea Road School purchases assignment books and distributes them to all students on the first day of school. It would benefit your child if you would support the daily use of this assignment book. Children learn much better when good communication exists between teachers and parents. All notices will go home in a Sea Road School folder every Thursday. Please look for the Tel-U-Gram and all notices each Thursday afternoon.
MSAD 71 has begun using teacher Blogs instead of individual webpages. These Blogs will replace our classroom newsletters, as well. Directions for signing up for our Blogs were sent home on the first day of school. If you need assistance, call 985-1105 and ask for Amber Elliot. She’ll be glad to help you sign up.