Preparation for CRT tests

All fifth grade students have access to UTIPS website.  This is a testing practice website that gives them similar questions to those found on the CRT tests.  The website is canyons.utips.org.  The user name is the fifth grader's student number.  Each student was allowed to make up their own password.  They can re-take tests as many times as they want to.  We will have limited time at school to practice these tests.  Any work they do at home on this website will help them review the content found on the CRT tests.  Please encourage them to visit this website as much as possible.

We will not have regular vocabulary and spelling tests for the remainder of the year because we are focusing our time on reviewing and CRT testing.
 

This week in 5th grade!

Persuasive writing time is here.  This means that your students have to choose a topic to write on and come up with a title for their book.  They need to have your approval with a signature on the yellow rough draft/outline packet.  They will need to work on this every night next week.  This packet will need to be complete on Friday, Feb. 17th.  Be prepared to decide whether you would like to publish this book or not.  Every fifth grader will have a paper copy of their book.  Any student wishing to meet the deadlines and requirements will have an opportunity to have one free published book, thanks to Student Treasures Publishing Company.  The publishing company gives these away at no cost to parents if parent are willing to sign two different flyers.  This is just their way of advertising to parents.  The first flyer explains that you can purchase additional student books for 15$.  The second flyer gives you an opportunity to purchase a class book also for around 15$.  Your child will have one page in the class book.  You don't have to purchase anything.  You choose to sign that you're not interested in purchasing, or you can send in payment for any number of books that you want.    Your student will still get the one free published copy, but the publishing company needs the two signatures on the two different flyers.  We will have these flyers available at conferences.  We can explain it in more detail then.  This is just to give you some warning.

Conference Sign-up

Report cards and conferences are quickly approaching. The sign up window for Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences opens on Friday Feb. 10. Please make sure to go to the Oakdale Website (there is a link to it on this page), click on the online scheduler, and sign up using your students ID number. Times are first come - first serve, so please make sure to register early to get a time that suits your schedule. We look forward to seeing you and your student at conferences on March 7 &8. 

Thank you! 

All make-up tests and late work due 2/17!

Any fifth grade student wishing to re-take a test or turn in missing work will need to do this is by Friday, February 17. This will give us enough time to correct and make grade adjustments for the end of the term. Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for Wed., March 7th and Thurs., March 8th. You will be able to sign up for conferences beginning in mid February. Look for the note with directions for using the Online Scheduler that will be sent home in a few weeks.

Utah write

We are preparing for the DWA test. This is a persuasive writing exam given to fifth grade students. To prepare for this exam, fifth graders are given access to a great resource. It's a website called Utah write. The address is www.utahwrite.com. The username is your student's legal name. They will need to type first then last name with a period between. It must be all lowercase with no spaces. The password is write. For example: username: annelise.slater Password: write. There are a few variations with some longer names. All students visited the site today and should remember exactly how they logged on. Please feel free to use this site to help your student improve their writing. There are various writing prompts and valuable lessons. Once they've typed their response, they are scored instantly and can revise their writing to get a better score. We will be using it weekly in the computer lab as well. Anything they do at home on this site will help them become better writers.

Science Fair & Testing dates

Fifth grade students will need to bring their completed display board for their science fair on Monday, Jan. 23rd. We told the students the display board could be entirely hand written. If they want to have the option to move on to the district, it will need to be typed. They were given plenty of classroom time to work on this. We suggest that the students spend some of their time tomorrow finishing the display board and requested that they NOT put it off till the last minute. The science fair will be held in 5th grade classrooms next Friday, Jan. 27th. Parents and visitors are invited from 10:30 - 11:30.

Please look for a bright orange paper listing school wide testing dates. It was sent home with your student yesterday. If you are unable to find it, the dates are also listed on Oakdale's website. Fifth grade testing begins in May. Please take the time to read this schedule and plan appointments and vacations around those dates. Students test better when they are in their class environment rather than on make-up dates. Fifth graders have an additional writing test that wasn't included on the orange paper. It is the DWA -direct writing assessment. This test will be administered on March 14th for the entire fifth grade. The window for this test closes on March 16th. Please do everything within your power to make sure your student is present for these tests.

There is no school next Mon., Jan. 16 or Fri., Jan. 20. Thurs., Jan. 19 is short day. There will not be a spelling or vocabulary unit next week because of the limited time in school.

Make-up tests for students that would like to retake them will be available next week on Jan. 19th. The students will need to study at home and will take the test (s) at school. The student will need to schedule a time with their home base teacher. We will happily accept make up work for failed assignments. Again, the fifth grade student will need to speak to the teacher to find out what can be done.

Mid-term reports

Next week fifth grade teachers will send out a mid-term progress report. Please ask your student about the report. Have them explain why they have the grades that they do. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact your student's home base teacher. We need to have the mid-term reports returned with a signature as soon as possible.