What a Beginning!

Arty's Dance Party

COME SUPPORT CALHOUN WHILE HAVING FUN!

First Arty Dance Party

September 18th

6:30 - 8:00 PM

Tickets at the Door$1.00
Child Must be accompanies by adult
T-Shirts ($10), Popcorn, Candy,Coke ($1 a piece)
Glow in the Dark Necklaces (price TBD)
Fundraiser tie in- Student sell 5 items get free Coke, popcorn, & admission

August 31- September 4

FIFTH GRADE NEWS
Barrier Island deposit #1 ($35) is due by this Friday, September 4th. Remember, this is your nonrefundable commitment to the trip!

ELA NEWS
We will continue working on our autobiographical newspapers in writing and will begin reading our first novel unit, Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule.


MATH NEWS
We will continue with Place Value using decimal numbers. Later on in the week, we will begin adding and subtracting decimal numbers.


SCIENCE NEWS
This week we'll be looking at the parts of an animal cell. We'll also be studying food chains and food webs.


SOCIAL STUDIES NEWS
We'll be discussing and acting out the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. We'll also discuss the Black Codes and the Freedmen's Bureau.


SPELLING
1. disapprove
2. misunderstanding
3. unfriendly
4. discourage
5. impossible
6. soph - wise
7. therm - heat
8. aero - air
9. bio - life
10. chron - time
11. SOPHomore
12. THERMostat
13. AEROsol
14. BIOlogist
15.CHRONological

PTA schedule change

5:00- Scavenger hunt
5:30- Meet the Teacher 1
6:05- PTA meeting in Gym (5th graders will perform at this time. Wear a Calhoun shirt if you have one.)
6:35- Meet the Teacher 2

All fifth grade teachers will have open house in the cafeteria.

Back to School Night/Open House

Dear Parents,
Tuesday, August 25th, we will have our Open House/Back to School Night. The night will start off at 5:30 with a scavenger hunt with door prizes. Then at 6:00, we will have our very first PTA meeting of the year. At 6:00, we need all the fifth graders to report to the cafeteria. After the PTA meeting, parents will be dismissed to “Meet the Teacher.” All fifth grade teachers will be in the cafeteria with the fifth grade students. The fifth graders will have their very first performance of the year at this time.
We hope you can attend because we are looking forward to meeting all of you. We have a lot of things planned this year, and we cannot wait to share them with you. We will end the night with a Barrier Island fashion show so you can see what the students will need while they are at Barrier Island in January.
Reminder: All fifth graders need to be in the cafeteria at 6:00. If you have a Calhoun shirt, please wear it. If not, just wear your normal school attire. Thank you for your support, and we cannot wait to meet you Tuesday, August 25th.

Welcome!!!

Welcome to Fifth Grade!! I am Robin Bracken and I am your child’s fifth grade homeroom teacher this year. I will teach your child ELA (reading and writing) and Social Studies. Mr. Pearson will teach him/her Math and Mrs. Koch will teach him/her Science. This is going to be an excellent year as we continue teaching and learning through the arts. I am very excited about this school year. I am eager to get to know you and your child. Many things are going to take place this year, and I am glad that we get to work together through this wonderful learning experience.
Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself. I am married to Travis Bracken and we have a two-year-old little girl, Marla. You all will hear about them and see them around quite often! We also have a silver lab puppy named Belle! I graduated from Anderson College with a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and completed my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction: Integrated Teaching through the Arts with Lesley University. I enjoy singing, dancing and acting and spending time with my family and friends. I also love to take pictures and play around on the computer.
This year you will notice that we do things a little differently on the 5th grade hall. We use our own creative teaching styles and model techniques after Ron Clark. You will hear a lot about him and the Ron Clark Academy and the Essential 55. We just enjoy being passionate, innovative, creative, and enthusiastic when teaching our students. We dance, sing and act A LOT! WE believe that every student can succeed, and we take pride in helping students truly enjoy learning.
If there is ever anything that I can do to help you, please do not hesitate to ask. Please feel free to contact me either by note, phone or email. Also, don’t forget to check out my school blog. You will find out what our class is doing as well as any homework assignments and any other school information here. http://mrsbracken.blogspot.com/
Once again, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to work with you and your child this year. We will work together as a team to make sure we achieve success. We are going to have a fun and exciting year. Please keep in touch and check my website frequently.

Love,


Robin Bracken
robinbracken@anderson5.net

First Day

We had a great day in Room 54 today. I talked ALL day, but had a lot to cover for the first day. Students were wonderful, and I am excited about what is in store for this year. I enjoyed meeting all of my new students for this year. They seem excited about fifth grade. I continued to tell them throughout the day how important their fifth grade year is, and how our goal as teachers is to get them ready for middle school. We covered a lot of rules and procedures. TOOLBOX FOR SUCCESS and Ron Clark's ESSENTIAL 55 are beyond IMPORTANT!!! Can't wait for tomorrow and the rest of the week. It is going to be a great year... Under Construction and ALL!

Parents... ALL colored copies need to be filled out, signed, and turned in by the end of this week. Please email me or call the school if you have any questions. robinbracken@anderson5.net or 260-5060.