September 2016

The class newsletter written and published

by Mr. Phams Fifth Grade Students - Class of 2017

Celebrating Mike Dalyn Micah Eric Alex Tony

Ciara Khulood
Multiculture Evan Luke Avant
Alexander Salim Liyah Javin
Sukhpreet Our Class is unique. We have students that came from different Gissele T.
countries, have different backgrounds, and different family history.
Amajanai Among those differences, we also have a lot of similarities: We are Harjot
Giselle P. in the same school, same grade, same class, and have the same
teacher. We are all trying our best to learn and be better citizens.
Jaden
Tristika Because of all these differences and similarities in our classroom, Oscar
it is very important for us to understand that all cultures have
Matthew value, and the differences we have in class are to be respected and Natalia
appreciated. We also learned about people in different parts of the
Daniel world.
Yasriyah
Savannah Each month this year, we will learn about a culture. We present Estrella
those students who are familiar with that culture in our newsletter.
Katrina In our classroom, we always respect each other although we might Alexandra
look different or know another language. Each of us brings
Christopher something special to the class no matter where we came from.
Alejandro

Dear Parents,
5th Grade Journey
The 5th grade students
and teacher of Room C7
spent the first two months
of school getting to know
new friends and new schedules. They also began
the 5th grade journey in learning to be disciplined
and independent students. The 5th grade
curriculum is very demanding and requires
students at all levels to be responsible,
independent and disciplined learners to be
successful. Im very pleased to say that most of
the students in class are trying very hard to learn
everyday. In class, students work hard to improve
their skills that will help them in the long run
when they move on to higher grades. Most
importantly, they are learning to be good citizens.
However, there are still some students who are
still struggling to be responsible and I hope will
come around soon.
For these students, change will not happen
overnight, in the course of a few weeks, or even a
year. They need to learn from their mistakes,
make changes, and try again. This is part of the
lifelong learning process. We all want quick
success, but each students development is
different. Please be patient with your child and
celebrate their achievements as well as giving
support when they struggle.
You can support your child by following these
suggestions:
Encourage your child in their efforts. The
results are not as important as the process.
Dont set goals too high, too early (Honor
Roll, straight As). Begin with AR goals, no
missing work, complete all assignments well
Provide a time and place for reading and
completing homework.
Have your child go to bed early. (8:30 to 9:30)
Limit video game & TV watching times.
Let me know if you have any questions or
concerns.
Id like to thank all parents that came to the
Orientation and visited the class in the weeks
after. I also so appreciate those parents who have
called, wrote notes, and sent e-mails. It is
wonderful to have parents who are concerned
about the childrens education.
Together, we can help your child to believe,
achieve, and succeed. THANK YOU!
Toan Pham
Character At Rio Calaveras School we
Counts practice the Six Pillars of
Characters where we learn about a
character each month. Every
morning after the flag salute, in the
announcements, we are reminded
of the Character and students are
encouraged to try to practice it
every day.
During August and September, the
Character was:
RESPECT
Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule. Be
tolerant and accepting of differences. Use good manners, not
bad language. Be considerate of the feelings of others. Don't
threaten, hit or hurt anyone. Deal peacefully with anger,
insults, and disagreements.
We are trying every day to be respectful to everyone.
Help your child learn at home
Learning does not end in the classroom. Children need help and
support at home to succeed in their studies. Try to create a quiet
place for your child to study, and carve out time every day when your
child can concentrate on reading, writing, and math uninterrupted by
friends, brothers or sisters, or other distractions.
You should also try and sit down with your child at least once a
week for 15-30 minutes while he or she works on homework. This
will keep you informed about what your child is working on, and it
will help you be the first to know if your child needs help with
specific topics. By taking these small steps, you will be helping your
child become successful both in and outside the classroom.
Here are some activities you can do to support learning at home:
English Language Arts Mathematics
& Literacy
Invite your child to read his or Look for word problems in
her writing out loud to other real life. Some 5th grade
family members. Ask questions examples might include:
about your childs word Doing arithmetic with
choices and ideas. decimals, for example when
Discuss your family stories and balancing a checkbook.
history. Encourage your child Multiplying with fractions
to ask relatives questions about for example, if you used about
their lives. Put the information 2/3 of a -cup measure of
together in an album or vegetable stock, then how
brainstorm different ways to much stock did you use?
tell family tales, such as poems About how much is left?
or short stories. Using the length, width, and
Go to a play or musical with depth of a garden plot to
your child. Discuss the way the determine how many bags of
actors bring the words to life. garden soil to buy
For more information, please visit our class website.
Library Time
Our class goes to the library every
week on Friday from 9:15-9:45, and
each time the students can borrow two
or three books. There are a lot of books
to find and read. We are supposed to
respect the librarian, respect the books,
and school property. If you happen to lose a book youll
have to pay for it. Theres a computer that scans the little
bar codes on the books every time you want to check out.
At the library, you cant talk because the library doesnt
allow loud voices.
After 2 weeks, you have to renew or return your book
and borrow another one. We like to go to the library
because reading is fun and we want to be smart.
Group 3: Suhkpreet, Savannah
Yasriyah, Matthew, Luke
Listening & Speaking Skills
All about me
To develop Listening and Speaking skills and also to get
a good grade for our report card, we will do a lot of
presentations this year. We did the classmate interview and
collaborative discussions. This month, we did the All About
Me presentation which is about our history and what we
have done in our lives. We did it to let our class know more
about us. We used Google Slides to create a history page,
likes and dislikes, family, hobbies, friends, and future goals.
During the year, we will be doing commercials, puppet
shows, read to the Kindergartners, and other things. Also for
October, we are going to do a College Report and present it in
front of the class with a partner.
Its going to be fun.
Group 6: Tony, Eric, Mike
Daniel, Evan, Salim
Technology Update
During September, we used the computer to do Typing
Club, Edmodo, Webcam Toy, AR, Khan Academy, Go
Formative, Google Drive, Illuminate, Google Classroom,
and Class Game Room. We can also check our grades
anytime. All these programs are linked from our class
website: www.mrpham.org.
For October, we are working on our College Report
using Google Slides. Later during the month, Mr. Pham
will show us how to create our own website to upload our
work for parents and other students to check it out.
We enjoy using the computer this year to learn.
Group 2: Katrina, Dalyn
Amajanai, Natalia, Javin
Events and Happenings in Room P1
$$ Class Money $$
In our class, we have class money that helps us learn
how to use money. We get money for attendance, for
perfect homework return, getting good grades on tests and
quizzes, AR achievement, and for doing jobs in the
classroom. During math time, Mr. Pham sometimes has
math questions that we have to answer on our whiteboards
and get a green chip which can be redeemed for money.
We have to pay monthly rent for use of classroom and
desk and chairs. When we violate class rules or groan and
moan during learning time, Mr. Pham will fine us.
With the class money, we get to bid for stuff during
class auctions, buy goodies from the class store, buy raffle
tickets, and have enough left over to pay fines. Later on, we
will use our money to trade in for class carnival tickets. We
haven't experienced a carnival yet but we will have two.
One before winter break and one on the last day of school.
We like having class money because we get prizes and
treats. Its also education because we learn how to handle
money, pay rents, taxes, and to use our money wisely.
Its going to be fun using checks and money in class.
Group 4: Alexander, Christopher
Avant, Alex, Oscar, Harjot
Book Fair
The book fair event was on August 29, 3-6 pm. At the
book fair there were posters, books, and many other items.
Students, Parents, and Teachers were all invited to the event.
The book fair was held in the music class. We get to go to the
Book Fair to look around and buy books. There are a lot of
interesting books to choose from.
Group 1: Alexandra, Gissele, Giselle, Ciara, Jaden
All About Me Presentations

Flea-Market
Salim Friday

These and a lot

more pictures are
posted on our class
website:
www.mrpham.org
Mike

Christopher

Flea-Market Friday is about our class selling knick-

knacks, toys, and other things we have from home that you
dont need. On this event, we were buying and selling items
for class money. In doing so, we use our math skills to pay
for the things we bought and know how to run a business
and give change back to our customers. There are many
sellers in our class including Liyah, Alejandro, Estrella,
Daniel Tristika, and Micah in our group.
It was a lot of fun!
Group 5: Khulood, Liyah,
Alejandro, Estrella, Tristika, Micah

October 7 Opinion Speech due

NA Diorama 1st deadline
AR Ends End of 1st Quarter
Class RoAch Activity
October 10-14 Fall Break
October 17-21 Science Camp
October 24 NA Diorama due!
October 22 Rio Calaveras
Fall Harvest Festival
Dalyn
October 26 Report Card issued
October 31 Halloween!