Welcome to Mr. Holmes' fifth grade class.  Information about classroom expectations, assignments, and future events will be posted on this site.  Please check back often for updated information.  Assignments and study guides will be available at holmesclass.com.

Fifth grade is a very challenging year for many students and it is very important that parents do everything they can to help their students be successful.  School work is expected to be turned in complete and on time.  Please monitor your child's progress and help them to be disciplined and well-organized.  Grades will be posted online on a regular basis.  I expect parents and students to check them often.  Attendance is also very important.  Each day we will be building on lessons learned in previous days.  Students who miss school will miss important information and will have a more difficult time keeping up.

This year we will be learning how to work with fractions, decimals, and percents.  We will continue to develop our skills with multiplication and division.  It is very important that students know their multiplication facts.  Please work with your child to help them know mulitplication facts for the numbers 1 - 12.  It will save them a lot of grief as we move on in math.

In Language Arts we will be working on several writing projects, learning about structural elements of well-written sentences and paragraphs, and working on Greek and Latin roots.  Writing projects will be shared on Blogs maintained by each student.

Our science studies will include areas of life science, earth science and physical science.  Topics will include life processes, interactions among living things, earth systems, atmosphere and solar system, kinds of matter, and forms of energy.

The development of our country is an important part of fifth grade Social Studies.  We will begin by studying the Native Americans who first settled this country and will continue by looking at the European exploration that helped to shape this country.  We will then study some of the causes and effects of the Revolutionary War.  Each student will be expected to complete an explorer report and a state report during the school year.  Information about each project will be posted on the class website.

Technology will be used throughout the year to create presentations of various types.  Students will have the opportunity to create PowerPoint presentations, podcasts, short movies using iMovie.  Each student will also maintain their own Blog.  Blogs will be used to create a portfolio for students to share their work.  All written projects will be published to students Blogs.  Special care will be taken to teach students about internet safety and all Blogs will be monitored appropriately.

As you can see this will be a year packed with learning opportunities.  I hope each of you have a great year and learn to be lifelong learners.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at alholme@rbgusd.k12.ca.us