Marino's 5th Grade All Stars

2011-09-30T08:37:00.006-04:00

Character Hero - October

Daniel

"Responsibility"

Daniel is a very responsible student. He turns all of his assignments in on time, does his best and is very responsible with his words and actions. We are so proud of Daniel!

2011-09-02T16:38:00.001-04:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend My Sweet Angels! : ) Enjoy the day off from school. I'll see you bright and early on Tuesday.

2011-08-26T08:21:00.000-04:00

Wonderful Readers - Working on Main Idea & Supporting Details

2011-08-24T12:31:00.004-04:00

September Character Hero - Respect

Joshua

Joshua was chosen from our class to represent "respect." Joshua is respectful to his classmates and teachers. He demonstrates respect through his words and his actions. Way to go, Josh!

First week down!

2011-08-05T15:45:00.002-04:00

We survived the first week and packed a ton of work into two days! I don't know about the students, but I am EXHAUSTED! Just a few notes:
-Parent Night Tuesday, Aug. 9 6:30 Please join us!
-Open House, Aug. 29

My email address is rmarino@clevelandschools.org. I check it frequently and will get back to you asap.

2011-08-01T23:43:00.000-04:00

Congratulatios Derek on 3,000 home runs!

Best baseball player EVER. Yeah Derek Jeter! Who is your favorite athlete? Favorite team? Can you guess what team I like?

Welcome to 5th Grade!

2011-08-01T12:10:00.001-04:00

It is so hard to believe that the summer is over and it is BACK TO SCHOOL TIME! I'm sure many of you have mixed feelings. Maybe you are nervous, excited, both. My family and I had a great summer and we are sad to see it end. But, I am really looking forward to a great year.

This year we welcome Mrs. Lowe to 5th grade. Mrs. Lowe taught 3rd grade last year, and we are so glad she has moved up to 5th. She is an excellent teacher, full of enthusiasm and a wonderful person. It is going to be a terrific year!!!

Parents, every year I smile as 5th grade parents express their concern about their children heading off to middle school. I know the kids will be ready and will be successful. However, two years ago, I got an entirely new perspective...my oldest son, Tommy, was a 5th grader. I was so worried about him transitioning to CMS, but it was a wonderful experience and he loved his first year of middle school. This year, my middle son, Matthew, is a 5th grader, and I will be with you, worrying about the new middle school challenges ahead. Together, we will survive. :)

I feel so blessed that you are placing your child in my care for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. Each child is a gift with his/her own special gifts and needs. PLEASE feel free to send me a note or email (or call) and let me know anything you think I should know about your child. As a parent, I want to know that my boys' teachers care about them and know them as the wonderful people they are. I have the best job in the world.

I can't wait to meet you all. 5th graders-get ready. We are going to WORK and have FUN!

Becky Marino
rmarino@clevelandschools.org

2011-07-31T14:50:00.000-04:00

Homework Involvement or Over-Involvement?
Source: Tween Parent Staff

One of the many tightropes we walk as parents of preteens is determining where to draw the line to encourage independence and how much independence to encourage. This challenge can apply to many situations including parental involvement in homework.

How Parents Can Be Involved (In a Supporting Role!)
1. Have a conversation with your tween about the importance of homework. Emphasize the purpose - that it's not just a way of making them miserable! You can point out the value of homework as a means of reviewing what they learned in class; helping them prepare for the next day's class; learning to use resources, like the internet, to research topics.

2. Make it relevant. Compare the homework process to work that we do as adults; for instance, "Mom goes to work each day and...." If your child is a sports fan, highlight the amount of practice that goes into becoming a sports success. Point out that few of us have a gift to be good at an endeavor without practice. As we know, cultivating perseverance is a wonderful attribute that will pay off in many of life's circumstances.

3. Review their assignment(s) with them. Try to resist the temptation to share your strategy, but instead pose the question, "How do you think you'd like to approach this?" Hear what they have to say and make use of the word "Why?" to get at their thinking.

4. Make sure to give your tween a great starting point by establishing a homework routine and a distraction-free setting. Set a regular time, have an agreed upon location and have supplies easily accessible. Once they get started have an agreed upon check-in procedure to monitor progress and offer guidance.

5. Speak with your child's teacher to determine school expectations. Develop an open discussion with your child's teacher; determine preferred communication method (i.e., email, phone call, note, etc.) and make use of it.

6. Speak with other parents to get a sense of how involved they are in the homework process. You can exchange points of view and tips to see if there's something you've overlooked. Like many topics, hearing divergent points of view can help us sort out what we believe to be important.

7. Reinforce school learning by getting a preview of topics to be studied at school. With this information you might dig deeper into the subject matter by pursuing extra-curricular learning activities (e.g., educational games, dvd rentals, book reading, books on tape, trips to the zoo or museum, family excursions, etc.).

8. Make a Homework Calendar available to your preteen to record and structure more comprehensive assignments, especially as their homework encompasses a need for planning (i.e., there might be assignments that are broken into phases with different parts due on different dates). The value of organization can't be underestimated.

9. Get involved at school to the degree you can by showing an interest in schoolwork, attending school functions and even volunteering on a project. Make a point to ask your tween about school each day and what he/she's learning and studying.

10. Set a good example. If you can, join in the homework process by engaging in a quiet activity nearby. That way, you can model the need for focus while your tween is busy with schoolwork. And, you can be available for help when your preteen needs assistance.

On top of everything, be sure to praise your tween's efforts in getting their homework completed and ready for school!

2011-07-30T11:38:00.000-04:00

Check out the new link to the PBS site about getting ready for middle school!

2011-06-30T22:45:00.000-04:00

You wouldn't like Macy when she's angry...

2010-08-22T14:43:00.003-04:00

We will be reading "Gregor the Overlander." It is my favorite children's book. Gregor is the first book in the "Underland Chronicles" series. I hope you love it too!!

2009-08-06T12:52:00.000-04:00

This is the Franklin D. Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, NY. I worked for several summers here as a Park Ranger giving tours. It was a wonderful job. I love history. The only problem was I looked a little like Smoky the Bear in my park ranger uniform. Not good. FDR was the president during the Great Depression. We will be learning about the GD this year.