Fifth Grade Dictionary
Resource Information Sheet
For Parents & Students
2009-2010
And Welcome to Mrs. Kalich’s and Mrs. Neal’s Fifth Grade Classes
Shiner Elementary
510 County Road 348
Shiner, TX 77984
(361) 594-3131
Neal – ext. 116
Kalich – ext. 117
nealk@shinerisd.net
kalichj@shinerisd.net
Visit our class on the web at:
http://www.teacherweb.com/TX/ShinerElementary/JillKalich
FYI – For Your Information. . .
A
Attendance: It is essential that your child keep good attendance in school to prepare
for testing and future grade levels. Please view school as a priority and see to it that your child
attends everyday except in cases of illness or emergency.
B
Book Orders: Book orders will be sent home several times a year. This is a great
resource for purchasing books inexpensively. Please send checks made payable to
Scholastic.
Birthdays: You may send a treat to celebrate your child’s birthday. These will be usually be
served during the last period of the day. Send invitations to school if all children are invited.
C
Curriculum: Neal – Math/Science; Kalich – Reading/English/Spelling/Social Studies.
D
Dismissal: School ends at 3:25. All children should be picked up promptly or ride
the bus. You must send a note if your child is to go home a different way than his/her normal
schedule.
E
Emergencies: Please make sure we have emergency numbers and information on
file for your child.
F
Field Trips: Our class will
participate in field trips this year. Permission slips must be returned for your child to attend.
G
Grading Scale: The following grading scale is used in 5th grade: A=90-100, B=80-
89, C=70-79, F=69 & below. All graded work will be sent home in a take-home folder on Friday.
Sign & return Monday.
H
Homework: We try to keep homework to a minimum. Spelling packets are assigned
every Monday. Math assignments not completed in class will be finished at home.
I
Internet: Your child will use the Internet to conduct research this year and
participate in learning activities. In order to do this, we must have your permission. The teacher
will guide all Internet searches.
J
Journals: Your child will write in a journal throughout the school year. Sometimes
this will be an arrival activity other times this may be a reflection activity.
K
Kindness: Students will demonstrate kindness and respect each day. Remember the
Golden Rule! Treat others as you wish to be treated! 
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L
M
Lunch: Time – 12:05 PM until 12:25 PM; Cost – Lunch $1.50 & Breakfast $1.00.
Monday: Students will need to bring signed planners and homework folders to school
each Monday.
N
Newsletters: A newsletter will be sent home every Monday to keep parents informed of the
learning activities & content, upcoming events, and student achievements.
O
Organization: Good organization is important to your child’s success! Help your
child periodically clean out folders and his/her backpack.
P
Planners: Your child will be expected to write assignments, tests, and special notes
in their planners. Parents/Guardians will need to look these over on Friday and sign. Return
Monday.
Q
Quiet: Quiet classrooms create an atmosphere that is conducive to learning. All
students will be expected to respect learning time.
R
Reading: Reading instruction will be taught through author studies and genre
studies in our room. This will challenge all readers and broaden their knowledge of literature.
Students will be required to earn 5 Accelerated Reader (AR) points per six week period for a
grade. 
S
Scientist of the Week: Every Friday one student from each class will conduct a
science experiment for the class.
T
Tardies: Students should be in the classroom by 7:50 AM. Arriving after this time
causes students to lose instructional time.
U
United States Capitals: Students will be learning the names of the 50 states and
capitals this year.
V
Vocabulary: Vocabulary and spelling words should be studied throughout each week.
Students will also need to study prefixes, suffixes, or root words that are assigned weekly.
These will be tested on Fridays.
W
Website: For additional information check out our website.
Water: Your child may bring a water bottle to keep at his/her desk as long as it has a lid to
prevent spills.
XYZ
We are extra thrilled to teach your student this year! 
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Online Dictionaries for Kids:
From: http://familyinternet.about.com/od/websites/tp/kidsdictionaries.htm
There are plenty of online dictionaries, but only a few cater to kids. Are you looking
for an online dictionary for kids to have age-appropriate definitions and language?
Here are some to help your children with their homework, research, and curiosity:
Yahoo! Kids Online Dictionary
The Yahoo! Kids dictionary is an online edition of the American Heritage Dictionary by Houghton
Mifflin. A search with Yahoo! Kids provides a list of possible words meeting the query. For example, the
word "earthquake" returns results for both "earthquake" and "earthquake engineer." The dictionary
provides suggestions for misspelled words. Click on the word of interest and you will receive an in-depth
result, including a sound file with the word pronunciation, multiple definitions (when appropriate), and
the etymology (word origin). This is a great dictionary for kids.
http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/english
Word Central Student Dictionary
Word Central uses the Merriam-Webster dictionary to provide results. If a user misspells a word, the
dictionary will provide suggestions for the correct spelling. It also provides suggestions for words that
may have multiple interpretations. For example, a search for "Scientist" offers a number of options
including "earth scientist," "social scientist" and "political science." Each definition includes a sound file
for pronunciation. It is a nice dictionary for kids.
http://www.wordcentral.com/
Little Explorers Picture Dictionary
This dictionary is geared towards very young learners and is designed to be browsed, rather than searched.
It behaves more like an encyclopedia than a dictionary. Each entry has an illustration and a couple of
sentences about the topic. Many entries include a link to find more information. The words in the Little
Explorers dictionary range from extremely common ("hair") to relatively obscure ("Queen Alexandra's
birdwing butterfly" - the largest butterfly in the world, according to Little Explorers).
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Dictionary.html
Wordsmyth
Wordsmyth is a full-featured dictionary including pronunciation, animation, synonyms, photographs, and
etymology. Users have the option to search with three different levels: Beginner's, Children's, and
Advanced. The Beginner's level is the most simple, focusing on a simple primary definition. Children's is
slightly more complex with multiple simple definitions. The site will also create a few different types of
quizzes, so kids can use it for a practice tool as well.
http://new.wordsmyth.net/
Dictionary.com
This is the dictionary used in the fifth grade classroom for revising and editing papers. It includes a
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thesaurus, encyclopedia, and translator.
http://dictionary.reference.com/
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