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Mr. Young
5th grade, Room 14
Religion, Reading, Writing
2015-2016
Blessed Trinity Regional Catholic School
Contact:
dyoung@btrcs.org
(215)-338-9797 [school-office]
Parents, please feel free to reach out. I check my e-mails at least twice a day and promise to return all
parent-e-mails within 24 hours. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you this year!
School-Mission:
Deeply rooted in the gospel message of Jesus Christ, Blessed Trinity School, a diverse community with a
rich history of Catholic Education, is committed to strong academics and faith formation.
Promoting academic excellence along with spiritual, artistic, emotional and athletic growth in a Christ
centered environment, the faculty and parents form an educational partnership, keeping in mind that
each child is a unique individual.
Empowering students with a sense of respect, understanding and compassion for others, students are
prepared to succeed, lead and serve in the global society of the 21st century.
School-Supply List:
Here is the official supply-list for fifth grade for the 2015-2016 year that was sent home prior to the
summer-break.
The following items are to be purchased through school: 1 homework assignment book ($4.00) and 1
jumbo pencil case ($3.50) for a total of $7.50.
The following items can be purchased anywhere : 1 USB flash drive/ 1 milk crate/3 black erasable
pens/ 1 red pen/ 6 sharpened #2 pencils/1 pkg. colored pencils / 1 box of Crayola crayons (24 count) /
1 set of washable markers / 2 dry erase thin tip markers/ 1 yellow highlighter/ 1” binder with page
protectors / 2 pkgs. Loose leaf/ 2 pkgs. Index cards / 1 pkg. multi colored construction paper/ 1 roll of
clear contact paper/ 1 roll clear tape / 1 large glue stick /1 pair scissors / 1 roll of paper towels / 1 box
tissues/ 1 container Clorox Wipes
8 hardcover copybooks (Religion*, ELA**, Writing***, Math, Social Studies, Science, Computers, Spanish)
7 laminated folders (Religion, Reading & Writing****, Math, Social Studies, Science, Spanish, Music)
The following school-items are NOT permitted: permanent markers, white-out, art/pencil boxes,
spiral notebooks
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 Copybook/Folder set-up for Mr. Young’s classes
*Religion copybook: First ½ of book is designated for prayers, in-class notes, in-class assignments, and
responses to non-textbook homework assignments; second ½ of book is designated as an area for
Religion Journals. There will be a Religion journey-entry every day. Journals will be checked daily and
collected at the end of every trimester to be counted towards the Religion grade. If a student is absent
and misses the daily journal assignment, it is the student’s responsibility to find out the missed journal –
entry and complete it upon returning to school. All work in the copybook is to include the date in the
top right corner of the page.
**ELA copybook: First ½ of book is designed for in-class notes, grammar notes and practice exercises,
background information on stories, graphic organizers, reader’s response notes, etc. The second ½ of
book is designated as an area to organize all spelling practice in cursive writing. Students will be tested
on a set of spelling words each week (loose-leaf assessment). The first week will consist of 20 words
(each word spelled correctly will be worth 5 points). After the first week, every Spelling Test to follow
will consist of 25 words (each word spelled correctly will be worth 4 points) and will include the 20
words from that lesson plus a random selection of 5 spelling words from previous units (designed to
retain information). After a new spelling lesson is introduced, students will have the homework
responsibility on an “A day” to write the first ten words from that lesson (1 to 10) 5x each in the second
half of their ELA copybook and the next ten words from that lesson (11 to 20) 5x each as a homework
responsibility on a “B day.” A written-paragraph with at least ten of the spelling words are due by every
“E day” after a new lesson is introduced.
***Writing copybook: First ½ of book is designated for in-class writing assignments and writing notes;
second ½ is designed for Writing Journals. There will be a Writing journey-entry every day. Journals will
be checked daily and collected at the end of every trimester to be counted towards the Writing grade. If
a student is absent and misses the daily journal assignment, it is the student’s responsibility to find out
the missed journal –entry and complete it upon returning to school. All work in the copybook is to
include the date in the top right corner of the page.
****Reading & Writing Folder: Reading and Writing will share a folder. Reading hand-outs are to be
organized in the left-side of the folder, and Writing hand-outs are to be organized in the right-side of the
folder.
All graded tests will go home with students every Wednesday in a test folder. All tests are to be signed
and returned to school on Thursday. Tests will be placed in a confidential-file and be can accessible upon
student and parent request.
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Rules & Expectations:
PRIDE PROGRAM (school-wide initiative):
Blessed Trinity Regional Catholic School students are…
Prepared
Respectful
Involved
Determined
Excellent
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All students are to follow all rules and guidelines as outlined in BTRCS’ official studenthandbook.
I expect all of my students to arrive to class every day on-time, prepared, and ready to learn.
My classroom structure is one that creates and embraces a positive climate for students to learn
and grow, promotes a variety of learning opportunities to accommodate all students, and values
each member with respect & integrity to each student. All students in my class are expected to
display respect for each member of our school-community at all times. Whether teacher or
student, there is only one speaker at a time. Our model is one that listens to each other and
works together.
We are a bully-free zone.
Routines:
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Morning: Upon arrival to school each day, students are to enter the classroom quietly, put away
their belongings in their milk-crate/cubby, bring all supplies they need for 1st period class to
their desk, and begin working on their morning work immediately. Attendance will be taken,
and any documents/notes to be sent to the office will be collected and sent down at this time.
We will have morning announcements every day which will include a school-wide prayer, the
reciting of our school mission-statement, the Pledge of Allegiance, and additional information
for the day.
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My homeroom will have a brief Morning Meeting each day to discuss important topics and
work on team-building.
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Prayers: In additional to morning-prayer, each religion class will begin with a class prayer. There
is a prayer intention book placed in our religious center. Students are welcome to write any
intentions they may have in this book, and we will pray for the intentions as a class. The best
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time for students to write their intentions in this book are in the morning before announcements,
during snack, right before lunch, or at the end of the day before dismissal. Prayers will also be
said to conclude each Religion class, before snack, before lunch, after lunch, and at the time of
the day.
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Each Religion class will include a five-minute+ daily religion-journal assignment before we open
the lesson for the day. These journal entries are to be written in the second half of the Religion
copybook.
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Each Writing class will begin with students working on their daily writing-journal assignment as
displayed on the board. These journal entries are to be written in the second half of the Writing
copybook. There will be specific prompts assigned Monday through Thursday. Each Friday will
be a Free-Write Friday, unless otherwise noted for that week.
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Each Reading class will begin with ten minutes of Silent-Reading. All students are to bring in a
grade-appropriate book to keep in their milk-crate/cubby.
Students are also welcome to read their Story-Town textbook at this time or borrow a
book from the fifth-grade library collection located in the back of the classroom. If a
student wishes to take home a book from the class library, students are to sign the book
out and write their name, the date, and the title of the book. When students return the
book, they are to sign the book back in with the return-date.
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Traveler’s Log: I have a traveler’s log copybook by the front door. Anytime any student has to
leave the room for any reason (visit to the office, bathroom, water foundation, visit to the
school nurse, etc.), the student is required to sign out with their name, date, destination, and
the current time. In the event of a fire-drill, the first thing I will grab is my student-roster and the
traveler’s log to ensure the safety of all of my students. It is the student’s responsibility to tell
me where they’re going and then both sign out and sign back in upon return.
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Class jobs: We will have a job chart in the classroom. Each student will be assigned a new job
each week. We work together as a team. One job is Teacher’s Helper. There is a copybook in the
classroom with a list of Teacher Helper tasks to be accomplished throughout the week.
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Suggestion box: There will be a suggestion box placed on my desk. Students are invited to drop
me a note into the suggestion box with any comments, questions, concerns or ideas. I will check
the box at the end of every day and address each concern as seen fit, whether class-wide or
individually depending on the concern. Some of the ideas can be discussed during Morning
Meeting.
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Testing: There are two bins in the back of the room: the red bin is for 5-14 (Mr. Young’s
homeroom) to place their tests when finished and the blue bin is for 5-13 (Mrs. White’s
homeroom) to place their tests when finished. Students are to place all tests face down in the
bin. Each bin will have clothes-pins clipped onto the bin with the student # (1 to 42) on one side
of the clothes-pin. When a student returns a finished test, they are to take their clothes-pin
according to their number and reverse it to the other side. This lets me know which students did
not return their tests when I am ready to collect all tests and grade.
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Student # assignment: I assign each student a number every year which serves a variety
of functions: location of milk-crate/cubby space, location of closet hanger, maintaining
confidentiality for testing purposes, the distribution and tracking of textbooks, and
writing numbers 1 to 42 on popsicle sticks which may be used throughout the year for
activities and assigning group-work. Each student is to remember their number. They
can write this number on the top right corner of the first page in their Homework
planner.
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Quick- test takers: Students are encouraged to take their time with their test and
double-check their work. When students are finished a test and testing is still in
progress, students may randomly select a Popsicle stick from the “I’m Finished”
container on my desk (which has a written, academic- task on it to complete). Other
options include utilizing the enrichment center in the classroom, reading silently, or
borrowing a bible or religious prayer/study book from our class Religious center. Talking
while other students are still testing is never an option.
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No Name on tests: Effective October 1st, 5 points will be deducted from each test that is
submitted with no name on it.
Testing Schedules:
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We operate on an A-B-C-D-E schedule.
I will not give any tests/quizzes on any ‘A’ days, unless otherwise noted.
If there is a scheduled quiz/test, it will follow this schedule:
o B- Religion quiz
o C-English quiz
o D- Religion test
o E- Reading test (Story-Town assessment), Spelling test, Grammar test
Students can expect to take quizzes and tests regularly. There will definitely be weekly StoryTown assessments and Spelling tests, unless otherwise noted.
Absences/ Homework Policies:
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Absences- All absences require a call to the school-office in the morning of the absence. Parents,
please send a note for me with your child upon your child’s return to school.
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Homework- Absences do not excuse students from their homework assignments and classwork
responsibilities. Homework will be posted on the Teacher Webpage. If a student cannot
complete their homework due to illness or not having their books with them that night, students
will have up to two days to complete all assignments upon their return to school. Upon their
return, they are to check in with the weekly “Absentee’s Friend” to see what work they missed.
All journal entries will be recorded in a book, and students can check the book to see what
entries they missed. Please keep in mind all journal entries are needed at the end of every
trimester to receive full-credit. If a child is absent for an extended period of time with an
excused absence, parents are to contact the child’s teachers and an assignment-pacing plan will
be created for the child with administration, teacher, and parental input. Homework will be assigned
Monday through Thursday. Unless otherwise noted, there will be no homework on Fridays (aside from studying).
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Incentives:
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School-wide: Gotcha tickets (recognizes good behavior and deeds; eligible for raffle prizes at the
end of each month), Student-of-the-Month recognition, Pride points, etc.
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Classroom incentives
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Individual: Each student has the opportunity to earn a point each day. Points can be
exchanged for prizes every trimester. Each student has the opportunity to earn *a piece
of candy of their choice (10 points), opportunity to choose their job for a week of their
choice (25 points), homework pass (35 points), and a prize from the prize-box (50
points+).
 *Allergy information: Please be sure to report all allergy information,
which will help us know which foods must be avoided and will remain
confidential.
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Class-wide: There are two mason jars with marbles in the classroom. One jar is marked
with levels of rewards that can be earned as a class for above & beyond classroom
behavior. When the entire class is working really well, I will add a few marbles to fill up
the jar. Marbles can also be removed as seen fit. Class rewards may range from getting
to pack-up 15 minutes early to start homework for one day, earning ten extra minutes
at snack for a day, receiving homework passes, etc. Incentives may change throughout
the year upon principal and teacher discretion.
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The signature below acknowledges that I, ________________________________________, (print name
of parent), have read the rules and expectations for the 2015-2016 school year and reviewed them with
my child, ________________________________________( print name of child).
Parent’s signature: _____________________________________________________________________
Date: _____________________________________