Mr. Curry

1
Mr. Currys 5th Grade Class

• Welcome Students!

2
Welcome to 5th Grade!

• This is an important year for you!
• I will give you an introduction to 5th grade and
  to our classroom.
• If you have any questions, please be sure to ask
  me.

3
All About Me

• My Background
• I grew up in San Francisco.
• I attended parochial grammar school and attended
  St. Ignatius College Prep.
• I attended San Francisco State University and
  graduated with a Multiple Subjects Teaching
  Credential and 2 BA degrees in Liberal Studies
  and in History.

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All About Me

• My Experience
• Ive been teaching since 1981, in San Francisco,
  Oakland and San Jose.
• I am now starting my sixth year at Vinci.
• I have taught 4th through 8th grades, but 5th
  is my current favorite grade to teach.

5
My Family
I work for Fandango in San Diego, but I live in
Tijuana, Mexico
I teach 5th grade at Vinci Park

• 5 boys and 3 are teachers

I teach 5th grade in Yuma Arizona
I teach 7th grade Near Seattle
Vinci Park
6
My Family

• My Wife Noel She often helps us out by going
  on field trips when she can.
• I met her when I was 18 and finally asked her to
  marry me 17 years later. Talk about
  procrastination!

7
My Family

• My Foster Son, his wife and their 2 kids
• Antonio
• Maravic
• Analyn
• AJ (Antonio Jr.)

8
Goals

• Students will learn the content and the skills
  needed to succeed academically and socially.
• Students will learn in a supportive, safe and
  nurturing learning environment.
• We will have fun while we learn.
• Students will be introduced to the jobs of the
  future and they will be encouraged to start
  preparing for their future.

9
Class Content

• We will cover all the subjects and topics that
  our state believes are important for students to
  learn during 5th grade.
• We will use a Project Based Learning approach,
  especially in the content areas. This will also
  involve cooperative learning activities and the
  use of technology throughout the curriculum.

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Math

• We will learn the basics of math using the 4
  basic operations with whole s, fractions and
  decimals this year in Math.

• Students will also use algebraic thinking in
  solving problems.
• Students will be familiar with perimeter, area
  and volume.

http//www.everyschool.org/u/vinci/fifth/math.html

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Math

• We will learn the strategies needed to solve
  problems

• Students will also demonstrate basic math facts
  through regular Math Fact Tests
• Students will be able to create and interpret
  graphs, charts and tables.
• Students can take challenge tests and can move at
  their own level.

http//www.everyschool.org/u/vinci/fifth/math.html

12
Reading/Language Arts

• We use the state adopted Houghton- Mifflin
  Reading program.
• We also have students read a variety of quality
  literature as well..

http//www.everyschool.org/u/vinci/fifth/languagea
rts.html
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Reading/Language Arts

• This year, the 5th grade teachers have decided to
  have students change classes for Reading so that
  we can better serve the students by grouping them
  according to their reading level and their
  instructional level.
• This literacy block will normally be for 75
  minutes each morning
• We will also be using Accelerated Reading to help
  students find their appropriate reading level
  from which they can succeed.

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Reading/Language Arts

• This year, Mr. Currys class will be
  participating in 3 additional reading programs.
• Reading Is Cool Students keep track of the of
  pages they read each month and they can qualify
  for awards. Last year Mr. Currys class got a
  trip to the Shark Tank!
• Book It! Students can earn free Pizza Hut pizzas
  for reading books.
• Newspapers In Education- SJ Mercury News Free
  weekly newspapers

15
Writing

• We will be using the newly adopted Step Up to
  Writing writing program throughout the district
  in grades K-8.
• Mr. Curry requires a minimum of 3 compositions
  per week plus book reports and research projects.

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History / Social Studies

• Students will study the United
• States from prehistoric times through the
  1850s.
• We will study the land forms, Native Americans,
  Explorers, Colonization, the American Revolution,
  The New Nation and Westward Expansion.
• We will also do a special unit on slavery and
  modern Civil Rights.
• Students will also do a long term State Project.

For more details, see http//www.everyschool.org/
u/vinci/fifth/socst.html
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• There will be 5 areas we will cover this year in
  Science.
• One area is Systems of Living Things We will
  study plants and animals, as well as several
  systems of humans.

http//www.everyschool.org/u/vinci/fifth/science.h
tml
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• Two other Units are on
• Weather
• Water
• We will connect these units with our Eco-Project
  in cleaning up Upper Penitencia Creek

http//www.everyschool.org/u/vinci/fifth/science.h
tml
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Space Science

• We will do a major unit on The Solar System and
  Beyond
• This will tie in with our trip to NASA, our
  school Star Party our Project Astro Teacher,
  Mr. Lin who will visit us from Lockheed Martin
  Space Systems.
• Groups will do Power Point Research Projects on
  the planets. www.sjteach.org/solar

http//www.everyschool.org/u/vinci/fifth/science.h
tml
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• Another Major unit is on Matter
• www.sjteach.org/matter

Students will research and present what they
learned about an element in a Power Point and in
a web page.
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Art Music

• Art is taught in my class usually as a means of
  learning in the content areas, such as making Soc
  St maps out of clay, or illustrating a book for a
  report.
• We hope to get accepted for several Arts Express
  field trips this year.
• Students are encouraged to sign up for
  instrumental music class.

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Art throughout the curriculum

• Learning Geography by building mountains, valleys
  and continents

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Science Camp

• Scheduled for April 2005
• Fundraising Encouraged
• Check it out at
• Official Walden West Website ,
• Vinci Park at Camp 2003-04