St. Joseph Catholic School
  • Home
  • Admissions
    • About Us >
      • Meet Our Team
    • Application
    • Bus Transportation
  • Resources
    • Calendars >
      • Menu Calendar
      • School Events
    • PlusPortals
    • Job Postings
    • School Closings
    • School Handbook
    • Scholarships
    • Uniforms
  • St. Joseph Parish
  • Delone Catholic High School
  • C.A.R.E.S.
  • Athletics
  • School News
    • Pre-K 3
    • Pre-K 4 (3 Day)
    • Pre-K 4 (5 Day)
    • Kindergarten
    • 1st Grade A
    • 1st Grade B
    • 2nd Grade
    • 3rd Grade
    • 4th Grade
    • 5th Grade
    • Middle School (6th-8th Grades)
    • Technology
    • Art
    • Library
    • Music
    • Phys Ed
    • Spanish
  • Amazon Wish Lists
  • Volunteer
  • Alumni
Picture

5th Grade

Picture

Welcome to Mrs. Maurer's 5th Grade News!

12/1/2025

 
Our class enjoys learning about a variety of curriculum topics which include:
  • Religion - Sacraments, Parts of the Mass, Saints and Missionaries, and Prayer
  • Language Arts - Reading Comprehension, Study Skills, Weekly Spelling Lists, Grammar Rules, Journal Prompts, and Monthly Writing Samples
  • Math - Place Value, Multiplication and Division, Fractions, Decimals, and Geometry
  • Life Science: Cells, Plants, and Ecosystems
  • Earth Science: Earth's Structures and Resources, Atmosphere, Solar System
  • Physical Science: Matter, Changing of State, Forces, Motion, Energy, Temperature and Heat
  • Social Studies - Ancient Cultures: Geographer's Tools, The Evolution of Culture and Early Civilizations, The Role of Religion in History, Egypt, China, Greece, The Mediterranean Region, The Roman Empire, Early Origins of Christianity, Islam, The Renaissance, The Middle Ages, The Enlightenment, and Early Civilizations in the Americas.

Upcoming Events/Reminders

11/1/2025

 
* 5/5 11:45 Dismissal  
* 5/11 5th Grade Field Trip
* 5/26 Last Day of School! :) 

Book It! 2022-2023

6/1/2023

 
The Book It Program sponsored by Pizza Hut will begin October 1, 2022. This program will run through March 31, 2023. 
 
Goals for this year include:

  • Each student must have a book handy for silent reading throughout the school day. Students are of course also encouraged to read outside of school.
  • Each student is responsible for recording the number of minutes they read on their reading log. The last day of the month, students will hand in both of these pages. The total number of minutes I would like the students to read is 750.  This breaks down to ~25 minutes a day.  It may seem challenging, but with in-class free reading and perhaps a chapter or two before bed, I believe this is a challenging, yet, attainable goal.
  • Each student is also responsible for completing one book report for month October through March. (Reports will be counted as a Reading grade.)
 
If all three of these items are successfully completed and turned in on time, the student will receive a pizza certificate from Pizza Hut.

OUR PROGRESS: 
October: 11,884 - Aw, a bit shy of our goal! 
November: 15,215 Nice job! 
December: 14,835 Way to go!!
January: 18,092 Woo hoo!!! 
February: 14,829 Awesome!  
March: 15,738 Strong Finish! 

CLASS GOAL PER MONTH: 12,750
CLASS GOAL FOR THE YEAR: 76,500

Final Total: 90,593! Terrific Work EVERYONE!   

Happy Friday! 5/12

5/12/2023

 
Hi Parents! 
 
Whew! I think May is just as busy as December this school year! We helped plan and prepare for our school's Living Rosary on Wednesday, had our fabulous field trip on Thursday, and a beautiful May Procession and school mass on Friday. Big thanks to our chaperones! I posted a bunch of pictures from the trip, a few from May Procession, and Kendall and her surprise mail from her author! We are winding things down in the classroom with our last few grades coming in next week. We'll have our Rosary & HHQ test, a polygons/angles quiz, and maybe another science grade. 

As I've been updating grades the past few days, I realized I marked and returned the Ch 11 SS Packets so quickly, I forgot to record the grades I wrote at the top of them in my gradebook. Could you please have your child return that to school on Monday so I can document the score correctly? 

The teacher's had a fabulous week and felt very much appreciated around here. There were goodies galore and surprises abounding! You made me feel very special and always grateful for such a supportive network of families here at SJS! Thank you so much for the Amazon wish list items, chocolate to keep me going through these last few days of school, creative school supplies, and thoughtful notes and gifts. The H&S also treated teachers to circus-themed goodies throughout the week and lunch today. What fun! Loved it! 

Have a great weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all! I hope you all get time to feel appreciated for all you do for your loved ones. You are a blessing to your families and your children. God Bless YOU!

Happy Friday! 4/28

4/28/2023

 
Hi Parents! 

I keep telling the kids that now, in the 3rd trimester, our foot is on the gas, but this week it super-duper was! We had STAR testing, the Band Tour, Talent Show, and Book Fair. Wow. Lots of schedule-juggling this week! We are super proud of our extraordinarily talents from singing to instruments, from sports to cheer, from artistic to academic, etc. 

Speaking of academic, we are about to be finished with fractions in math and get into the wonderful world of geometry! Stay tuned for polygons, protractors, and perimeter! (And so much more!) We had another science inquiry activity today: be sure to ask your child what they did to a cookie today (and why of course!) Ancient China is coming along nicely. The Great Wall of China and its purpose are up next. The Sacrament of Matrimony is in full swing. I've attached a photo of our display.

On the school website, I've also added photos of our science inquiry activity and the talent show.

Next week:
Tuesday: Math Division quiz
Wednesday: CE due
Thursday: Rdg WLT
Friday: Spelling 23

Have a great weekend! Try to stay dry! God Bless You! 

Happy Friday! 4/21

4/21/2023

 
Hi Parents! 

We have been receiving some fun mail this week as we continue to get responses from our "Great Mail Race" project! We are up to 7 responding schools! Only 43 to go! We've also sent out our Letters to the Author and have 3 replies from those as well. Sometimes a response from an author/publisher takes up to a year or MORE!

This week we had a hygiene lesson with Mrs. Hutchinson. It was HW on Monday to take home their notes, have them signed by you, and returned to school. She shared lots of info about germs, bacteria, and had a big emphasis on keeping ourselves clean, especially as we enter the ***dun dun dun*** Middle School years! And as our more recent weather has been trending warmer of course. 

Next week, we will have our last round of STAR testing for the school year. This is scheduled for Monday and Thursday AM. We also have a special treat planned as the Junior Band, under the direction of Mrs. Yealy, will be visiting SJS on Wednesday. I had the opportunity to accompany the JB on their first band tour yesterday and I'm blown away with the progress our students have made in just the short time they've taken up their respective instruments. I'm so proud of their hard work in BOTH the classroom and in this extracurricular activity! Finally, next week is also our school BOGO free Book Fair. 

Next week: 
Monday - 
Tuesday - Rel Ch 17 Test
Wednesday - SS Ch 11 Less 1-2 Quiz
                      Rel Apostle's Creed Test
Thursday - 
Friday - Spelling Lesson 22
             Eng 7.1-7.5 Quiz

Have a great weekend! God Bless You! 

Happy Friday! 4/13

4/14/2023

 
Hi Parents! 

Happy Easter! Alleluia! I hope you had a lovely holiday with your families. 

We've been busy back to work during this new home stretch of the school year. As the summer countdown has officially begun, our work and study of the rosary has started. We've also begun studying the Sacraments of the Service of Communion; Matrimony and Holy Orders. In math, we are making a lot of progress with multiplying fractions and next week, we'll be dividing fractions. In science, we have finished with the hydrosphere and have moved on to the atmosphere. Today we completed a science experiment which explored when cold weather fronts and warm weather fronts collide, what could happen? The students are also enjoying studying China as our most recent ancient civilization. 

Miss Smith & Mrs. Connelly had a nice surprise for me today as they decorated the classroom for my birthday this weekend. The kids enjoyed the lovely decorations and cupcakes plus extra recess that we had in the nice weather this afternoon.

Next week: 
Tuesday - English Unit 6 Test
Wednesday - CE Due
                       Math X Frac & Mix #s Quiz
Thursday - Religion HW Due
Friday - Spelling Lesson 21
             Rdg WLT
             Spanish Pro-Life Contest Entries Due

Have a great weekend! God Bless You! 

Happy Easter! 4/5

4/5/2023

 

Day of Music! 3/28

3/31/2023

 

Happy Friday! 3/31

3/31/2023

 
Hi Parents, 

Happy almost-Holy Week! 

Today, we have a regular test packet coming home. There will not be one coming home next week before break. Also, the only graded item will be our prayer test on Wednesday - The Angelus. Other than that, we'll have a few regular lessons mixed in with Holy Week lessons and some Easter fun. I hope everyone has a blessed Easter and a lovely Spring break! I won't have a newsletter next week.

Field Trip permission slips due by 4/21. Remember, you don't need to send me any money, your child's tuition account will be billed. 

Have a great weekend! God Bless You!

Enjoy our pictures below. We used Candyland to practice prepositional phrases! 

<<Previous
    ​Welcome to Fifth Grade!

    My name is Mrs. Lesley Maurer and I am the 5th grade teacher. This is my 14th year teaching in Catholic schools and my 12th year here at SJS.


    Email Mrs. Maurer

    Specials

    Monday - Music

    Tuesday - Technology

    Wednesday- Library

    Thursday - Gym & Spanish
    ​

    Friday - Art

    Great Links

     
    • Social Studies: Ancient Civilizations
    • Time Magazine for Kids
    • DOGO News
    • National Geographic for Kids
    • Science News for Kids
    • Science Study Tools
    • Language Arts - Rdg, Eng., Writing
    • MyMath
    • Virtual Math Manipulatives (NEW)
    • Cool Math for Kids
    • Religion Interactive Review & Study Guides
    • Tips for Parents
    • Book Jacket Project Template

    Archives

    December 2025
    November 2025
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    May 2022

    RSS Feed

    Parent/TEACHER Portal
    FID PACKETS
    Day 1
    Day 2
    Day 3
    Day 4
    Day 5
FAITH-FILLED ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
5125 Grandview Road, Hanover, PA 17331  •  Phone (717) 632 - 0118
  • Home
  • Admissions
    • About Us >
      • Meet Our Team
    • Application
    • Bus Transportation
  • Resources
    • Calendars >
      • Menu Calendar
      • School Events
    • PlusPortals
    • Job Postings
    • School Closings
    • School Handbook
    • Scholarships
    • Uniforms
  • St. Joseph Parish
  • Delone Catholic High School
  • C.A.R.E.S.
  • Athletics
  • School News
    • Pre-K 3
    • Pre-K 4 (3 Day)
    • Pre-K 4 (5 Day)
    • Kindergarten
    • 1st Grade A
    • 1st Grade B
    • 2nd Grade
    • 3rd Grade
    • 4th Grade
    • 5th Grade
    • Middle School (6th-8th Grades)
    • Technology
    • Art
    • Library
    • Music
    • Phys Ed
    • Spanish
  • Amazon Wish Lists
  • Volunteer
  • Alumni