Good Afternoon Families!

I hope everyone enjoyed some quality family time over our short break! It was nice to be able to re-charge our batteries and relax a bit!

School Progress Reports

A note about Progress Reports that were issued yesterday:

Your child’s progress report indicates his or her current progress toward an expectation. When a standard repeats in more than one trimester–as is typical in literacy instruction, for example–we do not expect students will master the knowledge and skills indicated until the completion of the last trimester in which the standard is reported on. In fact, it’s likely that many students will earn a score of Developing.

For example, we assess students using text we expect they will be able to master by the end of the school year. For a literacy course standard that repeats, we report each trimester based on your child’s progress toward those end-of-year expectations. This practice gives you consistent information regarding where your child is performing currently, compared to where he or she should be later in the school year or at the year’s end. 

What might you expect to see for a standard that repeats in more than one trimester? You might expect to see a steady progression, such as Not Mastering (1) or Developing (2) in Trimester 1; Developing (2) in Trimester 2; and Mastering (3) in Trimester 3.

NWEA MAP Testing

Today we completed our Winter MAP testing. More information about scores will be forthcoming once the testing window for make-ups is closed. If your child was absent for either test, he/she will be scheduled for a make-up opportunity next week.

Here's What's Happening in Class:

Literacy

This week read a chapter from the story, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. It is an exciting realistic fiction novel about a young boy who struggles to survive in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. Although this excerpt is the only chapter included in our Ready-Gen Text Collection Book, I highly encourage students to read the book in it’s entirety. Copies are readily available at your local library. As we read, we practiced skills in summarizing and quoting accurately from a text.

Writing

Our students are currently engaged in analytical writing. After researching the topic of whether video games have a more positive or negative effect on kids, students have formed a personal opinion on which to base their essay. Once completed, these essays should include well-developed introductions, body paragraphs inclusive of text evidence and an impactful conclusion.

Math

Our students are continuing their work with decimals.  They are currently refining their skills in the area of using expanded decimal notation, comparing decimals, adding and subtracting decimals, and rounding decimals. 

Science

We have been studying the four main systems of Earth: the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. We’ve been learning about the attributes and characteristics of each, as well as how they interact with each other. At this point, your child should be able to tell you what each Earth system contains. In the past week, we finished up our learning by reading and discussing what individuals, corporations, and communities can do to protect the Earth systems. 

Important Upcoming Dates:

Tuesday, Dec. 15—Early release @ 2:00

Friday, Dec. 18—Last Day before Winter Break

Monday, Jan. 4-School resumes after Winter Break