Friday 11/21

Tomorrow is both sports day AND bring your own devices day! :-)

***Stormalong Test Points***

Question #7 on the comprehension section of last week's test has been omitted. Each child's grade in Infinite Campus (parent portal) will be increased by 4 points.

Test Corrections HINTS

This list of question numbers/lessons was posted today during class. Students may reference it when doing corrections this weekend. :-)

Important Friday Info

Coming home today with your child are their graded first writing assignment (5 paragraph essay about their favorite place) as well as their chapter 2 math test. Some things to keep in mind:

Writing

• This piece was modeled from start to finish including an outline, first draft, editing, and revising
• Students were expected to write a 5 paragraph essay including an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion
• No teacher/student conference was held because it was a graded piece
• Students on grade level are still a "level 3". You will notice that two more spaces were added to the previous rubric (3- and 3+) because  so a level 3 in the past was such a wide range of actual scores.

Math

• We did start corrections in class and modeled how corrections for each question are to be completed
• It is the responsibility of the students to work through their corrections and they will not be accepted after Monday
• Math tests make up 90% of the math grade on the report card. The other 10% is a homework average given for each chapter based on the number of homework assignments.

**NEXT WEEK FOR JOURNEYS, WE WILL BE ON LESSON 5

Assessments tomorrow

This Friday's assessments include:

Spelling and reading Lesson 4

Math- chapter 2 (students should complete the review packet done in class as well as study concepts. extra practice can be found on pages 95-98 of the text book)

Journeys information

Along with returning your child’s reading test each week, I will be sending home examples of student work to reference for the R.A.C.E. question on that particular test. The examples demonstrate answers that have restated the question and have used two pieces of evidence from the text. You may reference these when reviewing possible answers to that question. It is important that students are using evidence from the text to support their answers and not simply using their own background knowledge.

Important information and tips for helping your child be successful on Friday’s assessment

·         There will always be 20 multiple choice questions (10 vocabulary, 10 comprehension from the anchor text that week)

·         The R.A.C.E. question (extended response) is usually based on the Essential Question given on the first page of the story and is essentially worth 20% of the total score (5/25)

·         Friday’s test is ALWAYS open book. I would never require a student to memorize every detail of a story. They can look back at the story, use the glossary, or any other part of the book that will help them answer questions.

·         Accessing the weekly anchor text AND vocabulary on ThinkCentral each week to prepare for the Friday assessment is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED.  If for any reason you are unable to have your child access the book online, please contact me and I would be happy to arrange to have them bring the text book home to study.

·         The lowest test score each quarter IS dropped.

·         I have been getting feedback from parents that their child’s scores in reading are much lower than last year and/or  their scores from last year in class did not correlate with their performance on the state common core assessments. It is important to know that with the adoption of our new reading series, also came the adoption of more rigorous weekly assessments that will better prepare students for the state exams. We will continue to work each week on strategies during our reading block.

Thank you, in advance, for your support at home.

Next week...

Due to the Columbus Day Holiday, our field trip to Brookside Museum, and our evacuation drill on Friday morning, we will not have a reading OR spelling test next week. We will resume with lesson 5 on 10/20.

Reading Lesson for the Week

This week we are on Lesson 4 in Journeys. Our anchor text and vocabulary can be accessed through Think Central. Students are encouraged to reread the story throughout the week to prepare for Friday's assessment.

Tests being returned today...

Today (Wednesday), you can expect to find the following come home with your child:

Spelling test from 9/25

Reading test for lesson 2 (My Brother Martin) **score will not be reflected on report card- this was a PRACTICE test

Math test for chapter 1 **score will not be reflected on report card- this was a PRACTICE test. Also, if your child did not complete the test, the score was adjusted to show the number of correct questions out of the total number your child completed.

Brookside Museum

On October 15th, our class will travel with Ms. Deluca's class to Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa. a yellow packet should have come home in your child's take home folder today (Monday). Please review this packet for field trip costs and opportunities to volunteer as a chaperone. Volunteer Handbooks and Applications will be available at Open House tonight!

Words Their Way

Click here to see a short video explaining the Words Their Way approach to spelling.

Follow me on Twitter!

I will be posting reminders for events such as field trips and other school events on my twitter account!
Follow me @PlantzShatekon

Think Central Resources

You and your child can now access our Go Math! textbook and practice book (homework) online as well as our new reading series from Journeys through the Think Central website.

Username: what your child uses at our Shatekon computer lab for their username
Password: student

Weekly Homework

Below is an outline of homework you should expect your child to have each week. Homework should take approximately 40 minutes. Students should also be reading at least 20 minutes each night. It is always best to check your child's agenda for homework for any given night.

Math- Expect 2 pages (front to back) from the Go Math! practice book Monday-Thursday night. The front reinforces the skill/strategy taught that day, the back is a mixed review of previous lessons

Reading- Reading/Vocabulary log: should be completed throughout the week and handed in on Friday morning

Word Study (spelling)- suggested nightly activities to help with spelling practice. Look for the below instructions to come home each week.

Monday – 2 sorts with an adult helper:   Place your key words down. Sort your words Read your sort aloud Explain your sort to an adult Perform a speed sort with a timer. Check and correct your speed sort. Add 5 seconds for each mistake you made	_________________ Time of speed sort     __________________________________ Adult signature
Tuesday – Blind Sort with an adult helper   1)      Place your key words down 2)      Hand your words to your helper. 3)      Have your helper read the words to you one at a time without you seeing them. 4)      Point to the key word it fits with 5)      Have your partner place the word in the category you chose. 6)      Check the word to make sure it is in the correct category 7)      Give the card back to your partner if it is in the wrong category.	__________________________________ Adult signature
Wednesday – Word Hunt/Brainstorm – Write your key words down on the lines below. Search through texts to find new words for each category. Write the new words under the correct key words. If you can’t find any words, brainstorm some with a buddy.   ____________________     ____________________   __________________   __________________     ____________________     ____________________   __________________   __________________     ____________________     ____________________   __________________   __________________     ____________________     ____________________   __________________   __________________
Thursday: Do a writing sort to prepare for Friday’s test on the back of this sheet.

Science/Social Studies- there may be occasional science and/or social studies homework