We had another exciting week in Room 315! We spent a few days completing the IOWA test. I am proud of how hard all of the students worked during our testing days. Those days can be LONG, but they all showed such perseverance and open-mindedness. I am grateful to teach such an amazing group! A special thank you to the Killimett family for providing donuts to celebrate the end of testing. We enjoyed them!! This week, we are wrapping up our first unit of inquiry. It has been a learning experience for all of us, but the students have become historians in the process! They have learned so much about the history of conflict and resolution in the United States over the past 118 years. Students are focusing on completing their "Adviser to the President" summative task. Students are working on analyzing their "sorting out" chart in order to identify patterns in our history that could assist them in advising President Bush. The students have access to the class sorting out chart, their Google Slides, and task rubric in Google Classroom. Because this is an assessment piece, students should not be working on it at home. However, I encourage you to take a look at the assignment to better understand the task and requirements. I am sure that the students will BLOW ME AWAY with their ideas. Last Friday, we finished Refugee. The students did an excellent job with our first novel study. We are continuing to work on completing the summative tasks for the novel. Students are completing their character analysis projects this week. Students will also be assigned one final interpretive question to respond to for Refugee. When we return from fall break, we will begin our second unit of inquiry. Our novel study for that unit will be Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. If your child did not order a copy of the novel at the beginning of the year and you have not purchased one yet, it is imperative that every child have a copy of the novel. The book is available at the public library, Barnes and Noble bookstore, and on Amazon. As the students will tell you, we use our novels daily for all of our literary analysis assignments, so it's very important for everyone to have a copy. It's hard to believe that we are approaching the end of the first marking period! The students have come so far in such a short time. It is so encouraging to see them growing and learning each day. As the marking period nears its end, I know there are many questions about grades and progress. With the implementation of IB this year, our grading practices have evolved from what your child may have been accustomed to in 4th grade. My hope is that the weekly progress reports sent home Fridays have been insightful. I went through the digital grade book today to make sure all of the settings were correct, as some had mentioned that assignments were not showing up. Please remember that students and parents have access to the grade book via StudentVue and ParentVue. If you have any questions about how to access, please don't hesitate to let me know. Remember, my goal is to support your child's growth and achievement. If your child feels that he or she has made growth since some of the assessments were given, I am always happy to allow them to retest. The request to retest form is available under "Useful Links" on the website. Typically, the protocol is that students must submit their request the Monday following the grade being posted. Retakes are typically administered on Fridays. Since this process is new for many, I am very flexible this first nine weeks. Talk with your child about their progress. If there are areas where they feel they could do better, please encourage them to retest. (specifically in math!) Additionally, please remember, students can access their work after submission through Classroom. If you would like to review their assessments after they have been completed, they are always available to you. REMINDERS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
UPCOMING DUE DATES: Friday, September 21 - History Assessment (Matching) Friday, September 21 - Character Analysis Project Friday September 21 - Adviser to the President Slides Tuesday, October 2 - History of Conflict and Resolution Test (Multiple Choice) Friday, October 5 - Refugee Reading Skills Assessment (Multiple Choice) Check out a video below of our very own, Samuel, solving a Rubik's Cube in 1 minute and 20 seconds. Each morning, we build community by answering a question of the day. On "Totally Awesome" Tuesday, Samuel shared that he's totally awesome because of his Rubiks skills. I agree, Samuel, YOU are TOTALLY awesome!! Have a great week!
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January 2019
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