Tuesday, April 28

Please give your child a BIG hug tonight!  Everyone is working so hard! Whether we are in ISTEP or in the classroom, everyone has had amazing focus this week.  Please encourage them to keep it up!!  We will continue with ISTEP testing Wednesday and Thursday of the this week and Monday through Wednesday of next week.  The following week we will continue testing for NWEA.

The good news is the testing sessions are short and spread out, so we have some breaks between.  Working on our Wander Indiana Research and our YHBA books has been a great way to relax between the sessions.

Speaking of the Young Hoosier Book Award books, our library celebration is not too far away.  Any student that has met their goal of 3 chapter books and 6 picture books from the YHBA list will participate in the celebration field trip on Friday, May 15.  We will begin with a walk to the park and some play time.  After eating lunch in the park we will head to the library for a tour and game of YHBA Jeopardy.  Invitations to the celebration will be coming home soon with those students who have met their goals.  You can see how your child is progressing on their goal by looking at the Reading Counts report in tonight's Feedback and Data Binder. Green highlights are for the chapter books and orange highlights are for the picture books.

In tonight's Feedback and Data Binder you will also find data from the recent Math and Literacy assessments.  Please work with your child to review all the data in the binder and complete the reflection page for tonight's homework.

Also coming home tonight is the permission slip for the Indiana State Museum Field trip.  We are looking for chaperons.  There is a fee for the trip for chaperons also.  Chaperons will be on a first paid basis. Please look over the slip and send it back as soon as possible.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Thursday, April 23

Students have been working very hard ALL DAY LONG.  I am very proud of them.  Most have finished their 5th grade writing sample and several have finished their Week 33 assessment.  Anyone who has not, will have time to work on it tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will also try to get caught up with Wander Indiana Research.  We are behind.  The Visual Plan that was originally due tomorrow will not be due until next week, and the students will have time to complete it in class.  The big message is - NO WORRIES.  At this point everyone seems to be doing a great job and we will all get caught up. Remember - Projects are not due until May 18th.


Next week we will continue working on our research during class in between ISTEP test sessions. We do have a full week of testing that will run into the following week, so it is important students are at school every day. We also want to make sure they have plenty of brain food to help them through each day.  If you are able, we could use the following donations of the ISTEP snacks:

Star Mints

Lucky Charms

Chex Mix

Gold Fish

Fruit Roll ups

Rice Krispy Treats

Cookies

Popcorn

Waters

Snack size baggies

Each snack with be paired with a motivational, encouraging message for the students. I already have Monday's snack ready to go, so if you are able to pick something up while you are out this weekend and send it in Monday - any donations will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for all you do!

Tuesday, April 21

Test Tomorrow! It will cover Tall Tales and the Lesson 17-18 Spelling Words.  Study Tonight!!

Monday, May 20th

Today we began ISTEP Practice testing.  The kids did great! The rest of the week will be filled with more practice sessions. Most days our Literacy and Math Blocks will be cut in half to accommodate for the practice sessions, so we won't have a lot of inclass time.  Students will need to be very diligent about being prepared for class and staying up with their YHBA books.

Here is the schedule for the remainder of the week:

Tuesday: Block 1 - ISTEP Practice Test; Block 2 - (Split between Math and Literacy); During Literacy we will reviewing tonight's homework. Pecos Bill Unit 8 Part 2

Wednesday: Block 1 - (Split between Math and Literacy);  Block 2 - ISTEP Practice Test; During Literacy we will take our Week 33 test over the Unit 8 Tall Tales and Lesson 17-18 Spelling.

Thursday: Normal Blocks; No Practice ISTEP;  During Literacy we will finish up our Week 33 tests and continue working on our Wander Indiana Research.

Friday: Normal Blocks; No Practice ISTEP;  During Literacy we will continue working on our Wander Indiana Research, and take some time for reading our YHBA Books.

Next Week begins the last portion of ISTEP.  We can do this!!

I also wanted to take a quick moment to say thank you to those of you that helped by chaperoning on last Friday's field trip to the IMS.  It was a GREAT DAY!!  If you have pictures from the trip to share or if you didn't get to go, but would like to enjoy some great photos, please check out our Photo Gallery Folder! If you would like to add some of your own great photo's to the collection - just drag them from your computer to the folder.  (If you have any trouble shoot me an email and I will try to help.)

Thursday, April 16

Woosh!  That is how fast this week has gone by!! Just like at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  This week felt like a race.  We did some really good things this week though:

• Learned the features of a Tall Tale.
• Worked on our Wander Indiana Research
• Learned to use our Google Classroom at school AND HOME.
• And now...We are going to finish the week off with a field trip to the IMS.

There will not be a Literacy assessment tomorrow! We will have the assessment next week (specific date to be determined.)

Tomorrow, be sure to dress comfortably and warm!  The breeze can really have a bite to it at the IMS. (That's an idiom :)  Students are encouraged to wear jeans, sweatshirt, jacket, and sneakers WITH SOCKS. Students might also want to throw an extra bottle of water in their lunch, but all lunch materials must be disposable.

We will be leaving around 8:00 and returning around 2:00.  It will be a long day and the students should be ready for a nap when they get home.

Monday, April 13

WOW! What a day.  Matter of fact...WOW! WHAT A WEEKEND!

I spent my weekend at the Google Apps For Education Summit where I had the opportunity to work with other teachers from all over the country.  I learned many new educational tools, tricks, tips, and strategies.  I was so excited to share what I learned with my team! So that is what we did.

Today students were introduced to the Read&Write Toolbar and our very own Google Classroom.  They were even able to start completing their first assignment in the classroom by using their new toolbar.  There was definitely an excited buzz coming from all the students today!  Please help continue the buzz by asking your child to show you what they learned and their new tools.

Note: These activities require using Google Chrome as the browser.  If you do not already have it installed, it is a free download at this link: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/
If you are unable to access these tools at home - NO WORRIES - there will always be a pencil paper version provided.

Because of the wonderful time we spent exploring our new online possibilities, we did not get our data from Week 32 passed out.  It will go home tomorrow in Feedback and Data Binders.

Tuesday, April 7

We are off to a great week in TEAM33!  It was great to hear about all the Spring Break adventures - even the ones that stayed close to home. I was so relieved to see everyone back safe and happy!

If you haven't checked out this weeks Literacy Link Newsletter yet, be sure to do so! We have a great week of learning planned with the following objectives:

• Research Indiana places, events, people and values.
• Identify the author's purpose for text.
• Increase Vocabulary through the use of word parts.