Thursday, February 6

Very good day today!  Everyone pitched in to make the most of our educational time.  We reviewed cause and effect, making connections, and even our Week 12 packet.  For homework tonight the students are supposed to finish the sentences and finding "cher" words in the story.  They should also study, study, study!  Tomorrow will be the Week 24 assessment over the learning objectives including the definition of the word parts.

Monday, February 3

Today was packed full of data and important information.  Be sure to talk with your student about their day and make sure the conversation includes the following talking points:

• Literacy Link 24 - This document will help keep everyone up-to-date with our new center rotations, learning objectives, and even homework assignments.  


• Week 23 Assessment - I am very proud of the educational growth the students have shown on this assessment.  Please let them have time to go through the assessment with you and brag about their accomplishments.


• Reading Counts Reports - We had a good conversation about the expectation for this 9 weeks.  To earn an A all students are required to complete 5 chapter books that show a growth in lexile.  Encourage your student to show you their Reading Counts report and tell how close they are to meeting this expectation.


• Feedback and Data Binder Reflection Page - After reviewing the assessments, reports, and data located in the Feedback and Data Binder, be sure to fill out the reflection page together and set goals for the upcoming week. 

Thursday, January 30

Two full days of class! We are on a roll!!

Today we focused on writing.  Each student successfully completed an ISTEP writing prompt with a page or more of writing. The stories were incredible!  I was very proud.  Ask your child what they wrote about. We also spent some time reviewing word parts by going through the Show What You Know packet.  Students should continue to study this packet at home tonight.  The test tomorrow could include any information from the packet, along with questions over comparing and contrasting.  Students should be able to successfully compare and contrast using a Venn Diagram and/or text (complete sentences).  If you would like to see how your child is doing with this skill, ask them to make a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting two people that live in your house.  They should then write a sentence to tell the biggest difference between the two people. I would love to see their work tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 29

It was great to be back with the kids for a full day.  We had a lot to accomplish so we stayed busy all day!  Here are a few items from our day that you might want to be informed about.

1. Show what you know: This week we are reviewing all past words and word parts.  Students brought home a review packet tonight for homework.  There are hints in the back of the book.  If your child needs additional help you can also refer to all the past lesson packets that are still linked at the bottom of the Homework page.  Just look for attachments named "Lesson" 1-11

2. Going for the Gold with Compass Learning Challenge:  

I challenge students to complete as many Compass Learning tasks from their 12/2013 folders as they can before February 28. These tasks can be completed at school or home.

Every time they complete 3 tasks, they will get to color in one of their Olympic rings on the record sheet at school. If they complete 15 tasks, they will have completely filled in 1 set of Olympic rings.

1 set of Olympic Rings= Bronze Medal

2 sets of Olympic Rings= Silver Medal

3 sets of Olympic Rings= Gold Medal

Everyone that receives a medal will be invited to an Olympics Party in March. Let the games begin! Parents if you need some help getting onto Compass Learning at home, please refer to this Compass Learning Parent Guide.

3. An Interview with History - Even with all the interuptions, our projects are coming along quite nicely.  Students are now working on the scripts for their interview.  The interview outline is due Monday.  We will be recording all next week.

Monday, January 27

What a great day to have school!  I just wish it could have lasted longer!  Today in Literacy Block we reviewed the last two weeks tests, Week 21 and 22.  We all agree that the week 22 test scores stink!  We reviewed the answers.  Students agreed they feel more confident now, and we will be ready to tackle more comparing and contrasting questions on this week's test. (Week 22 scores will not be added to the grade book.) Week 21 scores were pretty good.  Please look them over as you fill out the reflection page tonight.  Students should also spend a substantial amount of time reading tonight.

Hope to see everyone tomorrow!  Bundle up and stay warm!

Friday, January 24

It was GREAT to be back with the students today. I really appreciated all their heartful concern and warm welcomes back.  We did take the Week 22 assessment today which reviewed previous skills and tested on the Lesson 10-11 word parts.

On Monday, Feedback and Data Bindes will come home with both the Week 21 and Week 22 assessment information. I do apologize for the delay.

I hope everyone has a relaxing, refreshing, and warm weekend. See everyone on Monday.

Thursday, January 23

I hope the last few school days have gone well for everyone. I am hoping to be back with everyone tomorrow!  The Colts are coming back tomorrow too! Be sure to wear your blue and white.

Tomorrow is also another 2 hr delay.  I know we are all excited about the extra time to sleep in, but we should also all be very concerned about the loss of educational time. This will have an impact on everyone's education if we let it. To ensure your child does not lose educational time keep them reading and on Compass Learning. They know what to do, you just need to set aside the time for them to do it.

I am very excited to see everyone tomorrow. There will be a Week 22 test over word parts.