Dear Parents,
I cannot believe that it’s almost the end of March. The time has just flown by and we are in our final push towards the big test. The test dates are Monday, May 7 is Math and Tuesday, May 8 is reading. I have sent home all the benchmark score reports and tests so you can stay informed about your child’s progress. 4th and 5th grade take their first round of STAAR tests next week, therefore the campus will be closed to visitors all week. (This includes lunch.)
Study Island Lessons are due on Friday of the week they are assigned. It’s important that your child be current in his lessons. I know athletic season is upon us, so if they need time to catch up the computer lab opens at 7:20 each morning and homework club is available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school until 4:15. Please let your child know if they will be staying after school and how they are getting home.
Here’s a reminder about Study Island: Students have been working at school to complete lessons in an online reading program called Study Island. This program helps students review and practice many different topics in reading that we have taught or are currently teaching in class. To complete a lesson and earn a “blue ribbon” for that topic, students must answer at least 10 questions and score 70% or higher. To log in outside of school, students will go to Their username is ######@co (replace ###### with their 6-digit school ID) and their password is 125.abcd. They will click on “Seay” Class”, then the current week. Before they begin answering questions for a lesson, they will need to click on the “lesson” link next to the topic and watch the video and/or read the lesson pages. They will then exit out of that screen, click on the topic name, and answer the questions for that topic. Study Island has been added to the homework grid as well. Please let me know if you have any questions about this!
A note on snacks: We have a peanut allergy in our room. Please, for the safety of the students in our room, do not send snacks that are eaten in the room that have nuts or nut allergens. Thank you for helping me keep all of our students safe.
Important dates and this week’s learning targets and homework are below. Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Tammie Seay
972.347.7144
This week’s learning targets:
Math: We will be studying equivalent fractions. We will be learning to identify them using pictures, objects, and number lines.
Reading: We are reviewing summary and main idea this week in reading. We will also review test-taking strategies at the end of a short passage.
Writing: We will begin our report card assessment writing on “The Most Interesting Place we’ve ever visited and why it was the most interesting”. Please talk to your child about ideas and why they found their place interesting. Building schema is a big help in being successful in writing.
Social Studies: We will continue our 6-week unit on personal financial literacy.
Think Through Math: At least two Think Through Math lessons are due each week by Thursday night. These can be completed at school, home, or a combination of the two. The computer lab is open from 7:20-7:45 each morning for students to utilize if they need to. Students who do not complete at least two lessons per week will be in the computer lab during clubs on Fridays to work toward completing that requirement.
Study Island: All Study Island lessons are due each week they are assigned by Thursday night. All lessons should be current. These can be completed at school, home, or a combination of the two. The computer lab is open from 7:20-7:45 each morning for students to utilize if they need to. Students who are not current in Study Island will be in the computer lab during clubs on Fridays to work toward completing that requirement.
Reading Counts: At least 15 Reading Counts points are expected to be earned during each grading period. Students need to be checking out Reading Counts books each week in the library and reading them both at home and at school. They will then have the opportunity to take short, 10 question tests on their books and earn points. Tests may only be taken at school. Students who do not earn at least 15 points per grading period will be in the computer lab during clubs on the last Friday of the grading period to work toward completing that requirement. That date this grading period is 4/14.
Important Dates:
3/28: 4th grade Writing STAAR test, 5th grade Math STAAR test
3/29:5th grade Reading STAAR test
4/14 and 4/17: NO SCHOOL (Bad weather days)
4/18: Cross Oaks Spirit Night at Braswell HS baseball game (Our very own spirit squad will be performing at 6:00 PM!)
5/7: STAAR Math Test
5/8: STAAR Reading Test
Homework for the week of March20, 2017:
1Read 20 minutes. / 2
Complete one Think Through Math Lesson. / 3
4
Complete one Think Through Math Lesson / 5
Complete assigned
Study Island Lessons / 6
Read 20 minutes.
7
Make a list of favorite places you’ve visited. Star three that you found interesting. / 8
Read 20 minutes. / 9
Complete assigned
Study Island Lessons
Evidence grid to be recorded in students’ homework journals:
Students will draw the following grid in their homework journal for each week. They will number all boxes and write in only the boxes they complete for that week. For writing prompts and word problems, students will need to draw a downward facing arrow in the box, and then complete their work below the grid or on the next page of their journal. Work completed outside of the grid will need to be numbered.
1Title of book
Number of minutes read
Parent signature / 2
Title of Think Through Math lesson that was completed / 3
Math problem
4
Title of Think Through Math lesson that was completed / 5
Name of Study Island lessons that were completed / 6
Title of book
Number of minutes read
Parent signature
7
Paragraph / 8
Title of book
Number of minutes read
Parent signature / 9
Name of Study Island lessons that were completed