October 13, 2010

Well....it's hard to believe that the first quarter is almost over! The first quarter ends on October 28th. We will have Quarter Testing the week of October 25th.

Progress reports went home today and I will send another report next Wednesday. As we move through the school year, the work will become more challenging for the students. With challenging work comes the need to study nightly. I stress the word nightly because a student who reviews nightly will most likely feel less stress and pressure before taking a test or a quiz. The information will become like second nature to them when daily reviewing is occurring. Please encourage your child to look at and study spelling words, vocabulary words, math concepts/math notes, science vocabulary.

Also, if a "YES" is listed in the late column on the progress report, your child does need to turn in the assignment in order to receive credit. A "YES" in the exempt column on the progress report means that your child do not need to turn in the work and the score will not be averaged into your child's grade.

Much of our Reading strategies occur in the classroom through oral discussion. This is what most adults do anyway when they are in a book club, or when the same book has been read by two people. Much, much discussion is happening in our classroom. This is a different strategy than most students are accustomed. Please encourage your child to give their utmost attention to the listening skills they need to succeed in reading comprehension.

Behavior reports also went home today. These reports reflect the work habits and behavior habits of your child from October 4 - October 8. Many of these habits are part of our Classroom PRIDE. These include following directions the first time given, talking at the appropriate voice volume, etc. While these habits may seem minor (if checked on the report), please know that if your child has a checked habit, it has occurred in the classroom more than once. The Classroom PRIDE rules are posted and students do know the rules....now they just need to apply the rules to their own behaviors.

Fundraiser information went home in the Wednesday folder. Please do what you can to help raise money for our school....thank you!