PRODUCTION
You should see how well the kids' companies have come together! I have been taking pictures and documenting their progress and will put it all together into a movie when we are finished! Each company has their advertising completed, some have finished production, others are feverishly working to complete their products by our Monday deadline! The prices are set, the income is anticipated, and the consumers and producers will be in full swing Monday afternoon during Market Day. Each child will have a $5 debit card to use...their salary from this past week...and they will have lots of economic decisions, and plenty of opportunity cost, once they realize they have limited income to spend!!! ;-) Don't you LOVE how it's all coming together!!
LANGUAGE ARTS
Your kids brought a writing piece home this week. I explained to them, but I will also explain to you...the rubric and the grade don't necessarily correlate. The grade is given based on the expectations set for the particular assignment...all the parts of a paragraph, sentences/examples that support the topic, conventions, etc. The rubric is more specific to what areas in writing your child needs to focus on when writing, or in what areas your child is strong. I appreciate your willingness to review it with your child and send it right back. Those pieces are kept in their portfolio for this year. I am still waiting on TWO writing pieces to be returned...if you haven't seen your child's writing, please look for it, sign it, and return it ASAP. Thanks! We write almost every single day in one subject or another...only certain pieces are taken through the entire writing process to the publishing stage. Any questions? Please feel free to email me at any time.
Your kids have been reading poetry, writing poetry, analyzing poetry, and starting on Monday, they will be presenting poetry to our class. As I'm sure you know, your child is presenting a memorized poem on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of next week (they got to choose their day...thank you for that great idea, Vincent!) They will be scored on volume, clarity, expression, and eye contact. This grade will be applied to their communication grade on the report card. PLEASE have your child practice at home before they present here in school!
MATH
We are ALL about GEOMETRY right now...today the kids worked with transformations: translations (slides), rotations (turns), and reflections (flips) in the computer lab. I also gave the kids 20 minutes of free time in the lab as a holiday gift..they enjoyed that immensely!! GOOD NEWS: I am finally ready to share the QUARTER ONE POST TEST scores in Math with you...today the kids got to see their tests, each question was discussed, and points were explained. This takes a whole class period, but it is extremely rewarding in what they learn about taking tests. If you email me I can send you the pre and post test scores so you can see their growth.
Speaking of learning a lot from taking a test...the kids took "Mock MSA tests" on Monday. I scored part of it and shared the score with them, but then they scored the second part. We took 10 minutes after checking to share what they had learned about themselves as test takers. I wish you could have been flies on the walls....
"I have to remember to support my answer with examples from the text."
"I have to read the directions more carefully."
"I have to look at ALL the choices in the multiple choice questions before I decide."
NO KIDDING...quote, unquote from your kids...and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we do what we do! The kids will take one more "Mock MSA" and it will focus on math. Then we get the real thing in March...fun, fun!!
I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend full of family, friends, and holiday fun! If your kids are half as wound up at home as they are here...good luck. ;-)
p.s. While typing this post today, I realized last week's post never posted...so keep scrolling down...two posts for the price of one...not bad, huh!??!
