Week of Oct. 18-22

I hope everyone had a restful fall break. I got a lot of stuff on my "To Do List" done. Tomorrow night, Oct. 19th is our Open House. It will begin in the gym at 6 PM. Dr. Goodwin will talk to parents for a few minutes. Then, we will proceed to our classroom where I will share some new ways of assessing reading versus the multiple-choice reading test that we are trying out; alternate assessments. I'd like for you to come and give your input. This is a good time to come with any questions regarding the curriculum, homework, etc. I will have a sign up sheet for available conference times after school if you or I see a need to meet. Report cards will be sent home next Monday.

Planner-
Monday, Oct. 18th
Reading-Day 1-Marven of the Great North Woods (Grade is taken from various station work: using this week's skill:Fact and Opinion, a vocabulary quiz, Words to Write, Reader's Response, Look Back and Write, one of the reading practice pages, and something to do with the food pyramid; relating it to the diets of the lumberjacks and Marven. Each week will differ slightly, but more or less, there should always be a vocabulary quiz and possibly activities from the book taken from the Look Back and Write, Write to Read, and Reader's Response. The students are already used to this because we've been doing this from day one only in their station folders. Now the work that they do during stations will count as their reading grade. I will share the rubric that I will be using to grade this story with you tomorrow night. It's going to be a very informal meeting. Teachers will be in their pink shirts and jeans in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Week. I'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow night. The class with the best attendance wins a pizza party!

Reading continued-*All Reading Practice and Spelling Practice sheets are to be completed and turned in to me by Day 5. (I suggest doing 1-2 pages per night).
Spelling Test-Unit 2/Week 4 will be on Day 4 as well as the Grammar Test on Singular Possessive Nouns
HW-Lang. worksheet should have come home tonight on Singular Possessive Nouns
(Check student's binder)

Math-p. 81 (even numbers only)Adding a list of numbers/Addition Word Problems

Science-Begin AMSTI-Electricity Unit/Also cover some information from our science textbook in Chapter 13 as well. Probably by the end of next week, we'll have a light bulb test (labeling the parts). Other tests will come from completed activities done in class and a vocabulary test when we have completed the whole unit.

Changes in Reading

The change for reading is I'll be giving students a weekly reading score using multiple assessments. The students will have five things to complete for me. Each part will be worth 20 points, which will add up to be 100 total points possible. These assessments are taken from the activities that they normally complete during reading stations:
*Picture Dictionary
*Graphic Organizer (Skill)
*Fresh Read passage/5 question quiz
*Summary
*Look Back and Write

Each week the activities will change to fit the story and the skill. I started this on Monday. The kids are enjoying it. They are relieved not to have to take the selection test for a grade. I'm going to give them the selection test this week just to compare student's results in comparison to the station grade. I will share my results on Oct. 19th at "A Day in the Life of a Fourth Grader". Please come with any questions you might have. I look forward to seeing you.

Monday folders were late this week due to gutting out my classroom. My husband and I worked very late for two nights in a row to cut down the built in cubbies in my classroom. There are a few more papers that I will be sending home with you children on Friday. All grades will be cut off on Friday for this first report card.

Have a enjoyable fall break.

Sincerely,
Theresa Wade