Hello Families!

Hello Everybody,

I hope your kids are enjoying their day off today. Here are some updates, including yet another update on testing.

MCA: We will be taking the Science MCA tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday afternoon of this upcoming week.  We have been preparing for this test by reviewing many of the units that students have completed over the past few years.

MAP: Sadly, due to scheduling, we will be taking the MAP Reading Test on Thursday afternoon of this week. Then the following week, we will take the MAP Math Test on Thursday, May 10th.

We have spent some time in class discussing the volume of testing toward the end of the year, and students even elicited my own opinion of it. I tried to help them realize the importance of trying their best within our current system, even though it does seem like a lot of testing for them. Please give your student a healthy amount of encouragement in preparation for these tests. 

Social Studies: Thank you for your help in assisting your students' completion of their Explorer Final Project. For the rest of the year, we will be getting into issues of early colonial settlement, the Revolutionary War, immigration and slavery. As always please lend any insight to your student at home about any of these topics.

Math: Due our complicated testing schedule the past few weeks, our math has been a little sporadic, but look for a little more normalcy in the homework routine. Your students just completed unit 9, and this week will be coming home with their written test for that unit for corrections and your signature. We will then be getting back into Unit 7 to get into negative numbers. We will then do a shortened version of Unit 8 on Multiplying Fractions, followed by Unit 10 on Algebraic Concepts.

Writing: We have been concentrating lately on specific capitalization rules, and will start this week clarifying specific terms of often confused words/phrases. (For example: all ready vs. already) Please ask your student to share what they have learned. Give he or she a pop quiz if you get a chance.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks,
Mr. Norman