Friday, April 8, 2016

Friday, April 8th
Dear Parents,

Students will take their last PARCC test on Monday morning.  In order to celebrate all of their hard work we are going to have a read-in on Tuesday, April 12th.  Students are allowed to wear pajamas if they want to, and they can bring a pillow, blanket, or stuffed animal.
We finished our fractions unit last week.   We will begin Unit 5: Write Equations to Solve Word Problems next week.  Please remind your child to continue studying their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. All of these operations will be used in the next unit.
We are working on our Opinion/ Persuasive Writing unit. The kids are doing a nice job reading and writing opinion pieces. We have had some great discussions about the power of persuading our audience through clear, evidence based reasons.
Our current science unit is about Earth Materials. Your children are learning about rocks, minerals, and the rock cycle.

Important Dates:
Friday, April 15- NO SCHOOL
Monday, April 18- NO SCHOOL
Thursday, April 21- Learning Fair 4-6:30pm
Friday, April 22- Middle School writing buddies
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Aisha Galt

Friday, April 1, 2016

Friday, April 1st

Dear Parents,

Students completed their PARCC English Language Arts tests this week. I am very proud of their efforts! We will start the math PARCC assessments next Wednesday, April 6th.  Students will complete the mathematics sessions on April 7th, 8th, and 11th.  Our testing time runs from 8:30 to 9:50.

If you are interested in seeing what the tests are like, or your child is interested in practicing a little more, you can find the practice test at these links:

Math Practice Tests:
Part 1: http://epat-parcc.testnav.com/client/index.html#login?username=15MT03PTEO&password=Practice
Part 2: http://epat-parcc.testnav.com/client/index.html#login?username=PT03M&password=Practice

Be sure you are in either Firefox or Explorer for the test to work. They do not work in Chrome.
We are excited to begin a collaborative writing project with BHMS seventh graders in Mrs. Eaman’s classes.  Each third grader will be partnered with a seventh grader who will write, illustrate, and publish a book especially for their third grade partner. This is an exciting and rewarding creative writing project.  We have participated in this project for many years now, and our third graders have loved the process.This project will begin on Friday, April 22 and conclude on Thursday, May 19. Please make a note of the dates below and add them to your calendar. It is important that our third graders are here on these dates to work with their seventh grade buddy. Seventh graders will be coming to Kohl for the first two visits and then we will meet them in the park on the third visit for our celebration.

Central to the project is the importance of the writing process:  prewriting, writing, revising, editing, publishing and celebrating.  Some of the specific skills and focus areas will be interviewing, brainstorming for ideas, story writing for a particular audience, vocabulary, plot development, characterization, dialogue, and punctuation.

The purpose of the initial trip (Friday, April 22nd) will be to get to know one another via an interview as well as brainstorming story ideas.  Third graders will be actively involved by sharing their interests, writing, and favorite books.  The second trip (Tuesday, May 3rd ) will allow both parties to share writing: seventh graders the progress draft of the book and third graders will share drafts of their story writing.

The final trip (Thursday,  May 19th )will be focused on celebrating the completion/publication of the book.  Each seventh grader will share their book and then give it as a gift to his partner.  This date will be a walking field trip to Miramonte Park.  We will send permission slips home with students at the beginning of May.  We will not need chaperones for this trip.

Thank you for your support.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Important Dates to Remember  
April 6th, 7th, 8th, and 11th- Math PARCC tests
April 10th-Class Picture Day
April 15th and 18th-No school

Enjoy the warm weekend!

Sincerely,
Aisha Galt