Super News from Room C114
August 21, 2017
Tisch's Tidbits
Solar Eclipse
Today is the big day! We will be studying the moon and eclipse all day! How exciting that this is happening and it is something that ties into our standards! What a wonderful learning opportunity. :)
Curriculum Night
This Thursday is Curriculum Night. Please join me in my classroom from 7:30-8:00 to learn about what to expect in 4th grade. Please note that I will be wearing my parent hat as I attend the 3rd grade curriculum night from 7:00-7:30, so my room won't be open until right before 7:30. See you then!
Water Bottles
Your child is more than welcome to bring a water bottle to school each day. They can leave it in their lockers and fill it up each morning as well. We have brand new water bottle fillers located at the drinking fountains!
REMIND 101
This year I'm using Remind to send updates about important class information. I also send pictures of exciting events in the classroom! Thank you to those who have already signed up.
To sign up for 2017-18 notifications, please visit
https://www.remind.com/join/987dd8
You can choose whether you would like the updates to come to your email or as a message in Remind101. I will send updates and pictures of what is happening in the classroom, so I would love for each of you to be on the list!
Watermelon Reading Party
If your child participated in the library reading program and met their goal, please send in their reading logs. I'll be sure Mrs. Roy gets those and has your child's name on the list for the Watermelon Party. It will take place on August 25.
Tape Needed
One item that your child will need is a roll of scotch tape to keep at their desk. We will use this for our Interactive Notebook. It wasn't on the supply list as not all of the classrooms do this. I'm sorry to add one more thing to your list, but taping is less messy than glue!
Multiplication Facts
These lovely facts are so important for the kids to know by heart. It seems as though everything we do in math involves this skill. I will be assessing what the kids already know and the facts they still need to memorize during the first few weeks of school. The sooner they are all memorized, the easier math will be. Rather than doing timed tests, your child will have five facts to practice. When they know them, I will spend a few minutes ensuring they know them at school and five more will then be assigned. It would be good start working on these at home. Once facts are assigned, this will be part of your child's homework until they are learned. Then on to division!
NFG/T
You may see this on your child's work! NFG means Not For Grade and the T means we did it Together.
SPECIALS SCHEDULE
Each day your child will go to a special related arts class. This year Wellness (P.E.) and Media (library) will be twice a week split within a 50 minute period. This is new for us this year, so I will be sure to give more details as I learn them. I believe library books will be due on Monday and then on Tuesday, your child will get to experience the Makerspace! This is a place where the students will get to choose activities to experience such as building with Legos, sewing, drawing, and building. Please wear/bring tennis shoes on Monday and Tuesday.
Monday: Media/Wellness (25 minutes per class)
Tuesday: Media/Wellness (25 minutes per class)
Wednesday:STEM
Thursday:Art
Friday:Music
11:55-12:25 Recess
12:30-1:00 Lunch
Upcoming Events
August
21-Solar Eclipse
24-Curriculum Night 7:30-8:00
25-Watermelon Party for the library summer reading program
September
4-No school!
Week of the 11-Book Fair
27-Jog-A-Thon
29-Jog-A-Thon Rain Date
Why do we give NWEA?
At ZCS, we have chosen these standardized assessments to supplement our state-required spring ISTEP+ test for several reasons. First, NWEA gives us instant results that we can use to adjust instruction and group students for learning. The tests are computer-based and yield a score which the teacher can see in a report as soon as the student finishes. Second, unlike the ISTEP tests which assess only grade-level standards, NWEA has a bank of thousands of questions ranging far beyond grade level. The test is “adaptive”—meaning that as a student takes it, the test adjusts the level of questions he/she is presented with based on correct/incorrect answers, so that a student is always working on questions at his/her most appropriate level of difficulty—rather than “one size fits all” questions. Also, as a high-performing school district, we have many students learning and working far beyond their grade level standards. NWEA assessments allow us to see their level of performance and compare it (and their growth from fall to spring) to that of similarly-abled peers nationally. Finally, NWEA is based on one large bank of questions (not different tests divided by grade levels). Thus, the score a student receives each time he/she takes the test can be compared from fall to spring and year to year—producing a graph of a student’s growth over time (a lot like the way we mark a child’s height on a door in our home as he/she grows taller). Even when a student has a one-time drop in a test score, we are still able to see the whole pattern of his/her emerging growth as a learner. Although we typically give the tests in fall, spring and optionally in the middle of the school year, NWEA can be given as often as a teacher wants in order to monitor progress in a goal area.
For all these reasons, we are glad to be able to gather this data (and the more specific information it gives us about strengths and areas of challenge) to help us plan learning experiences for our students. Please know that your child’s NWEA scores are available in PowerSchool under test history) for you to see any time you desire. Scores for most recent tests will typically be added to your child’s data when our testing window closes. The dates for all district assessment windows are available on our ZCS website at this link: https://1.cdn.edl.io/B4ZOBS5F09peWk75c8fwfFDKUlwSnZijYNGypznFlEtbQDJa.pdf