Mrs. Del Villar's Weekly News
Newsletter
Week Of April 11, 2016
Dear Parents,
This week we will spend the majority of our days reviewing the Georgia Standards for 3rd Grade, in preparation for our upcoming Georgia Milestones Testing, which begins next week, April 19. The homework this week will continue to be reviewing for GMAS.
The students will be working online at school, getting more comfortable with the online tools and testing format, so they will be well prepared. Please do not worry if you haven't been able to access it at home through the link, or GADOE site. The practice questions are geared for 3-5 grades and are not scored. The purpose is for the students to become familiar with the format and tools. I project the practice questions in the classroom, and we talk through how to go about answering the constructed response questions and how to use the text to locate information. The online format can be tricky so I have shown the students how to navigate through the reading passages. They need to click on the bottom corners of the pages to turn them forward or back, (not the next arrows, as one would think). Some of the reading passages are 5 pages long! That is why I refer to this test as an endurance test. There are handy tools, such as sticky notes, that students can click on to annotate, while they close read through the text. When they have to write an extended constructed response, or an essay, they will have those notes to help them. The first time I saw this test last year was a real eye opener for sure!
I also want to clear up any confusion about promotional requirements for 3rd graders in Gwinnett County. If a student does not pass the Georgia Milestones, and they did have passing grades in that subject area throughout the school year, they will be required to do "online summer school" and retest.
If a student does not pass the Georgia Milestones Test, and they did not have passing grades in that subject area throughout the year, they will be required to attend summer school at the designated location, and retest.
When the students have asked me about this in class, I have told them not to stress about the test, but to stay focused and do their very best. The important thing is for them to use the text evidence to find information needed to answer the questions and not rush through it. This can be a problem with long tests. After a while students can lose stamina and motivation to look back into the reading passages for information.
Thanks so much for all the support you provide at home, helping with homework and checking over it. It makes all the difference. :))
Mrs. Del Villar
Learning Targets
Math: I can describe measurements of capacity in milliliters and liters.
Social Studies: I can explain what Economics is and what goods and services are.
Writing/Grammar: I can write a constructed response and an extended response (short essay) to a text dependent question.
Reading: I can read "paired passages" , find the main idea, and compare and contrast them.
Georgia Milestones Review
Word Study: Latin roots
Spelling: I can spell 3rd grade synonyms, (words that meant the same).
Specials This Week
Monday PE
Tuesday Tech
Wednesday STEM
Thursday PE
Friday Tech