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Friday, August 30, 2013

Newsletter - August 30



Dear Parents,
Your children are continuing to work hard and are growing every day! We are quickly getting used to our routine, the pace of fourth grade, and are hopefully loving every minute. I am really trying to enforce responsibility and what it means to be focused in everything we do. As a fourth grader your child can be responsible by:  getting their Assignment Book signed and Morning Work corrected, finishing their class work, keeping a clean, organized desk, filling out their own Reading Log, correcting and returning any assignment where they earned below 70%, and actively participating in lessons during class.

Speaking of responsibility, I need your help. Each Wednesday we take an editing quiz similar to the one in today’s Friday Folder.

The skills assessed in this week’s letter included:  capitalization, commas in a series, comma in a compound sentence, and ending punctuation. I’ve taught these skills this year, and they’ve been taught in previous grades. In fact, students are expected to capitalize names, beginning of sentences, and add punctuation to the ends of sentences in kindergarten.

With that being said, it’s time to hold them to accountable for learning. It is VERY typical of students to fail the first graded test. If your child made below 70 percent on the test, please have him rewrite the letter CORRECTLY and return it to me. The corrections are on the paper so it will just be a matter of copying correctly.  I will grade these and amend scores based on the corrections.

The corrected papers are due on Tuesday. If they’re not turned in, I will have students stay in at recess to complete their work.

I know they’re not going to be happy about this, but I am confident that this unpleasant task of rewriting the letter instead of merely making the corrections will do the trick. This week, four students made As or Bs. I anticipate that to double next week. Within a few weeks of school, most of the students will be making 80% or higher.

Please do not add consequences at home for their grades at this time. The best thing you can do to help me is to say, “I’m sure you’ll do better next week. Hang in there.” 

Thank you for your effort in keeping the communication lines between home and school open. We are a team, and I couldn’t do my job without your help and support!!

Working Together,
Ms. Tammy Myers


MAP Scores- Your child’s third grade M.A.P. scores were sent home today. I hope you’ve had a chance to look through them with your child. 
Please pay close attention to your child’s scale score as MANY students were only a few points from reaching the next level of proficiency. The ranges are list below. If you would like to discuss your child’s score, please let me know.
Math Scale Score Range:                                        Communication Arts Scale Score Range:
Advanced:  667 and up                                                  Advanced:  673 and up
Proficient:  628 – 666                                                    Proficient:  648-672
Basic:  568 – 627                                                             Basic:  592-647
Below Basic:  Below 567                                                 Below Basic:  Below 591

Spelling Words:
- laugh                   - trouble
- until                     - couple
- off                        - tough
- encouragement  - young
- richest                 - cousin


Important Dates:
Aug. 31st – Deadline for Yearbook pre-sale www.jostensyearbooks.com
Sept. 11th – School Pictures