For the week of March 18th

Room 23 


As of this date, I have started to have parent/teacher conferences that were cancelled a couple of weeks ago.  A slip went home to check to see if you would like to reschedule.  If you didn’t see the note, just let me know when you would like to meet or if you would prefer a phone conference.

 

This week the ELA MCAS testing will be taking place on Tuesday the long composition, and on Thursday the ELA Reading assessment.  I will not be assigning any homework this week so that the children can get to bed early and focus all of their energy on doing their best on this assessment.  Please have them eat a healthy breakfast and to arrive to school on time.  The students are allowed to bring gum, a sweet/sour snack and a salty snake to eat during our breaks.  Study have proven that allowing children to chew gum during an assessment help with their focus and the salt and sweet combination helps with energy levels.  The PTO is supplying one water bottle but I would suggest sending in additional water for your child.

 

The ELA MCAS long composition will be happening tomorrow.  Please discuss with your child the importance of this assessment and to try his/her best. To this end, we have been working very hard to incorporate all the writing elements in our pieces to convey “show me” not “tell me.”  As we understand it, this year the students will be writing an opinion narrative rather than a personal narrative.  Ask your child what needs to be included to create a good opinion piece.  Also, ask them the steps that are needed to answer multiple choice questions and open response questions.  The students were taught fun body movements to start the open response question.  (Hint – GTA).  Please check over your child’s answers and make sure that they are completing all the strategies that are attached to the Reading MCAS packet.  We are a team and I can’t do this alone. 

 

Also, to improve the students’ math facts fluency, please have your child go to XTRAmath.org to practice this skill.  Between Karate Kid, XTRAmath.org and Study Island, the children’s computation skills have improved significantly since the beginning of the year!  Please continue to partner with me and let’s try to have all the students earn their Black Belts for Karate Kids before the Math MCAS. 

 

The next Wakko’s America assessment is on stanzas seven and eight that will take place in a few weeks due to the ELA MCAS testing.  They will be responsible to name either the state or capital for those stanzas and labeling those states with the two-letter abbreviation on a U.S. Map.  In addition, I am assigning the spelling of these states and capitals.

. 

 

Also, the computer lab is available every morning from 8:00 – 8:25 a.m. to complete any assignments for Study Island and I will be there to cover the shift on Mondays.  On each assignment, your child needs to score the minimum score of 70% to be considered complete.  Study Island is a way to review concepts that will be assessed on MCAS and requiring the students to score the minimum, helps them to solidify that concept.

 

Again, homework assignments are posted on my website mrsbartlettswebsite.weebly.com.   You can also contact me via my e-mail at d_bartlett@stoughtonschools.org.  Please contact me with any problems or concerns.   

 

Respectfully,

 

Mrs. Bartlett

 

Wish List

• Prizes for Bartlett’s Bazaar (Anything that your child would like is a good baromoter)
• Dixie Cups
• Baby Wipes (We clean our desk often)
• Tissues