February 28, 2014: TerraNovas

We begin TerraNova testing next week, and I wanted to give people a little bit more information about it and some hints to prepare your child.

We begin testing on Monday, March 3, with the Inview, an aptitude test. On March 4 we're taking the TerraNova reading test, on March 6, we'll take the language test, and on March 7, we'll take the math test. The following week, we'll take the social studies test on Monday and the science test on Tuesday. We will not be taking the TerraNova test on Wednesday, March 6, because that is Ash Wednesday. I expect mass to be longer than usual, and I don't like having the students test in the afternoon. We will have our religion test on the Old Testament that day instead. I also will not be assigning normal homework during that time. They will, however, have their religion study guide that is due on Tuesday.

The biggest thing you can do is to make sure your child arrives at school well-rested and prepared. Please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep and eats a healthy breakfast (without too much sugar). Encourage them to take their time, not to rush, and double check their answers. They should come to school with two #2 pencils and a healthy snack, since we will be taking snack breaks on the days we are testing. Good ideas for snacks are fruit, vegetables, granola bars, whole-wheat crackers, string cheese, or raisins. I will not allow the students to eat during the snack break anything that has lots of sugar in it (such as candy or chocolate chip cookies).

I also wanted to congratulate Jailene, who won second place in the DuSable essay contest hosted by the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Chicago History Museum! She'll be going downtown next week to Chicago's birthday celebration to receive her award.

Don't forget about our science test and spelling tests tomorrow!

February 20, 2014

I can't believe how fast February is flying by! It's almost time for TerraNova testing, which will begin on March 3. I'll post more about that later. It's also time for progress reports, which will be going home tomorrow.

We've just finished reading our historical fiction novels, and I've had some great discussions with the students about the themes in the books, how the characters have changed, and what the characters have learned. We'll begin reading some non-fiction articles next week and discuss the different text structures found in non-fiction.

In math, we're learning long division. It's really important that students know their division facts, so if you haven't gotten out the division flash cards lately, now's the time! It'd also be helpful to go over with the students the steps in long division: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down. We drew division bots in the math notebooks yesterday to remember the steps, and we'll also learn the mnemonic: Does McDonald's Sell Burgers?

Science has probably been a lot of students' favorite subject lately since we've been talking about chemical and physical changes, and they made pancakes yesterday to observe the chemical changes taking place! We'll talk about mixtures and solutions, and the differences between acids and bases this week and next, and our test on this will be on Friday, February 28.

February 28 is also going to be our celebration of Black History Month. The class has been learning a song by Sam Cooke, which we will be singing at a presentation at 8:30 that morning. You're welcome to come watch! All of the other classes have also learned songs by famous African-American singers that they will be sharing.

Below, you'll see lots of photos from February, including pajama day, our Valentine's Day buddy activity, a play about Moses, and making pancakes.