Updates Week of March 31- April 4, 2014

Well here we are at the end of the third nine weeks.  The year is flying by!!  We are now in full ramp up mode for the FCAT.  Students have been focusing on specific benchmarks and reading skills and strategies that are going to help them do their best on this test.  You should have seen reading passages coming home last week instead of the reading logs.  This is going to help students practice test taking strategies as well as build stamina for reading passages and concentrating on what they are reading.  We will continue completing reading passages and questions instead of reading logs this week also.


Reading
As stated above we have moved into a full focus for the FCAT.  Here are some ways to help your child:
*read with them while they are doing their homework reading passage. Discuss the question, what it is asking and what the best answer is.  Have them support their answers with examples from the text.

*if you have internet access at home, students can go to the i-ready website for reading.  The address is www.learn.i-ready.com  Their sign in and password is their students number with a capital S in front.

*start a good routine for sleep now.  With the time change some students are still very sleepy in my morning class.  Getting to bed at the same time and early enough every night will help them be rested and ready in 2 weeks when the FCAT comes. 


Writing
You should have seen your child writing a biography on someone they wanted to learn more about the past few weeks.  This was completed mostly at home.  Students were given a grading rubric to guide them through the report expectations.  Their report is due Tuesday, April 1, 2014.
We are beginning a book publishing project in class.  This is going to give your child the opportunity  to get a hardcover print of a book they have written. This is mostly an in-class project.
Ask your child what their book is about.

Dates to remember:
Tuesday, April 1.........................................Biography due
Friday, April 4............................................Planning Day
Monday, April 14.......................................FCAT testing begins

Until next time,
R. O'Steen

Updates Week March 10-14, 2014

It is that time again!! CGA's!  Or in other words, Curriculum Guide Assessments.  Students have worked hard all nine weeks on many reading benchmarks.  This is their time to shine and show what they know! We usually get our scores pretty quickly so ask your child how they did on their test.

Reading
Last we began our focus on the big benchmarks that will be on the FCAT coming up in April.  Students are doing a great job reading passages and understanding them now it is time to practice understanding types of questions and practice some test taking strategies and tips.  Ask your child what benchmark we worked on and what their reading passages were about.

Writing
Students are going to write a biography.  I have assigned them to choose a person they would like to know more about.  They need to research and have at least 2 sources for their report. More information will be coming.  Ask your child who they want to learn about and what they have learned about him or her so far.

Dates to Remember
CGA Tests...............................................March 10-12
Spring Break...........................................March 17-21

Until next time,
R. O'Steen

Updates Week of March 3-7, 2014

Well time keeps "Marching" on! No pun intended :)  You should have seen a progress report come home last week.  Most students are doing very well.  However, if you want to help your child in Reading, make sure they are completing their home reading logs each night.  You should see the Reading textbook coming home Monday through Wednesday in order to complete the assigned reading response in their home reading logs.

Reading
It's hard to believe but the FCAT will be here in 5 weeks.  Therefore, over the next five weeks we will be focusing on the objectives covered on the test as well as strategies to be better readers.  Students will focus on a standards and test type questions while building stamina to be successful on the Reading FCAT.  Ask your child what the focused standard was for the day.

We now have a computer program called I-Ready. Students access it at school as much as possible, but students only get a chance on the computers at best 1 day a week. I highly encourage students to use this program at home.  The website is: learn.i-ready.com.  They should know their username and password.  However, if they don't tell them to let me know and I will write it down for them.

Writing
Students have finished the functional or how-to writing standard.  We will now move to the informational standard. Students will be assigned to write a biography.  They need to think about someone they want to learn more about.  We will discuss the requirements in class however, most of the work will need to be completed at home.

Dates to remember:
March 10......................................CGA 3
March 17-21.................................Spring Break
April 14........................................FCAT Begins

Until next time,
R. O'Steen