God's Most Amazing Creatures...: Happy Friday, 3rd and 4th grade parents!

Happy Friday, 3rd and 4th grade parents!

Important News: (There is A LOT below, but please take the time to read!)

*Standardized testing is NEXT week, March 15th-19th! How can you best prepare your student for success?

Standardized testing is very important to us as a school because the results will let us see if our curriculum and teaching strategies are as effective as possible. Your child’s scores are not shared with anyone – they are confidential and given out just to you. Mr. Holland and the teachers will analyze the results of all tests to see if we can improve in any areas. Because of this, we want to help you and your child prepare for the BEST week of testing possible.

We will conduct our testing in the morning each day. I would like to be done no later than lunch, just to give the kids a mental break. Students will have a minimum of 15 minutes break between each administered section. Our afternoons will be spent doing academic activities, but nothing that will involve homework or extra nighttime workload. There will be a lot of Religion and Science fun next week! I want the kids to be well-rested!

• The night before:

Go to bed early. A good night's sleep can be key to a student's success on test day.

•The day of the test:

Have a good breakfast. Healthy foods like whole-grain cereal or toast, eggs, milk, fruit, and yogurt will give your student enough energy to get through the test. Avoid sugary, fatty foods like pastries, as well as heavy breakfasts that may exacerbate bouts of test-day nausea.

Bring healthy snacks. Standardized tests last for hours, and by the last section or two, a rumbling tummy can interfere with a student's concentration. An energy bar and a juice box during a designated break can provide a boost to get your child through.

Get psyched up. Standardized tests are not on most students' lists of fun activities, but they are part of an exciting process… So start the day with a positive attitude. On the way… listen to upbeat music; or, if your child is already a bundle of nerves, put on some soothing music and encourage your child to lean back, eyes closed, and take some deep breaths.

Take breaks. I will let students know when they are allowed to stand up, use the bathroom, and so forth. But for a quick sanity break, students can take their eyes off the page, inhale a few deep breaths, and stretch.

Be confident. Negative thoughts can actually sabotage a student's chances of doing well.

•Other items to note: The nature of this system of testing is to let the child complete every question given to them, regardless of the suggested testing time. In real time, one child may complete the test in 35 minutes while another will take an hour to complete it. Your child must bring quiet activities to keep them occupied until everyone has finished that section of the test. Please let them bring a chapter book, comic book, or a magazine to look at. (This is a GREAT time to read that book report book!) Technology is not allowed as an option.

Some children do well to have something to suck on during the test, like a mint or lemon lozenges. I will have some of these on hand, and would welcome donations! Please also make sure your child has a water bottle.

THANK YOU!

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*Please make sure you have signed up for student-led conferencing! They will take place March 25th and 26th. We will have a 1:00 dismissal both days (there will be aftercare). Here is the sign-up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4dadab2da7f58-1stquarter

The students will share their favorite work and a personal report card. If you are uncomfortable meeting here at school, I will prepare your child to share his or her student-led conference with you at home. I will not need to be present.

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*Today is the last day of 3^rd quarter, and I will be working on grade cards this afternoon and this weekend. I already shared this with the kids, but corrected work was due today. They are welcome to redo work that is coming home this weekend for practice, but their grade on these papers will remain the same. Grade cards will come home next Friday, March 19^th. Thank you.

Here is what we have been up to this week:

Religion- This week we have discussed the 4^th commandment in detail. We have read scenarios about respecting our parents, grandparents, guardians, teachers, and other people in authority. We have looked at Jesus’ example about putting others before ourselves. We have also learned about Joseph from the Old Testament and his example of respecting God, his father, and the leaders of the land. We had some great discussions and sharing!

*There will not be any memory next week. I will be making this change to the schedule.

Language Arts-This week, third graders read a Ramona story entitled, The Extra-Good Sunday.” They loved this story and the fun antics of the sisters! Fourth graders read the story, "I Can Do That!", the true story of Esther Morris and her independent, strong-willed attitude that helped end women's suffrage in the state of Wyoming. We had some interesting conversations in class about equality, etc. I think the students learned quite a bit! We also learned about the many ways to use commas in sentences and the cursive capital letters X and Y. Third graders shared their book reports and projects.

There will not be spelling words or a new reading selection next week.

Math-Third graders have been working with dividing by 6, 7, 8, and 9. Fourth graders have been working with input, output charts, finding the rules that go with patterns, and solving multi-step word problems. :)

Science: We formed groups and have learned all about habitats and how energy plays a big part in them. We will be learning about food chains and food webs next week!