Can you believe it's May? The beginning of May also marks the official beginning of testing season. Last month's writing assessment was just an appetizer. We still have six main courses to go!
Here are a few gentle FSA reminders for all families:
1 - Students should get a full night's sleep before each day of testing. 2 - F2F students should arrive on time. Late students will not be permitted to come to the classroom if they arrive on campus after 8:30 a.m. 3 - Connect students should arrive on campus between 8:05 and 8:30 a.m. for testing. Students who are leaving school after testing should be picked up in the BUS LOOP between 10:20 and 10:40 a.m. Please stay in your car; your child will be brought out to you. 4- All students should bring a snack, a water bottle, and a book to read. 5 - Breakfast is available (and free!) in the school cafeteria until 7:50 a.m. for F2F students and until 8:30 a.m. for Connect students. 6 - All cell phones must remain silent and hidden in a place where students cannot reach them during testing (and every other day as well 😉). If possible, please leave cell phones at home on testing days. 7 - Smart watches are not permitted and should stay at home on testing days. (Fitness trackers are okay.) 8 - Please encourage students to RELAX and remember everything they have been taught. They are very well-prepared and know what to expect, so they should feel confident and ready to conquer the FSA!
We are extremely proud of our Congter Crew and know that they will try their best! As always, thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement throughout the year!
Here is what to expect in class this week...
ELA: 📝 As you know, much of our time this week will be spent testing. By the end of the week, we can refocus on our latest novel, Hoot. This book is probably the most entertaining AND the most well-written book we will read this year. While reading Hoot, I hope the students will recognize the joy of escaping into a good book. What a great way to take a break from staring at a screen! The goal for the students during this final book (and book report) of the year is to see that pleasure reading is an excellent way to relax and unwind. Reading can be just as entertaining as any TV show, movie, or TikTok video (and it's better for your brain, too!) 🧠 As we lead up to FSA, we will review some last minute skills that can be tricky for fifth grade students, including homophones, commonly confused words, and comma usage.
Social Studies: 👑 The British are coming, the British are coming! We are now entering one of the most exciting units of the year. This week, we will learn more about King George III, the Declaration of Independence, Paul Revere's Midnight Ride, and the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
🤔MATH- This week is all math review, all the time. :) We are a little over a week away from our Math FSA. I know our Cong-Ter kiddoes are ready, I know they have all that they need to succeed, the secret is application and paying attention to detail. I hope that my constant repetition of , "When in doubt, CUB it out" is engraved into their brains. I'm working on getting a shirt made :) . For the past few months, we have been analyzing our errors on our weekly i-Ready lessons, and the number one mistake that kids are making is carelessness. Thats a bad thing, BUT it is, also a good thing. Careless errors can be remedied by CUBing, checking over work, and paying attention to the details. Struggling with a skill is understandable, there are many tricky math skills out there. Those require practice and review, BUT careless errors are not understandable, especially when repeated over and over. So, this is it Cong-Ters, let's use this week to ask questions, apply our CUBing skills, and get that last boost to be ready for next week.
😃SCIENCE- As to not get oversaturated with Math, we will be sprinkling in some science review to keep that mind fresh and focused. Students will receive 2 graphics, one for math and one for science, that are a quick, easy visual of all of the skills that we have covered this year, and that will appear on the state testing. Look for those to come home to F2Fers on Monday and our Blenders on Tuesday. They can, also be found under our State Testing tab above, if you like the colored version better. Just 18 school days remaining, we've got this!!!