Classroom Updates

Weekly Update 4/15

Good Afternoon,

   Please take a moment to review the following information:
HEAVY Testing Week: This week is Reading and Math which we have been preparing for since August. Luckily, these assessments are broken into Part 1 and Part 2 with approximately 27 questions per day. This does not mean one day is easier than another, it just means they are giving the children a bit of a break instead of piling on 50 questions in a single day.
     In my text message, I mentioned STAMINA. This is a word ALL students should know by heart and should be able to explain. When you have your pep talk, please discuss STAMINA along with utilizing all of the test taking strategies that are required on a daily basis in my classroom to be used. Studies have shown that students who utilize the test taking tools and strategies taught are more likely to slow down and perform higher than those who do not!
  • Monday-ELA Part 1
  • Tuesday-ELA Part 2
  • Wednesday-Math Part 1
  • Thursday-Math Part 2

Science Fair: We are now 5 days away from our classroom Science Fair which will take place on Friday, April 19th. Please make sure students bring:

  1. Tri-fold board completely FINISHED
  2. The project that was completed OR photos of the project

The Paseo Pointe Science fair is Thursday, April 25th at 5:00pm. Three to possibly 4 students from each 4th grade classroom will be selected to attend. Last year, one of my students won the 4th grade category at DISTRICT.

Book Studies: Beginning the week of April 22nd, we will begin book studies to finish the year. Although, most of the work will be completed in the classroom, there will be times when students will need to read a chapter or two at home on any given night. Students performance on the assessments and tasks for the book will be graded!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and please let me know if you have any questions!

 

ONE Week until Science Fair Projects are DUE!

Good Morning,

   T-minus ONE WEEK until Science Fair Projects are due! On this day, please have students bring:
  • Science Fair tri-fold board FINISHED
  • The actual experiment that was completed OR photo graphs of the project.

Students will be receiving both a point scale grade and an effort grade for this project which was assigned at the beginning of March.

Students who do not bring their project on FRIDAY will not be judged and will not have the opportunity to make it to the school Science Fair AND will have points deducted from their academic and effort grade for the assignment.
 
Please let me know if you have any questions as I have reached out on a nearly consistent basis on whether anyone did need help or had any questions. 
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Reminders & New Information

Good Evening,

   Please take a moment to review the following information:
Nightly Math Homework: Students are reminded daily about their fractions Math homework that must be completed by Friday. We had about 80% of our class turn in our last assignment and we are really pushing for 100%.
AzMerit Donations: Before each assessment, I like to leave the students a note and a treat to get them pumped up and ready. As you can imagine, providing 30 snacks over a 7 day period can become costly. I am attaching a link and if you are able to assist with donations, I would greatly appreciate it!
Click this link to go to our invitation page on SignUp.com: https://signup.com/login/entry/717026590628936018
Science Homework: Students were sent home with Science homework last night per my lesson plans for the guest teacher. Their job was to read the Buckle Down #7 Review and answer questions which were due TODAY. Unfortunately, many students did not take this seriously and their work did not get done correctly or turned in. I went through and told each student what they owed me and hopefully their assignment is returned tomorrow. Please touch base with your student to be sure they did what was expected of them!
Field Trip & Chaperones: We will be going to the Arizona Science Center on Monday, April 29th! Due to my absence yesterday and the catch up day today, I failed to sent home the permission slips. These will be coming home TOMORROW and are due back by Wednesday, April 24th. The field trip is FREE of charge. I am looking for 6 parent Chaperones for this trip. If you are interested, please respond to this e-mail. FIRST COME, FIRST CHAPERONE! 
 
As a reminder, field trip are a privilege and behavior is taken into consideration. We want our students to enjoy their time and R.I.S.E to Success both on and off campus. 
 
Enjoy the rest of your week and continue working on your SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS!

Weekly Update & Testing Information

Good Evening,

   Please take a moment to review the following information:

Test Prep Homework Week 2: Students will be coming home with their second set of nightly homework reviewing fractions. I had about 80% of my students turn in their homework which is absolutely amazing! Looking to increase this for the second week of work.

Progress Reports: These will be going home at the end of the week. As a reminder, progress reports are a checkpoint in the quarter for your students progress towards standards mastery. Last week, I sent an e-mail asking you to have a conversation with your student about their student work ethic. Here are the questions as a reminder:

  • Are you consistently on task and aware of the repeatedly stated expectations for the lesson?
  • Are you fully participating in note-taking or test taking strategies being modeled continuously for you?
  • Are you focused on the content and more specifically what the teacher is saying rather than having outside conversations?
  • Are you using the skills and strategies that have and are continuously taught to you during class?
  • Are you checking and double checking your work whether it is being taken for a grade or being used to reinforce what was just taught explicitly to you?
  • Are you being proactive and correcting mistakes when the correct answers are being modeled?
  • Are you willing to be an active participant in your learning on a daily basis?
  • Are you bringing home the classroom work or graded assignments for me (parent) to see?

Science Fair: How are you projects coming along? I haven’t had many parents reach out for clarification on projects or due dates. As a reminder, our classroom Science fair is Friday, April 19th.

AzMerit: There are only 5 more school days until the State assessments begin.

Below is the testing schedule.  Please ensure your child will be present and on time each day for the best possible testing environment.  Early dismissal from school will also stop any current testing that day and your child will not be able to finish.

Monday, April 8th – Writing

Tuesday, April 9th – Science Part 1

Wednesday, April 10th – Science Part 2

 

Monday, April 15th – Reading part 1

Tuesday, April 16th – Reading part 2

Wednesday, April 17th – Math part 1

Thursday, April 18th – Math part 2

Here is what to expect

The AzMERIT assessment is a computer-based test that goes beyond multiple choice questions to provide a better indicator of what students have learned during the school year. Third grade will be tested in math, reading, and writing.

  • Writing:The writing portion will require students to read a few passages and then write about them. This type of task requires students to think deeper about topics and use evidence to support their thinking.

 

  • Reading:The reading portion will be administered in two parts over the course of two days. This will ensure students have ample time to read and answer questions. The test also contains editing tasks to measure student understanding of fundamental skills like spelling and grammar. 
  • Math:The math portion will be administered in two parts over the course of two days. This will ensure students have ample time to read and answer questions. The test will ask questions that check a student’s conceptual understanding of math, as well as their procedural skills.

These tests are not timed and your child will be given as much time as needed to complete each portion within the school day.

Please remember that your student has been taught everything that they needed to learn for this test. Students have gone over all reading and math standards (many more than once) and have learned many strategies to help them be successful on AZMerit. It is now up to your student to show us!

Testing Tips:

  • Eat a healthy breakfast:  Students perform better when they aren’t distracted by hunger or slowed down by a lack of energy.
  • Use the process of elimination: When reading through the possible answers to a question, eliminate the answers that are obviously not correct with the strike out tool and then choose the best answer out of the remaining choices. Don’t get tripped up by something that doesn’t belong.
  • Work it out/Use Scratch Paper: In the math portion of the test, work out every problem on paper. Draw if you have to. Before choosing a final answer, always plug the one you’ve chosen back into the original problem to be sure it’s correct. For reading, students should be finding evidence and then writing an “I know” statement to connect their evidence to the question to make sure that it makes sense and works!
  • Sleep: Not during the test, of course. The night before. It can be crazy this time of year, with sports games and practices, extracurricular activities and season finales of our favorite TV shows. On testing days, get to bed on time or early. Nothing beats feeling rested.
  • Offer encouragement: Parents, your kids are probably nervous about the test they’ve been preparing for all year. It wouldn’t hurt to gently remind them to do their best and reassure them that you are proud of them and love them no matter what.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Practice Test Selfie!

Hello parents,
State Assessments are right around the corner and we are gearing up here at Paseo Pointe! It is your chance to show how much we have learned this year!
In order to prepare for the test and be familiar with all the testing features, we are taking some time to do practice tests during class. However, I’d also like to encourage you to visit the testing websites with your child and practice navigating each test and its features together. Then, take a selfie of you and your child doing the Practice Test at home and forward it to me!
We are calling this the Practice Test Selfie Challenge! 
 
Each student who participates receives a prize and also enters a drawing to win cool prizes like a bluetooth speaker, cordless headphones, sports equipment, art supplies, etc!
 
Deadline is April 8th! 
Here are the steps to participate:
AzMERIT- for all students in 3rd-8th Grade
2. Click the green button at the bottom of the screen that says Sign In
3. Select your child’s grade level
4. Click on any or all of the tests
5. Work through each question with your child, making sure you familiarize yourselves with all the test features available
6. Take a selfie while working through these practice tests
7. Send your selfie to your child’s teacher
Your child will receive a prize of participating and will also be better prepared for their state assessment!
AIMS Science (for students in 4th or 8th Grade)
1. Visit TestNav
2. Select Arizona
3. Click on Mic Check & Sample Tests
4. Select AIMS Science- Practice Tests
5. Click on your child’s grade
6. Work through each question with your child, making sure you familiarize yourselves with all the test features available
7. Take a selfie while working through the practice test
8. Send your selfie to your child’s teacher
Your child will receive a prize of participating and will also be better prepared for their state assessment!
Looking forward to seeing all your selfies!

Weekly Update 3/21

Good Afternoon,

   Please take a moment to review the following information:
Homework Tonight: Students have 8 questions to complete for Science. We read the packet together, highlighted important information and now they are to apply that information.
RISE Cards: Don’t forget, it is RISE card signature night! Please take a look at your students classroom behavior and sign under Week 2.
Nightly homework to begin next week: Students will be coming home with nightly homework in Math beginning next week to review fractions. I would love to see our whole class pass rate increase per standard before AzMerit as well as our post test for Galileo.
Report Cards: I will be sending these home tomorrow! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Review Packet text messages: Each time a packet is sent home that we have completed in class, I will send you a text message. This is my way of communicating that we have been working extremely hard in class and that these packets should be coming home to be reviewed.
Science Fair: How is everything going? Any questions? Here are the due dates again and reminders!
  • Class Science Fair-FRIDAY, APRIL 19th
  • School Science Fair (Grade level winners participate)-THURSDAY, APRIL 25th.
    • You should be completing more than 1 trial for the project. Think of it as “best out of 3.” This will get you the best results.
    • Most of your experiment will be keeping EVERYTHING the same except changing one variable. For example: If you are testing what corrodes pennies quickest, you are changing the type of liquid the pennies are being soaked in. You will be keeping the amount of liquid the same, the time spent in the liquid the same and etc.
    • The students brought home a project packet to assist and guide you through the process. Please use this as a notes sheet and way to document the experiment.
    • Tri-fold board: It is science fair season therefore the tri-fold boards will be easy to find. We request this board because should your student be chosen, they would need to present this as the school science fair and perhaps the district science fair. The board should be able to stand on it’s own.
    • Take photos! You can add this to your board to enhance the presentation
    • Keep the experiment to present with! If you are using cups, pennies, plants, those items can be brought in. If your experiment is the kool aid one, the photos will be your best bet!
    Please let me know if you have any further questions about the Science Fair!

Early Release & Bahama Bucks: NEXT Wednesday is an Early Release at 11:30 as well as our PTA sponsored dine out at Bahama Bucks!

 
Friday, March 29th: $1.00 dress down day! NOT this tomorrow, NEXT Friday!

Welcome Back 3/18

Good Morning,

    I hope you and your family enjoyed a relaxing Spring Break! We are entering the 4th quarter today and we have a lot of preparation for state testing over the next few weeks!
APTT: Please join us tonight for APTT at 5:00 in the gym! We will be presenting Benchmark 3 awards, discussing our Fractions post test results and handing out extra practice that can be completed at home!
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Report Cards: These will be sent on Friday but please log into Parent Vue or Student Vue until then if you’d like to see how your student performed in the 3rd quarter. Keep in mind, your student’s Galileo scores and report card grades should nearly match. We are standards based grading therefore what I assess in the classroom is also assessed on Galileo!
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Science Fair: I hope you had a chance to get started on your Science Fair Projects over break. Here is the timeline again as well as tips!
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  • Class Science Fair-FRIDAY, APRIL 19th
  • School Science Fair (Grade level winners participate)-THURSDAY, APRIL 25th.
    • You should be completing more than 1 trial for the project. Think of it as “best out of 3.” This will get you the best results.
    • Most of your experiment will be keeping EVERYTHING the same except changing one variable. For example: If you are testing what corrodes pennies quickest, you are changing the type of liquid the pennies are being soaked in. You will be keeping the amount of liquid the same, the time spent in the liquid the same and etc.
    • The students brought home a project packet to assist and guide you through the process. Please use this as a notes sheet and way to document the experiment.
    • Tri-fold board: It is science fair season therefore the tri-fold boards will be easy to find. We request this board because should your student be chosen, they would need to present this as the school science fair and perhaps the district science fair. The board should be able to stand on it’s own.
    • Take photos! You can add this to your board to enhance the presentation
    • Keep the experiment to present with! If you are using cups, pennies, plants, those items can be brought in. If your experiment is the kool aid one, the photos will be your best bet!
    Please let me know if you have any further questions about the Science Fair!
Yearbooks: Yearbook- Deadline March 25th
This year Paseo Pointe is only offering a pre-sale for the 2018-2019 yearbook.  The yearbook order deadline is quickly approaching! Please visit the link below to purchase!
School Code: 13165119
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Enjoy the rest of your week!

Weekly Update 3/6

Good Evening,

     Please take a moment to review the following information:
“If I Ran the Zoo”- Students may wear animal print or anything with an animal on it. I talked with the class about what possible shirts could contain such as the Cardinals, Diamondbacks and any other sports team with an animal as their mascot!
Spring Break: Next week is Spring break and we will return Monday, March 18th.
 
APTT: Please be sure to mark your calendars for our APTT meeting Monday, March 18th at 5:00pm in the gym. This will be our final push before AzMerit as well as awards for 3rd quarter benchmark. Hope to see you there!
Galileo Data: Students will be coming home with their Galileo data tomorrow. The top sheet is the Benchmark target page that shows how the Developmental Scores have shifted from Quarter to Quarter. The next 3 pages are your students ELA, Math and Science scores using the bar graph. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
Science Fair: Spring break is the perfect time to start on the Science Fair projects. I would like you to keep in mind the following:
  • You should be completing more than 1 trial for the project. Think of it as “best out of 3.” This will get you the best results.
  • Most of your experiment will be keeping EVERYTHING the same except changing one variable. For example: If you are testing what corrodes pennies quickest, you are changing the type of liquid the pennies are being soaked in. You will be keeping the amount of liquid the same, the time spent in the liquid the same and etc.
  • The students brought home a project packet to assist and guide you through the process. Please use this as a notes sheet and way to document the experiment.
  • Tri-fold board: It is science fair season therefore the tri-fold boards will be easy to find. We request this board because should your student be chosen, they would need to present this as the school science fair and perhaps the district science fair. The board should be able to stand on it’s own.
  • Take photos! You can add this to your board to enhance the presentation
  • Keep the experiment to present with! If you are using cups, pennies, plants, those items can be brought in. If your experiment is the kool aid one, the photos will be your best bet!
Please let me know if you have any further questions about the Science Fair!

March PBIS Information

Dear Parents,

March is here!  This means it is time for a new monthly expectation focus.  We have already enforced RESPONSIBILITY and INTEGRITY. Following our R.I.S.E. expectation, our next focus will be SAFE.   It is important that everyone at Paseo is safe, both physically and emotionally. We want school to be a place where everyone feels safe.  Read below for each week’s emphasis and ways to support your child at home.

Week 1 – Keep hands, feet, and items to yourself.

At school:  Keep our hands, feet, and items to ourselves respects other people’s boundaries and space. This includes rough playing at recess.

At home: State clear expectations for how to use toys and other items around the house.  Also set clear expectations for how to use safe touches when playing. Example: When we tag, we can use a butterfly touch.

Week 2 – Speak kindly to each other.

At school: Use words that are going to show respect for those around you and are encouraging to your classmates.

At Home: Model speaking to your children the way you want them to speak to you and others.  If you hear something unkind, provide an alternative way to say what they want to communicate. Example: Instead of “Stop doing that.  You’re so annoying.” Try “When you do that it is hard for me to concentrate.”

Week 3 – Respond appropriately to others

At school:  Use “I messages” to let others know how you are feeling instead of yelling or hitting.  This is important when you are speaking to adults and other classmates.

At home: Practice using “I messages” at home to solve conflicts between siblings.  Example “I don’t feel like you are respecting me when you take my things without asking.  Can you please ask first.”

Week 4 – Tell an adult when something or someone is not safe

At school:  If a student or someone on campus is making unsafe choices, let a trusted adult know.

At Home: Teach the difference between tattling (snitching) and informing.  Tattling is when you want someone to get in trouble. Informing is when you are concerned about someone’s safety.

These expectations will be emphasized all month long and it will also be the guidelines in which students earn the recognition of “Student of the Month.”

Thank you for our continued partnership in teaching our students to be their very best and keeping our campus SAFE!

Weekly Update 2/28-Important Information

Good Morning,

     Please take a moment to review the following information:
Testing: We have finished our Quarter 3 testing. Once all students in the district have finished testing and I am sure the proficiency level scores will not change, I will print off the graphs to send home. Please be on the lookout for a text or e-mail for when they will be sent home.
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Science Fair: Thank you to those who have returned your testable questions. I have sent home the packet to begin working if you returned yours. In addition, I put notes on the paper to keep in mind as you being the experiments at home.
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Early Release: Wednesday is an early release at 11:30. Please be sure your student knows how they are getting home!
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Picture Day: Tuesday, March 5th are spring pictures as well as the class photo! Forms were sent home last week. If you need another, please let me know!
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Yearbooks: The final day to purchase yearbooks is March 22nd. If you’d like to order, please let me know and I can send home another form!
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Change of Date for APTT: Due to a conflict with spring sports, our APTT meeting to celebrate Q3 Galileo and to help prepare for AzMerit has moved to Monday, March 18th which is the Monday we return!
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Belated Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss: Next week, March 4th-8th we will be celebrating a belated “Read Across America” week. The purpose of Read Across America is motivating children to read, is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school. We will be celebrating with free themed dress down days as well as opportunities to win free books! Please help us in supporting early literacy here at Paseo Pointe!

    Monday 3/4: “One Fish, Two Fish” Wear red and/or blue!

    Tuesday 3/5: “OH, the Places You’ll Go!” Dress to impress! (Picture Day)

   Wednesday 3/6: “Wacky Wednesday” Wear wacky mismatched clothing!

   Thursday 3/7: “If I Ran the Zoo” Wear animal print or something with an animal on it!

    Friday 3/8: “Green Eggs and Ham” Wear as much green as possible!