February 2, 2010
Dear Parents,
Wishing each and every one of you the very best that 2010 has to offer. A
big THANK YOU for those of you who chose to remember me during the holiday
season. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.
As you know we are at that point in the school year - TESTING TIME!!!
Today the students did a Reading Simulation FCAT. It was 80 minutes long
with a total of 45 questions - multiple choice, short and long response type
questions. Thursday of this week they will have the Math FCAT Simulation
which will be 70 minutes long. Your children have been tested and tested and
tested. I know they are prepared for the upcoming tests. Next Tuesday,
February 9th, 2010, the FCAT Writing will be administered. Mark your
calendar.
I will post upcoming events for the monthes of February and March on my
NEWS FLASH page. Please check it out and mark your calendar.
Our snack supply is running low and we could use additional snacks. If
you are able to send, I will accept pretzels, animal crackers and/or fruit
snacks. These are snacks that can be distributed during class which are not
sticky, messy or have too much sugar. In addition, most children are not
allergic to these types of snacks. Thank you to those who have been able to
provide and for those who will be providing in the future.
To all the parents who have conferenced with Ms. Romero and myself, I
thank you for supporting your children while supporting the work that we do
in class. There is now mutual understanding of the learning process that is
taking place in school. In Fourth Grade we transition from multiple-choice
type questions to the more advanced short and long response type questions.
Students are learning (and I must say, improving) how to answer questions
using details and information from the story.
Once again, THANK YOU PARENTS for having working, available computers.
If this is not the case at your house, your child should come to school early
(about 7:45) and I will let them in my room to do the assignment using the
computers in the classroom. They will NOT be excused from the assignments or
from blogging, when assigned. Remember, the Public Library also has free,
safe computers for your children to use. In addition to the blogging,
students will also be asked to use Ticket to Read, which is to be logged onto
using the dadeschools.net website. If they log on directly to the Ticket to
Read website, I will be unable to monitor that and they will be told that
they are not doing the assignment.
The writing and oral communication is improving. I hear less of the
word "like" when the students are speaking and it is transferring into their
writing. I thank you for your assistance in the huge task. I see the payoff
for our hard work in eradicating that "monster word", but I realize that we
hear it on TV, movies, radio, etc. I am going to post an article about the
enormous communications harm this is doing to the American culture, as far as
communication is concerend. Be looking for it in NEWS FLASH.
Continue to check the bookbags for flyers from school. That will keep you
abreast of the many events that are happening at VABHOE. Interim Progress
Reports went home yesterday, December 3rd. Please make sure you sign it and
send it back to school. Make a copy for yourself if needed.
If you check the green binder you will see the strategies and skills that
the students are learning. Please have them review these notes periodically
as they will serve as reminders of what we have covered. In Reading we are
covering Noting Details, Sequence of Events, Drawing Conclusions, Making
Judgments and lots more. In Writing we are now working on Expository
Essays. They have the planner in the writing section of the green binder and
we are writing a class essay about "why we do the chores or jobs we do".
After that they will be responding to an Expository prompt on their own. In
English we have completed Nouns and will have a quiz next week (toward the
end of the week). We will be starting Verbs next week. The Spelling words
have become a little more challenging. I need to see the correct spelling of
learned words within their writing.
If you still have not joined the PTA, please send in the form with the
$8.00. VABHOE PTA provides so very much for your children. Sending in the
money shows that you want to assist them in continuing to do so.
Once again thanks for your support and don't forget that you can contact
me by e-mail for concerns and/or questions.
Mrs. Dailey