Week 4 Highlights

Thank you to all of the families who made it out to Curriculum Night this past Tuesday! It was great to be able to reconnect with families and be able to communicate to you about the rest of this year. There were lots of questions around the new standardized testing that will be implemented this year, and here is the website for the spring assessment that has been adopted by Washington State called: Smarter Balanced Assessment. The other change that I mentioned was that we will be replace MAP (Measurement of Academic Progress) to Amplify, which is a district-wide decision. Amplify will help to support students in being able to successfully take the Smarter Balanced Assessment because it is computer-based. Please contact me if you have any other questions about this topic. This is a big change/shift in the district and schools, principals, teachers, students are all learning together how this new testing will work!

About half of the families have signed up for fall conferences. It is extremely important to me that I get a chance to meet with families about the progress of their child and how we can better team up to support 307 students! I have sent out emails and email reminders about signing up for the conference. It will be done through Volunteer Spot, which is a great digital sign-up sheet that is very convenient for parents to check and switch dates without having to contact me. If this method does not work for you, and you would rather sign up by email with me or paper and pencil, PLEASE let me know and I will be happy to accommodate!

Fall is a busy time with lots of students in sports and other after school activities. At Leschi, we will have Seattle Music Partners starting up fairly soon. There is a Parent Night for interested families on September 29th, from 5:30-7:30. Instrumental Music will also begin soon and this is the IN-SCHOOL music class. Those students who signed up and received their admittance letter will need to make sure that letter is read thoroughly to see what instruments, books, and materials are needed.

Along with that, please invite me to sporting events or games! I like to come watch if my schedule allows it, and for students who give me their schedule, I like to at least attend one game/performance/event so that students can see that I support their hobbies!

Highlights:
-We finished our published writing for our first narrative drafts and students are choosing to type out their published writing on our new Chromebooks! Ms. Trapp and I have also started our weekly conferences with students so that we are setting writing goals together along with checking what has been written that week in class and at home for homework.
-Math groups have launched into their second unit of math! Most groups are working on multiplication/division. The math homework will begin to get harder and take longer at home.
-In reading, students met with their reading partners to learn how to discuss books and talk about them politely and respectfully. We will continue this work throughout the rest of the year.
-We started building our own humdingers in science this week! In pairs, students will continue to get more time to build their humdingers so that next week, we can share our ideas and how each pair got to build their humdingers. The following activity will be to build go-carts! 

-We finished up our Amplify baseline assessment for the fall. Students who have not finished will have time to work on it in class this week.
-3/4 of the class finished their work plans this week! Students are really getting into the groove of work time and most students are efficient and pacing their work load well.
-5th grade families! PLEASE return your 5th grade camp packets/forms as soon as you fill them out! We need to be able to see all of the accommodations that will be necessary for camp. Camp will be from October 29-31 (Wednesday-Friday).

*Here is Norbert being bathed by our zoologists! His first bath!!