Marching into March

“We must help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit.” (Education for a New World; retrieved from bitsofpositivity.com)

Greetings, dear families, 

I apologize for not doing my blog in February; it was a crazy busy month and my first focus is always teaching and then communicating with you. If you haven't heard your children talking about the Writing Scrimmage January 15, well, let's just say it was one heck of an assignment! It was a practice assignment that served as a benchmark to see what skills needed to be addressed when writing an informational or expository essay. Students were asked to read two articles (you can find it in Google Classroom Cycle 3), and address the prompt given at the end of the readings.

As of today, some students are still working on learning how to read, interpret, and address the prompt, as well as learning to cite their sources (this is a biggie!). For the lessons, students were divided into learning groups based on their needs in the following categories: Introduction; Body Paragraphs; Transitions; Vocabulary, Style, Sentence Patterns; Word Choice; and Conclusion. **If students participated in the small group lessons they needed, they were exempt from doing the Apprentice Sentences.**

Writing is not a quick process for many of our students, so I find it worthy of using any time I have to work with them in pairs, small groups, or individually. Our next Writing Scrimmage is scheduled for March 12 and I look forward to seeing the growth the students are sure to make.

March 11: Walk or Bike to School Day
March 12: Writing Scrimmage
March 13: Half-day for Students
March 13: End of the 3rd Marking Period (*All work for the 3rd quarter is due no later than Wednesday, 3/11)
March 14 - 22: SPRING BREAK
March 23: 4th Marking Period begins

When students return from Spring Break, we will have a two-week window to review for GMAS. I will send specific testing dates to you as soon as I have them. We are being asked to do a pretest beginning April 1 (not an April Fool's joke). As soon as I know more about what that entails, I will share information with you.

Standardized testing is a hot topic and can cause a lot of anxiety among children, families, and teachers. Although testing is serious,  we will be approaching it with as little stress as possible. Our focus is on growth and encouraging students to focus on doing their best. We believe that students will perform better if they are well-rested and relaxed. As partners in your child's education, we would appreciate you helping us with this. Of course, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.

Lastly, we need a few things for our classrooms if you are able to make a donation:

• Facial tissue
• Hand sanitizer
• Plastic cutlery (spoons and forks)
• Paper towels

Parents of 8th graders: It is my understanding that students/families were notified today about their high school placement. While we all want the best for your child, we would appreciate you speaking with your child about being gracious when discussing this with their classmates. We have an amazing group of kind and compassionate students and want to ensure that everyone feels supported and encouraged, no matter the outcome of the high school application process.

Thanks for hanging in there. I'll be in touch soon (and won't let an entire month slip through my fingers).

Ms. Susan