Standardized Testing and Its Victims

Standardized Testing and Its Victims
It's that time of year again. Here are some things you should know about standardized tests.

Sweet Search

This from an educator email I get now and then:

If you're nervous about young students searching freely on the wild wild web, you might want to try Sweet Search, a search tool that includes only websites evaluated and approved by educators in the results:

Sweet Search

CampFair - ParentMap Events - ParentMap

CampFair - ParentMap Events - ParentMap

Top Places to Go Sledding for Seattle-Area Kids and Families - ParentMap

Top Places to Go Sledding for Seattle-Area Kids and Families - ParentMap

The ABCs of Tutoring Success for Kids and Families in Greater Seattle - ParentMap

The ABCs of Tutoring Success for Kids and Families in Greater Seattle - ParentMap

Valentine Reminder

News Reminder                     2012-2013                                 2/12/2013

 

Dear Families,

 

Valentines

We’ll exchange valentines on February 14. It’s been amazing to see all the thought and effort they’ve been making to get the cards done on time, and to make each one special.

My plan is to make our celebration about friendship and writing, so our “party” will consist of passing out the cards, reading and enjoying the cards, and then sharing some of them with each other.

If you would like to send in some treats or snacks for them to enjoy at the same time, that would be great.  And healthy choices are always appreciated by everyone. They’re better for the kids, and they help dispel the notion that parties have to be filled with junk food. Please remember no peanuts.

We’re getting low on snack, so whatever food we have left over, we’ll just save for another day. (Thanks to those who keep sending food for everyone to share.)

Reminder

I post all of these newsletters on our classroom blog: http://room302.blogspot.com/. It also has other things of interest, including a calendar, links, and the newest feature: a translate button that allows you to read in your language of choice (except sign language).

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

                Jeff

 

 

 

http://twitter.com/room302

http://room302.blogspot.com/ http://swift.enumclaw.wednet.edu/bde/jkurtz/index.php

 

 

 

 

Newsletter and Valentine List

Newsletter 7                       2012-2013                                 2/11/2013

 

Dear Families,

 

Valentines

We’ll exchange valentines on February 14. We’ll take some time to write them at school, and I’m hoping that they can find some time to work on them at home, too. I sent a class list home with the kids. I’ll post one below this newsletter, too. I’ve got two learning targets in mind for this: planning and budgeting time to make sure they have one for each class member by the 14^th, and thinking about purpose and audience to make each valentine special.

Writing

We finished writing personal narratives, and we’re working on narrative fiction. This is not easy, but they’re writing some nice stories. So far we’ve drafted one story, and we’ll be starting on the next one soon. It’s best when write about familiar things, so I’m suggesting they keep watch for anything in life that they could use in a story.

Reading

We’ve been learning about inference—using background knowledge combined with clues on the page—to figure out unknown words, and to follow the story. Please continue to read to your children every day. You can use your background knowledge and experience to help them infer and understand things that might be too hard otherwise.

As an additional reading resource that may work for some students, our school PTA purchased a school subscription to Raz-Kids, where children can read and listen to books online. To access your child's account, log in at www.raz-kids.com/login/jkurtzk using the information on the log-in card I’ll send home. The Bookroom tab allows access to the entire library. Please help find them find things they want to read and can read especially as they get started, including the poetry, songs, and nursery rhymes.

Math

Our current unit is multiplication and division. It includes learning about area and arrays. There are LOTS of facts to memorize, and I hope you’ve seen the many practice pages come home, along with the regular daily math homework sheet (except Fridays). It would be great if students had their x/÷ facts memorized by the end of third grade. To accomplish this, I suggest a little practice each night, rather than trying to cram a lot all at once. Also remember to keep practicing +/- facts, if needed.

Calendar

Thurs, Feb 14—Valentine Exchange     

Feb. 18-22—No school

Chapter Book

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos

Reminder

I post all of these newsletters on our classroom blog: http://room302.blogspot.com/. It also has other things of interest, including a calendar, links, and the newest feature: a translate button that allows you to read in your language of choice (except sign language).

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeff

 

 

 

http://twitter.com/room302

http://room302.blogspot.com/ http://swift.enumclaw.wednet.edu/bde/jkurtz/index.php

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name	Likes:	Words done	Decorations done
1.        Angel	hockey, gold, parrots	1.	1.
2.        Carson	purple, soccer, gold, swimming	2.	2.
3.        Emma	pink, dragons, hearts, flowers	3.	3.
4.        Joseph	black, X-box, football	4.	4.
5.        Lauren	black, white, blue, polar bears	5.	5.
6.        Diana	pink, dogs, horses, gold, cats	6.	6.
7.        Mariah	blue, basketball, salad, dogs	7.	7.
8.        Megan	pink, puppies, books	8.	8.
9.        Kaylee	orange, green, horses, goats	9.	9.
10.     Nathaniel	soccer, helping people, X-box, blue	10.	10.
11.     Alexander	Xbox, blue, hound dogs	11.	11.
12.     Benjamin	orange, skiing, books	12.	12.
13.     Carter	silver, Xbox, dogs, hockey	13.	13.
14.     Nicholas	green, video games, turtles	14.	14.
15.     Yelena	kittens, dogs, rabbits, black	15.	15.
16.     Mathew	red, hockey, Xbox, dogs	16.	16.
17.     Rogelio	red, blue, motorcycles	17.	17.
18.     Kimberly	hot pink, Monster High, dogs, box hockey	18.	18.
19.     Katelynn	blue, dogs, church, jewelry	19.	19.
20.     Ana	blue, black, soccer, horses, Monster High	20.	20.
21.     Shania	pink, puppies, red roses	21.	21.
22.     Leanna	gold, silver, whales, swimming, tennis	22.	22.
23.     Alex	black, Xbox, fishing, parkour	23.	23.
24.     Easton	motorcycles, red, baseball, swimming	24.	24.
25.     Trevor	computer, legos, making videos, bubbles, green	25.	25.
Word List: Valentine, dear, sincerely, favorite, because, from, awesome, friendship, cool, great, good, color, responsible, compassion, kind, respectful, perfect, people, thoughtful, helpful, nice, thankful, generous