Wow! Has it really been over a month since I last posted? I am getting lazy on the job! I'm going to blame it on the Holidays and the cold weather!!
So, we have had a tremendously busy January, so far. We've spent this week taking our Mid-Year Reading Assessment. This is the test I shared with you during Student Led Conferences, where students are given 60 questions that assessed them on Comprehension, Vocabulary, & Grammar. Students finished it yesterday and last night I was looking through their scores and am extremely pleased with the progress they have made so far this year. All scores increased, indicating that they are right on track to demonstrate Mastery at the end of the year (May). In 3rd grade, we consider Mastery to be 85% or higher.
Next week is a short week, so there will be no spelling words. I am going to have them continue working on Math Pearson homework. We pretested on Topic 9 today, so we will start and finish it next week. It's a short topic, which is great since it is a short week. Please remember that Friday, January 23rd is no school for students. Friday is the end of quarter 2 and I will be preparing report cards, which will be sent home on January 30th.
The last week of January, students will be taking their Mid-Year Math Assessment, which assesses them on all 3rd grade math concepts covered in 3rd grade. They took it in September and will take it again in May. As with the Reading, the expectation is that students demonstrate Mastery of 85% or higher by May/June. Once all testing is complete, I will send home an Assessment Summary page so that you can see your child's growth this year. You can also look on Pearson to see their results, but please remember that the End of Year results are not their final test results until June. When looking at the score, you will read it as they have mastered that percentage of 3rd Grade Reading or Math. So, if your child scored an 83%, then they know 83% of 3rd grade math or Reading. By this time of the year, we expect them to score around 60% or higher.
Lastly, I told students in December that they would begin taking their Spelling Test on Thursday starting this month. I changed it to Thursday because they were really scramming to complete their Spelling Test, reading test, and math test on Friday. To make it easier on them, they will now test on Thursday. I asked them to share this with you, in case I forgot to mention it here on the blog or in an email. I try to be sure to mention it all, but sometimes I do forget. I also want students to develop responsibility, so I ask them to share information with you, as well.
Have a nice, long, warm weekend and I will see your kiddos on Tuesday.
