March News

 

 

 On Monday March 4th standardized testing will begin.  We will be testing everyday from 8:30 – 10:30 or so.  We have been practicing and discussing various test-taking strategies, the most important one being, making sure to read carefully and making sure you follow instructions and directions.  I have assured them that they are very capable of doing well, are well prepared, and I have complete confidence in them.  I have also assured them that their test scores do not affect their grades at all and the focus of our classroom remains always on the learning process itself, not on the letter, number or score on a test or report card.  The tests are important, but what they have learned is the most important.  The best test preparation is a well-rounded curriculum.

 Please make sure that your child gets plenty of rest next week, has a good breakfast and arrives at school with a positive attitude.  Once a test session has been started at 8:30 no child will be allowed to enter the room until that session is completed.  Those that are tardy will have to wait in the office until that test section is completed.  They will have to make up that testing section the following week.  We will have frequent breaks between testing.  Please pack a few nutritious, healthy snacks for them each day.  We will have an outdoor recess everyday at 10:30 or so please make sure they are dressed for cold weather.  We will try to keep the rest of the academic week light and no homework will be assigned.

Our community service project this year is sponsoring a Sunday at the Shrewsbury Public Library. We want to make sure that the library will be open on the Sunday of Catholic Schools Week which is January 27th. Grade 4 is accepting small donations ($1.00-$2.00) to make this possible. Do a a few extra chores to earn a few extra dollars!

Classroom News

Pizza party is Friday March 8th

Progress reports will be going home Monday March 11th.

 Please remember to check your child’s planner on a regular basis and remind them of the importance of packing their own backpacks.  Please do not throw any of their papers away without first checking with them.

A wish list of consumables that we could use for our language arts and science programs was in the Parents’  Night packet and include:

  • Post-It flags for marking text support
  • assorted   colored cardstock for vocabulary words
  • scrapbooking supplies for publishing theme writing assignments
  • classical music CDs to listen to during process writing
  • silver stars
  • magnets
  • pencils
  • baby wipes
  • tissue