Tuesday

Wow, we had an amazingly artful day. The gloom and drizzle was replaced with cave paintings and bead work, both connecting wonderfully to our current Native Californian studies. We are fortunate enough to have Mrs. McNeilly, sixth-grade teacher extraordinaire and maker of art, available to us a few times during the course of the school year to lead the class in extension projects. The class began designing beaded bracelets today that they will loom in the coming weeks.

A few parents voiced concern over the STAR diagnostics and Accelerated Reading (AR) goals sent home in yesterday's Orange Folders, and I would like to elaborate on them further. I realize that the information I share with the class does not always translate well at home. All students, in varying applications, were required to use AR during their third grade school year. Some teachers required it as literature component grade, while other teachers required it in conjunction with their literature circles. In an effort to prepare students for junior high and beyond, fourth grade and up are requiring students to maintain independent reading logs and to participate with an on-line assessment of what they have engaged with. The individual goals have been based upon their STAR assessments, which each of you have been provided a copy. The print out identifies areas of strengths and weaknesses and makes suggestions as to how to go about improving one's reading skills. Most students are able to meet their AR goal strictly from the readings we partake with in class each semester, as the literature we have chosen as a grade level is rich and engaging. If you have questions about AR's application in the classroom, I am more than happy to address individual concerns. I will definitely include AR as part of our discussions during Conference Week.

The students are responsible for the following tonight:

-Reading Log (due next Tuesday)
-Math lesson 17, page 73, problems 1-22
-Reading Practice book pages 39 & 40 (The kids will need to reference the larger language text to answer these questions.)

Respectfully, Mr. Bryant