Thank you all for your support during these times of summative assessments (end of year formal testing!) Our first state-wide PEAKS assessment has passed into the history books, though the results will likely not be available until next fall. Contrarily, this week we will be doing our traditional AIMSweb reading and mathematics assessments that our district has been conducting 2-3 times a year for many years. Thankfully, AIMSweb provides instant results and consists of only two 8-minute math tests and 3 minutes worth of reading assessments, all in the classroom setting. Much more manageable!
Next Monday and Tuesday we will wrap up all the mandated testing with the district’s new and more detailed benchmark assessment called MAP (Measures of Academic Progress). This online assessment is a 1 hour math and 1 hour reading test and will eventually replace AIMSweb. The results are anticipated to go home with 4th quarter report cards. For more information please go to: https://www.nwea.org/assessments/map/ On the reverse of this newsletter are instructions on how to complete a practice MAP assessment online. Last week we got to host Senator Murkowski in a school-wide assembly. This event was originally part of our Government unit last quarter but she needed to reschedule to the current congressional recess. Log into our website to see pictures. We are now moving deeper into our rights as citizens of the world, transitioning from the Bill of Rights to human rights. This will wrap up with our nation’s civil rights movement. In science, the sixth graders will continue to prepare for their Kenai Fjords field trip. We will be meeting at Denali at 6am for a prompt 6:15 departure. We are expecting to return between 6pm and 6:15pm on Wednesday and will call the office before we leave Seward to give the most accurate update possible. Please make sure your sixth graders are dressed for windy (and wet) conditions. As I (and Mrs. Riley) will be the teachers in charge for the Kenai Fjords trip, our fourth and fifth graders will be split between the remaining classrooms for the day. In reading we have passed the climaxes and are coming across the falling actions in our novels on the way to resolution. It has been a lot of fun reading these and has been difficult to make sure students aren’t reading ahead! We’ll follow up the novels with a small project. On a separate note, the snow has completely cleared from the playground, yielding new surfaces to play and run on! One new surface, mud, serves as a reminder of the importance of having outdoor shoes/boots that can be worn to and from school and during recess, and a separate pair of shoes that can stay in the classroom/gym. Montessori classrooms do a lot of work on the floor so we try to keep it as clean as possible. As always, please feel free to call/text/email/or stop by with any questions, concerns, or celebrations!
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