I want start by sharing a conversation I had with a parent this week regarding writing grades. You may recall that at Back to School Night and several student conferences, I mentioned that it takes years for students to become very proficient writers. The learning to write is only one part of the equation with having time to practice the other side. In grade 5 our writing focuses on several parts of writing - report writing, biographies, fantasy stories, narratives and opinion/persuasive writing. With all of these there are lessons on both the specifics to make this area more proficient as well as word work that looks at spelling and punctuation. We then spend time practicing this through the writing workshop model - planning & research, first draft, revisions & edits, final draft. All of these take a large amount of time but are essential to making sure that a process for writing is what students use. While it may look like the writing assessments are not showing any growth, because expectations are always growing, as long as a student is remaining or improving in their assessments, they are showing growth in their learning to write. I return to my first thought - it takes many years to become a proficient writer. It is also much harder for a student who is EAL as they are also learning the language as well as the process.
Speaking of grades, as we head to the end of the year, if you would like a conference with me about the progress of your student, please let me know and I will be glad to set a time up with you. Please note that grades are posted on June 14th not the 15th as previously announced.
I am also hearing of summer plans from many of your students that involve leaving early or missing some days of school. Please keep me informed of these so I can plan accordingly. There are a lot of events and activities at the end of the year we are planning for and numbers are an important part of this planning. There are also things like yearbooks, EOY shirts and assembly celebrations I need to account for.
This week I wrap up the Monday Folders. There will be no need to return these again. All completed work will be sent home as it is finished. I have had mixed reviews of these so I will reflect on this process for future years. So much more is digital that it does not really go home, but rather is always available online. We are also moving to a more updated version of blogs for next year so that will impact these folders as well.
This week there is no school on Tuesday so the current events are as follows;
Wednesday - Kevin
Thursday - Elvin
Friday - Eric
Wednesday - Kevin
Thursday - Elvin
Friday - Eric
As parents you will need to help your student decide whether they do their homework and CE on Monday evening or Tuesday evening in preparation for the next day.
The week will entail continued work on our 2nd persuasive essay, debates on Is Globalization Good?, our math unit on the coordinate plane, book clubs, poetry and work on economics and trade.
Have a great week.
