Dear Parent / Guardian / Caregiver,
This is our last week of review before the SOLs next week. Please make sure that your child is going over all the information that is being sent home for each subject area. The passing of the SOLs is very important for many of our students since passing them adds seven points to the end of the year average for science, social studies, and math and four points for reading (three go to the language arts class).
Money is due for the King's Dominion trip on May 21. Students who pay and lose their fieldtrip because of behavior will be refunded their money.
Next, the Science Fair is May 25 and the DARE graduatio iwll be May 27 at 1:00 at the middle school. See last week's parent letter for other important dates.
Reading:
Exactly one week until the SOL Reading Test. We will continue practice this week. Please review tips on all skills. These are in the Rading notebooks. I will send home a compiled list of poetry tips. Please review these because it's been a while since we did the poetry unit.
The pizza lunch aqard will be after the Sols next week. You will be notified of the exact date if your child is eligible.
The AR Program for the month of May will be handled in the following manner:
1-All computer test grades will be averaged for 1 AR grade for the last 9 weeks.
2-When a student makes below 80 on a computer test, he/she will be required to write a report on the next book before taking a computer test to ensure comprehension for that test.
Math:
We will spend this week reviewing previous SOL tests for the upcoming test next week. Today we will work on rulers. I am sending home the 2003 actual Math SOL test today. This is to be completed at home by Wednesday night and returned to school on Thursday. Please make sure your child has completed this practice test and it is in their backpack on Thursday morning. We will be going over the 2002 test in class on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday night I will be sending home another practice test for them to look over and circle the problems they feel like they do not know how to answer. On the SOL test, please stress the importance of working out the problems even if your child can do them in his/her head. It is very important to back up the answers with paper and pencil. This is not a timed test. Please stress the importance of taking his/her time and making sure he/she is circling the correct answers on the test and then transferring that answer correctly to the bubbled sheet. So many students will solve the problem correctly and then bubble in the wrong answer on the answer sheet because the answers look so much alike. Every child can pass this test if he/she takes his/her time.
Spelling/English
This is the last week of spelling for the year. I will give the students the typed copies of the words and definitions. The choice is given on Monday and due on Tuesday. The test is Friday.
In English this week, the rough draft of the research paper is due today! The work cited and table of contents will be explained today and the students need to work on a rough copy. Final papers with the corrected title page, table of contents, outline, paper with citations, and work cited are due on Friday typed! THIS PAPER COUNTS FOR 9 GRADES! Failure to complete the paper may result in loss of field trips until the paper is completed. This paper is basically the whold last nine-weeks grade in English and it covers several SOLs. It will also be counted as a grade in science, so it is important that students get this completed. NOte cards must be here by May 7 also so that the students can start working on oral reports. Remember that being able to take notes is another part of the SOL we are working on at this time. The research paper SOLs are covered under the Reading SOL test. This is also our last week for the Sentence Test and there are no more PS boxes this year.
Social Studies:
This week students will be completing Race 7,8,and 9. It is important that your child study these every night and continue to review until testing. Please make sure your child knows the material in the Race booklet. This will ensure his/her success on the Social Studies SOL Wednesday.
Science:
We have one (1) week to go before the SOL tests. Study. Review. Go Over. Look Back.
We will be reviewing each of the SOL objectives for the fourth and fifth grades. Please check your child's journal daily to see what we are covering in class.