Speaking of report cards, I want to remind you that Academy report cards will look incredibly different this year than last. On the front page, you will see a narrative section similar to what you are are used to seeing. Unlike last year, there will be only one narrative area. You should expect to see information here about your child's strengths, weaknesses, and work ethic.
On the following three pages of the report card, you will see lists of the objectives your child is expected to learn this year. In the first column, (the one showing information for the First Nine Weeks), you will see one of the following things:
- E = This means that your child has extended far beyond the requirements for the particular objective.
- M = This means that on the final assessment, your child met the expectations for the particular objective.
- S = An S means that your child has not yet mastered the objective but is showing progress toward reaching that goal.
- T = This means that on the final assessment, your child showed little understanding and/or application of the particular objective and needs more time to master this skill.
- A gray square = This means that the objective was not assessed this Quarter.
On the final page of the report card, you will see your child's reading level and overall scores for each subject area. In order for your child to receive an overall grade of an M in any subject, he/she must have Ms in at least 90% of the assessed objectives to that point. If he/she received a T for an individual objective, the highest overall grade he/she can receive is an S. (Clear as mud, right?)
One of the great things about this new format is that you can see very specifically where your child needs help and where he/she is already going strong. Please note that an S in an individual objective or two is probably not reason to stress out. This just lets you know that your child needs to focus his/her attention on certain skills a little bit more. While sooner is always better than later, our ultimate goal is for your child to be meeting all objectives by the end of year.
My final note on the report card is that it is a cumulative report. This means that each Nine Weeks, your child is held accountable for all of the information learned that Quarter as well as the information from each of the previous Nine Weeks. The overall grades for each subject on the last report card of the year will cover every objective from the entire year.
I expect that you will have questions still, but I am hoping that the information above will give you a good idea of what to expect. As always, please let me know if you need clarification.
What's happening this week:
1. Horizontal schedule resumes this week.
2. On this week's Homework Menu, you will find information about one of the most memorable and fun days of 4th grade. Idiom Day is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday (October 28th)! This is a day where the children dress up as the literal meaning of an idiom and then do activities all day to help them learn to use figurative language in their writing. Please do not let your child tell/convince you that you need to spend a lot of money for his/her costume. The award-winning costume from my class last year was a giant piece of paper painted green and folded into a big cylindrical pickle. (The child was "In a pickle," if you haven't guessed yet.)
3. I have to turn in grades by Wednesday. By this time, your child should have 7 books posted on the wikispace. If your child needs help reaching this goal, please consider sending him/her to the Homework Hotline on Tuesdays to get caught up. (Remember to fill out the Homework Hotline permission slip and send it with your child so we know where to focus our attention.) By next weekend, your child needs to post an 8th book on the wiki.
4. Report cards will go home Monday, the 25th. Please look over your child's card, write comments on the back, and send it back.
5. In addition to the addition and subtraction timed drills, your child is responsible for multiplication and division during the Second Nine Weeks. There are a ton of fun games on my website your child can use to help develop these skills. We will continue to assess all 4 operations each Friday.
6. The new blog question will be posted on Sunday. Please make sure your child has posted for each week to this point.
