The IBMYP application is due on November 11 to Mrs. Kastelberg. All prospective IBMYP students must complete the Writing component as part of the application process. This will be administered on November 12 at 9:30. Mrs. Kastelberg will pick students up from class and escort them to the testing location. A make-up prompt will be administered on November 19.
In math, we have wrapped up our work with computation. We will be reviewing this from time to time, but the best way to keep it fresh in your child's mind is to have them work a few problems at least once a week. Tenmarks.com is a great tool for this. They can log in and work on the jam sessions that allow them to practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. If they scroll to the bottom of the jam sessions, they can also work with decimals. They all know their user name and password as we work with this often in class. In the next few weeks, we will be exploring and extending patterns.
In science, we are continuing SOS. The students have gotten the "Help" letter and some clues about their families. They are busy researching these clues and putting together the information to figure out where their family is stranded.
In writing, we are working on writing multi-paragraph essays. We have spent many days on writing "BIG" openings. Ask your child to share their opening with you; I was very pleased with their progress. We are continuing with this for a while and are tackling the body paragraphs now.
In reading, we finished up a spooky play, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". While reading this play, we also did many activities to learn more about inferencing and plot. The students created a plot diagram to show the major events in the story. They even dissected the main character, Ichabod Crane, and wrote a paragraph about him.
A new website I have introduced to them is studyisland.com. This is a website that they can use at home to practice their reading skills. It is really useful, especially as it is tied to their NWEA MAPS scores. They are able to go into the path that is created specifically for them and work on skills that are targeted to their level. This will allow them to show much progress on the NWEA test when they take it later in the year. Your student should know their user name and password. If they have forgotten it, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to send it to you.