Boelter/Caskie AM Digital Planner (if your student starts their day with Ms. Boelter in the morning): Boelter Caskie Digital Planner
Caskie/Boelter AM Digital Planner (if your student starts their day with Mrs. Caskie in the morning): Caskie Boelter Digital Planner
Please see the school Newsletter to keep up with all that is happening in our building this week: Newsletter
Curriculum
Before we left for break, we started a unit on customary and metric units of conversion, with a little bit of time conversion mixed in. The great thing about these lessons are that students can use them in everything they do. The big concept in this unit is understanding that we use multiplication or division to convert from smaller units to larger units or vice versa. It is a great unit where we revisit whole number, decimal, and fraction multiplication and division as well. The first few lessons are rough because it is a big concept with sizeable computation. As we progress through this week, it should become easier for students. We will work through metric units of measure and units of time this week before reviewing with problem solving on Friday. Should all go according to plan, we’ll take that assessment on Monday of next week.
In science we continued to investigate matter and how it cycles through our ecosystems and habitats. We’ll continue that learning this week as well.
Our SEL lessons this week are focused on integrity and honesty.
Upcoming State Testing
Our SBAC and MAP testing windows this year will start in April and continue through that month. Please remember to get those Top Secret yellow envelopes back to us this week if you have not turned them in. I loved the ideas some of you had of sharing them with relatives and friends to fill out at Spring Break. I’ll be reaching out to those from whom I’ve not yet received them this week.
Testing season is not any teacher’s favorite season, least of all this teacher. Through the years, I’ve developed some strategies to help students feel better about the process. For now, state testing is going nowhere. With that in mind, I’ve worked hard to make sure that I give students the best opportunity to be successful. Success is a subjective word. It is so subjective, that when we enter our classroom each year, we sit down and define what success is.
When we start, most students will say success in school is getting a 3 or a 4. By the time we finish the conversation, and after the first few weeks of school, my goal is that they know that success is not measured by a number in a gradebook or on a standardized test. It is working hard, making mistakes, trying when things are difficult, and ultimately make significant measurable growth, or understanding what we’re learning so well that we could teach someone else.
So, what does success look like when we sit down to take standardized tests? From my subjective viewpoint, it is providing students strategies and confidence so that when they sit down to take these tests, they can do so with the least amount of anxiety so that they feel good about their performance and showing all that they know. If we can help students with this success criteria, this testing season will be a success to me. With all of that said, we do not prepare for state testing in our classroom. Rather, we ask questions that lead to that understanding all year, and hopefully build those skills so they are ready to show off when they start their SBAC and MAP testing.
That said, we want you to know what your students experience, so we started a parent night called Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? We will engage in some friendly competition with 5th grade SBAC questions. Most importantly, we’ll share some testing anxiety tips, sample testing packets, and general tips about making this process as low key as possible. This year, this will take Wednesday, March 27 at 5:00 pm at Ober. All of your favorite 5th grade teachers will be there. I’ll make a separate post early this week with a flyer with all of the details.
Ms. B. in Class 