Weekly News 3-17-12

Research Papers Under Construction

We are well into our research paper with students engrossed in their resources and learning many interesting things about our countries.  Our focus with note-taking has been learning how to paraphrase important information, taking notes in complete sentences so much of the composing is formatted during note-taking, and deciding between useful information and what is not useful for our narrow topic.  Students are discovering which of their notes are helpful and which may need to get supplemented with further research as we add up to 75(+) note cards of information.

Up this week: formatting in a Word Doc, thesis statements, outlines and finally: starting the first draft.

Reminder: Students, renew your library books so we have them available during the drafting process!

Achievement Test Week

We will be conducting testing each day this week, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.  Achievement tests are one tool to help assess what a child has learned in school and where strengths and weaknesses lie.  The best preparation for testing this week include:

1. a good night's sleep
2. eat breakfast
3. bring #2 pencils (preferably not mechanical)
4. have an AR book to read if you finish early
5. relax! 

3rd Quarter Report Cards Available Online as of Friday, March 16.