Our Path to Success

 It was yet another busy and productive week in 4Z.  Teachers had a professional day on Tuesday.  The children took the RICAS assessments on Wednesday and Thursday.  Teachers and Parents of the community played basketball with other elementary schools in the district and the week just flew by.  

Testing Preparations:

We have spent quite a few weeks becoming familiar with the testing and tools to use.  The children perservered and did their best as the testing began this past week.  They were ready with strategies and test taking skills.  The children earned Star Bucks for having a charged computer, using scrap paper, working productively for at least 60 minutes.  Their names went in for a raffle and we had Capri as a winner of a Target gift card.  

On Monday, we read- The Anti Test Anxiety Society and discussed the importance of staying calm and taking breathing breaks.  As I walked around the room, the children seemed calm and worked productively.  We will be taking the math sessions on April 30th and May 1st.  

Reveal Math:

Throughout the week we continued with Math work.  The children are working with Mixed Numbers and we even had some participants showing what they know.  They would come up to the board and take us step by step through the process of converting improper fractions into Mixed Numbers.

Solar Eclipse:

The solar eclipse will be on Monday.  We are providing the children with the glasses so that their eyes are protected.  We learned about the solar eclipse through our Amplify Science curriculum.  The slides gave us a better insight as to when and where it is happening and why it occurs.  The children seemed very intrigued by this and had many questions.

Reward:

The children earned Camping Day on Friday for filling the jar with our goal of 24 Stars.  The children voted on what they wanted as a reward and took about an hour of our day reading under their forts and working on an Eclipse packet.  They had a lot of fun, as you can see all of their smiling faces.

Friday Happenings:

Our school wore Blue in honor of Autism Month.  We held Reading Buddies with our Kindergarten friends, and held our camping reward.  The children worked so hard on their state testing, they deserved a little break from our everyday routine.  You could see on their faces how glad they were to be able to participate in some fun activities.

Our amazing basketball team (faculty) gave it their all of Thursday night.  It was a great event and a wonderful turnout from our community.  Kudos to all the players.  

We have one more week until our April Break and of course it will be busy and filled with learning and events.