Letter from Dr. Copeland

April 28, 2014

Dear 1^st and 2^nd Grade Parents,

Next week, your child will be taking the Stanford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition (SAT 10).

The SAT 10 is a norm-referenced standardized test.  This means that your child’s scores provide a comparison of his or her performance to that of thousands of other children in the same grade who took SAT 10 at the same time of year.  The results help show what your child has learned and what your child has not yet mastered.  It is important to understand that no one “passes” or “fails” the SAT 10.

The SAT 10 includes many of the subjects that your child is taught in school.   It is a multiple choice test requiring the student to select and mark the best answer.  The teachers have been reviewing subject matter and sample questions to ensure that your child has knowledge of the test-taking skills needed to demonstrate their best understanding of the material that is tested.

You should also have received another letter today that provides information on all the testing that is taking place at Campus School over the next two weeks.  We are confident, that, with your support, our students will do their “personal best”.

Sincerely,

Susan Copeland

Director

SAT-10

Dear Parents,

         As you are aware, the second grade students will be administered the Stanford 10 Achievement Test the week of May 6 – May 9. The test uses multiple choice questions that provide a measure of knowledge and application skills in reading, language arts, mathematics, word analysis, vocabulary, language mechanics, math computation, and spelling.  The testing will begin daily at 8:30 and end around 11:00. Please make sure your child is here on time each day.

         Research indicates students perform better on standardized tests when they are hydrated and are not working on an empty stomach.  Each day, during the testing week, we will take a break in the morning for the students to have a healthy snack. I would greatly appreciate parents helping to provide individual packaged items for 18 students. Please visit our wiki to sign-up: http://lpmiller0521.wikispaces.com/SAT-10+Snacks  It would be helpful to have the snacks a few days before testing begins. Also, please send a bottle of water with your child everyday during achievement test week.

         They will not have homework the week of the SAT-10. Instead, please encourage them to go to bed early each night and eat breakfast each morning. The homework for next week will also be different. They will still have spelling words, but they will not have the math and language arts sheets. A SAT-10 preparation book will take the place of the math and language arts. They should work in their booklet a little each night. This will give you an idea of the kind of questions they will be asked on the test.

Thanks so much for all you do, and do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Lisa Miller 

Book Fair

Dear Parents,

The Scholastic Book Fair is in full swing this week! Our class will get to shop on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:15-2:45. Feel free to come and shop with them. If your child is going to shop by themselves on Tuesday or Thursday, please send their money in a ziplock bag with the amount they are allowed to spend written on the outside. Also, please fill out the order form that came home last week if you have specific items you would like them to purchase. There will be some adult volunteers that can help them shop.

During Book Fair week, we will be collecting change in a milk jug to help connect more kids with books. Please consider sending in some change to help this great cause! Family night at the Book Fair will be this Thursday night from 6-8. Students are encouraged to dress like their favorite book character and join in the parade. Make sure to stop by and check out our class wish list as well. We look forward to seeing you and whole family!

Here's to a wonderful week of celebrating reading and books!

Family Gathering and More

Dear Parents,

The class has been working so hard on their family gathering. Their hard work at home and at school has really paid off. They are so excited!! Thank you so much for all you are doing to help them prepare.  Please have them at school tomorrow between 7:30-7:45 am. They can hang their stuff up in the booth. Then they should come to the playroom where I will be waiting for them. Make sure they come dressed like what they want to be when they grow up. After family gathering is over,  we will change into our uniforms.

We still need a few things for our Valentine's Day party. You can visit the wiki here: http://lpmiller0521.wikispaces.com/Valentine%27s+Day+Party Please make sure they bring their decorated boxes to school by February 12th.

For the first time, addition and subtraction fluency will receive a grade on the progress report. We have been working on fluency since October. By the end of this 9 weeks, they are expected to be fluent with their facts in order to receive an MS on their progress report. Please make sure they are practicing their facts every night at home. You should continue using the sheet I gave you at our conference in October to guide you on what facts they should be studying.

Picture day is February 13th. Students may dress out of uniform that day. We will be taking our group picture, so everyone will participate.A flyer came home in your child's binder with more information.

Thanks so much for all you do! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning!