Comments about work sent home today

I sent home some of the work and assessments that students did during term 3.  Some parents may be a bit alarmed by the grades and students should explain how/why they got the grades they did.  Additionally, please contact me if you would like to set up an appointment to discuss grades and academic behavior.  Please note that students will be required to attend these meetings since they are the ones who are accountable for their academic progress.

Additionally, some students were sent home with a form stapled to the front of their report cards since they did not submit their narratives.  I have only received one signed form back. I need those back immediately.  If you have not seen your child's report card, please let me know and I'll email it to you.

Here are specifics about some of the assessments/assignments.

Social Studies Assessment - I did not write this assignment; however, all 5th grade teachers had to give it.  I provided the exact copy of the assessment to students so they could create their own study guides.  They had 2 days of class time to work on it and 5 days to study it at home.  This assessment accounted for a small portion of their Social Studies grade.

Comma Assessment - I taught a new comma rule every day and saved students' worksheets.  Students then stapled the comma rule packet to the worksheets and had them to study.  Students were able to use the packet on the comma assessment.  Honestly, I was disappointed to see how many students earned 1s.  Needless to say, we will be reviewing commas this term as well.

Economics Assessment - This was an open note assessment.

Term 3 Vocabulary Assessment - Students received the word list a week in advance and were repeatedly reminded to study.


On a final note, I talked with students about how they felt they did and why they got the grades that they did.  Many students admitted to rushing and being confused by certain questions.  For this term I'm going to simplify the assessments and place more emphasis on projects.  I was quite pleased with most students' work on their various projects.