Mr. Chris Holm's Website

State Testing

• We begin our final week of preparation before state testing begins next Tuesday. This week we will be working on a math packet reviewing all topics covered this year, and practicing answering English and poetry comprehension questions.
• STAR testing will be Tuesday – Thursday, April 28-30 next week, with a makeup day on Friday. We will finish STAR testing the following week with one day of math testing on Tuesday May 5. The week after that will be Aprenda testing in Spanish. Once STAR testing is finished, we will resume Earth Science, which had been put aside.
• I cannot emphasize enough the importance of these tests. In order for your child to do his or her best on the tests, it is crucial that he or she:

1. Get plenty of sleep before and during testing week.
2. Eat a good breakfast. (It’s impossible to concentrate and do well with an empty stomach!)
3. Bring a healthful snack to eat during testing. Due to budget cuts, the school does not have money this year to provide snacks.
4. If you can donate some snacks for our classroom during testing, they will be gratefully appreciated!

Yosemite Trip

• Last Thursday we sent home letters notifying you that there is a final, mandatory parent meeting this Wednesday at 6:30 in room 24 about the Yosemite trip. I heard that many parents never received the letter, so we’re sending it again today. We will also have a guest from Redwood Trading Post showing and describing the boots and other equipment needed for the trip.
• We need to turn in our final participation count and final payment to the Yosemite Institute this Friday. In order to meet this deadline, we need all paperwork returned, and all final payments received by Wednesday. Thank you very much for your timeliness.

March 16, 2009

• It was good to see many parents at conferences last week and discuss how your child is doing in class. If you were not able to make it, Maestra Anna and I will be mailing report cards home this week. You can also always phone or email me and set up a private conference at any time.
• Some students will need to take English in Summer School. I passed out enrollment forms at conferences. If you did not receive one, they will be mailed with the report card.
• Our final benchmark assessment of the year was finished on Friday. The next testing battery will be the real state STAR test beginning in the last week of April.
• The winter cold virus season has exhausted our classroom supply of Kleenex. We now only have left what is currently open in the back of the classroom. Please consider sending in a box to replenish our supply.
• If you have any really good digital pictures from our Chinatown field trip last Tuesday, please email them to me at chris@maestrochris.com, or burn them on to a disc. I’ll put the best on our class web site for everyone to enjoy.
• The non-fiction book report (biography or other non-fiction book) will be due on Friday March 27, right before we go on Spring Break. Forms for this report will be passed out this week.
• The Vocabulary Builder sheet is due every Friday. Last week, one third of the students did not turn one in. Ask your child to see their work, or call or email me to find out if your child is doing their work.

This letter was sent home with all students on Thursday, March 19.

The last day to turn in late work is Friday, March 27.

————

Dear Parent or Guardian,

We are writing to you to inform you of a change in our policy of the acceptance of late homework, reports, and projects.

Many students are turning in reports and projects weeks, or in some cases, months late. This large number of students who are turning in work late is creating a hardship on our ability to grade.

We want to help your child prepare for the work expectations for the rest of middle school and high school. We are therefore instituting the following policy for the remainder of the school year:

1)    Assignments that are turned in after the due date are considered late, unless there is an extenuating circumstance that is beyond the control of the student. Such extenuating circumstances must be communicated to the teacher in advance of the due date.
2)    Late assignments will only be worth half credit.
3)    Late assignments will be accepted up until Friday of the week they are due. After Friday, they will not be accepted, and the student will receive a zero for the assignment.
For example, if an assignment is due on a Tuesday, it will be late after Tuesday. The teacher will accept it Wednesday through Friday for half credit. After Friday, the assignment will not be accepted.
4)    If a student knows in advance that he or she will not be in school when an assignment is due, the student needs to turn in the assignment on the day before he or she will be gone.
If the student will be gone for an extended time, the student must make arrangements with the teacher three days in advance to determine when to turn in an assignment for credit.
5)    Finally, for work that is currently late: we will accept all late work up until Friday, March 27. This is the last school day of the month before the Spring Break. After this date, current late work will not be accepted, and the student will receive a zero for each assignment not turned in.

To help students know when their homework and projects are due, we write the due dates on our classroom white boards. Maestro Chris also writes it on his homework blog.

Many parents want to know what assignments their students are working on, and when they are due. The easiest way to know this is to require your child to write it down in a notebook, and have him or her ask the teacher to sign the notebook. The parent can then ask to see the signed notebook, and will know what homework and assignments are being worked on.

Thank you