October

In the month of October, we will keep working on the Growth Mindset and continue our study of the forest. In French reading, we are practicing various strategies to make sense of new French words. These strategies include using what we already know about the topic or story, thinking of an English word that would make sense in the sentence, using the pictures (if applicable) and, of course, using a dictionary. In math, we are working on numbers and place-value. Students will also learn math games (dice and card games) that they can play at school and at home to practice math facts. Playing math games is a fun way to provide daily math practice at home and can help your child remember basic math facts.

Standardized Assessments

The following standardized assessments mandated by the District and Provincial Government will be conducted in October:

1. the French District Wide Write (a writing assessment): our theme for this writing activity will be “What does the forest mean to you?”. Art activities will accompany this assessment.
2. For grade 4, The Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA): This provincial standardized test is done in English and focuses mainly on Literacy (reading fluency and comprehension, writing) and Math (problem solving and computation).
3. For grade 5, two standardized assessments mandated by the Cowichan School District, the DART (English reading fluency and comprehension) and the District Wide Write (English writing), will be conducted while the grade 4s work on similar assessments through the FSA.

I will use the results from these assessments to inform my teaching: they will help me know what your child can already do well, and what I need to teach them this year in order to move them forward in their learning.
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Note on the FSA for grade 4 parents:
The BC Teachers’ Federation has long been opposed to the FSA. If your child is in grade 4, you will receive an envelope with information about why the union is opposed to the FSA. You need to know that this year, there are important changes in FSA format as well as timing:

1. It has been transformed in order to connect better with the new curriculum.
2. It used to be done in February and it is now done in October so that the results can be available in November and be used to inform our planning and teaching for the year.
3. Because the FSA is now done in the Fall, the Cowichan School Board is allowing us to use the results from the FSA literacy components instead of doing DART (English reading fluency and reading comprehension) and District Wide Write (English Writing) with the grade 4 students.

As a result, less class time will be wasted compared to previous years, and the results from the FSA will be more useful to teachers. One of the negative outcomes of the FSA is that the results are used by the Fraser Institute to rank schools against each other, which is unscientific and misleading. If you choose to request that your child be excused from the FSA, they will still have to do the District Wide Write and the DART (which will be the same as in the FSA) but your child’s results won’t be included in the provincial data and will be kept at the district level.

Reporting of students’ progress, online portfolio, report cards, etc.

There will be 2 formal report cards this year: one in the winter and one at the end of the year. Throughout the year, there will be more options to discuss your child’s learning through parent-teacher meetings, phone calls, open house, etc.

In addition to the formal report cards, I will use a portfolio to communicate your child’s progress. Online portfolios are a great way to communicate students’ learning and progress to parents and to improve parent-teacher communication. Pictures of your child’s work, sound files and videos can be posted in his or her portfolio, along with teacher feedback and student self-reflection. Online portfolios are password protected and private. In order to create an online portfolio for your child, I will need you to sign and return the permission form (see Agenda). Please return the form promptly so I can set-up your child’s portfolio as soon as possible.
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I’ve used online portfolios last year and parents said they loved to receive regular updates and felt better connected with what was happening in the class. If you are opposed to the creation of an online portfolio for your child, a paper portfolio can be kept in class and brought home to share with you every few months.

Donations for our Earth-Friendly Classroom Store

We are using a system of classroom money to remind everybody to use French during learning times. As an incentive, students asked to have a little store where they can spend their earned money to buy small items. They can save money in the “bank” in order to purchase a bigger item after a few weeks or months. One of my reservations for setting up this store was that it promotes consumerism: I do not like the idea of purchasing new gadgets and “dollar store” items because of the environmental impacts. Our planet has limited resources! Why not use stuff that we already have but are not using?

Re-purposed items for the classroom store

I’ve put together a little store with things that I found in my house that my children are not using: items we got in birthday goodie-bags, activity or coloring books that never got used, comic books, toys, games, leftover craft supplies, card games, flashcards, puppets and stuffies. Most items were purchased by well-meaning grand-parents and friends but did not end up being used, or were only gently used and then left on the shelf.

I have enough items to start, but I will need help to keep the store furnished throughout the year. I will set up a donation bin and have students help me with organizing donations for the class store. If you have books, stickers, toys, decorations, games, stuffies, arts and crafts supplies, cool things found in nature, etc. that are in good shape but could use a new home, consider re-purposing them and contributing to our Earth-Friendly Classroom Store. Your donations will be much appreciated! Please do NOT buy new items to donate to the class: only send things that you already own.

Wow! That was a lot of news!

Looking forward to a great month of learning!
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All the best,

Nathalie

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