Explorer Homework- 3/18

Dear Parents,
I want to inform you on tonight's homework so that there's no confusion and so it can be as productive a time as possible.

What we talked about and wrote in planners:
 Due: Work on Explorer Speech
    - Write speech through "Goals & Ambitions" (or beyond if you're up for it)
    - Go over speech with a parent. Get feedback on how to improve your speech

My clarification to you as parents:  
Students need to have the intro, childhood and goals & ambitions portions of their speeches written out on notebook paper. This does not mean they have to have note cards, we will do those later, they only need to have the speech written on notebook paper. Second, please read over the speech with your child. As you're reading over the speech with your child give them feedback-- does it make sense or are there some confusing parts? Is it detailed with specific names of people and places, as well as dates? Is it a list of facts or does it have description and personality- does it tell a story? Obviously don't write it for them, but do help them brainstorm ideas if they're struggling. Also, ask questions about things you're still wondering about the explorer's life, which they can research and add. Speeches need to be a minimum of three minutes.

Additional Note:
I have received a few emails regarding upcoming absences. If you are leaving early for spring break and have not notified me, please shoot me an email. This also means that it is your child's responsibility to complete all portions of the speech over spring break and have it completed when they return Monday, March 30th. We will start the note card writing process Monday and they will need to be ready for that step upon their return.

Explorer Wax Museum

Our explorer project is fully underway! Due to state testing this week we had one less block of time to conduct in-class research. This may mean that students will need to complete their research over the weekend so they're ready to turn it in come Monday, March 16th.

Make sure to mark your calendars for our Wax Museum on April 8th at 5pm (students should arrive at 4:45)

Below are links to the various documents needed for this project:
Explorer Contract
Cite Your Source
Research Note Taking
.

Fort Vancouver

Pictures from this last Tuesday's field trip to Fort Vancouver

SBAC testing dates

I just received notification today that our first round of state testing (SBAC, formally known as OAKS) will be this Thursday afternoon (3/12). We will also test Monday morning 3/16 and Tuesday afternoon 3/17. This will be the language arts section of the test. I do not yet have the dates for the math or performance task portions of the test but I will notify you when I receive those.