Hi parents,
We have concluded our unit on narrative writing and we're now working on informative (informational writing).
Our sequence looks like this:
To keep you updated on your child's progress, I will be sending home the work from each practice round. I will include a rubric so you can see how your child would have scored if it had been the actual assessment. The first round is coming home today (Thursday, Dec. 8).
One caution about the first round of scores: Nearly all students scored poorly, which is what we expected. We are talking about what is missing and how we can improve our writing. In addition, the fourth-grade team revised the rubric after I scored the first round, so students will need fewer total sentences to get the full score for that section of the rubric. (The sentences must still be on topic, however.)
The practice scores will not go on their report card; they just to give all of us an idea about how much progress students are making -- where they're strong, and where they need to improve. Only the performance task scores will go on their report card.
We are already working on Round 2, so look for that either next week or our first week back. Let me know if you have other questions.
We have concluded our unit on narrative writing and we're now working on informative (informational writing).
Our sequence looks like this:
- Pre-assessment
- Round one practice. Students are led through the steps of gathering information, planning their writing, and then writing. Teacher models the practice with different texts, then students do the work on their own.
- Round two practice, with the same steps.
- Round three practice, with the same steps.
- Performance task (assessment)
To keep you updated on your child's progress, I will be sending home the work from each practice round. I will include a rubric so you can see how your child would have scored if it had been the actual assessment. The first round is coming home today (Thursday, Dec. 8).
One caution about the first round of scores: Nearly all students scored poorly, which is what we expected. We are talking about what is missing and how we can improve our writing. In addition, the fourth-grade team revised the rubric after I scored the first round, so students will need fewer total sentences to get the full score for that section of the rubric. (The sentences must still be on topic, however.)
The practice scores will not go on their report card; they just to give all of us an idea about how much progress students are making -- where they're strong, and where they need to improve. Only the performance task scores will go on their report card.
We are already working on Round 2, so look for that either next week or our first week back. Let me know if you have other questions.