Week 31

Bravo to all our children, who performed admirably and worked smartly throughout the most challenging ELA exam in my experience as a teacher (and I've been teaching for eighteen years)! I witnessed students reading carefully, looking back and working thoughtfully with great perseverance through out a long exam. Regardless of the results, our children are all rock stars and firmly among the best!!!

Here's what's coming next week:

• We are starting some Shakespeare work. Our teaching artist, Scott, will help us put on a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of Shakespeare's most famous comedy. The acting program will begin May 3rd. In class we have begun familiarizing ourselves with the language of the Shakespeare's times and we are going to read the story in contemporary language before tackling the script, which is in Shakespeare's original text. Don't worry if your child struggles at first, it will get better :)                                                               ADDENDUM: Check out the video bar at the top left hand corner of this page. There are links to two version of A Midsummer Night's Dream:  BBC Animated Shakespeare and Disney's. Enjoy!

The NYS Math test will take place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The format will be as follows:

• Day 1: 31 multiple choice questions over 90 minutes maximum
• Day 2: 31 multiple choice questions over 90 minutes maximum
• Day 3: 5 short response and 4 extended response (written in test booklet) over 90 minutes maximum.

Just like this week, children should be well rested, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive to school before 8:40.

Have a wonderful weekend!