Week 24: Let the SAGE begin...and may the odds be ever in our favor!

We will be taking the SAGE Writing test this week. Frankly, and weirdly, I'm excited. The students have worked SO hard to perfect their writing and I'm so proud of them. We've been drilling the foldables in class (to help students organize) and writing essays, constantly revising and perfecting. Students have all been shown their scores from last year and they have set a personal goal for their SAGE Writing and Reading tests. We've talked about the differences in writing for a computer vs. a human. We've learned how to relax and discussed the tools about how the test will work. I don't think students could come into this test any more prepared and I'm pretty jazzed to see how they have grown as writers since last year.

Please, please encourage your student to keep drilling the foldables until they are well-memorized and can be made in a few minutes. See the blog post:  SAGE HELPS for all the information about the test and foldables.

Just a reminder, I'll send in Book Orders this week. If you are interested, you can order online or bring in check/cash. It's a great month to get good books at a cheap price from Scholastic.

Looking ahead...the week after testing is the last week in the trimester. Monday will be our After-Testing-Waffle-Party (something I do every year that is really fun), then we'll do our Book Finale. Some students are lacking a bit in academic or effort grades. Both grades are important as they figure into a student's total GPA. Here is the extra credit I am offering:

For Extra Academic Credit: Do a 3rd Utah Expedition Question or redo any previous assignment of the trimester.

For Extra Effort Credit: Enter a Writing Contest (forms and magazines are in my room).

All work must be finished by Wednesday, February 11th so I have time to score work and submit final grades.

Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. Encourage your student to eat well, sleep well and walk into the test with a big smile, because I'm confident they are going to perform very well on this test!

No Nation-in-the-News this week

Schedule
February 2-February 6: SAGE Testing (Woot!) in B-Lab