Response to questions

Hi Annushka.  Thanks for your notes. I wanted to answer the question here so others could see it.


Annushka asked if you could type the letter to the author.

Yes, if you would like to type either of the book responses, you can. You don't have to, but you can.

If anyone else has any questions, just let me know.

Call for Scholastic Reporters

This message is probably more for the outgoing 4th grade because you have to be 10 by November 1st to apply, but it's something to think about for everyone.

Scholastic Magazine for Kids is looking for reporters.

 If you're interested in becoming a Kid Reporter for Scholastic, you can find more about it and the qualifications for applying on the Scholastic Website.  How To Join the Scholastic Press Corps.
Here's some info from the site:

About the Scholastic Kids Press Corps
Members of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps cover news stories for www.scholastic.com/kidspress and select Scholastic classroom magazines. About 25 new press corps members are chosen each school year. The program is open to all students ages 10-14 with a burning desire to be a journalist. The selection of Kid Reporters is based on writing ability, interviewing skills, and attention to detail.

I think some of you would be really good at this so why don't you take a look and consider it.  I'll be happy to help you with anything you need for the application.

Back to School - already????

A number of my teacher friends live in other states where school ends earlier and begins again earlier. They're all talking about starting back to school this week and next.  I have a few more weeks before I get to go in and start setting up for the new year and almost exactly a month before I welcome you in person.


In the meantime, I wanted to say hello here and respond to any questions you may have about 4th grade.

Hi to Alyssa who sent me a comment last week. Sounds like you're having a fun vacation. I'm eager to hear what book you ended up choosing.

Also hello to Anthony who sent me a message just to say hello.

I read all your letters and I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to know you all.

If anyone has any questions about 4th grade or just wants to say hello and tell me about your summer, just send me a comment in the form below. I won't publish yours because I need your parents' permission to do that, but I will answer.

This picture is for all of you who are enjoying the summer and aren't too anxious to come back.

NYS Test scores

I've had a few questions about the ranges for the scores so I'll post them below.

Just so you know, in Math you needed to score 26 points higher this year to get a 3 and in ELA you needed to score 18 points higher than last year.  That's an incredibly high bar so everyone who scored a 3 or 4 should be VERY proud of themselves.

The cutoffs were as follows for Grade 4 (they vary by grade):

Math  (1) 485 - 635;   (2) 636 - 675;  (3) 676 - 706;   (5) 707 - 800; 

ELA    (1) 430 - 636;   (2) 637 - 667;  (3) 668 - 719;   (5) 720 - 775;


ETA - for those wanting to understand what it took to get a 4 - If you had a perfect score on Days 2 and 3, you could afford to get 2 wrong on Day 1. If you lost any points on Days 2 and 3, you could only get one wrong on day 1 to still get a 4. 

I'm sure this is very confusing. I've spent a lot of time analyzing the numbers to figure it all out.