Friday, September 2, 2011
Dear Parents:
In 4th grade, your child will be taking a writing assessment for the state. This new test is called the STAAR test, State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness.
In order to prepare for this test, your child will be introduced to the Writing Process and implementing the 6-Traits of Writing. Along with classroom activities fostering these writing skills, a writing journal, or “Diary” so to say, will be assigned nightly to build upon such skills.
Your child will be asked to write 5-10 complete sentences about what is on their mind. There will be daily ideas or prompts provided in the assignment book should your child have “writer’s block”, however these prompts are just suggestions. If your child has something else pressing that they would like to communicate, through writing, this is encouraged!
This activity will be graded as a completion grade. Students will be expected to write, Monday through Thursday, and journals will be checked for “completion” on Friday. If the writing is complete, the student will be given 20 points. Five weeks of journaling will give the student a 100 in the grade book as a composition grade. The 6th week in the six weeks, will be a bi-week. Continued journaling will be encourage, but not graded.
Should you have any questions regarding this daily assignment, please contact me as soon as possible, as we will be starting this assignment Tuesday, September 6th. You can reach me via the school number, 972-475-3380 or through e-mail at wrbailey@garlandisd.net.
Thank you for all of your support,
Wendy Bailey
