Hello everyone,
There
is a lot going on, so this might be a little longer than what I regularly send
you. So, here we go!
Your
child is currently working toward completing a speech. Each 4th and 5th
grader in Manatee County schools
is part of the Tropicana Speech Contest.
This contest is held to help students become more comfortable with
presenting oral information to others.
Each class will have 3 winners, with first and second places going on to
compete in front of the whole school!
If they are winners at this level, they will then compete for the
district title! It is an exciting
opportunity for the kids to present information in a speech format! Here is the timeline of information so
that you are aware of it as well:
April 1st:
Introduce Speech Contest
April 4th: Choose a topic and submit it to the teacher (All
topics are approved!)
April 7th-10th -Begin graphic organizer for speech topic
-
Work on composition of speech and timing
Students should use their knowledge of writing narratives
and expository essays at this point. They can plan and write their essay just like they
would normally. The additional
thing to add here is reading it out loud and timing it! Speeches need to be over 2 minutes and
under 3 minutes. They may want to read
and time it a number of times to be sure that it is a length that will work for
the grading portion of the assignment.
April 11th-Rough draft due – This will be
returned to them on April 14th. I had this date wrong yesterday for their agendas. I will be sure to let them know today!
April 15th-Final draft due (typed or handwritten)
April 15-16th-Write your speech on 4 x 6 index
cards (I have plenty and they will be provided.)
April 17th, 21st, and 22nd-Pracitce
Speech Contests- We will practice in class. Your child should also be practicing at home. The more they practice, the more
comfortable they will be. I also
suggested to them that they record their speech and watch themselves. This way
they can see and hear what they sound like during their presentation and
improve their performance through this self-evaluation!
April 23rd and 24th – Class Speech
Contest
April 29th – School Speech Contest, 9:00 in the
Cafeteria
General Guidelines include: These are for a grade in class. Speeches must be between 2-3 minutes long. They must also be their original
work. There are no props or
costumes allowed during the speech contest. First and Second place classroom winners will move on to the
school contest!
If you have any additional question, please feel free to
email, call, or send me a note.
FCAT! Our testing starts next week, on April 14th. We will have two days of reading
and two days of math. It is
EXTREMELY important that you try to have your child attend, and be on time,
each day. The new rules of the
state are that if they do not complete Session 1, they cannot complete Session
2. That means they would have to miss all of the testing for those days if they
are late or absent PLUS the next days as well. Please make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep and a
good breakfast each day. The school does provide a snack and drink each day
before testing starts. We have
been working hard all year for this and it will be similar to all of the
testing they have done all year-both in class and through the district. We have worked hard and are
prepared! (In fact, we did a
practice reading test today so they could feel the time it takes!) Also, the only other thing that
you may want to mark on your calendars is that during the two weeks of FCAT,
parents are restricted from the building during school hours. This is because testing is
happening all day long both weeks (5th grade has an additional test
and there are makeup testing.)
This just means that you may not visit the class or attend lunch. If you need to pick your child up, they
will do that through the office as they normally do!
Throughout the rest of this year we
still have lots to learn! We will
be reading two more books after we finish The City of Ember, our current
read! We have lots of math to
review and more to learn to prepare for 5th grade. We will also have more work to do in
both Science and Social Studies.
So, please remind your child that the school year still has lots of time
and effort still in it! I look
forward to all that we still have to do!
