As we close in on our MCAS dates of March 26th and 27th, we will be reviewing topics during a “MCAS Boot Camp.”  Today students are completing a small packet to review grammar and punctuation concepts like capitalization, comma use, and pronoun use.  We will be going over the packet in class tomorrow, so it is important that students complete this assignment tonight in order to maximize the learning that can be accomplished during their class time tomorrow.

Tomorrow night, a second homework packet will allow them to review and practice with the skills of identifying 1) author’s purpose, 2) a story’s theme and 3) a poem’s mood or tone.  Again, it is important that their practice is completed each night so that we can address any difficulties that the students had in class.

Friday we will begin to review the myth and folktale genre.

Next week, we will review fiction story elements such as character, setting, and plot, and we will review strategies for organizing ideas before tackling open response items.

This “boot camp” will hopefully provide students with a burst of confidence before they tackle MCAS on Thursday and Friday.  Please help your students by ensuring that they get a good night’s sleep both Wednesday and Thursday nights and that they eat a breakfast that will sustain them through what can be long morning testing hours.  Thank you for your support in this!  Once next week is over we will be able to get back into the fun stuff- great literature and some hands on projects!  🙂