Be Well. Do Good Work. Keep in Touch.
Washington state has officially adopted National Common Core Standards. They won’t go into effect (read: they won’t be used on standardized tests) until 2013-2014, but I wanted to let you know to keep you posted. The good news is that Washington’s state standards are really very close to these national standards, so our curriculum shouldn’t change too much.
You can read the press release here.
###
We made this neat video just for you, ladies and gentlemen!
Here are the lyrics to our amazing MSP song, inspired by Tin Cartwright.
Never went to bed as early as I did last night
Well-rested so I shine so bright
I’ve never seen so many people tell me to show what I know
Since I’ve let stamina grow, I have as long as I need
You can not see the response I’m writing
Cannot highlight, but I certainly can circle or cross out.
Pencils, not pens
Are testing with me
MSP
There’s nobody here, it’s just you and me,
It’s where I need to be
I’m ready to show
You what I really know
I’ll never forget, a gallon is 4 quarts
Not surprised to see elapsed time on the test today
Knew an open number line would be OK
I’m amazing
Never saw paragraph numbers in my books before
Testing’s a genre on its own
Synthesizing what I learned
I have never had such a feeling
Such a feeling of complete control, as I do today
Pencils, not pens
Are testing with me
MSP
There’s nobody here, it’s just you and me, It’s where I need to be
I’m ready to show
You what I really know
I’ll never forget, a gallon is 4 quarts
I never will forget, a gallon is 4 quarts
Pencils not pens.
Pencils not pens.
Pencils not pens.
My pencils and pens. (I love you.)
###
This Friday, we read the section of Hugo Cabret where the automaton dips its pen into ink and draws a startling image. This inspired me to do this art project with our class.
Our results were quite lovely. They brighten up our hallway!
If you’d like to do a similar project, here’s the rubric we used, aligned to Washington state standards.
Japanese Cherry Blossoms rubric
###