HAPPY FRIDAY ALL!
Room 15 is off and running! We have worked hard this week to get into our "groove". Persevering through technical issues and using our time wisely when doing our remote work. This is different for everyone, but as a team we have changed a few things to make it easier. One thing that now happens is the morning session has their work posted for them each day as they are leaving for the afternoon and the afternoon session will have the work they should be working on remotely published for them each morning. All students should be logging on to check the daily discussion item and to check their remote work each day. This work is critical and all work assigned during that time needs to be completed and brought back to school the next time I see them! Sometimes they will be starting an assignment at home and then finishing it with me in school, so it is important we get our schedules down pat! This week we introduced Math Menus as we continued to review our basic operations for addition, subtraction and multiplication with a focus on Partial Products. Students have "must do's" each menu and then have a choice board they work at in any order they want. These menus helps us to continue work on topics even after we have finished direct instruction in class. For example, right now they are working on some skills and games they used in grade 4 and as we move from multiplication to division they will see multiplication under their topic review. This spiraling review has been great in past years so kids keep strategies in their mind as we work on different projects. Also, as I begin to learn your child's strengths and weaknesses, I will be able to differentiate their menus to give them tasks that are unique to their needs on their menu. It allows me to review as well as extend learning for those ready for an extra challenge. In Reading, we have been talking a lot about setting reading goals. Whether our goals are to build our reading stamina, try a new genre or work on fluency, together we are exploring ways to get "lost" in new books! Our class read aloud is a hit! The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise has students asking to have me read more and have spurred some great predictions and discussions in our class. Please be sure to ask your child what a D.E.A.D Dream is and ask them to share theirs - we had LOTS of fun with this! Students have been working on their first writing sample by choosing "The Best Part of Me" and telling me why. This is an extension from the Book The Best Part of Me, written by Wendy Ewald. I will share our final class book with everyone once complete! I have been impressed with their creativity thus far. We started to dip our toes just a bit into Science, thinking about Matter and the 3 States of Matter - Solid, Liquid and Gas! I am looking forward to delving into this topic more with them in the coming weeks. On Fridays, I am trying to create an almost tech-free day for the kids when they are with me. We will always do our online discussion board/check-in, but then I am trying to get them also used to staying focused without an IPad in their hands! This week we had some fun looking at a special kind of matter that could be considered both a solid and a liquid - be sure to ask your child about this! We also tried another STEM challenge! Please check out the pictures in our photo gallery. Today all students are coming home with a BLUE Friday folder. Inside their Friday folder will be some of the work they have completed this week along with a pink comment sheet. Every other week I will write you a comment about your child's progress in class. There is space on the right for you to comment back if you wish, but I ask that you at least read my comment and sign that you have seen it. Feel free to write me a comment every week if you want or to just sign! I have found this is a good way for kids to know we are in constant contact! Thank you all for your continued support! The smiles on their faces say it all to me! I know the tech piece can be frustrating, but we are truly teaching them an amazing skill - perseverance! Have a wonderful weekend. Maura Important Dates to Remember:
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Happy Friday everyone! We did it! We made it back to Room 15 with smiles on and great attitudes for learning! I can tell already we are going to have an unbelievable year together! This week we have spending a great deal of time building our classroom community using many picture books that I just love for the powerful messages they have. You will see samples of these in our Photo Album! We have talked a great deal about kindness and what that should look and sound like as we get to know each other's similarities and differences. I have been very impressed by our conversations thus far! We also have been making our way through Schoology. Each day we spend some time online to practice logging in, finding our course, clicking on assignments, connecting to our Google docs, slides etc. There have been some bumps for sure, but slowly but surely they are feeling more comfortable! Attached to my email today were some instructions sent by our tech wizard Kathy Lynch! I hope you find these helpful! Students are becoming more comfortable taking pictures with their ipads and inserting into assignments on schoology as well as many different google slide shows we have been using these past few days. Today we even tried our first STEM activity. After reading Iggy Peck, Architect, we had a challenge to build a tinfoil tower. Each child was given one box of tinfoil and I split the class into two teams. They were given 10 minutes to build the tallest building they could using only tinfoil and then we added the heights of the teammates together for a team total. Lots of fun was had by all as we learned to help our teammates plan, build and sometimes re-engineer structures! Love to see them working together - even while sitting 6 feet apart! What I saw this week was a group of kiddos thrilled to be back at school and get into a schedule. I know the tech pieces can be frustrating, but hang in there! We WILL continue to work through them so that when we are working at home doing our virtual time together everyone will feel more comfortable. I truly appreciate your patience and support through this!! Next Thursday, September 24 is our Curriculum Night. I attached a copy of the 5th grade presentation to our weekly email and posted in our Parent Group on Schoology. The fifth grade teachers will all host individual google meets from 7:20-7:40pm so we can introduce ourselves and go over some important information about our classrooms. I sent invites to this meeting on Thursday, please let me know if you did not receive it. I am looking forward to being able to meet all of you and answer any questions you may have as well! Thank you for all of your support these first few days. Buses, pick ups, tech ... everything can be challenging, but we have risen together as a community and I, for one, feel truly blessed to be back in the classroom. Enjoy the weekend! Maura IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER Monday, Sept. 21 - PICTURE DAY Wednesday, Sept 23 - Professional Development Half Day - so kids will NOT have remote assignments to work on after our virtual session that morning. (They have the afternoon off!) Thursday, Sept 24 - 7:20 Google Meet with Miss Reilly - Curriculum Night Wednesday, Oct. 7 - 7:30 pm District Wide PTO Meeting Friday, Oct. 9 - NO School - Full Day Professional Development |