Dear 4A Families,
Happy first full week of May. Hope you all had a good weekend, despite the stormy weather. Looks like some really nice weather coming up later this week!
Speaking of later this week, there will be two pick-up opportunities: Friday from 1:00-3:00 pm and Saturday 9:00-11:00 am. We will have folders for each student with materials for upcoming lessons. Please let me know if you will not be able to make those pick up times and I will get the materials to you either by mail, or drop-off. If there is anything in your child’s desk that you need please let me know. We are not emptying desks at this time, but if you need tool boxes, crayons, colored pencils etc. that you do not have at home right now, I can get those for you as well. You will not be able to go into the building. Materials will be outside of the school.
New Features on the daily Check-Off PDFs: Based on parent feedback, we have added two new rows to the PDFs that should be helpful. At the top, there will be a list of Zoom meetings for that day. At the bottom, there will be a list of items due that day and items due in the future.
On Tuesday, May 5th-—Cinco de Mayo we encourage all students to wear Cinco-de-Mayo themed clothing to their Zoom meetings on Tuesday. We will be having weekly theme days though the end of the year which are detailed in the eFC. Cinco de Mayo: Here is some simple, kid-friendly information to share with your children about Cinco de Mayo: https://www.ducksters.com/holidays/cinco_de_mayo.php. Many people have the misconception that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day (which is September16th). Cinco de Mayo is actually a celebration of Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. For Tuesday’s Cinco de Mayo Fiesta theme day, I encourage kids to wear red, white, and green, the colors of the Mexican flag, or bright festive colors.
Please continue to use Google Classroom to find assignments, links, instructional videos. We will continue to use Seesaw to submit many assignments, but students will also begin taking tests on Google Classroom. To start, the students will have an open book religion test that will be available Tuesday. I have made a video going through the chapter that the students should watch before they take the test. There is also a quick activity on Seesaw that the students will complete after watching the video.
Zoom Meetings: The Zoom meetings really are a wonderful way to connect with the students in real time and have lessons in a somewhat more classroom-like way. This week we will have whole class meetings on Monday and Tuesday at 1:00 and on Thursday we will meet as a whole class this week at 11:30. I usually have two small group meetings on Thursdays, but this week we are completing the religion lesson, and it makes more sense to to this meeting whole class. Students are also invited to attending math review Zoom sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:30am.
Links for all meetings are posted on Google Classroom called 4A Recurring Zoom Meetings. I will also send out reminders before the meetings. Students should be becoming more able to independently sign in to their Zoom meetings.
Video lessons: The videos that Ms Benson, Ms. Corrigan and I are posting are there to guide the students through lessons for deeper understanding and comprehension of
materials. By following along on the videos the students can take part in virtual lessons—and work independently to master material and concepts. These videos should reduce the amount of time you need to spend with your children on lessons. We encourage students to wear headphones or earbuds while watching the videos, and have all materials/books needed to take part in the lessons as they listen. Thank you for encouraging your children to listen to and take part in the video lessons that are provided each week.
Language Arts: The due dates for the Running Away Story have been extended. The rough draft is now due by May 11th. Students will submit their rough drafts via Seesaw—after they have done some of their own editing and revising. This means reading their draft to a family member to get feedback. The teachers should not work harder on editing that the students do! 🙂 Once we have edited the drafts the students can start their final drafts. We will provide some nice paper in the packets you will pick up later this week to use for the final draft paper. Final drafts are due no later than May 26th. During our Zoom meeting on Monday we will talk more about the writing and the students will have an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas.
Happy Numbers: The students should be working on Happy Numbers at least 3 times a week for 15 minutes each time. That is a total of 45 minuets of valuable math practice and review. Happy Numbers provides a math curriculum that adapts itself in response to individual student progress — it continually meets the changing needs of the students. Instant feedback helps students correct mistakes and progress independently. Using Happy Numbers along with our class lessons will help ensure continued growth and confidence in math.
Religion: We will be continuing with the Beatitudes this week. On Monday the students will have access to a video going over the Beatitude chapter in our book in preparation for an open book test that will be available on Google Classroom on Tuesday. This test needs to be completed by May 11 at the latest. I will meet with both classes on Thursday during our Zoom sessions to complete the lesson we started last week that focuses on living the Beatitudes in our daily lives. Students should have the PDF’s or paper they used last week to complete as we meet. Once the students have drawn all of their pictures with captions—including a little color—they can submit them on Seesaw. If the students missed last week’s Zoom lesson, I have posted the notes on Google Classroom for them to access.
Here’s to a great week everyone. Remember, I am here for you all–parents and students. Please let me know if you need support–#Bettertogther!
Mary