Thank you for scheduling your goal setting meetings with me so quickly. I look forward to meeting with you, beginning October 1st, to discuss the results of various assessments with you and what your child's academic needs are. I began meeting with children this past week, and will continue to meet with them this week, for a second round of assessments. Again, thank you for scheduling those so promptly with me.
This week we had a few bumps in the road with some of our Zoom meetings. I will be going back to the drawing board, reminding students of Zoom protocols on Monday, but I could also use your support. Students should be on mute during whole-class meetings, unless I ask them not to be. Some students are having a hard time "unmuting" themselves when I do ask for a response. Please review mute/unmute with your child. Also, as much as possible, please be away from the meeting(s) so that your child is not relying on you for help. If I am asking for a response to a question, I want to hear your child's quick response. Many children are first checking with parents if their answer is correct. It is ok and expected that students don't always have the right response, and these side conversations are taking away from our learning time. If it is possible for your child to be in his/her bedroom or in a separate area, that would be ideal because we are also often getting a lot of background noise of parents on work calls, etc. I completely understand & appreciate the difficulty of finding a quiet space in the house, especially when some supervision is often needed. Whatever you can do to make the Zoom calls a more independent activity is appreciated. Thank you for your support.
Daily Cafe
We will continue writing and reading with Gail Bouchey this week. If your child would like to take out the writing paper that was in last Monday's materials, they may use that for writing as well. There were also a few pieces of writing paper in the first pick-up. The most recent paper has lines on both the front and back, so one piece per day should be sufficient. However, some children have been using notebooks and other paper, and that is fine too. I just wanted to make you aware that there is additional writing paper in their materials that they are welcome to use.
Apps
We have now rolled out these apps: Epic, Lexia, Raz-Kids, Khan Kids, eSpark, and Handwriting without Tears. As you have seen, there are often specific assignments in these apps that are on their schedule or choice board (last week it was Lexia, Raz-Kids, Khan Kids, and eSpark). However, once they finish their SeeSaw assignments and assigned work in these apps, if they want to continue their learning, it is now ok for them to use these apps for enrichment. Remember to monitor their usage, however-- 15 to 30 minutes is appropriate at this age.
Not all kids have completed last week's assignment in Raz-Kids. This can be found in the "My Assignment" spaceship on the homepage. If there is no spaceship that says "My Assignment," then they have completed the assignment. For further information on how to log into Raz-Kids, please check the video on last Wednesday's SeeSaw board. The assignment in Raz is specific to your child's reading needs, so please be sure to have them complete those each week.
Reading Warm-Ups and Sight Word Sentences
On Thursday & Friday last week (and from now on) your children had two assignments: to practice reading, then recording themselves reading the sight word sentences, and to practice going through the letter sound chart and recording that as well. Last week's sentences were quite difficult-- they will be much easier this week, but we always introduce & practice them in small groups first, before having them as an assignment. The reading warm-up activity is also something we do in small groups, so they have had quite a bit of exposure to this chart in the past 3 weeks, and we will continue to practice it in small groups. Daily recitation of these charts and sentences really enhance their learning of letter sounds, blends, and sight words. If your child is struggling with the chart, just have them do what they can & submit it, and we will continue practicing this in small groups. A paper copy of the reading warm-up and the sight word sentences is available in their materials, so you can do this activity screen-free if you prefer (except for the recording part). Please reinforce that they should be practicing the warm-up chart exactly how the voice instructions are in SeeSaw-- by saying the letter name, the sound, and the picture.
This Week in Class
We will:
- learn the letters Kk & Ll
- learn the sight word the
- return to number sense in math
- continue writing and reading with the Daily Cafe videos
- introduce a science series called "Mystery Doug" with an engaging video on a new topic each week
Upcoming Events
Thursday 10/1-Friday 10/9: Parent-Teacher Goal Setting Meetings
Friday 10/16: No School: Staff Professional Development Day
Monday 10/19: No School
