We have now passed our 30th day of school, and the children seem to be hitting their stride. I am so impressed with the independence I am seeing as the school year continues. Thank you for encouraging your students to do as much as they can on SeeSaw on their own. They are really doing a super job, and I am hoping that it will only continue to get easier as you encourage more and more independence.
Apple Week
This week, we will be reading apple-themed books, both fiction and non-fiction. We will also have a "Let's Find Out" on apples, as well as a Mystery Doug on apples, and learn a little about Johnny Appleseed. On Friday, we will have a special Zoom at 11:00, and I need your help. I'd like the children to taste different types of apples (preferably different colors, if you can find them: red, green, and yellow). We will all taste our apple slices together, and then do a writing activity together on Zoom where we will write about which color was our favorite. If you cannot get apples for this activity, your child can just write about which type they have preferred in the past. However, it would be great if we can all do the tasting together, so thank you for purchasing apples in advance of Friday's Zoom if you can.
Teach Monster
This week, we are introducing a new app, Teach Your Monster to Read (Teach Monster for short). This is a fun app that children have really enjoyed in the past. Please view this video to ensure that your child is ready to use this app on Monday. There may be a little setup required to get into the app if your iPad is not one that I set up in advance. Your children will have a similar video to view on SeeSaw so that they know how to sign in on their own. After Monday, Teach Monster will be on the first page's schedule in SeeSaw as the alternate activity this week to meeting with me. Those children who do not meet with me during the first block of work time will do 15 minutes on Teach Monster, in addition to their regular SeeSaw work.
Cornerstone
We have our first Project Cornerstone lesson this week! Cornerstone is a program that helps promote a caring and inclusive environment at schools, where every child feels valued and respected. Thank you to Matt & Danielle for volunteering to be our Cornerstone parents. Cornerstone always has a great book to start a discussion with the kids. This will be available in SeeSaw as a recorded reading. Please make sure your students listen to the reading before Matt's follow-up lesson on Wednesday at the 11:00 Zoom. I am looking forward to having Cornerstone lessons back in the virtual classroom!
Goal-Setting Meetings
I am looking forward to meeting with you all beginning this Thursday, through next Friday the 9th, to discuss how we can all best support your child's progress during distance learning. Please come prepared to discuss what's been going well, what has been difficult, what you feel your child's strengths are, and what I can do to support your child in his/her learning. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with you!
This Week's Small Group Supplies
Thank you all for continuing to send me messages about what is working & not working. I truly appreciate this "village" we are all creating together. Thank you to Chris for this week's idea of having a weekly reminder about what will be needed in small groups. Typically, ELA small group supplies do not change. Children should have these items ready-to-go before meeting with me during the first block (the insect groups):
- The "warm-up pack" that has "When I Come to a Tricky Word, I Can..." on the front page.
- The sight word pack that has "a" on the front page
- The whiteboard/marker/eraser
- Please have this pack ready on Monday & Tuesday.
- Please have this page ready for Wednesday & Thursday
- Please be prepared to upload both of the above pages on SeeSaw after they complete them with me
- Your child should always have the whiteboard/marker/eraser available at math time too.
Thank you for having your child ready in advance for the small group meeting. Every minute counts during those meetings!
Thank you again for the amazing work you are doing with your children. My latest round of assessments showed some great progress that I am excited to share with all of you!
