Week of 3/1

We had a wonderful "first week" back! The children all did so well with their mask-wearing, hand sanitizing, making new friends, and working hard! I have a couple of recommendations/reminders after the first week:

• Because we are often bringing things home (school lunches, work packets, and corrected work) I think a small backpack might be handy. We will leave backpacks outside on the picnic table, but I think it would be nice for transporting water bottles, extra masks, and anything I am sending home.

• This week, when we arrive at school, I am going to have students get their morning tubs (these are activities for strengthening fine motor skills) right away. The closer your children arrive to the 8:15/12:15 start times, the more time they will have with their morning tub. We have some exciting tubs for March, which I previewed on Friday, so children will hopefully be anxious to get to school on time!

• I realized that for the "Sight Word Mat" (M, Tu. Th, F asynchronous work), children need a list of the sight words. I will be sending that list home with them on Monday, but the sight words can also be found on the "High Frequency Words" tab on my website. Remember that the mats we sent home on Monday the 22nd need to be kept in a safe spot, as those will be the options for asynchronous work (along with reading) on M, Tu, Th, F. We may even continue to use those in April and beyond, so please keep track of those. They offer great ideas for fun ways to extend students' classroom learning in all subject areas. There is no need to return any work from M, Tu, Th, F-- the only work that needs to be turned back is Wednesday's asynchronous work packet.

• This Tuesday, your children will bring home a work packet for their Wednesday asynchronous work. We will not be using pages from the last materials pick-up-- these are all new pages. Following the 8:30 Zoom, these are the pages they will work on, and then bring back to class, on Thursday the 4th.

Raz-Kids Assignment
This past Wednesday, about 7 students did not complete their assignment in Raz-Kids. There are three things students must do to complete the assignment: listen to the story, read the story themselves, then take the quiz. I really would like the students to be taking their Raz-Kids quizzes, because these are a great way to build reading comprehension. Please check your child's Raz-Kids account and see whether there is a "My Assignment" spaceship on the homescreen. If there is, that means their assignment hasn't been completed. For a full tutorial on how to get into Raz-Kids and find your child's assignment, please review this tutorial I sent back in September.

This Week in Class
Phonics Focus: "sh" digraph
Sight Words: little & love
Math: Subtraction & Measurement
Theme: Welcoming March

Center Time
This week, I will begin launching academic centers. Usually, I ease into these and introduce one center area per week. However, due to our late start back into the classroom, I am going to try to launch all centers this week. There will be a math center, a writing center, a reading center (we will be using "actual" books in the classroom vs. Raz-Kids), a craft center, and a literacy game center. The children will get to all the centers in each rotation over 2 days (meaning that they will meet with me for reading once on M or Tu, then once again on Th or F, they will do one craft M/Tu, and another craft on Th/F, etc.) During this time, our classroom aide (who you may have heard about from your child) Mr. Tim, will be in the room assisting with these centers. I am very excited to launch these hands-on learning centers!

Special Project
On Wednesday the 17th, St. Patrick's Day, the students' asynchronous work will be to design and make a leprechaun trap. There are many, many ideas for leprechaun traps on the internet if you need any inspiration. I just wanted to give you a heads-up about this assignment because you will need to start collecting small boxes, toilet paper rolls, green paper, etc. Children will take a photo of their traps or (even better) record a video of themselves explaining how the trap works on the 17th, and send photos/videos to me in SeeSaw so that I can see all their great engineering! 

Upcoming Events
Friday, 3/5: Report cards go home (completed and sent by your 2nd trimester teacher)
Wednesday, 3/17: Special asynchronous work project: Leprechaun traps (start saving boxes and materials for these)
April 5-9: Spring Break

Week of 2/22

I hope you have all been enjoying a nice week off to recalibrate before we welcome all the children to the classroom on Monday! I am so excited to see everyone in K2 and look forward to welcoming my students who did not participate in the Explore & Discover program, as well as three new students. We have 24 total students, and will have 12 AM students, and 12 PM students.  

Schedules 

• M, Tu, Th, F AM Schedule: Arrive between 8:15 & 8:25 (don't be late, or the gate will be closed) at Gate F. Dismissal at 10:45. 30 minutes of asynchronous work after class-- see below for details.

• M, Tu, Th, F PM Schedule: Arrive between 12:15 & 12:25 (don't be late, or the gate will be closed) at Gate F. Dismissal at 2:45. 30 minutes of asynchronous work after class-- see below for details.

• Wednesdays for all students: Zoom Meeting from 8:30 to 9:00. It will be the same Zoom link students have been using this whole year. Those students who are new to the class will receive a Zoom link in SeeSaw. After the Zoom meeting, students will complete a work packet for their 2.5 hours of asynchronous work. See below for details. 

M, Tu, Th, F Asynchronous Work for All Students

• All students will receive a calendar on February 22nd with different "choice menus" attached for their 30 minutes of additional work. Please keep the choice menus in a safe place, as we will be using those for the next few months. Every day, students should read independently, plus choose an activity from the menus for their asynchronous work. Many parents have expressed concerns to us about the amount of screen time and app usage students have had in the past 6+ months. We are trying to offer options that are off-screen for asynchronous work with these choice menus. However, if you prefer your child spends time on Lexia, Raz-Kids, eSpark, Happy Numbers, etc. for his/her additional work, that is fine with us as well. Work completed during asynchronous time does not need to be submitted in SeeSaw. If your child would like to turn in work to us in the classroom to show us any special projects they have completed, that is fine with us, but we will not be using SeeSaw very often as we transition to in-person instruction. Work feedback and work review will all be done in-person now.

Wednesday Asynchronous Work

• Students will receive a work packet each Tuesday in the classroom. A cover sheet will be on the packet that gives any specific directions needed. Students will return the packet to class on Thursday. For this Wednesday, students will be using worksheets that they picked up in the last materials pickup. They will still receive a cover sheet on Tuesday for the work they will be completing, but no worksheets will be attached since they already have them. The use of work packets vs. SeeSaw will allow for more differentiation of work, and again, give screen-free options to students. As with the rest of the week, all educational apps continue to be a choice if you'd like your children to utilize those apps. **I will continue assigning a story in Raz-Kids each Wednesday. Please check to make sure your child listens to the story, reads the story, and takes the quiz. If all these things have not been done, the "My Assignment" spaceship will not disappear from the homescreen.

This Week in Class
Phonics Focus: Long "o" sound with silent e
Sight Word: here
Math: Subtraction
Theme: Presidents & getting to know one another & classroom routines 

First Day & Beyond
For those of you who have been participating in the Explore & Discover program, the routine is the same. Children will arrive at the gate, answer their health check questions, sanitize, and enter the yard. Parents will have to say goodbye at the gate and cannot enter campus. I will be standing by the door and children will put down their water bottle & extra mask on the outdoor picnic table, then enter the classroom. If students need to take a drink or a mask break during the day, they will go outside to the picnic table to do that. The single-use restroom is in our classroom, and children can use it any time. Both classroom doors will remain open throughout the day for extra ventilation, so please have your children dress warmly. We will have one recess break per day, even if it is sprinkling outside. I found that the E & D students LOVED their outside time, and wanted to go out, rain or shine. Again, please dress accordingly. 

Parking Lot
The parking lot near the kindergarten playground IS NOT TO BE USED for drop-offs or pick-ups. Students will be lining up partly in the parking lot, and it is a safety hazard to have cars driving in and out next to the line. Please plan accordingly, arrive early, and park on the street or walk.

Items to Bring
Please keep items brought to school to a minimum. All that is really needed is a water bottle and a baggie with an extra mask (in case of damage/soiling of first mask). Reusable water bottles are highly encouraged so that children can quickly identify & find their own water bottle. Labeling the water bottle and extra mask is also important. All other materials (pencils, crayons, whiteboard markers, scissors, gluesticks, etc.) will be supplied to your child in a personal supply box. These items will not be shared to greatly reduce germ transfer. **If you would like your child to keep the extra mask at school so that you don't have to bring it back and forth each day, please let me know and I will have your child keep it in his/her cubby. Also, all learning materials currently at home will remain at home, including iPads. 

Upcoming Events
Monday, 2/22: Start of in-person instruction
Friday, 3/5: Report cards go home (completed and sent by your 2nd trimester teacher)
Wednesday, 3/17: Special asynchronous work project: Leprechaun traps (start saving boxes and materials for these)
April 5-9: Spring Break

Week of 2/8

I am looking forward to meeting with you all this week during parent-teacher conferences. I will be updating you on your child's progress on the various assessments I've given over the past two weeks, as well as checking in with all of you as we enter into our new mode of learning on 2/22. 

There are several schedule changes this week due to conferences and the Explore & Discover program. Most significantly, there will not be any 11:00 meetings this week. I will list the daily schedule below.

Curriculum This Week
Phonics Focus: "ake" word family
Sight Word: come
Math: Subtraction
Theme: Lunar New Year/Valentines

ELA Small Group Materials 

• Sight word sentence pack-- we have begun a new pack that has "are" on the cover.

• Warm Up Pack (When I Come to a Tricky Word I Can...is on the front). Butterfly group needs the "Sound Up" chart

• Whiteboard, marker, eraser

Math Small Group Materials (math groups will only be on Weds. & Thurs.) 

• Whiteboard, marker, eraser
  

• Flat marbles, paperclip, and this pack 

Grasshopper T-shirt Day 

Let's have another Grasshopper t-shirt day this Tuesday the 9th so those of us who are in-person can wear them in the classroom together, and those of us at home can wear them on Zoom. 

Monday 

• 8:30 Zoom

• Reading group Zooms between 8:50 and 9:45

• NO Math Zooms between 10:05 and 10:50

• NO 11:00 Zoom

Tuesday 

• 8:30 Zoom
  

• Explore & Discover program-- no other Zooms today

Wednesday 

• 8:30 Zoom

• Reading group Zooms between 8:50 and 9:45

• Math Zooms between 10:05 and 10:50

• NO 11:00 Zoom

Thursday 

• 8:30 Zoom

• Reading group Zooms between 8:50 and 9:45

• Math Zooms between 10:05 and 10:50

• NO 11:00 Zoom

Friday

•  8:30 Zoom

• Explore & Discover program-- no other Zooms today

Reopening of School
You will be hearing from Mrs. Bailey this week of your new classroom assignment (if you are staying on Distant Learning), and those who are opting for in-person learning will hear whether your child is in the AM or PM session. I have kept AM/PM mostly the same, with just a few changes, for those of you who have been participating in the Explore & Discover program. Please note that if you decide to travel during President's Week over 150 miles out of the area, you must quarantine at home and miss the first week+ of "official" in-person instruction. I highly discourage doing this, as we will be learning all the new protocols now that multiple grades are back on campus, plus meeting the new friends who will become part of our class. Please make every effort to remain at home during President's Week so that we can all return safely to school. It is truly going to take a village to keep us all safe and able to participate in in-person instruction. I appreciate your cooperation.

Upcoming Events 

2/8-2/12: Parent-teacher conferences 

Tuesday, 2/9 Discover & Explore program 

Friday, 2/12: Discover & Explore program

February 15-19th: President's Week vacation

Monday, 2/22: Start of in-person instruction

Friday, 3/5: Report cards go home