Week 4

We squeezed in a lot this week, despite our shorter than normal week.

Literacy:

Students have been working hard on their personal narratives.  During Writer's Workshop they persevered at using strategies to help figure out how to spell an unknown word.  These include:

• Stretching or tapping out the sounds (f - i - sh)
• Clapping multisyllabic words and chunking the sounds, then tapping or stretching the sounds in each part.  (pump - kin)
• Use the word wall (sight words) (and, this, where, play, what)
• Asking: Does the word sounds like another word I know (clown - town)

Additionally we worked on editing with intention.  In this lesson we talked making our writing even better by adding richer, juicier vocabulary, and adding additional details.

We began small groups with a focus on phonics this week.  Next week we will add guided reading groups to our schedule.

Last week I read the book,  Chicken Little, written and illustrated by Rebecca and Ed Emberley, with a focus on developing character voices while reading.  This week and each cohort enjoyed reading a readers theater version of the familiar tale.  Students read the script all together and then read it again with their assigned parts.  The students had a fun time thinking about what their character's voice would sound like and then using that voice as they read their parts.

Math:

During math we worked on critical thinking by using a process called "Which one Doesn't Belong", and students worked on developing problem solving strategies in their math journals.  Students are using the Read, Draw, Write (R.D.W) process to solve story problems.  I've been choosing math problems which ALL students can solve using their own approach and math knowledge.  For example: one student may draw a picture (diagram) and then count by ones to solve; another students may draw a picture and then group by tens and ones to solve; someone else may draw a picture and use repeated addition to solve; and a different student may draw a picture and use multiplication to solve.  Students have been using our document camera to share their math thinking with the group.  It is a great why for us to learn from one another.

On Friday, the Gold Cohort completed their digital citizenship pledges and were able to sign onto Dreambox on their iPads to have some time getting reacquainted with the program.  Students also signed into their Seesaw accounts and did two introductory lessons to practice using the various tools, and submitting their work.  The Green Cohort will do this on Monday.

The Gold Cohort had their first music lesson this week.  We worked on "beats in a measure".  Students practiced creating various rhythms with a focus on adding a rest on different beats in the measure.   We used red and blue "solo cups" to mark our 4 beat measures.  Red cups marked the played beats (clapping) and the blue cups marked the rests (no clap).  Then the students experimented with using different parts of their body( example: stomp, snap, tap legs, etc) or other objects (tap pencil, hands on desk, etc) to "play" their measures.  

The rain held off long enough on Thursday for the Green Cohort to paint their landscapes of Elmore Mountain.  

School Photos:

Both Cohorts had their school photos taken this week!  Students brought home photo envelopes in their Take Home Folders.  Jay will be picking these up at the end of the day on Tuesday, so if you plan to order photos, please return the envelope along with payment Monday (Green) or Tuesday (Gold).

Field Trip:

If you haven't already done so, please return your permission slip for our Fire Safety Field Trip to the Elmore Fire Station.  The Green Cohort will be going first thing on Monday (Oct. 5) morning.  The Gold Cohort will go on Friday (Oct. 9) morning.  

iPads and Remote Wednesday's

If all goes well, I am hoping to send iPads home next week, so students will have them for remote Wednesdays.  The plan will be to have a Google Meet morning meeting as a whole class at 8:15.  I will be inviting students to this meeting using a calendar invitation using their LSUU Google account.  Students should be able to go directly to their Google Meet app to find the Google Meet. Then, they will click on their green button that says "Join Meet".  I will send home more about this later.  As we begin to develop new Wednesday remote routines, some students may also have a small group.  This will also show up in the Meet app.  I will developing a schedule for this over the next few days.  

Once iPads go home, I will be sending home charging cords.  iPads should be fully charged at home each night.  Students should bring their iPad and headphones to school with them EVERYDAY!

On Wednesdays I will be offering Office hours for students between 2 -3 pm.  If students have questions with their school work or want extra help with something parents should send me an email prior to 2:00 and we will set up a time between 2-3 for this support.  

Parent Teacher Conferences

Virtual (Google Meet or Phone) Conferences will be the afternoon of Thursday, October 15th and all day Friday, October 16th.  I will plan to have you sign up this week at the morning drop off when we do our health screening.  If I don't see you, I will give you a call to schedule a virtual conference.