Weeky Update

I hope everyone had a chance to get out and enjoy the warm weather this weekend! I went for an icy ski with my family. Hopefully, we get some more snow soon!

Lunch Bunch

This week’s Lunch Bunches will be Tuesday and Thursday at 1pm.

📏Math

This week the kids are working on dividing decimals. For each lesson I’ll provide a video for the standard algorithm (the one you’re all familiar with) AND the Big 7 Method (also known as the partial quotient method). It is up to you and your child to decide how you want to solve the problems. I will say, don’t knock the Big 7 Method right off the bat! Be open minded. 🤙🏼

📚Reading

This week’s comprehension story is They Called Her Molly Pitcher. Instead of a Kahoot! quiz, kids will be answering text questions assess their understanding of the story. Students will be working on finding details to support a conclusion or generalization.

📝 Writing

This week’s writing choice board includes more choices. They are required to complete 3 options for the week. Most of the options have a 2 paragraph minimum.

🚀 Science

We’re starting our new unit! It is called Spaceship Earth and will be an 8 week unit all about astronomy. This week kids will start their Anchor Activity. This is a place for them to collect their thoughts throughout the unit. Mystery 1 is all about the Earth’s rotation.

🇺🇸 Social Studies

This week the class is learning about the two sides of the American Revolution. Who were the Loyalists? Who were the Patriots?

🙇🏽‍♀️ Friday Reflection 🙇🏼‍♂️

Please encourage your child to answer the questions for the Friday Reflection thoughtfully.

Weekly Update

Our first week of home learning is finished! I’ve been so impressed with the resilience and adaptability of these kids. They are so creative with their assignment responses and are becoming fluent with this technology so quickly.

I am also incredibly thankful to all of you families out there who are by your kids side, helping them through this process. I know you are balancing work and school. You’re doing an amazing job.

We just found out today that we will not be returning to school this year. While I’m extremely disappointed, I know this is what we need to do to flatten the curve. I am grateful for technology that allows me to interact face to face with kids each day. While we are trying to make the best of the situation, it’s not the same as getting a hug or a high five at the door each morning.

Archiving Assignments

Every Friday, I will archive the week’s assignments on Seesaw in an attempt to declutter our class journal. If the assignments aren’t finished within the week, there will not be an opportunity to make it up unless an absence is excused. Think of it as in class work.

Lunch Bunch

I’ll be hosting Lunch Bunch on Wednesdays and Fridays at 1pm. I’ve included our Zoom meeting code next to my name on Seesaw. We will use that code for all meetings.

Our First Lunch Bunch!

Math

This week was a very basic review of adding and subtracting numbers to 120. Next week, our normal math curriculum will resume. I’ll be including videos of me teaching new concepts. It will be more challenging, but I believe kids are ready for it.

Literacy

Raz-Kids is a great tool for reading practice. The kids needed some review on the app. We will continue to have comprehension tests on Raz-Kids as the year progresses, but next week we will be adding more elements to our reading routine.

IB

I have really enjoyed watching the parent job interviews! I am working on sharing the videos with the whole class.

Virtual Job Fair

Next week, students will be working on researching their own job. Your child will create a google slide show and give a presentation in uniform about their “dream job”. Uniforms should be made of things around the house. There’s no need to purchase anything for this project.

I will be sending out the Google Slideshow template and an example of the job presentation soon.

I will post the presentation videos so students can enjoy each other’s hard work!

Zoom Opt Out

Important Information for Parents/Guardians!

Englewood is using Zoom to continue teaching and connecting with our students. The Children’s Online Privacy Act (COPPA) requires parental consent for a child(ren) to participate in Zoom. If parents do not want their child(ren) to participate in Zoom, they must email their teacher(s).

Teachers, if parents/guardians opt their students out, please keep record of this information by logging it in the student’s IC Contact log.

Home Learning

Hello wonderful families!

I hope everyone is staying safely at home and not getting too antsy. I know some days are better than others. I also know, having kids at home and trying to work is not an easy task!

Starting Wednesday, we will be jumping full on into home learning. We will not be using Google Classroom. We will be using Seesaw. If you are having trouble navigating that app, I’m here to help. The partner read assignment I posted was just practice for all of us, but I’ve really loved seeing your kiddos reading from home!

4 Question Survey

Please take a minute to fill out this home learning survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VBRBQ5V

Learning Apps

If you look at the top of this page next to “Home”, you’ll see I’ve created a new page with log in information for the learning apps we’ll be using. This is so you have easy access and it doesn’t get lost in the blog feed.

Materials Bags

I have bags ready for the kids with math books, notebooks, scissors, glue, crayons, pencils and headphones. We’re still waiting for the district to announce a pick up date, but it is in the works.

Morning Circle

On Wednesday, we will be trying to get our routine going as best as we can. We will be having morning circle at 9am every day using the Zoom app. Just click the link in Seesaw messages and it should open Zoom. I will be taking attendance at this time. I’ll post the morning circle Zoom link on Seesaw.

Lessons and Assignments

I will post videos and an activity for each subject. I will be checking and commenting on work throughout the day. I will be working hard to make sure these assignments can be completed independently, but you know your kiddos. Some kids need more support and encouragement than others.

I will be available via remind and email from 8am-3pm every day. If you need to talk to me on the phone, just shoot me a remind and we can get in touch.

I’ll be posting a checklist of weekly tasks every Monday, so you can help your child stay on track.

Schedule

I plan to be VERY flexible during this time. I’m here for you. I want to make this process enjoyable and stress free. I understand many of you are working right now and creating a schedule that looks like a regular school day simply isn’t possible. The idea is to give your kiddos some structured time to learn everyday, without having them glued to the screen all day. We will find this balance as we adapt to this new system. We have an opportunity to get pretty creative and innovative here. Let’s see what we can do!

Communication

I will be available M-F from 8:00am-4:00pm via email and the remind app to answer questions. I will try to get responses to you in a timely manner. Tekla is napping from 1:00-3:00, so that is a great time for phone calls or video chats.

Weekly Update

Today we decided to throw the plans out the window and have a fun day to ease the kiddo’s nerves. We had a pizza lunch, watched a movie and made some spring crafts. We were super lucky to have Ava’s dad come in and talk about green energy!

If you have access to a tablet and the internet, Dreambox, Razz Kids and Lexia are fantastic learning apps that your kids are familiar with.

Lexia

https://www.lexiacore5.com/

teacher email: laura_miller@engschools.net

student login: your child’s student id number- they use this everyday and know it by heart

password: 1234

Raz-Kids

Here they can read books at their level and take comprehension tests. Download the Raz Kids App from the app store.

teacher username: lcartier3

Students find their name and picture password.

Dreambox

Dreambox is a math app that I can add assignments to. I have added a few assignments for next week and will be checking their progress.

School URL: https://play.dreambox.com/login/s53g/s2c9 

School Code: s53g/s2c9 

Classroom Code: 99226

Reading Bags

Ms. Tiechmann, our reading interventionist, sent home reading bags for anyone who meets with her. Those books are for you to keep!

If you have any questions about any of these apps, I’ll be checking email and remind all next week. I’m here to help!

Have a great couple of weeks with your families!

Weekly Update

Job Presentations

We would LOVE to have you come in and talk to our class about your job. In the past I’ve had therapists come in and make stress balls, cheese mongers share cheeses from around the world, and geologists show off cool rocks! If you are interested in doing a presentation for our class please sign up! Real world experiences like this really bring this unit to life!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f48a8ae2aa0f94-jobprensentation

Math

We are moving into double digit addition and subtraction and focus on place value. Please work with your child at home to count by 10s starting at any number both forward and backward. This will really help with their fact fluency as the unit progresses.

For example:

Mom “Count by 10s starting at 42!”

Kid “52, 62, 72…”

Literacy

In spelling, the class is diving into vowel teams. We’ve learned ee, igh, ai and oa. In reading we are comparing different informational texts on the same subject. This week we learned about paramedics!

Our publishing party with DU was this week! The kids stories turned out amazing and they are so proud of their hard work. Big thank you to Ellinor’s mom, April for helping me laminate and bind 25 books!

IB

This week we worked on constructing our economics folder. The kids will be keeping materials in this folder throughout our jobs unit. As a class, we’ve been brainstorming jobs and making a list of jobs that are new to our class.

Weekly Update

Secret Student

You have have heard your kids talking about the “Secret Student”. Each day, I will be choosing a student that I’m watching closely the entire day to make sure they are following directions, being respectful, and giving high effort. At the end of the day, if the secret student had a great day, they get a prize!

School Wide Celebration!

We filled our school bucket, so the kids had a cookies and creative drawing party in the hall today! We drew ways to show kindness, ate chocolate chip cookies and listened to Bob Marley. So much fun!

Literacy

In reading, we are working on asking and answering questions in informational texts. Students know that asking questions before and while they’re reading helps them comprehend what they’re reading.

Students work SO HARD on writing this week. They finished their “mighty middles” for their Mem Fox narratives. This required a lot of stamina. I’m very proud of all their hard work.

Math

The kiddos have been working on paying close attention to the language of story problems so they know whether they need to add or subtract. We’ve been learning strategies for solving story problems like circling the numbers and underlining the question. Our Unit 6 assessment is on Monday.

IB

We have been opening Flat Stanley’s all week! It is so exciting seeing where everyone visited. We are keeping track on a big map in the hallway. Check it out at conferences!

Enjoying the state pastry of Wisconsin: Kringles!

Student Led Conferences

Student led conferences are possibly my favorite part of the year! I love seeing your kids take ownership of their learning and share all they’ve been working on! Here is the sign up for conferences. Please let me know if these times don’t work for you and we can hopefully find a time that works.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090F48A8AE2AA0F94-student3

Weekly Update

Thanks for sending your kiddos with their Me Bags last week. It was really great to see them all sharing their special artifact with their DU buddies.

Black History Month

This month we are working with our 4th grade buddies to learn about important people and topics in black history. Buddies are working together to look through resources and are learning a lot about some hard parts of American history. Some of our kiddos have had some big feelings about some of the topics, especially segregation. I think exposure to these ideas are important, but also I want to assure you these topics are being discussed in an age appropriate way.

Valentine’s Day Ball

1st Grade has been invited to the 2nd Grade Ball! It’s the culminating event for their Fairy Tale unit and our class will be attending. Parents are welcome to join! It is Friday, February 14 from 1:15-2:30pm

If you are able to help with supplies, here the link for sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f084da5ab2da64-2ndgrade

Behavior

We have had an increase in negative behavior in the class. We are starting some new classroom systems to start curbing this trend. I’ve brought back that clip chart and introduced a prize box with material (emojis) and non-material (choose a seat next to a friend, etc.) rewards. If your child is at the top of the behavior chart, they will get to choose from the prize box.

Literacy

Here are some photos from our work with DU Buddies.

Math

We are continuing to work on story problems and noticing the language that tells us whether we’re adding or subtractions. For example, “how many in all?” tells us we add; “how many are left?” or “how many more?” tells us we subtract.

Me Bag

Today we read the story Wildred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox. In it, a child helps an old woman find her memories by showing her artifacts that help her remember.

In your child’s backpack is a paper “Me Bag”. Please help your child find 1 or 2 small artifacts that hold a special memory for your child. They will be sharing that artifact and memory with their DU buddies on Wednesday.

Please send the bag back by Wednesday. These artifacts should not be toys or stuffies. Help your child get creative with this assignment! They will be using the artifact to write a story later in the week.

Thank you!