Dear families,

I realize that communications from me have been rather sparse (if not absent) this past month. It has taken me this long to catch my breath. I think that I have gained a better sense of what kind of preparation is needed to teach all lessons twice and also have reasonable asynchronous activities and resources for those students who need it.  I am still struggling with processing, organizing and returning student work because there is no longer time within the school day to get that done, but I’m making progress. Thank you for your continued patience. I have also been facing the reality of my own human frailty this past month and have needed to cut back on my weekend, before school and late evening work hours. As I work through all of these things, I appreciate your patience.

That said, I am totally enjoying the quirky, delightful, creative, hardworking, compassionate people you are sharing with me each day.  They make me laugh daily. I am and will continue to prioritize showing up for them, in mind and body, each day. I’m hoping that the rest will work itself out with time, grace, perspective and compassion.

Here are some very normal looking notes on our current learning for this very not-normal year.

Cheers,

Ms. I

This week:

This week we are wrapping up our research and writing on the topic of “Should chocolate milk be sold in schools?”. Students should have turned in their writing through Skooler either yesterday (Tuesday) or today.  Tomorrow we will begin a new argumentative topic to continue to practice reading to understand all sides of an argument, taking a position and writing with evidence and reasoning to support a claim.  We have also just closed out a science unit on Mixtures and Solutions and are returning to Social Studies for a few weeks was we learn about three Early English Settlements (Roanoke, Jamestown & Plymouth).  In Math, students are continue to progress through adding and subtraction with fractions (Pythons), understanding rational numbers (Ogopogos) and working with proportions (Dragon Turtles). Please ask your student to learn more about where they are specifically. We are also continuing to build our understanding of language through Mentor Sentences.  This week’s sentence is from Matilda by Roald Dahl.

Upcoming Learning:

Next week, we will be continuing our new argument topic, making forward progress with math and learning more about these three Early English Settlements in Social Studies.

Dates & Reminders:

• Students brought home their first Take Home folders this week. I will continue to send home these green “Tuesday Folders” each week with communications from the school and returned work from me.  Eventually, there will also be a signature log for you to sign each week to show that your child has shared this folder with you. This week, please simply view and return the folder with your child by Thursday, March 26th (That’s tomorrow).
• Picture Day will be happening next week. Please see the flyer and order form in your child’s Take Home/Tuesday Folder for details.
• Next Wednesday, 5th graders will participate in a Wednesday Zoom meeting with the counselors from Tolt Middle School.  This will happen instead of our regular Wednesday virtual meeting. I will not be participating in the Zoom meeting, so I am cordially inviting you to lurk in the background to get answers to any questions you might have, as I won’t be able to answer them for you.  I will be discussing this meeting with students next week, but if doesn’t hurt for you to discuss it with them as well.

Ways you can support your student:

• Ensure that your child is coming to class with their math book, a fully charged laptop and power cord (just in case), as well as the other items in the “What’s in your Backpack list” (You’ll find this in your student’s weekly loop).
• Talk through the daily loop with your child to offer support or simply help them process what needs to be completed.
• Set up a daily check in time for your child to share one aspect of their learning with you by showing you their work.  Let your student choose what they want to share and celebrate their efforts.  Ask questions to redirect or nudge them in a different direction if something looks amiss.
• Encourage your student to use the solutions node in the Math loop to correct their problem sets OR you can offer to correct it with them. This gives both you and your student immediate feedback on their understanding.