Newsletter: Thursday, September 10th

 Hello Everyone,

As we wrap up our second week of school, I'm excited to say Mr. Martin, the kids, and I are feeling more than ready to launch our curricular studies next week. This week found us testing each morning (two days virtual and two days in person) with brief afternoon sessions in which we weren't supposed to introduce any new material just yet. So...Monday is the big day!

Next week the kids will begin seeing three Google Meets on their schedule. They'll have a 9:00 Meet (with me), a 12:10 Meet (with Mr. Martin) and a 2:30 Meet (with me again). This is roughly how the schedule will play out:

9:00 Morning Meeting

9:25 Reading Workshop (20 minute mini-lesson;30 minute silent reading;10 minute share)

10:25 BREAK

10:35 Writing Workshop (15 minute mini-lesson; 20 minutes of writing; 5 minute share)

11:15 LUNCH

12:10 Science (20 minute mini-lesson; 15 minutes of independent work, 5 minute share)

12:50 Special Areas

1:20 BREAK

1:30 Math (25 minute mini-lesson; 25 minutes independent work; 10 minute share)

2:30 Read Aloud/Goodbye

Within those independent work times we will be meeting in small groups with the kids to help support them in any way needed. That means there will be some days your child will have an extra Google Meet on their schedule so they can work with us one-on-one or in a small group.

We'll be recording each of our mini-lessons and posting them to the day's agenda at the end of the day. If your child misses a class just have them go back that night (or whenever works best for your schedule) and watch the video then complete the work. This allows you to work around your own family needs as well as have a back-up plan when wi-fi is acting up (which is quite often). 

Our focus next week will be:

Reading- Solving unknown words

Writing - Establishing all the genres/structures of writing we can create this year

Math - Computation strategies/Number sense

Science - Weather

In regard to our schedule, I apologize but on Monday the kids will have recorded lessons from me that will be posted on Google Classroom. Our youngest son has an injury that requires surgery and Monday morning is the only date we could schedule the consult without having to wait until next month. We're all eager to get this over with and let him start the road to recovery as soon as possible. So, the kids will need to go to Google Classroom on Monday morning to watch their lessons and complete their assignments for Morning Meeting, reading, and writing. In the afternoon they will go to Mr. Martin's meet as usual. They'll also go to my 2:30 Read Aloud as usual since I'll be back home in time for that Meet. Again, I'm so sorry for this slight adjustment to the schedule!

Have a great weekend,

Chris