5th Grade 2019-2020

April Notes:

April 26:

Please see Class Dojo for important, detailed updates to our scheduled weekly meetings! To summarize, we will now be meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:00 using my iLearn class. It is called “Mrs. Luckow’s 5th Grade 2019-2020”. Your child can access our meetings using the BIG BLUE BUTTON on iLearn. The log-in is located in the STUDENT PORTAL on the dearbornschools.org website. Your child is already a member of the class. We will no longer be able to meet on Google Meets. I apologize for the change and any inconvenience or confusion that this may cause. I look forward to meeting with your child on Tuesday at 3:00 on iLearn.

April 21:

Happy Tuesday! Just a friendly reminder to have your child log in to Google Classroom and complete the assignments for Tuesday. They should also try to get on Edmentum for at least 40 minutes (20 minutes of Math and 30 minutes of Reading). We will have our next Google meet tomorrow at 3:00. We will be going over their assigned work from Monday to Wednesday. This will be there chance to ask questions about the work and get any help that they need. I will also be explaining how I will be using Class Dojo to communicate with you how much work they are completing. It will be a nice, easy way for you to see if their work is getting done! I’ll explain more to them tomorrow during our meeting and they can explain it to you!

The meeting will be held on meet.google.com
The join code is: Luckow5

Take care and have a nice day.

April 20:

Wonderful meeting with the students today! A lot of good questions were asked. Just as a reminder, from now on, we will use Google Meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3:00. Your child just needs to log in to meet.google.com and click “join meeting”. The meeting code will ALWAYS the same to login from now on. It is “luckow5”.

Please continue to have your child log-in to Google Classroom every day to complete and turn in the daily assignments. They should also plan on doing 20 minutes of reading and 20 minutes of math on Edmentum; along with their daily independent reading and online reading response entries (also in Google Classroom!)

April 16:

A change to our parent/student meetings tomorrow! We are no longer going to be able to use Zoom. We are being asked to use Google Meet instead. So from here on, we will always be meeting on Google Meet, NOT Zoom. The link to get to tomorrow’s meeting is meet.google.com/vyq-udoe-ukt

Your child can also help you access the meeting through their Dearborn Schools email account AND my Google Classroom. I hope to see you all tomorrow at 2:30!

Thank you and take care.

April 15:

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGES TO THIS MESSAGE!

Good afternoon! I hope you are all doing well. It was so good to see so many of your children on today’s Zoom meeting! It is very, very important from now on that they join the meetings every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3:00. This is the time that we will be using to do some new learning and answer any questions they may have about the daily assignments that they will be given. OUR MEETINGS WILL NOW TAKE PLACE ON GOOGLE MEET FROM NOW ON!

I would like to host a parent meeting this Friday, April 17th at 2:30 to explain our new learning expectations and answer any questions you may have. Ms. Abdulla will be joining us if you would feel more comfortable having translation during the meeting. Please join us! We look forward to seeing you all. The link to the meeting is http://meet.google.com/vyq-udoe-ukt

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.

April 14:

Just a friendly reminder that our next Zoom meeting is at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, April 15. The meeting code is 777-1630-5383 the password is 8dDa9b

April 13:

Good afternoon,

We have a little bit of news to share.  It looks like we will be making the switch over to new learning and teaching the week of April 27th.  For now, we are asking that the students continue doing what they’ve been doing, which is focused time on enrichment skills in the areas of reading and math.  I will continue to ask that students read for at least 45 minutes a day and post in their online reading response journal assignments. The expectations for Edmentum, Freckle, and Zearn will be the same (60 minutes each day of Edmentum, 30-45 minutes of Freckle, and 30-45 minutes of Zearn.)  Please continue to work with your child, monitor their daily work habits and schedule, and encourage them to put full focus and effort into their learning activities.  Thank you.  Once we have more information about what the new learning plan is, I will let you all know!  Thank you for your continued support!  Take care.

April 9:

Good afternoon,
I hope everyone is enjoying their Spring Break, staying safe, and keeping healthy. Because our school year will officially continue online beginning Monday, I will be hosting a Zoom meeting at 12:00 noon on Monday, April 13. It is VERY important that your child attends. Hopefully we will have some more information about what we will be required to do moving forward in the school year.

 

The meeting code is 946-655-127 and the password to join is 7gFRIY

Please plan on having your child attend these Zoom meetings every time from now on. Starting Monday, they cannot be optional.

Thank you and take care!

 
 

April 6:  Day 1 of Spring Break!

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather.  It makes it seem a little more like Spring Break!  I know we normally meet on Zoom on Mondays, but I have to move our meeting to tomorrow! I’m so sorry, but something has come up. I will plan to hold our Zoom meeting tomorrow, Tuesday April 7 at 11:00 a.m. I apologize for the late update. The meeting code for tomorrow is 647-922-924. I hope to see you tomorrow!!! I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy and safe.  Miss you all.

April 2: 

It is with a heavy heart that I write today’s post.  I am still in disbelief that we are facing the fact that we will not return to school this year.  I want you and your children to know that I really loved seeing them every day and I will miss them very much in the coming months.  We had a lot to do still, and I am sad that many of the things we were looking forward to doing have been cancelled due to this very serious Covid19 outbreak.  

Now that we know what the rest of the year holds for us, it is time to look ahead.  While we will not be attending school, we will STILL be learning.  I am committed to helping your child achieve his or her learning goals whether we see each other at William Ford or not.  I still consider it my very serious responsibility to make sure that your child receives the best possible 5th grade education I can provide. I have every intention of making sure that they are as ready for middle school as they can be.  It is my deep, deep wish that you and your child will commit to this journey with me.  We will need to work together, learn together, and try our best to make it possible for your child to succeed.  There will be some new things to learn and some challenges to face, but I know that if we work together, we can do it!

For now, we have not been given specific information about what our next steps are as a school district.  As I am given information, I will share it with you.  In the meantime, PLEASE encourage your children to continue working on the assignments that I have been posting on Class Dojo, my blog, Google Classroom, Edmentum, Freckle… Let’s try and keep them focused and working.  This is not a time to end our school year.  We will be expected to continue teaching and learning until June.

I will hold my 5th meeting with the children tomorrow, April 3, at 12:00 noon on ZOOM.  I plan to continue to have my video meetings with them every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from now until the end of the school year. I am available to meet with your child individually as well if he or she needs help with anything.  Meeting link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/977354200

Also, I would like to host a special parent meeting tomorrow, April 3, at 2:00. Mr. Higgins and Ms. Abdulla will also join us.  I would like to be able to check in with all of the parents, discuss any concerns you may have, and try to answer any questions that have come to mind.  This meeting will also be held on ZOOM.  Please, if you do not have the Zoom app yet, add it to your computer and join us.  We would love to chat with you! Free Zoom sign-up link: https://zoom.us/signup

Parent Meeting Link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/338892883

I hope to see you all tomorrow at 2:00 (and of course your children at 12:00) on Zoom.

Take care, stay safe.  

March 31:

And just like that, March is over!  I hope today finds you all well and safe.  Just a friendly reminder that our 4th video meeting happens tomorrow at 12:00 noon.  The invitation is in your child’s school Google account.  If you can’t find it, here it is! 

meet.google.com/euo-qtpy-xkz
Keep working hard and I hope to see you all tomorrow!
 
ALSO, since today is the last day of March, please have your child “turn in” their online reading response journal in Google Classroom. A new one will be sent out for the month of April tomorrow morning.

March 30:

Another nice meeting with a few of you today!  I’m always happy to see your faces and check in!  We decided that our next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 1 at 12:00 noon.  This time, we will use Google Hangouts.  You should receive and invitation in your Google account, but here is the link to get in just in case:

meet.google.com/euo-qtpy-xkz
 

Try to keep working as much as you can each day!  I have added a couple things in Google Classroom for the week!  

Take care and be safe.

March 29:

Good afternoon!  I hope everyone is having a good weekend.  I have scheduled our next Zoom meeting for tomorrow at 12:00 noon. The meeting link is https://us04web.zoom.us/j/512421824  The meeting ID is 512-421-824.  I hope to see everyone there!  Please, during our meetings together, the goal is to be able to check-in/see one another, keep a connection going between your child and their classmates, and to answer any questions your child might have about the assignments being given. I have noticed a few students want to play video games and play on their phones while we are meeting.  That is not the purpose of these meetings.  It makes it very difficult for the other students to feel like their time is being used in a valuable way.   Please, monitor your child’s time on technology and make sure that they are using it for more than games and entertainment.  

I am available for help at any time, so they are always free to email me or message me on Class Dojo!

A friendly reminder that your child should still be working on the following assignments each day:

  1. putting at least 45 minutes of reading a day and entering reading responses on the online journal (on Google Classroom).  I will create and post a new online journal for April.
  2. the daily Math and Reading reviews (on Google Classroom)
  3. the shared reading activities (on Google Classroom)
  4. at least 60 minutes on Edmentum (30 minutes of math and 30 minutes of reading) **THE MARCH CHALLENGE THAT THEY’VE BEEN WORKING ON SINCE MARCH 1st IS DUE ON TUESDAY, MARCH 31**  I WILL CREATE A NEW CHALLENGE TO BEGIN ON APRIL 1st.  
  5. at least 30-45 minutes of Freckle and Zearn

Thank you for your continued support.  I hope you are all well. 

March 26-27:

Looking forward to our next chat tomorrow at 12:00 noon on Zoom. Your child will just need to go to the Zoom website, click on “join a meeting”, and enter the meeting ID #626-227-433.  I hope to see everyone there! 

A friendly reminder that your child should still be working on the following assignments each day:

  1. putting at least 45 minutes of reading a day and entering reading responses on the online journal (on Google Classroom)
  2. the daily Math and Reading reviews (on Google Classroom)
  3. the shared reading activities (on Google Classroom)
  4. at least 60 minutes on Edmentum (30 minutes of math and 30 minutes of reading) **THE MARCH CHALLENGE THAT THEY’VE BEEN WORKING ON SINCE MARCH 1st IS DUE ON TUESDAY, MARCH 31**
  5. at least 30-45 minutes of Freckle and Zearn

I know this seems like a lot of work, but it is really adds up to about 3 hours of work daily.  I would like them to be engaged in learning activities for a good amount of time since we’re usually in school for 7 1/2 hours a day during this time. Please remind your child that this is NOT a vacation break.  Helping them to develop a healthy sleeping, eating, and working schedule will help everyone in the house throughout each day as we face the challenges of this mandatory time of staying at home.  Your children benefit so much from routine and structure.  This is not the time to let go of all of that.  Please help them to maintain healthy habits…it will make the transition of coming back to school so much easier.  

I will plan to send along another message on Sunday about the work your child completed for the week.  Please look at this message with them so that they can set some goals for themselves as we head into week three of this unexpected and challenging time.

Thank you again for all of your support.  Hope you are all well!  

March 25:

It was nice to see everyone today!  We missed a few of you though!  We decided to have another meeting on Friday, March 27 at 12:00 in the afternoon. 

This time, we are going to try to have the meeting on ZOOM instead.  It is a free app that you need to download ahead of time. You can do this by going to the link:  Zoom.us/signup  

On Friday, your child would just need to click on “join a meeting” and enter the meeting ID #626-227-433.  I hope to see everyone there!

Keep up the hard work on our weekly math and reading reviews, online reading response journals/shared reading activities, Edmentum, Freckle, and Zearn!  Take care!

March 24:  

Not much to report today!  Everyone is good over here.  Max is playing a lot, talking a lot, and reading a lot of books about…you guessed it…TRUCKS!  😉 

I added a new free reading website for you to check out! It’s called Epic and it’s pretty amazing…lots of great books that I know you’ll love.  You’re all signed up; you just need to

  1. go to the website https://www.getepic.com/students
  2. enter the class code: yvq1049
  3. choose your name and start reading!

Don’t forget to join us tomorrow morning at 10:30 for our Google Hangout.  I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces!  I miss you guys so much! 

In case you need the information again:  

 

PARENTS:  If you’re looking for a way to help your kids get some energy out, get them moving, and lift their spirits, check out the Go Noodle app.  It’s a free app where they can find a lot of fun activities to get them moving around and improve their moods!  Click the link below to find out how to sign up!

GoNoodle

March 23: Good morning!  

I will be posting a couple new things on Google Classroom today.  Please have your child check out the new posts!  Thank you!

FYI:

March 22: Sunday Afternoon

Today, I sent out individual Class Dojo messages to each parent.  The message lets you know what your child completed last week.  I also gave a few reminders about what to expect for the upcoming week.  I know that this is very new to everyone, and it can be overwhelming to try and figure out how to fit in the assigned work.  My hope is that everyone is a little more comfortable with the resources and assignments being given.  We will continue working on daily assignments via Google Classroom (online reading responses, shared reading assignments, and I may try to add a little more group work to keep the kids communicating with one another!  I would also like to try a Google Hangout!  I will message you about that on Class Dojo later today!)  In addition to Google Classroom, please also continue having your child work on Edmentum (60 minutes a day), Freckle (30 minutes a day), Zearn (30 minutes a day). I hope today finds you all in good health.  I will continue to communicate on Class Dojo regularly as well, so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Take care.  

Daily Checklist

Check out our Virtual Spirit Week!  Starts tomorrow, March 23rd!  Let us see your school spirit from home!

March 20:  Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday.  We made it through our first week!  A lot of uncertainty, unknowns, and unanswered questions.  I hope that this message finds you all well.  I’m going to be spending some time this weekend figuring out my next steps.  I would like to begin communicating with the students in small group video chats (via Google Hangouts).  All of your children have access to this via their Dearborn Public School accounts.  It is my hope that by chatting directly with each other, we can open up communication even more.  Because we are still “in school”  it is very important that your child is engaging in opportunities for learning.  By communicating directly with your child, I believe that I will be able to explain assignments, answer questions, and encourage them.   Plus, I miss all of them very much! This is overwhelming and hard, but I know that if we work together, we will be fine!  I will check back in on Monday.  Please enjoy your weekend and take care.

March 19:  Happy First Day of Spring and Happy Birthday to our classmate Gehan!  

Dear students,

Just checking in today and encouraging you to keep checking in to Google Classroom.  I am adding a Shared Reading activity for you to complete every day.  I’m looking for books that look funny or interesting, books that have a positive message to share, or books that I know you might like to read!  Please complete these activities along with your daily online reading response entries.  Continue working for at least 60 minutes on Edmentum each day, and try to do at least 30 minutes on Freckle Fractions or Zearn!  If you haven’t started your work yet, it’s not too late!  Check out the Daily Checklist to help you get started.  Next week, I plan to begin inviting you and the small groups I put you in (on Google Classroom) to Google hangouts.  This will allow us to see each other face-to-face, check-in, and talk about some of the things you’ve been working on, thinking about, and feeling!  I can’t wait to see your faces again!  Please, stay well and know that I’m thinking about you all the time!  

March 18: 

I have spent time today looking over student work and online log-ins.  Just a friendly reminder that we are asking students to dedicate some good, focused time to learning activities each and every day while we are out of school.  It is so important for your child to try and maintain his/her learning levels and skills.  If they are not working, they will lose some of the learning that they worked hard to gain this year.  I will continue monitoring their work completion and will plan to update each parent about their child’s work by the end of each week.  Please, be aware of what your child is supposed to be completing, work with them, and monitor what they are doing.  We are counting on your guidance at home to keep them on task and working responsibly.

I am posting all work on Google Classroom using a document called, the “Daily Checklist”. Please look this document over carefully so that you know what your child should be doing every day.  The goal is not to just “keep them busy”, but to continue their learning so that they may continue on a path of success 🙂  My expectations for work completion and quality of effort are no different now than they would be in the classroom.   Thank you so much for all of your time, support, and effort!  We can’t do this without you.

Link to GOOGLE CLASSROOM

In addition to the assignments on Google Classroom, students should be doing the following EACH DAY:
1) 30 minutes of Edmentum Reading

2) 30 minutes of Edmentum Math

3) 30-45 minutes of Freckle Math and/or Zearn Math

March 17: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In honor of my Irish heritage, I thought to post a traditional Irish blessing to encourage us during this uncertain and difficult time!  

May joy and peace surround you,
Contentment latch your door,
And happiness be with you now,
And bless you evermore.

I have seen students complete their first reading responses on Google Classroom, continue working on Edmentum and Freckle, and respond to our group writing prompts.  Keep up the good work!  I will continue to update the “Daily Checklist” on Google Classroom.  This is the place to look and see what your assignments are.  Take care.  I’ll update again tomorrow!

March 16: Update

Dear Students and Parents,

I have added some information and assignments to our Google Classroom.    This will the easiest way to communicate with my students and track their assignments.  Students are already members of the classroom and need to log-in through CLEVER in the Dearborn Schools Student Portal

Thank you for your support! Please make sure that your child is checking into Google Classroom AND working on the assigned EDMENTUM Challenge every day!

March 13: School Closing Information-

All Dearborn Public Schools will be closed for students effective immediately, March 13, 2020. This is a result of Governor Whitmer’s order to close all K-12 school buildings, public, private, and boarding, starting Monday, March 16 until Sunday, April 5. 

Dearborn Public Schools spring break will take place from Monday, April 6 through Friday, April 10. Students will return to school on Monday, April 13, 2020.

  • Students should log-in to Clever daily and use Edmentum to complete challenges.  I will also be updating activities on Study Island!

  • Please be sure to read every day!

  • Stay safe and take care of yourselves!

  • Please click on the link if you need assistance with internet for your family!