Here is a link to some Zoo activities you can do! I also have the virtual field trip ideas on our class dojo story.

The weather is looking great for tomorrow! Here are some scavenger hunts you can print and complete outside 🙂

I put our next Zoom event on dojo! You should get a reminder 1 day and 1 hour before.

Happy Friday, you made it through a second week! I have opened up the playroom and incentives on our programs so they can enjoy spending the stars and points they earned all week!

Congrats to our students for all their hard work- I posted the top minutes to our class dojo story!

I sent out a link for a time that works for the kids to meet and chat on zoom- this is not mandatory, required, or educational, I am just opening a meeting place for them to see each other and talk! I know this has been incredibly hard on them and they miss each other!

Parents,

I have linked a survey from the school Social Worker- if you have a moment, please fill it out. She is reaching out to families and students that may need supports during this uncertain time. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y1dHbdm8SReNjJsrVndhF_P6hXSrafGfta9lb7BoK7c/viewform?edit_requested=true

Parents,

I opened the reading room and all games/incentives on Raz Kids, Reading Eggs, and Math seeds so the students can spend all those stars they worked so hard earning all week! I will be shutting it off Monday morning so they can resume the more educational activities.

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for all of your hard work, I am SO close to have 100% participation on all 3 sites. I know it is not always easy to get students sitting down and focused on learning, especially in uncertain times like this but they are doing amazing!

I am going to give a shout out to our top 2 students for each program on our private dojo!! (I am looking at minutes spent working- not academic levels!) I am going to do this each week, hopefully this will motivate the class to want to get on and do their learning!

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to make this easier on you!

Have a great weekend 🙂

Parents,

I am still looking into the ways our young students can share their work with each other, but in the meantime I found a way they can send photos and videos to me! Click on the link below 🙂 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ErLVCbBoZPipHSWswhLIoRpQPTge3lY5/view?usp=sharing

Art activities for Young 5s and Kindergarten students will be posted on Mrs. Buenting’s blog.  At the top of her blog page is a tab labeled Kindergarten, this is where you will find activities, videos, and web links.  Please, visit her blog weekly over the next three weeks for activities that can be done with minimum supplies yet keep creative minds working!
https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/buenting/

This is a great way to keep your child busy and engaged while you are able to work and be a teacher 🙂

Parents,

I am very impressed with the activity I am seeing- I know it is not easy to parent, work, take care of a home, and now be a teacher! Some of you may not need it but I am going to post some suggestions on how to get through this! Depending on your work schedule it is going to look different. Ideally getting it done and over with it the best situation- in class we notice they are the most productive first thing in the morning and we slowly start to lose them as the day goes on. I have found that working while Aspen naps is best for my sanity, but I know some of you are not lucky enough to have napping children anymore!

Suggested schedule

1st – Raz Kids 20 min (for most kids, this is their least favorite of the online programs because it is not as “game-ish”, I have found it is best to do it first and get it over with).

Movement break! At minimum they need 5-10 minutes. As they get older they will be able to focus longer, but at this age, please do not expect them to truly focus for more than 20 minute at a time- it will be a battle for most of you and it isn’t worth it, playing is what they need! Playing outside is the absolute best thing they can do, with the way the weather is looking gonoodle or the movement breaks on YouTube are probably more realistic. You also probably have much cooler toys at home than we do in the classroom.  (I posted the “brain break” links on my blog- I will explain below).

2nd- 20 min of reading eggs  + daily Writing (3 sentences and a picture)

• In order to encourage and support your efforts- tell the kids I will open the playroom on Fridays! We have “Fun Friday” in class so this will give them some consistency. I am also trying to balance this work/home life and Aspen does not nap until 9 am so my goal is to have it open by 9 am!

Give them a break!

3rd – Math workbook page (shouldn’t take more than 10 min) 

• Read them the directions, they can do one page front and back independently. The biggest challenge I anticipate for you all is INDEPENDENCE. They are VERY independent at school, it is 24:1 in my classroom 🙂 Tell them you are there to answer questions if they need help but Mrs. Chammout said they know how and you have to work also! To put it into perspective, I am meeting with small groups all day so unless they are siting at my table with me, they are working independently, I know first hand they can do this! My hope is you may be able to work side by side for the hour or two they are completing school work 🙂 It took a few weeks in the classroom to build that expectation and them to follow it so be patient with yourselves and them- this is NOT easy for anyone! Sticker charts or an at home dojo system is my suggestion for your sanity! Positive reinforcement goes a long way 🙂

4th – Math seeds 20 min and you’re done!!

These sites are all apps on the iPad/phone. If you try to use raz-kids and reading eggs through the web browsers on your iPad and phone it will not work well. Unless you are on a computer/chromebook, please download the app 🙂

I tried to make my blog more user-friendly now that we are not face to face and communicating as regularly! I have added tabs at the top so you can easily access the links. I have added Online Links which includes educational videos we use in class as “brain breaks”. I have also added a Covid-19 tab which is all the information I had originally sent out for assignments so you have easy access 🙂

In order to save paper- you can have them do their writing on a white board or you can place a piece of paper inside a ziplock baggie to make your own white board! Do not feel you HAVE to use the template we provided- what is most important is that they are writing each day! In class we use the composition journals. If it is nice out and you want to write outside in chalk that is awesome (and send me a picture!) I am here to make this as easy as possible on you- so please let me know if you need anything.

I get that some of us went into the teaching profession and some of us did not 🙂 These are crazy times and WE APPRECIATE YOU!

I am going to try my best to find a way for the students to begin virtually interacting together, I know they miss each other. I am hoping to find a way that they can share pictures or work they are doing with each other. I will keep you posted 🙂

Stay healthy!

Mrs. Chammout

Parents,

Here is a video on Raz Kids that may help you in supporting your child https://youtu.be/. When they are on Raz Kids, please remind them they should follow these steps for each book:

1. Listen to the story
2. Read the story
3. Take the quiz

The general expectation in class is that they complete 3 stories following this pattern.

I will be monitoring the scores your child is getting on the quizzes. If I notice they are struggling, I can move them down a level to make sure they are at a “good fit” level.

Parents,

I have noticed that the majority of our class has been on the different learning sites! I am so proud of their hard work. I went in this morning and gave dojo points to all students who had been on the past 2 days 🙂 If I missed your child by mistake, please let me know!

I want to remind families again, if you do not have access to a computer, iPad, Chromebook, or some sort of tool your child can use- please let myself or Mr. Short know so we can find a way to get your child access to a Chromebook!

Dojo has had a bit of a lag lately, if you have sent a message that I did not respond to, please send it again! The app seems to be working better today 🙂 I will continue to post fun activities to our class story as I come across them.

Most importantly, stay healthy!

Good afternoon,

Please take a moment to complete the following survey from Dearborn Public Schools. They are taking an inventory of technology presence in homes to see if any families are in need of borrowing a chromebook to complete remote learning assignments. 

Thank you! 

HAIGH TECHNOLOGY SURVEY