Progress Reports

Now that official grading has begun for the 4th quarter report card, I will be sending a weekly progress report to make sure you know how your child is doing. — Please note, the method for turning in writing is new and will begin this Friday 5/1.

Below is a decription of how I will determine grades:

• Reading- I can view the number of books read each week on Raz Kids.
• Math- I can view the number of lessons completed in the module.
• Writing- Please send ONE email with a photo of your child’s writing on Friday after your child has completed their writing for the week.
• Science or Social Studies- I will use your child’s writing to determine a grade for these subjects because we are writing about social studies and science topics.
• Spelling- At this time I will not be grading spelling tests, but will look at spelling in their writing. It is still important to practice the spelling words and patterns each week. There is very strong brain research that supports the importance of spelling practice. Your child will need to know these patterns to be successful in second grade reading and writing.

Please reach out if you have any questions!

Assignments 4/27 – 5/1

• This Week’s Assignments have been posted. Click the link to view the full description of this week’s assignments.
• Reading groups on GoogleMeet are canceled until further notice.
• New articles have been posted for writing this week.
• This week will be the last week to work on Module 4 for Math. We will begin a new module on geometry next week. Yay!
• A majority of students are still working on this science unit, so I have left the Mystery Science lessons up for another week.

Reading Groups Suspended Until Further Notice

Dear Parents,

The district has decided to suspend student access to GoogleMeet for all general education students. There were several unfortunate incidents during middle school classes that prompted this change in policy last week.

This week I will be participating in professional development to learn about other, secure options for virtual learning. At this time I will continue to communicate with parents through blog posts and email.

Click Here to view the Superintendent’s Message to Parents. 

Click Here for the Arabic Version of the letter.

Reading groups are cancelled until further notice.

Reading Group Schedule

Next week I will be hosting groups on Monday and Thursday at the same times. You can check the calendar tab to confirm your group. Please do your best to help your child get set up before the start of the meeting. If you need to change meeting times, please let me know on Sunday before I send the links out. I will probably not be able to send new meeting links throughout the day because I will be teaching other groups.

Please help our lessons run smoothly (as much as possible!):

Have your child practice muting and unmuting themselves — I may ask them to do this if we are getting audio feedback from their device.

Show your child how to hang up on their own. — I usually meet with one student at the end of the call to discuss their work privately. We’ve had to wait as children search for their parents to hang up and this makes the schedule tricky to manage.

Sign on a few minutes early. — We will do our best to start on time and stick to the schedule. It is VERY hard to maintain a first grader’s attention if other students join late and I have to repeatedly stop and reteach the beginning of the lesson. I know we are still working out tech issues, just try 🙂

Help your child gather any materials they need. I will post what your child should bring to the group in the calendar description. Tomorrow they should bring their writing from the week to share with the group.

Remind your child to behave like they would during a lesson on our classroom rug:

• Take a bathroom break before we begin.
• Don’t get up and walk around without permission.
• Raise your hand if you have something to say– especially if someone else is already speaking.
• SPEAK to Ms. Roe if she asks you a question. (I cannot always see the students while I am sharing my computer screen, so I’m left wondering if someone only nods or shakes their head.)

Thank you for your support as we get virtual learning up and running! Hopefully things will begin to feel more routine soon!

I am trying to strike a balance that works for everyone. If you would like to give me feedback on how things are going you can email or request a video call 🙂

The meal distribution times for four of the meal pick up locations will change for the month of Ramadan from April 24 – May 21. Pick up days will continue to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday except for the week before and week after Memorial Day. The times for each location and further information on Memorial Day changes are below:

Noon to 2 p.m.
Fordson High School
Woodworth Middle School
Salina Intermediate
McCollough Elementary

10 a.m. to Noon
Dearborn High School
Edsel Ford High School
Smith Middle School

Memorial Day pick up changes:
Week of May 17
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday – May 18, 20 and 21 with no Friday pick up. Times vary by location- see above.

Week of May 24
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday – May 26, 27, and 29 pick up. Times switch back to 10 a.m. to noon at all seven schools

You can view the district’s official statement or contact me if you have concerns.

Elementary Assessment and Grading Guidelines 

For this marking period, students will receive feedback on weekly assignments in the form of narrative comments. 

• Meeting:  regularly submitted work and attended check-ins
  • Accuracy of work assessed on standards/graded
  • High participation
• Progressing:  Submitted most assignments and attended some of the check-ins
• Limited Participation:  little or no participation due to circumstances shared with teacher

Please contact your teacher or building principal if you have any questions about this grading procedure or need further information.

Attendance and Participation

It is essential that parents/guardians and teachers continue to communicate so teachers are fully aware of the student’s well being and progress.  Students and parents are expected to contact teachers if there are questions about instructional content. Students are expected to attend all google hangout sessions and demonstrate active engagement in the work assigned by the teachers. Completion of assignments and participation in hangouts are used as evidence of attendance.  The continuation of learning continues until June 11th, 2020.

Announcements

• This Week’s Assignments have been posted! Click the link or the menu tab to view them.
• Reading Groups begin today. If you have not received and email with your group and instructions for logging in, please contact me ASAP.
• The District is planning to distribute more Chromebooks– hopefully later in April. Please contact me if you need a Chromebook and have not yet let me know. I will add you to the list.
• The District’s Continuity of Learning Plan was approved by the state. I will be summarizing this plan tonight at the Parent Q&A session on Google Meet at 4:30 p.m. Some highlights of the plan:
  • Students will be graded on a new scale for the 4th quarter report card.
  • The District currently still plans to hold summer school– this may change depending on the how the crisis progresses.
  • Students who do not participate in distance learning may be required to attend summer school or be prevented from continuing to the next grade in the fall.
  • Teachers will provide virtual lessons twice a week and maintain parent/student contact twice a week (calls, emails, blog posts, etc.)
  • Alternate work will be provided for those without access to the internet.
• If you would like to add a question to the Parent Q&A you can do so here: Parent Questions.
• Lastly, I would like to thank all of you amazing parents for your hard work. Thank you for everything you are doing to support your family’s health, well-being and education. You have been a pleasure to work with and I feel very lucky to work with all of you. Continue to reach out with any questions or concerns–everything is adjustable!
  

Class announcements:

• I will be sending out a schedule and instructions for attending Reading Groups on Sunday, April 19.
• Please plan to help your child attend the google meeting at the time you selected beginning Monday, April 20. If you chose multiple times, check the schedule on Sunday to see which your child should attend.
• I am doing my best to limit the number of emails I send! For this reason, I will continue to post the class assignments under the menu heading This Week’s Assignments on Monday morning instead of posting new lessons daily.
• Next week I will begin holding Parent Q&A sessions in google meet to answer any concerns and get feedback on how things are going. If you have a question you’d like me to address during that time, please add it to the questions (left) side of this form. I will answer the question in the right column and will be available to discuss them further in the Q&A session. I will send the date and time of the Parent Q&A on Sunday with the Reading Groups schedule.

The district will be releasing an updated distance learning plan soon. In it you will see:

• Suggested work times for each subject by grade level.
• A description of how teachers will be determining grades for the 4th quarter report card.
• Parent, student and teacher expectations for communication.

River Oaks would like to show our appreciation to all of the healthcare workers on the front lines. We would like to brighten up their days and send them pictures and cards. If you would like to participate, please have your child create drawings of doctors/nurses/EMT/hospital staff, or write letters of encouragement, or thank you notes- something to recognize our appreciation for their bravery and commitment to taking care of us. 

I am asking that parents take a photograph of their drawing/note and upload it to the google form https://forms.gle/9FBc9v6dnXAUa2Ez8 

Please complete your pictures and cards and send them to me by Wednesday, April 22nd. Thank you!