Today is the last day in March. I wonder what terrific things will happen in April? Who has a birthday in April? I hope we’ll get a chance to plant some seeds and flowers together.

What did you do today? What did you write about in your Journal?

I was on the phone with AT & T about my Internet for a very long time…2 1/2 hours! That’s a very long time. You know how I like to keep busy so, while I had the lady on speaker phone and we were talking, I cleaned out my refrigerator. I took out all of the food. Then I took out all of the shelves and brackets. Then I washed each part, dried them and put it all back together. I was so pleased that I got a big job done! Don’t you feel good when you accomplish a big task?

Tomorrow I am going to rearrange 2 shelves. Of course, I always go for a walk and do my yoga. I usually see Vera Hamie waving from her window and sometimes I see Max walking with his family. I’ve also talked with Ella. It makes me so happy to see your faces. I’ll try to walk in different directions and maybe I will see a few more of you. I wonder what you will you be doing tomorrow? Write and let me know.

I wish I could be reading you a bedtime story right now but I’ll wait for the day when I can read you a story again. As always, I will be saying a prayer for each of you tonight. I know where each of you were sitting in the room and I speak your name as I say a prayer for you.

Keep washing your hands and stay safe.

Love,

Mrs. Smith

I hope you each are doing well and finding some fun things to do and learning new things every day. Send me picture of your writing (I hope you are keeping a Journal of something you are doing each day.) When you are older this will be a time in history that you lived through and will always remember…when the world was fit with a very bad virus and all of the schools were closed down, shopping centers, parks/playgrounds, closed, birthday parties were cancelled, trips/vacations were cancelled too and many people all had to stay in their houses to work. Keep a record of these times.

I am still walking every day. It is great to be outside in the fresh air. Were you outside in that wind yesterday? WOW! Tonight I am joining my niece who lives in Chicago in a virtual Yoga class that she teaches. Look on a map and find out where Chicago is. In which state is Chicago? What city do we live in? Which state? find them on a map.

Are you cooking with Mom and Dad? That’s a great way to use some Math.

Here are my plans for the next few weeks. Stay safe and know that I am thinking of you every day. I really miss you. Know that even though these days might be difficult, each day is only one of a kind and will only happen once. So enjoy every day!

Love,

Mrs. Smith

Good Morning My Dears,

I hope you are getting some things accomplished with your family. Try to keep a log (like you Journal) going every day. Write in it and tell me what you’re doing. Did you go outside and see some flowers poking up their little blossoms? Remember the “Little Mole” looking for hope story? Well, the flower has hope and the flower shows us by showing us his little blossoms. Did you hear birds chirping? That is the sound of birds telling us that he is out in the fresh air, looking for a tasty breakfast of worms and little insects. The birds have hope too! What other sings of hope did you see when you went outside? Sketch a picture in Journal and write some sentences about what you saw.

How is the Science going? Max and his family are having fun with catching rain water in a bag!! They taped the bag to the window and are watching the rain water collect in the bag. They were heading on to make “fog” the next day. How cool! Thanks for sharing those opportunities Max.

Last night I attended a yoga class on Zoom. It was my first class since my shoulder surgery last July. It was good to stretch again. I still have to keep working at getting my shoulder and arm stronger. I hope you are getting stronger every day with your reading, writing, and math. Keep up with a little bit every day.

I can”t wait to see you again. We have sooooooo much to catch up with each other. When we do come back, please bring you writing samples with you.

Parents,

I know these days can be trying for some. Just enjoy these minutes with your family. I’ll check in later. Heading out for a walk.

Love,

Mrs. Smith

www.readworks.org

http://www.readworks.org

/http://www.abcmouse.com/

http://www.getepic.com/

https://www.ixl.com/

https://mysteryscience.com/school-closure-planning

http://textbooks.wmisd.org/

http://www.pbskids.org/

Please don’t panic at the list of sites. They are just suggestions. I tries to choose some sites from READING, WRITING, MATH, SCIENCE, AND SOCIAL STUDIES. Elaborate anyway you’d like.

Here are a few sites for you to enjoy…

https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=kid-lit-authors-step-up-to-help-educators-students-parents-coronavirus-covid19

https://mysteryscience.com/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmysteryscience.com%2Fschool-closure-planning&uuid=56a5c377-24b3-4c5e-a4ec-030b3e136700

http://www.mobymax.com/

https://short-story-library.weebly.com/

https://artsandculture.google.com/project/virtual-tours

https://click.newsletters.time.com/?qs=a1e5c85f32074c7bb930b934473e6107d1688c45bfc8510b65b751cfdac1df841ac1cea50086b19622a4bed66a9180accd152f3ea205d2c1

https://www.internetessentials.com/

www.embarc.online

I’ll send out a message after dinner tonight.

Love,

Mrs. Smith

Hope you had a great day. Look at all the wonderful, creative, exciting things you can do these days. I’ll be you are becoming very clever about thing to do during your day.

Parents,

Praise to you for stepping up to the plate with this “teaching” thing. I’ll bet you’re doing just fine.

Someone asked me about Zearn code…as I mentioned in my blog, please use EMBARC. All communication will be through my blog.

Looking for something for your child to do? Have them write me a note on my blog and tell me what they are doing. I’ll try to answer.

We made it through 1 week. We’ll be just fine. We are stronger together.

Have a good weekend.

Mrs. Smith

Amid all of the events of recent days, we continue to be blessed with so much…fresh air, heat in our houses, power for our appliances and computers to work, warm clothes, clean water to cook and wash our clothes, good food, and time with family. There is so much goodness that we still have. Amid this crisis, a joy…my sister became a Grandmother for the first time! A boy…a novelty in my family because we seem to only have girls. Such a surprise in 4 generations!

I miss my kids so much. Please know that I am thinking of each of you every night. I go through my class and say a special prayer for each one of you at night and send a virtual hug. I can’t wait until we are all back together again. Be well and enjoy these unexpected days together. Love,

Mrs. Smith

In case you are having difficulty reading the SCIENCE website, try this:

https://www.simplykinder.com/teacher approved

for 3/15 WEATHER videos

for 3/29 about PLANTS

My dear families…

What difficult days we are having! WOW!! My apologies for not having responded to your emails. My husband was scheduled for surgery tomorrow and hospital just tonight has postponed it. My phone has be busy with doctors, surgeons, labs, hospital calls-again, my apologies.

I’ll try to answer as many questions that I can.

ZEARN-Embarc for Math User name is a number that your child should know. They log in with it just about every day. At the beginning of the year I sent home their User on a laminated card. Their Password is their birthdate. For example: January 3, 2014 would be 01032014.

SCIENCE-You just clink on the link

READING BAGS-Youssef, Juliana, Zack, and Ameer-I have yours here and I will drop them off tomorrow. Ameer, I don’t have your address but I could leave it at Zack’s house, since I seem to remember that you live near Zack. Juliana, I hope I have your new address-on Wilson? If not, please email me your new address.

In each BOOK BAG, there is a white piece of paper with a listing on the back of books/strategies we have worked on in READING GROUP. Next to the book titles is a circled number ( 6,7,8) which indicates the reading level at which they are presently reading. Since I can’t work with them, please go online and find some books at that reading level and have them work through the stories. Remember good reading strategies, like

1. look at the pictures :What’s happening in the picture?” Don’t go immediately to the text! Picture first, then text
2. make Initial sound of words (Make the first sound of a word)
3. the “push” through the word “Does it make sense?”
4. Skip the word and see if you can decode it then
5. Remember the phonic skills, like an “e” at the end of a word makes the vowel flip. Like “cap” add an e and it becomes “cape” “tap” to “tape”

As for Raz Kids, I called them and was told that my account was inactive. Not sure how that happened. I still have my password too. Oh well, at least you have starting point for a reading level.

For Math, go to :

KINDERGARTEN (on far left)

Scroll down to MODULE 4 Keep scrolling down to Lesson 26

I do not have words to express how difficult this situation is for everyone. I miss my kids so much. I pray every night that this will pass soon and that you all are staying well. I’ll bet you’re coming up with all kinds of creative ways to enjoy this unexpected blessing of family time. I will check my computer tomorrow. I hope to have 6 new websites for you. Take some time to enjoy each other. Make a family scrap book of things that you did during these days. Clean out a closet or 2. Create a bag to items to be donated to a church or shelter. Plan out a garden. Send Grandparents/Veterans/Neighbors a card/picture. Go outside and ride your bike. One of my kids has learned to ride his bike without training wheels!

Above all, know that I am thinking of you all the time, each one of you! Be careful how much TV and news my 5/6 year olds hear. We are having difficulty processing all of this. How we react shows them how to handle difficult situations beyond their control.

Hugs and stay well.

Mrs. Smith