Sunday, November 29, 2020

Sunday, November 29, 2020

 

Mr. Sassman's 4th Grade Class Blog

Weller Elementary School
 
Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

 
Last week...
Was a short, but productive one. Thank you for making it to the school for drop off and pick up day on Wednesday. If you could not, there will be a folder waiting here for your student.

We worked on:
-The Solar System: Mars and Jupiter
-Persuasive Essays: 6 students have turned in their "Final Copies" so far.
-State Reports: Kiddos should be completing their research packet. We will probably not start the posters until January with the way our pacing is looking like at the moment.
-Warm/Cold Trees: Phase 2
-Book Reports: 4 kiddos have completed this project so far. About 8 other kids are well on their way.
-Out of my Mind: We are on Chapter 25 as of now.
-Topic 7 for math. The online test will be opened up this week.
-Writing Prompts: This is arguable one of my favorite things!
-Spelling: Kiddos should be finished with Lesson 6.
-DOL: Didn't get to this yet :(
-Weekly Geography: Kiddos should be finished with #6.

This week...
Ms. Nuss is on the agenda again, but this time she will be teaching some lessons in Figurative Language. Specifically similes, metaphors, and hyperbole. She will also be integrating them into our daily writing prompts. This is part of her University requirements, and a unit I teach every year, so it should be a nice fit. I will continue with alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification, and puns!
 
I realize that I have sent a lot of work home this quarter, and we still have to get a lot done. Unfortunately, three 45-minute sessions a day are simply not enough (sigh) to get through everything that I would like. We will get through as much as we can before winter break. I have so many more things that I want to do with the kids, and I want to make a push for these next 3 weeks. I will not (most likely) be sending home more work as we have enough lined up for the rest of the semester, but I hope you will be able to drop off any completed assignments you whenever it is convenient for you.
 
Monday, I will try to set up individual meetings with kiddos, to start this Tuesday. I have been advised to preemptively troubleshoot any computer issues we may have for our upcoming MAP assessments. I would also love to take some time to talk about where each student is at with their TDLs. It would be awesome if you could be there for the meeting as well...Almost like another Parent-Teacher-Student Conference!  
 
On the horizon...
MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessments are progress monitoring tools that the District has been using for the last 4 years now. This year, the district has required me to administer them even though we are in a remote learning status. Yes, I pushed back (a little bit) about the need to do Standardized Assessments? I was informed that the FNSBSD needs to have test results for federal funding, and well...We need funding so...While I don't like the amount of time they take and the undue stress it brings to all of us, they are necessary. I usually find great value in MAP testing because it helps me monitor how well (or not well) my students are growing academically, so I am curious about how this is going to play out. What does this mean now?

We will not be having "Regular" Zoom sessions on our scheduled assessment days. Day 1 will be math and Day 2 will be ELA (BTW and FYI)! Sorry, I couldn't resist, not sorry :)

I am thinking we will take them the week of December 7th, but I am not sure yet which days. I have to confer with the other 4th grade teacher here at Weller.
 
In case you missed it: 
Here is a link to the "Master Copy" of our To-Do-List document: TDL 2020 Q2. The kids also have individual copies that are personalized and editable in their Google Classroom Classwork tab.  
 
The Second Quarter Plan:
New Additions
  • Persuasive Essays
  • State Reports and Posterboards
  • Q2 Book Reports - Biography Book Reports and Google Slides Presentations
  • Poetry - Winter Haikus, Diamantes, What I love about Winter, and more...
  • Figurative Language - Similes, Metaphors, Personification, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, and such... 
  • Class Novel - Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
  • Read Aloud - Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
  • Art - Warm and Clod Trees
  • Instructables - STEM stuff
The Staples
  • Spelling Packets
  • Cursive Handbooks
  • Reading Logs - SSR
  • EnVision Math
  • Daily Oral Language (DOL)
  • Weekly Geography
 
Monday looks like:
8:30 - 9:15 (Synchronous - With the teacher)
Class Meeting
The Solar System - Saturn
Figurative Language - Similes
9:15 - 10:15 (Asynchronous - Independent Work)
Complete Writing Prompt
Snack
Break from a screen
10:15 - 11:00 (Synchronous - With the teacher)
Math Topic 7 Review
11:00 - 12:00 (Asynchronous - Independent Work)
Math Topic 7 (Test)
Lunch
Break from a screen
12:00 - 12:30 (Synchronous - With the teacher)
TDL Check-ins
Setting up individual conferences (It would be great if you could be at those conferences too)
Read Aloud/Art - Out of My Mind
12:30 - 1:30 (Asynchronous - Independent Work)
Finish up the day's tasks
Check the Google Classroom Stream and TDL for tasks to complete for the day
1:30 - till' tomorrow
Go outside
Play
Be a kid
Read for 20 minutes and record it in your reading log
20-30 minutes of TDL work

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to call or email me anytime to discuss things further. I hope you find this information helpful and useful.


IN-CLASS/PERSON ASSIGNMENTS - QUIZZES - TESTS
--None for now! But hopefully not for long :)

HOMEWORK
-Reading Logs each night and record it online or on paper
-I have posted on our Google Classroom Stream our list of items that needed to be completed for the day and things we are working on over the week. Kids may have additional work to finish up from the day, and therefore would essentially become "Homework," for the evening.

MATH HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK
-I have sent home worksheets for the topics that we are working on. Please complete those and save them to turn in when we do pick up and drop off days.

*Please keep in mind, projects or tests we have in class may have to be brought home to be finished or to study. Please ask your child if they have completed their work before you have signed their planner. 

ONGOING INFORMATION
ZOOM
Here is our class' meeting ID and password:

HOMEWORK?
Our Google Classroom "Stream" is a thing! I will post on our Stream at the end of our last session (12:00 - 12:30), a list of tasks that the kids need to finish up with for the day, and the things we have been working on. It has proven to be helpful, so I will keep on doing it. Some work may spill over into the evening and becoming essentially, homework...I promise, no tears!

Please have your child reading for 20 minutes a night. Then, have them record it on their reading logs. When the log is complete, you may either send it in, take a picture and email it to me, or enter it digitally in our Google Classroom.

CLASS WEBSITE
If you have not yet, please browse our class' website: www.wellerwhales.org. It has a lot of great resources and we will use this from time to time. I am currently making adjustments and enhancements on some pages, but the site is full and live.

READING LOGS (In-Person)
Reading logs are a regular part of our class and the students' overall reading grade. Students will receive 5 points for each day that they read a minimum of 20 minutes at home. The purpose: for students to read each day (not 100 minutes over the weekend or 40 minutes on Tuesday to catch up for Monday). I have a yellow folder by the classroom front door filled with new reading logs or they can submit through our GC. If a student reads for 5 days or more, they will receive a ticket for the "Prize Box" drawing. We draw prizes weekly, on Fridays at the end of the day.

READING LOGS (Remote Learning)
Reading Logs are required and will count towards the students' overall reading grade. Kiddos will receive 5 points for each day that they read during the school week. They can be turned in either digitally in our GC or by paper during our drop off and pick up days.

ClassLink/GOOGLE CLASSROOM
ClassLink is the portal in which students can access their Google Classroom. Once they log into their Chromebook, kids can access the bookmarks folder on their Chrome browser and click on ClassLink. That will bring them to the apps page where they will find Google Classroom. 

DATES TO REMEMBER
Friday, December 18, 2020
-Final day of the first semester (Q2)
-Winter break until January 5, 2021
 
It's a good life!

Mr. Sassman
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