Saturday, January 9, 2021

Saturday, January 9, 2021

 

Mr. Sassman's 4th Grade Class Blog

Weller Elementary School
 
 


Last Week...
Was a short one but we settled back into routine nicely. This is our last week of remote learning (so as the plan goes), and I am beyond excited to have the kids back on the 19th. I want to touch on that a bit. 
 
I will have a conversation with the kids about what school will be like when they return. As of now, the school is requiring that all kids wear masks at all times except for lunch (which will be in our classroom). The point I will try to make is that: school will look and feel a different from what they know. For example, kids' desks will be spaced 6 feet apart, and they will not be allowed to work in groups or with partners. Lastly for now, students will not be permitted to heat up food or snacks in the classroom microwave. However, breakfast and hot lunch will be free to any/every student for the rest of the school year!
 
Last week we talked about New Year's Resolutions and what it means to set realistic, time-bound, motivating goals. I think we made some real progress and we will again explore goal setting this coming Monday. Ms. Nuss finished out our week, subbing for me Friday as I brought my littles in for their annual wellness checks and regular vaccinations (not COVID vaccines). We are almost done with The Adventures of Huck Finn and we will be starting Where the Red Fern Grows soon.
 
This week...
We will working on Spelling Packet 7, GeoNotes 7, and starting our class novel, My Side of the Mountain. I will be making a push for students (who have not yet) to finish up their State Report Packets, Persuasive Essays, and Biography Book Reports. These have been ongoing projects and it is time to finish them up. If students still have issues completing the assignments, we can certainly work on them here when the kids come back, but I would prefer to get them going on some new projects. For students that have completed their work, I will be introducing our Q3 book reports (Cereal Box Book Reports), and our Q3 formal writing piece (Superhero Stories). We will also be working our way through the rest of DOL 3 and starting DOL 4. Finally, we will be starting Topic 9 in math this week, and we should be able to fly through it, as it is a review of simple division.   
 
The Third Quarter Plan:
  
New Additions/Finishing Up
  • State Reports and Posterboards
  • Poetry - Winter Haikus, Diamantes, What I love about Winter, and more...
  • Class Novel - My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
  • Read Aloud - Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
  • Art - Warm and Clod Trees, Space Art
  • New Year Resolutions and goal-setting
  • Advice to a fourth-grader
  • Student-led Parent-Teacher Conferences
  • Long Division
  • Fractions
  • The Rock Cycle
  • Cereal Box Book Reports
  • Superhero Stories
  • Newton's Laws of Motion
  • STEM Kits
  • Current Events
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
New Year's Resolutions Packet
Class Novel - My Side of the Mountain
9:15 - 10:15 (Asynchronous - Independent Work)
Complete Writing Prompt
Snack
Break from a screen
10:15 - 11:00 (Synchronous - With the teacher)
Topic 9
11:00 - 12:00 (Asynchronous - Independent Work)
TBD
Lunch
Break from a screen
12:00 - 12:30 (Synchronous - With the teacher)
Read Aloud - Huck Finn
Spelling 7
GeoNotes 7
12:30 - 1:30 (Asynchronous - Independent Work)
Finish up the day's tasks
1:30 - till' Tuesday
Go outside
Play
Be a kid
Read for 20 minutes and record it in your reading log
20-30 minutes of classwork (Spelling, GeoNotes, Math 9-1)

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
-I will 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! On most days, 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 Google Classroom 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
Monday, January 18th, 2021
-Martin Luther King Jr. Day (No school)
 
Monday, February 15th, 2021 - Tuesday, February 16th, 2021
-Parent/Teacher Conferences (No school)
These are student-led so your kiddo will need to be present as well. More to come on this.

Wednesday, February 17th, 2021
-Teacher Professional Development Day (No school)

Monday, March 8, 2021 - Friday, March 12, 2021
-Spring Break (No school)

 
It's a good life!

Mr. Sassman
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