The Rhodes Gazette
Family Newsletter - May & June 2020
Thank you for everyone's support during these last few weeks of Distance Learning. We have all worked together and have risen to the challenge of making education happen for our students. Many of you already know that RI schools will continue to be closed through this academic school year. This news was definitely disheartening, however I agree that this was the best decision for the health and safety of our staff, students and families. While we have many more days of at-home learning ahead of us, I am confident and optimistic that we will continue to accomplish this difficult task successfully and collaboratively.
Thank you for sharing photos of your child reading at home and celebrating school spirit days. I enjoyed each and every one! They have been posted on Twitter and morning announcement slideshows, in addition to being included in this newsletter.
Grade 5 Families: Mr. Gemma, Mrs. Weber, Ms. Eminger and I will be in touch with you regarding an end of the year event. We absolutely want to celebrate our fifth graders! We will take this opportunity to mix it up a little and commemorate your child's special accomplishment in a unique and memorable way.
As I hear any new or updated information, I will continue to keep you updated. As always, please reach out anytime with any question or concern.
Please continue to stay well and healthy.
We are in this together!
Best,
Gina Armstrong
Principal
#RhodesUnited
Important upcoming dates:
May 6th and 20th (Wednesdays) = NO school for students (PD for teachers)
Friday, May 15th = vacation day, NO school
Monday, May 25th = NO school in observance of Memorial Day
Monday, June 1st = NO school for students (PD for teachers)
Thursday, June 18th = LAST DAY of school for students K-5
(May/June 2020 Calendar is posted at the bottom of this newsletter and can also be found on the CPSED.net website.)
ATTENDANCE DURING DISTANCE LEARNING STILL COUNTS!!!
- We need to connect with each student each school day for a mark of "present".
- Students are "present" in school when they log into their digital learning platforms, complete assignments, chat with their teacher, email the teacher, etc.
- Students who do not connect with us or complete assignments will be marked "absent" in Aspen.
- Parents/guardians of students who have not logged into school or were marked "absent" the day before will receive a phone call from a support staff member, Ms. Lenk or myself, so that we can notify you of the absence in Aspen (in lieu of the robocall which generated when the physical school was open) and to help with any difficulties you or your child may be having.
- Excessive absences can lead to truancy.
- We recognize families are quite busy during the day and have different schedules. As long as assignments are completed daily and efforts are made to attend lessons, students will be considered "present".
- Please keep the lines of communication open so that we know how Distance Learning is fitting into your home routine. We are here to work with you and help in any way we can!
SPIRIT WEEK PICTURES! :)
HAWAIIAN DAY!
DISNEY DAY!
INSIDE OUT/BACKWARDS DAY!
FRONT LINE HERO DAY! xoxo
TIE-DYE DAY!
#RIReadsAtHome GOVERNOR'S CHALLENGE
MAY & JUNE MONTHS AT A GLANCE
KINDERGARTEN
ELA (English Language Arts):The Kindergarten class will continue to work in Unit 4, Our Earth. Throughout the course of this unit, the students will discover how their actions affect the earth and how to better care for the Earth, and they will come up with sustainable ideas for future care of the Earth. As part of their first STEM investigation, the students have either planted seeds or observed signs of Spring. In STEM #2, the class will learn how to compost and investigate how worms are decomposers that help natural materials to break down in the soil. Exploring the natural world and trees is an important component of this unit. The students have explored plant life and have begun to explore trees. In their centers; they will create real and imaginary trees, build block forests, sort seeds, conduct research on composting and research where recycling goes. To wrap up the unit, the students will come up with an idea on how to care for the Earth and compose a persuasive writing to convince an audience to use their idea.
Read Alouds: What If Everyone Did That, The Great Kapok Tree, Recycle, Dirt: The Scoop on Soil, Fossils
Sight Words: look, where, has, as, or, am, have, from, by, my, for, we, be, does, go, no, so, do, one
Fundations: The class will begin Unit 5 and wrap up Unit 5 at the beginning of June. The focus of Unit 5 is sentence structure and trick words. The students are learning to include capitals, spaces and punctuation to their sentences. The students are also learning that trick words cannot be sounded out and try to trick the reader.
Writing: Opinion writing (argument) is the kindergarten focus this trimester. The students will learn that an opinion is what they think, feel or believe about a topic. They will need to come up with reasons to support their opinions this trimester. At home, encourage your children to tell you their ideas before writing. The students can draw their ideas before writing words. Encourage your children to sound out their words and write a letter for each sound they hear. Try to avoid spelling words for them. At the end of the trimester, the students will compose a persuasive piece of writing related to our Earth.
Math: Module 5 and Module 6
The class will continue to work in Module 5 until the end of the month. They will work in Module 6 for the rest of the school year.
Composing and decomposing “teen” numbers 11-19
Understanding place value (ones and tens)
Counting by 10s to 100
Recognizing and writing “teen” numbers
Solving word problems that involve “teen” numbers
Identifying flat and solid shapes (review)
Analyzing flat and solid shapes
Composing flat and solid shapes using other shapes
Social Studies: The Kindergarten class will explore timelines this trimester - how living things change and grow over time. The class will also investigate how they can be stewards for our Earth as they explore sustainable ways to care for our Earth.
Science: The students will explore plant life, learn to compost and explore the decomposition of natural materials. The class will also observe the weather and note changes in our weather and how those changes affect us.
Family Connections: Having your children assist you when you sort the recycling, plant seeds if you can or take walks and observe how trees and plants are changing over time will help to support their learning. Thank you to all of our families for your ongoing support during distance learning! Our kids are amazing!
GRADE 1
ELA (English Language Arts): Syllables, -oi, -oy, blending, substitution, abbreviations, biography, -er, -est, inflectional endings, paragraph structure, closed syllables, multisyllabic words, compound words, silent letters, r- controlled vowels, narrative writing
Math: Place value, coins; identifying, composing and partitioning shapes, addition to 100, double-digit addition, money, time
Social Studies: Needs, wants, goods and services
Science: Characteristics of plants and animals
Family Connections: IXL, read 30 minutes nightly
Special Activities: Get in lots of fresh air and outside time and continue to learn!
GRADE 2
ELA (English Language Arts): The students will begin Unit 6 in Wonders - How on Earth? This unit focuses on what keeps our world working. Concepts include myths about nature, types of energy, exploration and teamwork, how we use money and where your imagination can take you. In writing, students will continue to learn about the features of informational text. Students will utilize the writing process to develop their own informational writing piece.
Math: Module 7 - Problem-solving using graphs, money and measurement. Module 8 -Shapes, Time and Measurement
Social Studies: The students will research a person or symbol and create a project based on their research.
Science: Students will learn about the building blocks of matter and the changes that occur from heat. We will utilize some STEMscope activities as a tool to help guide us through this unit as well as a few exciting hands-on experiments.
Family Connections: Please make sure that your child is reading each night and often checking Google Classroom for updates. Attend Google Classroom Meets to which they are invited.
GRADE 3
ELA (English Language Art)/Social Studies: The students have begun Unit 5 in Wonders - Take Action. We have talked about trading and how we get what we need when we do not have money. This week is all about recycling. Unfortunately, we did not get to attend our field trip, but hopefully they will have an opportunity in the future. Next week is teamwork, how do teams work together. It is amazing how everyone in our state has come together to flatten the curve. Citizenship is week 4 and Energy is week 5. We will continue to complete the games in Wonders under the TO-DO tab. In June, we will be focusing on what is important and how weather can affect us.
Math: In May, we will finish Module 6 in Eureka Math, Collecting and Displaying Data. We will have the Module 6 assessment. Next we will begin Module 7, Geometry and Measurement Word Problems. Students need to remember to use the Read/Draw/Write method.
Science: We will continue to watch the Mystery Doug videos.
Writing: Opinion Writing
Family Connections: Thank you for all your support with your children while we are distance learning. We know that this is a difficult time. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. WE’VE GOT THIS!!!
GRADE 4
ELA (English Language Arts): We will be working on analyzing opinion/persuasive texts in order to apply elements to writing opinion pieces. Students will be using reading comprehension skills for understanding character, setting, plot: problem & solution and theme. We will be discussing nonfiction text structures such as problem & solution, sequence and cause & effect. The fourth graders will also practice using vocabulary strategies to help them understand homographs and figurative language, such as similes and metaphors. Students should be reading nightly for 30 minutes.
Math: Eureka - Modules 5 & 6: Fractions and Decimals. Students are required to attend LIVE MATH. This is where a lesson is taught and students can use this time to ask for extra help. In addition to the LIVE MATH lesson, I record and post a video lesson, which can be found in the math Google classroom (topic - video lessons). Khanacademy.org also has video lessons and extra practice that aligns with the Eureka curriculum. In addition to the Eureka assignments, students will have some assigned skills on IXL. They can also use Zearn and Prodigy, which are both optional.
Social Studies: Students will learn about the midwest, west and southwest regions of the US through video links and written assignments. We had started using census.gov in the classroom, which they will continue to use during Distance Learning.
Science: Students are learning about how landforms change over time. They are exploring the forces in nature that slowly cause landforms to change: weathering, erosion and deposition. We will also be discussing the impact of fast changes to the Earth’s surface: volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Family Connections: Thank you for all of your support during Distance Learning. We are so proud of the fourth graders for their hard work and dedication during this time. We miss everyone, and enjoy seeing students at our live video meetings/lessons. A daily schedule for the 4th grade is posted in the ELA and 4th grade Information Google Classrooms under the “Classwork” tab. We hope this schedule helps provide structure and guidance to students and families. The expectation for students is that they attend the morning meeting @ 9:30, ELA LIVE lesson @ 10:00 and LIVE MATH @ 12:30. If there is a circumstance that prevents your child from attending any of these meetings, please email one of us.
GRADE 5
ELA (English Language Arts - Reading/Writing): The writing focus for this trimester is Opinion Writing. Students will be writing opinion essays based on topics presented in social studies. We are in Unit 5 of Wonders and are currently reading texts that help us understand how shared experiences affect us, a timely topic. In grammar we are diving deeper into complex sentences, which will benefit students’ writing. ELA lessons are at 9:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. All students are expected to READ every day for at least 30 sustained minutes, in addition to daily reading assignments. This will help prepare them for middle school as well as improve their reading skills.
Math: We will be continuing Module 6 Problem Solving with Coordinate Plane. Our lessons are daily at 10:30 AM. Students also should be doing 50 minutes a week in IXL.
Social Studies: We will be continuing current events while also forming opinions about the topic. Each current event is a brief summary about the topic and then a paragraph on their opinion. This is a great opportunity to have open dialogue with your child. The students will also be continuing their learning about financial literacy through the EVERFI application in Clever.
Science: We are beginning our study of space and our place in the solar system. We began with Earth’s Rotation and are now learning about Stars. Please take advantage of clear nights to GET OUTSIDE and LOOK UP!
Family Connections: Spring Fever/Summeritis is beginning to creep in, as it always does, although it is probably worse this year after several weeks in quarantine. Please encourage your child to continue to work hard at distance learning, attend all lessons and submit work on time. These are good habits that will greatly benefit them as they move through school.
We’d like to say a special THANK YOU to our students and parents for riding the DISTANCE LEARNING TRAIN with us. We are all in this together, and we appreciate your support. We’ve got this!
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH - MR. RAGOSTA AND MS. MACMILLAN
In Physical Education we are experimenting with at-home fitness challenges, DrumFit, sports skill challenges, dance, yoga and more!! In Health, we are focusing on Social and Emotional Health - kindness, sharing, saying sorry, calming ourselves down and recognizing and addressing our emotions to make for a happier, healthier you! Also we will cover some nutrition topics!
LIBRARY - MRS. ROSE
I have been so impressed by students' responses to our poetry challenges and our book review blog. Book reviews can be submitted here: http://guides.rilinkschools.org/rhodes/librarybookreviewblog.
The blog is linked at the bottom of that page. I will compile student poetry into an ebook when I get more submissions. This week we are doing the All the Places to Read Challenge, inspired by Dr. Seuss. I would be very grateful for submissions of photographs of students (or the entire family!) reading in fun and unusual places - outdoors, in homemade indoor forts, in closets, etc. Please feel free to email me (srose@cpsed.net) with photographs or have your child upload them to the Library Google Classroom.
Remember to explore our Virtual Resource Page http://guides.rilinkschools.org/rhodes/VirtualLearningResourcestillJune2020. This is chock full of very high quality resources that are provided for free by e-book publishers who are making their content available to us through June.
Next week I will be introducing students to May Makerspace, which will be a virtual playground with many choices, including tech, low tech and no tech. I am looking forward to the students’ feedback and reactions!
ART
MRS. GALLO'S CLASSES
In Art class we are experiencing art with uncommon, unconventional art supplies. I am challenging my students to find their own art supplies around the house and I have been unbelievably impressed with their artwork. Art is all around us, not just with crayons and paint on paper!!! I post a lesson every 2 weeks that should take about an hour to complete (art class is 35 minutes a week, so by posting 1 lesson every 2 weeks meets the required time for art). Also, if you have free time, do not forget to check out my Free Time Google Classroom. There are some fun art activities for your spare time. I add a few activities to it weekly, so check back often.
MS. CAMARA'S CLASSES
I just wanted to say thank you for working so hard on your art assignments. I am impressed with your effort and I can tell you are having fun making art! I hope we can continue with this effort through the rest of the school year. So far we have been exploring shape and color in grade 1 and abstract art in grade 2, with new topics like art appreciation and more coming in May and June. We are starting portraits in Kindergarten with activities to get us thinking about what makes a portrait, segueing into step by step drawing videos that are coming soon. In grades 3, 4 and 5, we are doing some art appreciation with the Getty Challenge, museum visits and the artist research presentation, all continuing into May with new topics for the end of May/June. I have also posted links to virtual museums, extra activities and drawing prompts on my website, and I’m updating with even more great art content. So check it out! www.camaraartroom.weebly.com
MUSIC - MR. GEORGE AND MR. COX
In music we have been doing a series of different assignments using Edpuzzle and Seesaw. Every week, 1-2 new assignments are posted for each grade level on Google Classroom. Some assignments have required students to answer questions based off of things that we have been learning throughout the school year and others have required them to create melodies, rhythms or just simple performances of songs that they are familiar with. A few students have even posted some impromptu videos of themselves performing and singing, so feel free to share anything creative you have been working on!!
Strings and Chorus have begun to meet live from 2-2:30 on Wednesdays (Chorus) and Thursdays (Strings) with Mr. George and will continue bi-weekly or weekly for the rest of the school year! Please check your Google Classroom pages for the latest updates on live meetings.
Last week, Mr. Cox posted a Cup Game Challenge for grades 3, 4 and 5. There is no deadline on this and is just for fun! Mr. George is going to take the challenge and would love to see some of your video submissions as well! Parents and teachers are also encouraged to take the challenge!
RHODES STAFF MESSAGES! :)
FROM TEACHERS, READING SPECIALISTS, NURSE & PRINCIPAL....
FROM ITINERANT TEACHERS & SUPPORT STAFF....
FROM TEACHER ASSISTANTS, SECRETARY & CUSTODIANS....
Edward S. Rhodes Elementary School
Email: garmstrong@cpsed.net
Website: https://rhodes.cpsed.net
Location: 160 Shaw Avenue, Cranston, RI, USA
Phone: (401) 270-8110
Twitter: @garmstrong331