4C News
Tuesday, March 17th, 2020
Report Cards
Each student should have received a report card in his/her folder. I apologize that they are bare-bones. Please email me or text me if something looks really "off."
Journaling with Me
Today, kids can access an assignment within the Grade 4 course in Schoology called "Journaling with Mrs. Close." We are going to use this google doc to write back and forth and keep in touch. Once it's opened, kids should begin writing to me. I will look in my google drive a few times a day so I can respond. This is separate from the the writing prompts. The journal is a place where we can hold on to our relationship and continue to get to know one another. Once this document has been opened in Schoology, kids can easily access it in their drive through BravesLink.
Daily Assignments
Each day, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18th, the kids will have assignments to complete. These tasks will be posted to the Grade 4 course in Schoology. They will be ready each day by 8:00 am.
In general, this is what each day will look like:
iReady
- 20 minutes of math iReady
- 20 minutes of reading iReady
- I know that many kids don't love these sessions. The really good thing for me is that I can track their progress remotely and the program is personalized so each student gets exactly what is needed. I will log in to iReady and see what lessons have been done and how the kids are doing. If your child complains to you that iReady is making them complete a lesson that was already done, chances are that's because the lesson was failed on the first attempt. These lessons truly have a teach piece, practice, and then a quiz. The kids also know how important the timing is. If they log off and are not at least half-way through one of the sections, they will have to redo that section of the lesson the next time they log in. That is one road block and reason why it takes kids sometimes so long to get through a lesson.
Writing
- I sent home a notebook with a list of writing prompts tucked inside for each student. I'm asking that kids tackle one of those prompts a day and write for 20 minutes. Some kids prefer typing. If that's the case, kids can open a google doc and type away. They can share it with me too and I can respond. They know how to share, but they may need help getting my email address typed in. It's closege@canandaiguaschools.org
- Each day a science or SS activity will be assigned. When we worked as a grade level, the teachers decided to tackle the beginning of the Revolutionary War and science review topics. I hope the youtube links don't have inappropriate commercials. :/
Contact Information
My email - closege@canandaiguaschools.org
My cell - 585-955-3111
Please don't hesitate to contact me! I've already had a few kids text me. :)
Read Aloud
I am going to post videos daily of me reading. I was hoping to see kids today to begin our new book before we jumped into remote learning. I will have those videos ready by 2:00 each afternoon and they will also be in the Grade 4 course.
Silent Reading
I sent home a book for each student to keep. I tried to choose one that each of the kids would enjoy. Please, please, please keep your kids reading. There are many sources in the library icon within BravesLink.
Chromebook Care
The District will be sending out information on how to care for the devices. The good news is that 4th graders are already experts! In addition, please have the kids completely shut down their chromebooks each Friday. This is something we do when we are in school too. It allows for the machine to update.
Sometimes the devices "glitch" as the kids call it! My only recommendation is for them to shut them down and restart. Please feel free to use that same advice.
Kids Connecting with Classmates
Turns out that students DO NOT have the ability to communicate with each other in Schoology. However, they can email!
Students should:
-log into chromebooks
-press the magnifying lens key (right above shift)
-select the gmail app
-kids might have to select their google account and put in password
-most of their classmates email addresses are last name first initial @ccsdbraves.org
ex) John Smith - smithj@ccsdbraves.org