Hello Families,
Thank you for attending open house. I hope that some of the information was new and/or useful to you. Thank you for your continuing support of virtual learning. I know know how difficult it can be. I am hoping that we will return to school and that kids can learn at school. As we settle into routines, please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions, comments or concerns.
This Week’s Schedule
LINK to our Schedule. This document link will remain the same throughout virtual school. Mr. Hagen suggests that you bookmark it on your device as well as your child’s.
Schedule Changes
Please take note of some schedule changes this week. Purple and Green math groups have switched times. Ms. Gregory’s reading group now meets at 10:05 instead of 10:35.
Reading Group Structure
This week, we will solidify our reading group structure and routine. The books used in reading group are at your child’s “instructional level.” We practice the skills needed to read and comprehend these books during the group. Mr. Hagen previews the text and discusses the background knowledge needed to fully comprehend what will be read. We often break into even smaller groups during these times for oral reading practice. Your child will often only read a portion of the text during his/her group. After your child’s reading group comes to a close, he/she will be sent the book through a seesaw activity. Mr. Hagen would like kids to then read the book aloud with an adult if possible. Vocabulary, characters, and other ideas in the books should be familiar. This is a time to gently nudge your child into reading more fluently. This is the guided reading model of reading instruction. Students do not need to add a response to the seesaw activity. This is just how Mr. Hagen is sharing the books. Please let Mr. Hagen know if these texts are too difficult.
Yellow Reading Group
A large part of this group’s purpose is to nurture reading comprehension. The book discussed and practiced with your child each day in this group will be shared through a seesaw activity. The first 2 pages of the book are a short multiple choice quiz. This needs to be completed AFTER your child reads the books orally with an adult. He/she should not receive assistance to complete it. Students only need to complete the multiple choice questions and not the written response question. While multiple choice is not ideal, it’s a simple and quick way to check for understanding during virtual school.
Writing Feedback
On Tuesday, your child was asked to write independently for 40 minutes. Mr. Hagen is taking time to carefully read these and provide detailed feedback. While not ideal, this writing served as an informal writing assessment. If we were in school, students would have been asked to do the same thing. If you provided assistance to your child during this, the feedback provided may reflect this. Please take some time to listen to the audio comment with your child. Mr. Hagen wants students to have a clear understanding of their strengths as writers. Comments should be complete by this evening and will be shared with you through seesaw when complete.
Setting Alarms to Help With Arriving to Zooms on Time
Mr. Hagen talked about this at open house and promised to share more detailed information. Here is a sample of what this could like like. Each child’s schedule is different though. Alarms are set for 5 minute before each zoom. Repeat has been set to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Afternoon meetings are set to Monday and Friday. The same idea can be used for Wednesdays. Arriving a few minutes early enables your child to receive all of the instruction in his/her group and is courteous to others in the group. Thanks so much for your help with this.
Notes From Open House
If you’d like to see any of the slides shared from open house, please visit this LINK
