All class updates will be posted here, in addition to being emailed to you.
9/14
Math: This week we will continue Module 1, which will wrap up on Friday. Everyone has been doing an excellent job in our daily math groups! Thank you for helping them to come on time and prepared for the day's lesson. Hopefully your child has been able to complete the assistments and instructional videos without too much trouble. This is probably our most difficult module, and it builds the foundation for the rest of our modules. Please let me know if they need extra support with math, and we can set up additional times or they can come to our Zoom help meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's also very important that they have their addition math facts memorized. The site XtraMath is a great resource for math fact practice and can be accessed through their Clever pages.
Reading Small Groups: In addition to math small groups, we will be adding small groups for reading the week of 9/28. I will send you an email with your child's small group days/times.
ELA: This week we will continue to use the orange reading books and workbooks. The activities for spelling and reading will come from the orange workbooks, but they will also be posted on our Seesaw. Your child can always do the assignments in their workbooks and take a picture to add them to Seesaw.
Digital Scholastic Orders: Here is the link to the Scholastic flyers for this month. The orders will be sent to our school, but I will send them home in one of our future supply pickups. We can also arrange a time for you to drop by campus to pick them up. Our due date each month will be the last day of the month. Our code: VYWKZ
Spirit Day: We have a school wide spirit day on Friday. Friday's spirit day is School Spirit Day, so students can wear green or wear their Oster gear.
The Dot Activity: Mrs. Taormina's challenge for this week is for students to decorate their own unique dot. Here is the information about that from the principal:
I want to encourage Oster students to be brave and make their mark, just like Vashti! So here is your dot challenge.....draw your own dot. You can use a blank piece of paper or print out the “Make Your Mark Easel” handout here. Be creative with your dot: color, paint, collage, or add glitter, otherwise change your dot as you wish. Dot pictures can be uploaded in the google folder linked here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/e4TEXNS2pnKAyWbY7
8/28
I hope this update finds you well. We had a great week of learning together. I especially loved seeing all of their bird feeders today. Such creativity! Here are some updates and information for you:
Next Week
Next week is our last week of review for math. After that we will start small groups for math and get into the 2nd grade Eureka math. We will also be jumping into social studies. I sent home a stapled packet of social studies pages for each student. I'm in the process of setting up the Literably reading placement test. After that, we will begin small groups for reading.
Unfinished Work
This week I started giving either 100 or 0 points for each day's assignments. A zero means there is missing work without a note in the private comments telling me why it wasn't completed. It's more than okay if your child has work from a different teacher in the afternoon and isn't able to complete the work. If your child works the whole time and isn't able to complete everything, just let me know. The points don't count for anything on the report card, it's just a way for me to track missing assignments and notify parents/students when things are missing. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
Project Cornerstone Volunteers
We need 1-2 parent volunteers for Project Cornerstone. You would be in charge of reading a book with the class on Zoom and doing an activity with them. There is training for parents who haven't done it before. Please email me if you're interested! Thank you in advance. :D
Seesaw Parent Access
Click this link to be added as a parent to your child's Seesaw account. You will be able to see their work. You can see it already at home of course, but this will give you access to their work once we are back at school, too.
Reading Resources
RAZ Kids is ready for students to use. It's a great resource for books and activities for students. Students should login with Clever. You can add yourself to their RAZ kids accounts to see how they're doing by clicking the green "Parent" button once they're logged in. We also have access to the Sora website with tons of books for students.
Spelling
I've been getting a lot of parents wondering about spelling help at home, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on spelling with everyone. Having anxiety about not being able to spell is a common problem, and it definitely takes awhile for some students to adjust when I tell them I won't spell words for them in class.
I never spell words for students to reinforce that I don't expect them to be able to spell everything and that it is OKAY to make spelling mistakes. I also tell them that me telling them how to spell words doesn't make them a better speller, but that we will learn spelling patterns during spelling time that will make them better spellers. I remind them that they're only seven and it's more than okay to not be able to spell everything and that we will be learning how to spell more words this year, and that they will continue to learn how to spell different words for their WHOLE lives. I also remind them that their work isn't being evaluated for spelling and that the only time I look for spelling is on spelling tests or after we have revised and edited writing during Writers Workshop (something we will get into later on in the year). If I tell students how to spell words then it debilitates them with their classwork because they will sit and wait for me to get to them to help them figure out how to spell a word instead of going on with their work. I would remind your child about those things and then encourage them to use some spelling strategies to figure out how to spell the word as best as possible. We were supposed to get a spelling dictionary for common words to give to students, but they didn't come in time for our supply pickup. They have arrived now, though, so I will figure out a way to have them delivered!
Spelling Strategies:
No School Friday
Just a reminder that we won't have school on Friday for students.
Thank you again for all of your help with distance learning. I know this is a tough situation for everyone involved, and we couldn't do it without the support of all of our amazing families!
9/4
I hope everyone had a great week and has something fun planned for the long weekend. My plan is to have as much screen free time as possible and spend quality time with my family! I am so proud of the progress our class has made adjusting to distance learning since the beginning of the school year, and I love seeing their smiling faces at our Zoom meetings every day. Next week will bring a few changes, so, as always, feel free to email me any time if you have any questions.
No School
Don't forget we have no school on Monday. I will see everyone at our Tuesday morning Zoom.
Math
You should have received an email telling you your child's daily math group time. I will also put their times in the "Zoom Link" section of our Google Classroom, too, to remind them. It's the same link as our normal Zooms. Students will learn the content asynchronously through videos, then students will work with me in small groups to practice facts, application problems, and number sense. In the "Succeed" math workbook, there is a homework help page for each lesson, so students can review what they learned if they forget something. On our class website, there is also a link to youtube videos for parents for each lesson.
New Zoom Help Times
It seems like most students have really gotten the hang of distance learning because I very rarely get visitors during my Zoom office hour. My new Zoom help meetings will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-1:00. If your child needs to Zoom for some reason outside of those times, just have them leave me a comment on Google Classroom.
Digital Scholastic Orders
Here is the link to the Scholastic flyers for this month. The orders will be sent to our school, but I will send them home in one of our future supply pickups. We can also arrange a time for you to drop by campus to pick them up. Our due date each month will be the last day of the month. Our code: VYWKZ
Project Cornerstone Volunteers
We still don't have any volunteers for Project Cornerstone. Students LOVE Cornerstone and are always so happy to have parents be their teachers for a lesson. Let me know if you would like to volunteer. Thank you!
Turning in Work and Comments
Please remember to have your child click the "Turn In" button after they're done with the day's work. It's also helpful to look at the assignment from the day before to listen to or read the comments I leave each day and check for missing work.
Thank you for your continued support and flexibility with distance learning. I feel grateful to have such a great group of students and families! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
8/22
Technical Support: Please use this site for all of your tech support needs. This should be your first resort when things aren't working, whether it be a website being down, logging in, or a broken ChromeBook.
Student Work: I was so impressed with how hard our class worked last week! Just to clarify, I know all of our students work at different paces and some may not be able to complete all of the work each day. THAT IS OKAY. My expectations are that they work hard for the allotted instructional times, and then move on to the next set of activities once the time is up. Our schedule is 9-10 Language Arts, 10:20-11:20 Math, and 12:00-2:00 Afternoon Work (Science, Social Studies, Reading, etc.). If your child works for the allotted time on an assignment and isn't able to finish everything, just have them leave a comment on the assignment in Google Classroom. If your child would like to do an assignment on paper instead of online, that is also more than okay. Just have them take a picture of their work and attach it to the assignment on Seesaw instead.
Assignment Help:
Tech Suggestion: It can be tricky for second graders to drag and drop and draw on Seesaw on the Chromebook. A mouse can often be tremendously helpful for students, as they won't have to use the little trackpad on their device.
Typing Practice: Typing Agent is now up and running! Students can access Typing Club on their Classlink page.
Every day of distance learning gives me a better perspective about what works and what doesn't! I will continue to adjust accordingly, in order to make this experience as successful as possible for everyone. Thank you for being flexible with the changes I make as we get going If something comes up for you or your child, don't hesitate to email me and let me know. I appreciate all of your support! Let me know if you have any questions about anything.
8/14
We made it through the first week of distance learning! It was so nice to be able to see most of you in the supply drive through this morning, and I enjoyed chatting with you all during Zoom our family meetings. Here are some updates:
Have a nice weekend!
Math: This week we will continue Module 1, which will wrap up on Friday. Everyone has been doing an excellent job in our daily math groups! Thank you for helping them to come on time and prepared for the day's lesson. Hopefully your child has been able to complete the assistments and instructional videos without too much trouble. This is probably our most difficult module, and it builds the foundation for the rest of our modules. Please let me know if they need extra support with math, and we can set up additional times or they can come to our Zoom help meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's also very important that they have their addition math facts memorized. The site XtraMath is a great resource for math fact practice and can be accessed through their Clever pages.
Reading Small Groups: In addition to math small groups, we will be adding small groups for reading the week of 9/28. I will send you an email with your child's small group days/times.
ELA: This week we will continue to use the orange reading books and workbooks. The activities for spelling and reading will come from the orange workbooks, but they will also be posted on our Seesaw. Your child can always do the assignments in their workbooks and take a picture to add them to Seesaw.
Digital Scholastic Orders: Here is the link to the Scholastic flyers for this month. The orders will be sent to our school, but I will send them home in one of our future supply pickups. We can also arrange a time for you to drop by campus to pick them up. Our due date each month will be the last day of the month. Our code: VYWKZ
Spirit Day: We have a school wide spirit day on Friday. Friday's spirit day is School Spirit Day, so students can wear green or wear their Oster gear.
The Dot Activity: Mrs. Taormina's challenge for this week is for students to decorate their own unique dot. Here is the information about that from the principal:
I want to encourage Oster students to be brave and make their mark, just like Vashti! So here is your dot challenge.....draw your own dot. You can use a blank piece of paper or print out the “Make Your Mark Easel” handout here. Be creative with your dot: color, paint, collage, or add glitter, otherwise change your dot as you wish. Dot pictures can be uploaded in the google folder linked here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/e4TEXNS2pnKAyWbY7
8/28
I hope this update finds you well. We had a great week of learning together. I especially loved seeing all of their bird feeders today. Such creativity! Here are some updates and information for you:
Next Week
Next week is our last week of review for math. After that we will start small groups for math and get into the 2nd grade Eureka math. We will also be jumping into social studies. I sent home a stapled packet of social studies pages for each student. I'm in the process of setting up the Literably reading placement test. After that, we will begin small groups for reading.
Unfinished Work
This week I started giving either 100 or 0 points for each day's assignments. A zero means there is missing work without a note in the private comments telling me why it wasn't completed. It's more than okay if your child has work from a different teacher in the afternoon and isn't able to complete the work. If your child works the whole time and isn't able to complete everything, just let me know. The points don't count for anything on the report card, it's just a way for me to track missing assignments and notify parents/students when things are missing. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
Project Cornerstone Volunteers
We need 1-2 parent volunteers for Project Cornerstone. You would be in charge of reading a book with the class on Zoom and doing an activity with them. There is training for parents who haven't done it before. Please email me if you're interested! Thank you in advance. :D
Seesaw Parent Access
Click this link to be added as a parent to your child's Seesaw account. You will be able to see their work. You can see it already at home of course, but this will give you access to their work once we are back at school, too.
Reading Resources
RAZ Kids is ready for students to use. It's a great resource for books and activities for students. Students should login with Clever. You can add yourself to their RAZ kids accounts to see how they're doing by clicking the green "Parent" button once they're logged in. We also have access to the Sora website with tons of books for students.
Spelling
I've been getting a lot of parents wondering about spelling help at home, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on spelling with everyone. Having anxiety about not being able to spell is a common problem, and it definitely takes awhile for some students to adjust when I tell them I won't spell words for them in class.
I never spell words for students to reinforce that I don't expect them to be able to spell everything and that it is OKAY to make spelling mistakes. I also tell them that me telling them how to spell words doesn't make them a better speller, but that we will learn spelling patterns during spelling time that will make them better spellers. I remind them that they're only seven and it's more than okay to not be able to spell everything and that we will be learning how to spell more words this year, and that they will continue to learn how to spell different words for their WHOLE lives. I also remind them that their work isn't being evaluated for spelling and that the only time I look for spelling is on spelling tests or after we have revised and edited writing during Writers Workshop (something we will get into later on in the year). If I tell students how to spell words then it debilitates them with their classwork because they will sit and wait for me to get to them to help them figure out how to spell a word instead of going on with their work. I would remind your child about those things and then encourage them to use some spelling strategies to figure out how to spell the word as best as possible. We were supposed to get a spelling dictionary for common words to give to students, but they didn't come in time for our supply pickup. They have arrived now, though, so I will figure out a way to have them delivered!
Spelling Strategies:
- Say the word aloud slowly and stretch it out. Try and spell the sounds you hear in the beginning, middle, and end.
- Say the word aloud and listen for (or clap out) the syllables. Try and spell each syllable.
- Say the word aloud and see if you can hear words inside the word that you know how to spell. For example: charming..can you spell arm?
- Say the word aloud and see if you can hear any prefixes, roots or suffixes you can spell like ex- or -ing.
- Look up the word in our commonly used spelling words book (when they arrive!)
- Use a mnemonic device to help you remember difficult words to spell that you use often. For example: Because (big elephants can always understand small elephants)
- Give it your best shot and move on! It's okay :D
No School Friday
Just a reminder that we won't have school on Friday for students.
Thank you again for all of your help with distance learning. I know this is a tough situation for everyone involved, and we couldn't do it without the support of all of our amazing families!
9/4
I hope everyone had a great week and has something fun planned for the long weekend. My plan is to have as much screen free time as possible and spend quality time with my family! I am so proud of the progress our class has made adjusting to distance learning since the beginning of the school year, and I love seeing their smiling faces at our Zoom meetings every day. Next week will bring a few changes, so, as always, feel free to email me any time if you have any questions.
No School
Don't forget we have no school on Monday. I will see everyone at our Tuesday morning Zoom.
Math
You should have received an email telling you your child's daily math group time. I will also put their times in the "Zoom Link" section of our Google Classroom, too, to remind them. It's the same link as our normal Zooms. Students will learn the content asynchronously through videos, then students will work with me in small groups to practice facts, application problems, and number sense. In the "Succeed" math workbook, there is a homework help page for each lesson, so students can review what they learned if they forget something. On our class website, there is also a link to youtube videos for parents for each lesson.
New Zoom Help Times
It seems like most students have really gotten the hang of distance learning because I very rarely get visitors during my Zoom office hour. My new Zoom help meetings will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-1:00. If your child needs to Zoom for some reason outside of those times, just have them leave me a comment on Google Classroom.
Digital Scholastic Orders
Here is the link to the Scholastic flyers for this month. The orders will be sent to our school, but I will send them home in one of our future supply pickups. We can also arrange a time for you to drop by campus to pick them up. Our due date each month will be the last day of the month. Our code: VYWKZ
Project Cornerstone Volunteers
We still don't have any volunteers for Project Cornerstone. Students LOVE Cornerstone and are always so happy to have parents be their teachers for a lesson. Let me know if you would like to volunteer. Thank you!
Turning in Work and Comments
Please remember to have your child click the "Turn In" button after they're done with the day's work. It's also helpful to look at the assignment from the day before to listen to or read the comments I leave each day and check for missing work.
Thank you for your continued support and flexibility with distance learning. I feel grateful to have such a great group of students and families! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
8/22
Technical Support: Please use this site for all of your tech support needs. This should be your first resort when things aren't working, whether it be a website being down, logging in, or a broken ChromeBook.
Student Work: I was so impressed with how hard our class worked last week! Just to clarify, I know all of our students work at different paces and some may not be able to complete all of the work each day. THAT IS OKAY. My expectations are that they work hard for the allotted instructional times, and then move on to the next set of activities once the time is up. Our schedule is 9-10 Language Arts, 10:20-11:20 Math, and 12:00-2:00 Afternoon Work (Science, Social Studies, Reading, etc.). If your child works for the allotted time on an assignment and isn't able to finish everything, just have them leave a comment on the assignment in Google Classroom. If your child would like to do an assignment on paper instead of online, that is also more than okay. Just have them take a picture of their work and attach it to the assignment on Seesaw instead.
Assignment Help:
- Audio Directions: Every slide has audio directions that students can listen to if they are unable to read the directions. Most Seesaw activities also have audio directions. Please encourage them to listen to the audio directions.
- Comments: Encourage your child to seek help by asking a question to me or their classmates on Google Classroom. When they open the assignment information there is a spot to leave a "class comment" or "private comment". Private comments only I can see.
- Zoom Help Hour: As we get started, I will have a Zoom help hour Monday-Friday (except Wednesdays) from 12:30-1:30 to answer questions.
- Parent Support: I appreciate all of the support you're giving your children. Clarifying assignments or reading directions is helpful, but please let them do the work and make mistakes, so I can see their understanding in different subject areas. This will help me best meet their needs as we kick off the school year. This counts for spelling, too. It lets me see where our students are without support. I am an expert inventive spelling reader, and I will still be able to read their work. Correcting spelling in assignments early on can discourage students from wanting to write, which is definitely something we don't want happening in second grade. We will start our spelling curriculum in a few weeks, though, so it's still very important and something they will continue to learn this year. Thank you for all that you do!
Tech Suggestion: It can be tricky for second graders to drag and drop and draw on Seesaw on the Chromebook. A mouse can often be tremendously helpful for students, as they won't have to use the little trackpad on their device.
Typing Practice: Typing Agent is now up and running! Students can access Typing Club on their Classlink page.
Every day of distance learning gives me a better perspective about what works and what doesn't! I will continue to adjust accordingly, in order to make this experience as successful as possible for everyone. Thank you for being flexible with the changes I make as we get going If something comes up for you or your child, don't hesitate to email me and let me know. I appreciate all of your support! Let me know if you have any questions about anything.
8/14
We made it through the first week of distance learning! It was so nice to be able to see most of you in the supply drive through this morning, and I enjoyed chatting with you all during Zoom our family meetings. Here are some updates:
- Next Week's Activities: Starting next week, students will get their assignments in Google Classroom each morning, as opposed to having the whole week's work ahead of time. They will be posted at 8:00 each morning. Here is a link to Monday's assignment list, in case you would like to preview them, but the assignments won't be on Seesaw until Monday morning.
- Directions: I recorded myself saying the directions for each slide, so students can listen to the directions by clicking the speaker button.
- Math-We will start off with review. Tuesday, they will take a math assessment based on things they learned in first grade, in addition to a couple of second grade standards. You can help them read the problems if they need it, but please don't help them solve the problems, so I have a more accurate idea of where they are with the material.
- ELA-Students will learn about the growth mindset, in addition to learning about skills to help them when they are reading independently. They will also write each day in their composition books.
- Science- Students will have from Monday-Thursday to complete the first mystery science lesson where they will learn about different types of animals. The lesson consists of videos and sorting activities. I highly recommend that this is completed over several days. Don't try and cram it all in one day! There are extension activities for the lesson if they do finish early.
- Technology assistance: I've done my best to try and assist with technology issues, but it's pretty tricky when I can't see exactly what's going on with the device. Here is the website for assistance from the district. They have a ton of people ready to help you with any tech problems. Click the get help link at the bottom for assistance. Also, I HIGHLY recommend your child use a district issued chromebook instead of an ipad. Let me know if you need help getting one.
- Class Website Just a reminder that we have a class website: kaitlincelestre.weebly.com. I will post these updates there as well.
- Remind: I highly recommend you sign up for our class Remind, so you get reminders about things pertaining to our class. The directions are attached.
- Getting to know your child: Please fill this survey out if you haven't done so already.
Have a nice weekend!
