Happy Friday!

 Happy Friday!

Wow!  What a great turn out at the RBE Literacy Trunk or Treat last night!  I loved seeing everyone dressed up and getting to see families back at RBE!  Thank you so much for being such amazing families and supporting RBE and all the kids.

Wednesday Work

• The students and I talked on Thursday about the importance of still doing school related activities on Wednesdays.  These are still school days even though they are learning from home.  Each Wednesday, they will have a trick word packet to complete and are expected to do some math (ST Math or EM games) and reading (Sora, Epic, Capstone, books).  They are also expected to attend our Zoom at 8:00 a.m.  
• Here is our November Choice Board and I will be sending it home with students on Tuesday, November 10 (next Wednesday, November 3 is a teacher work day so students aren't expected to do school work since it is a No School day, I know it can be a bit confusing). 

Important Upcoming Events

• No School: Tuesday, November 3 and Wednesday, November 4: Election Day and Teacher Work Days
• Book Character Pumpkins Due: Thursday, November 5

Parent Teacher Conferences

• Thank you to everyone who has filled out the Parent Teacher Conference time request form.  If you haven't filled it out yet, please do so this week.  I will be sending out your scheduled time via email early next week.
• Our goal at RBE is 100% attendance.  I look forward to getting a chance to Zoom with everyone and share about your student's progress so far this year.
• Please let me know if there is anything specific you would like to discuss at conferences.

Friday Folders

• Friday folder checklists and comments are filled out this week.  Please read over these and initial below the checklist or in the comment section.  
• There are Fundations and math activities in the Friday folder.  There are optional practice for your student.  They are from our current math unit and our next Fundations unit.  
• These can be used on Wednesdays for additional practice if you would like.

Next Week's Learning

• Reading
• We will continue learning about making inferences next week.
• We will also continue talking about identifying the central message or theme in a story.  Fairy tales and fables are great ways to practice identifying the central message or theme.  This is what lesson the author wants the reader to learn from the story.
• Writing
• We will continue working on opinion writing next week.  We will be forming an opinion about a book character and using details from the story to support our opinion.
• Math
• We will be wrapping up Unit 2 next week and will test on Friday.
• We will be working on different ways to make numbers and also applying "rules" to numbers and seeing what patterns we notice.
• Science
• We will be identifying if plants can live in a specific habitat based on their needs.  We will be discussing why a plant can live in one ecosystem, but not another.
• We will also be identifying the different ways that seeds move.  My goal is to get outside and take some pictures of some seeds if possible.  
• Fundations
• We will start Unit 5 on Monday.  This unit covers multi-syllabic words.  We will be discussing the different syllable types that will be present in different words.
• Our trick words for next week are against, knew, know.  Please continue practicing these words at home.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy First Face to Face Friday!

 Happy Friday!

The students have worked so hard this week.  They immediately got into the routine of face to face school!  They have done really well keeping their masks on and staying in their spots.  

Important Upcoming Events

• RBE Trunk or Treat: Thursday, October 29 from 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
• No School: November 3-4 (Election Day and Teacher Work Day)
• Parent Teacher Conferences: Week of November 9 (More information to come)
• These will be done over Zoom.
• Thanksgiving Break: November 25-27 (No School)

Friday Folders

• Our first Friday folder will come home this week.  In the Friday folder will be a checklist showing how your student scored in Work Habits, Interactions with Adults and Interactions with Peers.  Students are scored from 1-4 with 3 being the goal.  A 4 means that the student repeatedly went above and beyond in an area.  Scores can also fluctuate each week as the scores is based on the specific week.
• I will also write comments every other week.
• Starting the week of November 2, there will be a place for parents to initial.  This lets me know you have seen the folders.
• Please return the folders on Monday.  This allows me to let them folders sit for a few days before I handle and repack them for the week.  
• This week there is a flu clinic form.  If you would like your student to receive the flu vaccine at school, the form must be returned by November 9.

Sticker Charts

• The students started earning stickers this week for being safe, respectful learners at school.
• We converted our Class Dojo points to stickers this week also.  I have cleared all their Class Dojo points and given them a sticker chart with the number of stickers earned.  2 Dojo points is worth 1 sticker.
• Once students fill a sticker chart (20 stickers), they can turn it in and choose their rewards.  
• Some students have already turned in their sticker charts for rewards.  When a student turns in a sticker chart, I will write their reward choice on the back so they can bring it home to show their parents.  
• I'm proud of all their hard work to earn stickers.  We will continue to use Class Dojo on Wednesdays when we are virtual since I can't give stickers over Zoom.  :)

Next Week's Learning

Math

• Students will explain why the turn around rule doesn't work for subtraction.  We will be working hard on their explanations when telling why it doesn't work.
• Students will be working on representing a number in multiple ways (money, number models, pictures, tally marks)

Reading

• We will be starting Unit 2 next week.  We will be learning about making inferences in reading.
• Students will have to identify clues the author gives and then determine an inference about the characters in the story.

Writing

• Our writing for unit 2 is opinion.  We will be doing a Hershey's Kiss taste test next week to determine our favorite and then identify reasons why we liked a certain flavor.  It's a secret, don't tell the kids.  :)
• We will then start an opinion piece about a character in one of the stories we are reading.  

Social Studies

• We will switch from science to social studies next week.  We will start by learning about the election process.  This will be an introduction to our unit on being a good citizen and US symbols.  

Fundations

• Our trick words are again, animal, please, sure, use, used.
• We will learn about new vowel teams of -ou, oo, ew and ue.  The students are learning these to read at the moment, not spelling with them.  We will also be learning the different sounds made by the suffix -ed.

I really enjoyed our first week together face to face and I'm so excited to see the kids again next week!

Happy Friday!

 Happy Friday!

I am so excited to see the students on Monday.  This is a long post and has a lot of important information!

Drop Off

• Students will be dropped off in the Parent Pick Up area or in the bus lane.  Please have your student get out of the car quickly once you have pulled up to the drop off location as our parking lot will be more congested this year due to construction.  

Snack

• We will have a daily snack in the morning.  Please send a snack with your child each day. 
• If you need assistance providing snacks, please let me know.

Lunch

• We will be eating lunch in the classroom.  We will walk to the cafeteria to get school lunches for those purchasing lunch and then will return to the classroom to eat.
• Please make sure your student is able to open any containers they bring so they will be the only ones touching their containers to avoid unnecessary germs.

Breakfast

• If students are eating breakfast at school, they will go to the cafeteria, pick up their breakfast and return to the classroom to eat.

Masks

• Columbia Public Schools is expecting students to wear masks.  We will have lanyards at schools for students to attach to their masks.  This will help students to keep track of their masks during mask breaks.
• Students will be allowed to take off their masks when we are eating lunch and snack.
• When we are outside and students are at least 6 feet apart, they will be able to take off their masks.

Dismissal

• Students will dismiss in a staggered fashion as we have in the past.
• Announcements will be made for Apple School, Adventure Club (starting 10/26), daycare van and buses over the intercom.  
• Parent Pick Up will be called after buses have left.  Please have your Parent Pick Up card clearly displayed in the window of your car.  You will be directed to a cone and your student will meet you at the cone.
• If your student is going home a different way than normal, please email myself (kross@cpsk12.org) as well as Shawna and Angela in the office (shschulte@cpsk12.org; akorschgen@cpsk12.org).  This ensures we get the message and your student gets home safely.

Wednesdays

• Students will Zoom at 8:00 a.m. (same link they have used) for our Second Steps lesson and a fun activity together.
• The rest of the day will be an independent work day.  Students can work on ST Math, EM games, read (online or in books) and I will send home a choice board for the month.  

Not Feeling Well?

• If your student is sick, please keep them home so they can recover and also to not spread the sickness to others.
• Your student needs to be fever free and no vomiting without medication for at least 24 hours before returning to school.
• Please refer to this document for specific information regarding illnesses from the CPS website.  

Book Character Pumpkins

• Each October, I do a project where students decorate a pumpkin at home to look like book character.  I introduced the idea to students today and the information sheet will be coming home on Monday.
• Students will decorate a pie size pumpkin (small pumpkin, slightly larger than a softball) using pant, glue (hot glue works best), markers or other supplies to make it look like a book character.  
• The decorating will occur at home and please no carving as that allows pumpkins to rot faster.
• Students will then fill out a sheet describing their character (attached to the form).
• Wednesdays and weekends are great times to work on this project.  
• Pumpkins need to be at school by November 5 so we can do a pumpkin gallery walk on November 6.
• If you need help getting a pumpkin, please let me know.
• Here is the information sheet.  There are examples on here, you can also Google Pumpkin Book Characters to get ideas. 

Next Week's Learning

• Reading
• We will be responding to a fiction story this week and focusing on why characters made specific decisions.
• Writing
• We will start writing our information writing about grasslands next week.
• We will be writing a paragraph each day.
• Fundations
• We will be learning about suffixes next week.
• Math
• We will continue to work on addition strategies next week.  These strategies help students to solve addition problems faster as they learn their basic facts.
• Science
• We will be focusing on how animals help plants next week and also the needs of a plant.  I am hoping to set up an experiment to see how plants react when their needs are not met.

Important Upcoming Events

• No School: November 3-4 (Election Day and Teacher Work Day)
• Pumpkin Book Characters Due (November 5)

Have a fabulous weekend and I can't wait to see the kids on Monday!

Kate

Happy Friday!

 Happy Friday!

Last week I was talking about the fall temperature and this week I'm loving the warmer weather.  It is true what they say about Missouri weather, if you don't like it, wait a few hours.  :)

Thank you to everyone that participated in our Non-Chicken BBQ this year whether through the Family Eat Outs or through the auction.  It wasn't our normal, amazing Chicken BBQ and we still appreciate all the support.  If you are new to RBE, just wait until next year when our Chicken BBQ is back to normal.  You will be amazed.

October 29: RBE Literacy Trunk or Treat from 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

• Here is more information and I will be there!

Next Week's Learning

Reading

• We will continue working on informational text.  We will practice asking questions, identifying main idea and how text feature help us as a reader.
• Students will also have an opportunity to compare information from two text to draw a conclusion about habitats.
• Please encourage students to be doing some independent reading at home whether in a book or on one of our online reading options.  

Writing

• We will practice taking notes again next week.  Students will be learning more about the grasslands habitat.
• Note taking can be a difficult skill and I have it set up differently for next week so the students still get the practice and don't get stressed out about keeping up.
• We will then start planning our first piece of writing.  It will be very scaffolded and we will work through every step together.

Math

• We took our math test today.  I will finish grading them this weekend, the ones I have graded are fabulous.  You will be able to see them in Seesaw and I will let you know of any areas students still need some extra practice.  I will incorporate any skills that need reviewing into our lessons over the coming weeks.
• We will start Unit 2 next week.  This unit looks at addition strategies.  We will look at skip counting patterns as well as start learning about different strategies to help us quickly solve addition facts.
• As with reading, please encourage your students to do some math practice on Wednesdays as well.  ST Math and EM Games both are great resources for the students to practice.

Science

• We will be learning about the basic needs of a plant next week.  Students will have an opportunity to identify their favorite tree and share it with the class as we learn about what they need to survive.

Fundations

• We will start Unit 3 next week.  This unit introduces closed syllable exceptions (-old, -ost, -olt, -ild, -ind) and vowel teams.
• Our trick words for next week are done, goes, pretty.  Students can still be practicing past trick words of shall, pull, full, talk, walk, both, they.

Have a fabulous weekend and as always, thank you so much for the wonderful support at home!

Happy Friday!

 Happy Friday!

Wow!  Fall is definitely here!  The temperatures have definitely dropped.  

Class Dojo

• We started Class Dojo this week.  If you would like to connect with your student, the link is in the email I send today.
• This will be similar to stickers that are used in the classroom.  Students can earn Dojo points for being safe, respectful learners on Zoom.

Seesaw

• In my email is the link to connect to your student's Seesaw account if you would like.  This allows you to view and comment on student's work.

Friday Feedback

• While virtual, we will not be doing Friday Folders.  Starting this week, I will individually email parents bi-weekly to update them on their student's behavior, work completion and overall how things are going with school.  You will receive your first email today.  :)

Important Upcoming Events

• Non-Chicken BBQ Week
• Tuesday, October 6: Slim Chickens Fundraiser (20% of sales come back to RBE with flyer)
• Wednesday, October 7: Andy's Frozen Custard (all locations)Fundraiser ($1 for each treat sold comes back to RBE with flyer)
• Thursday, October 8: Angelo's Pizza and Steakhouse Fundraiser (10% of sales come back to RBE with flyer)
• Silent Auction: Here is the link for all the items available at the online silent auction

Reminders for Virtual Learning

• First reminder, as always is a huge thank you to everyone who is helping students get on Zoom, get their work completed and helping them to stay focused!
• Please try to get your student on Zoom on time.  I know it can be hard with school at home, but it is important for students to attend Zooms and to be on time, just as if we were in the building.
• Some students have been creating a virtual background.  As long as the virtual background isn't distracting and stays the same, I am fine with it.  Sometimes the students "disappear" into the background and it makes it hard to see them.  Please reinforce the with your students.
• It is helpful when students have their supplies near them for Zoom.  These supplies include Monster Book, Fundations whiteboard, plain whiteboard, dry erase marker, Math Journal, Reading Notebook (yellow), writing notebook (white) and science notebook (green).  Next week, they will also need their Plants and Animals "magazine" for reading.  I have a tub that sits on my desk and it's great because I know everything I need is in there.  :)
• Again, ending with this because I cannot say it enough times.  Thank you so much for all your support!  I know this is a difficult time, you are truly making easier for all of us with your support!

Next Week's Learning

• Reading
• Students will need their "Plants and Animals in Their Habitats" magazine that came home in the first supply pick up.  Here is a picture.
• 
  
  
  
  
• We will start learning about main idea and detail in a nonfiction piece of writing.
• Writing
• We will focus on informational writing for our first unit.
• We will focus on note taking next week.  Students will learn to read articles and take notes as well as watch short videos and take notes.
• Our first piece will be over penguins.
• Math
• We will wrap up Unit 1 next week.
• We will be looking at skip counting and patterns and then will test on Friday.  
• The students have been working super hard in math, I am so excited for them to get to "show off" on Friday.  
• Science
• We will continue studying habitats next week.  We will be identifying which animals live in which habitats.  
• We will also be looking at maps and identifying where the habitats are located around the world.
• Fundations
• We will learned all the glued/welded sounds next week and discuss how when tapping out a word, a glued sound only gets one tap because it is one sound.
• Our trick words for next week are both, talk, walk.  They can also practice this week's trick words of shall, pull, full.  Trick words are tricky since you can't tap them out. 

Have a fabulous weekend!