Happy Thursday!

 Happy Thursday!

Thank you to everyone for meeting with me (and looking forward to the few I have left)!  I really enjoyed getting a chance to sit down (even over Zoom) and share how your student is doing.  This year is crazy and I am so proud of the kids so I enjoy getting to brag on them!  

Virtual Learning

• Here is our virtual schedule
• Our virtual schedule is different from the schedule in the fall.  We tried to keep it as similar to our in person schedule as possible.
• We set timers on the student's iPads yesterday to help them remember when to get on Zoom.  It is important that they are on Zoom on time because otherwise they will be missing instruction.
• Please help your student to find a quiet work space that they can use for school.  I recommend keeping all their materials in the bag that was sent home on Tuesday.  This way they always know where to find their materials.
• If your student will be absent, even when virtual, please let me know.

Book Fair!!!!

• It's BOOK FAIR TIME!!
• Here is the link to shop for books at the book fair.  
• Even though you can't come to school to shop, the website is still set up for shopping and it looks similar to the normal book fair set up.  Plus, the books will be shipped to your house.  You can shop from the comfort of your house!
• The book fair is open until November 22.  This is a great way to get some early holiday shopping done, while supporting RBE.  A percentage of the sales come back to RBE in Scholastic Dollars to buy books.  

Intervention

• We started intervention this week.  We will continue this when we go virtual on Monday.
• Your students can access what they need for intervention through Seesaw. They are working on different activities.  They will be working on these activities independently, I will put them in breakout rooms on Zoom and then will check in with them throughout our intervention time.

Library Checkout

• On certain Wednesdays (dates listed below), our fabulous library staff will be hosting an outdoor library checkout from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
• November 18
• December 2
• December 9
• December 16
• You will come up to the Parent Pick Up doors and there will be charts of books to look through and checkout.  You can also return books on these days.
• If you have books on hold, they can also be picked up on Wednesday.
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Next Week's Learning

Math

• We will continue learning subtraction strategies next week.
• Students will be learning about fact families and making cute fact family turkeys.  We can't hang them in the hallways since we will be at home, so you can find a fun spot to display them at home.  We will also learn a game called Salute and learn to count up and back to solve subtraction number stories.

Reading

• We will start Unit 3 in reading next week.
• We will focus on nonfiction pieces and will be identifying the main idea and details in the passages.  

Writing

• We will start another informational piece of writing next week.  It will be about a job.  Students will do some research on PebbleGo and then we will organize the facts into paragraphs.
• I think it's always fun to see which jobs interest the students.

Fundations

• We will wrap up Unit 5 next week and learn about additional suffixes. 
• The students have done a nice job this week identifying the syllables and marking them in words.  
• Our trick words for next week are always, once, often.

Social Studies

• We will be starting social studies next week.  
• We will be learning about laws, how they are formed and why they are needed.  We will also be learning about rights that we have as citizens.

Thank you for your continued support at home!  The students and I are lucky to have such supportive families!

Happy Fall Friday!

 Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!  It seemed like a short week since we had work days, but the kids worked so hard the 3 days I saw them this week!

Friday Folders

• Please look over your student's checklist, initial it and return it in the Friday folder on Monday.  
• In the Friday Folder this week is information about fluoride treatment, book fair flyer and your student's progress report.
• The progress report does not have actual grades on it for this trimester.  There are comments about how your student is doing in each subject area.  You do not need to sign and return it.

Book Fair

• Our book fair is virtual this year and goes live on Monday morning.  Below is a link to a video about how to access the book fair.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35S9x_QH4js&feature=youtu.be
• Below is a link to the promo video we watched today about the book fair (we only watched the first half, the second half is for grades 4-6)
• https://bcove.video/2zoSgmB
• As a school, we get Scholastic dollars to purchase additional books for the school based on the profits that we make.
• If you would like, please take some time to do book some shopping from the comfort of your own home.
• The link to the book fair will be on the RBE website starting Monday morning.  

Important Upcoming Events

• Friday, November 13-No School 
• Wednesday, November 25-Friday, November 27: Thanksgiving Break (No School)

Intervention

• We will start our Reading Intervention on Monday.
• Students are placed in groups based on their area of need.
• Students do have activities in Seesaw with links or other activities, these activities are only to be done during our Read Intervention time.  They are not expected to work on them at home.
• Some of the activities that are links will always be in their activity feed as they need to access the link, but again, they are not expected to work on this at home.

Birthday Snacks

• If your student would like to celebrate their birthday at school, we would love to celebrate with them.  They can bring in prepackaged, individually wrapped snacks to share with the class. Please email me if you plan to send in birthday snacks so I can make sure we have time in our day to celebrate.  :)

Pumpkin Book Characters

• I was so impressed by the pumpkin book characters.  Thank you for helping your student get the pumpkin and get it completed.
• We got to do a gallery walk today and Ms. Mottaz (my co-teacher most years who is teaching virtually this year) and her class tried to Zoom in and see our pumpkins as well, but technology didn't work so they saw the pictures on Twitter.
• Be sure to check out Twitter for pictures!

Wednesday Work

• Just a reminder that Wednesdays are still school days (not this week, but most weeks) and students do have work to be completed on those days.
• They will have a trick word packet to complete and return and then are expected to do some reading and math as well.
• They will receive their November choice board next Tuesday.  These are activities they can do in addition to their trick word packet, reading and math practice.
• We will also have our normal Wednesday Zooms at 8:00 a.m. for Second Step and also a Fundations lesson.

Conferences

• Your conference time is listed in your student's Friday folder.  I did my best to fit everyone in at one of the times they requested.
• We will be using our class Zoom link for all conferences.  There will be a waiting room set up and I will let you in at your scheduled time.
• Please understand I have 15 minutes scheduled for each conference and I will have to stick to our schedule.  If we hit the end of our conference time and there are still things you would like to discuss, we can set up another time.
• I'm looking forward to meeting with everyone and sharing how your student is doing in school.

Next Week's Learning

Reading

• We will be wrapping up Unit 2 next week.
• Students will be making inferences about characters and also identifying the central message or theme in the story.
• We have been working hard to identify evidence from the story that supports our answers.
• Inferences are something fun to practice at home.  It's kind of like a guessing game.  You could give your student clues to what you will be having for dinner and see if they can guess and ask them how the clues help them.  
• Please continue to have your student read at home. 

Writing

• We will continue writing our opinion writing about the character Yeh-Shen.  The students wrote their introduction and first paragraph this week.
• We will also be publishing this piece next week.

Math

• We took our Unit 2 math test today.  It will be coming home next week.  Please look over the test with your student and then sign it and return it.  This allows me to know you have reviewed the test.
• We will start Unit 3 on Monday.  It continues to work on addition strategies and also starts moving into subtraction strategies.

Science

• We will wrap up our study of plants and animals next week.  We will be learning about bees and how they help to pollinate flowers.

Fundations

• We will continue working on multisyllabic words next week.  We will also learn about the suffixes of -ful, -less, -ness, -ment, -able,  -en and -ish.
• Our trick words are against, knew, know, always, often, once.

Have a fabulous weekend!

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.
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• 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!