1. Class Dojo. Just before the break it became difficult to use class dojo as the classrooms were being painted, the internet was interrupted multiple times and, for what seemed like an eternity but was in reality only a week, we had all 60 kids in one room. Long enough for me. We will be back into it as soon as school is back in session and you should be receiving regular e-mail updates weekly (or maybe bi-weekly.....I haven't gotten a feel for what works best yet)
2. Spelling City. The spelling list is updated weekly and I do expect that kids will go on it 3 times a week. They don't need to be on there for hours for sure but at least one test at the beginning and end of the week would be ideal and one day for activities in the middle.
3. Ten Marks. This math program is sometimes glitchy (I do understand that) but it is free and I am able to put assignments on there that follow along with what we are doing in math. I will update this bi-weekly as opposed to weekly like I was doing. This is simply practice on what we are already covering. No matter which math group your child is in, it would be appropriate to try this a couple of times a week.
4. Reflex. This program is as a result of a grant that I won from the company who owns/operates it. As there were only spots for 35 kids, my whole class plus 5 of Mrs. Erichuk's get to use it. It does not have to be done at home at all as we do it every morning for the first 15 minutes. If students have a few spare minutes at home, it is an excellent 'brain warm up' as it deals with speed and memorization of basic facts. A HUGE necessary skill to have as they transition out of elementary school and into the middle school. As they become proficient at one skill (eg. addition and subtraction) they move on to another (eg. multiplication and division). This is a speed based program. They have to instantly know it without thinking about it before they are considered 'fluent'.
Nothing special on the school calendar for the first week back. For us the only 'special' is that we are into our last gym class using the wheelchairs. They get picked up on Wednesday. What an incredible opportunity it has been to use them. In L.A. we are starting a new novel (Petey) and we will be plowing through our writing programs so that we can expand on the ideas for the last term. For math, I am now teaching Group 2. We will be starting with Order of Operations. For Science, we are beginning with Forces and Simple Machines (a grade 5 unit....we will be switching to Extreme Environments halfway through the term). For HACE we will be beginning a 'career' unit. Students will be required to research a career and present it to the class.
I'm going to wrap it up now as this has gotten VERY long. Other then P.E. on Mon/Thurs and Library sign out on Thurs.....No need for a day by day listing this week. As always, you can reach me anytime at [email protected].