Classroom Updates

News for you…11/02

November 3, 2020

Greetings Families,

I hope you are well and looking forward to the month of November. It will be a busy month for the 5th graders.

Learning in the Classroom:

Reading: Finishing Unit 2 Module A (social injustice/inequality) The test will be Friday.
Math: Ch. 4 Division using a 2 digit divisor. This concept is proving a challenge for many students. Chapter test will be next week on Monday.
Writing: We have been working on our inequality/social injustice presentations. Many students haven’t been doing the work. You should check in with your child. Tomorrow we will make the conclusion. Wed-Thursday revise/edit. Friday we work on the final copy. The final product is due Monday.
Science: Effects of gravity unit. The test will be next week on Tuesday.
Social Studies: This week we finish The Age of Jefferson. The test is on Thursday this week.

Classroom News:

We have rolled out a new PBIS Rewards program. Instead of earning Bobcat Bucks for TRACK behaviors, students are earning Bobcat Coins online. I have shared how they can create/access their accounts in their Gmail and Google Classroom Streams.
Continue to check in on your child’s work. I have better participation in the LIVE lessons with Nearpod activities; however, the Independent Practice is lacking. This is where students are losing a lot of effort points. Sometimes in the Independent Practice there can be quizzes and tests. These are academic grades.
All work is due by 8:00 a.m. the following school day.
A 2nd progress report will be coming out by next week on Monday.

School News:

Guidance: The students will have a meeting with Mrs. McSwain on Friday at 2:00 p.m. Please make sure your child attends.
No Place For Hate

Dates:

11/11: No School due to Veterans’ Day

11/16-11/20: NWEA MAP assessment week (Mid-year benchmark)

11/18: Early Release day for staff development

11/25-11/29: No School due to the Thanksgiving holiday break

PBIS Student Accounts…

November 2, 2020

If you haven’t set up your account yet.

Step 3 – Setup Students Access to their Account

There are two different types of student account access, standard and Google Account. The Google Account method has more features, but is harder to set up. Students can only order items from the Bobcat Store themselves with the Google Account Setup, otherwise, you will need to place the order for them.

Standard Sign In
1. Students will go to the website (https://student.pbisrewards.com/).
2. Type in the name of the school.
3. They will enter their first initial, their last initial, and their student ID number. (The student ID number is on their ID badge.)

Note, with this sign in method, students will not be able to order their own items, you will need to order items for them. (See https://support.pbisrewards.com/guides/school-store/ for how to sell. ALWAYS select ‘Redeem Later’ so that the coordinator can pull the items from the store for delivery.)

Google Account Sign In: https://support.pbisrewards.com/guides/student-portal-google-sign-in-2/
1. Note: The authorization code will only need to be done once. Once it is completed, students will only need to select the sign in with Google button, they will not ever need another authorization code.

It is STRONGLY recommended that online students use the Standard Sign In, and that online teachers be responsible for placing orders for online students.

News for You…

October 24, 2020

10/23/2020

Dear Families,

Hello to all! I hope you are all doing well. Thank you for a great week of parent conferences. I am exhausted, but hopefully you found the conversation about your child’s progress informative. Please accept my apologies for the length of this email…just so much information to share with you.

Tonight, I sent a copy of a second quarter progress report (through Synergy). This is a snapshot of how your child is performing through the first two weeks of the new quarter. If you didn’t receive one, please let me know. I will be happy to get you one.

If you see a low score/grade here is what you need to know: Your child may be in the LIVE lessons, but not completing Nearpod activities or independent work.
Please remember to check your child’s work from time to time. Once again, (s)he may just be hitting the turn in button and not completing the actual work.
Remember work is due by 8:00 a.m. the next day.

Learning this week/next:

Please check with your students on whether or not they have completed the social studies test from today and/or the opinion essay (final copy due today). Students have until Monday at 8:00 a.m. to finish otherwise the district score of 50% (F) is applied to the academic grade.

Reading: We have finished reading The Road to Freedom. We will use it yet for about another week or so with the companion texts: Text Collection and Sleuth books.

Math: We have been working on a variety of division strategies in Chapter 3. We have one lesson to go. We will probably take a day to review and then they will have the test on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Writing: As mentioned above…the opinion essay is due.

Science: We have finished the concept of Moving Objects. Up next will be The Effects of Gravity.

Social Studies: We have finished the concept of Washington’s Presidency and the Rise of Political Parties. We will begin talking about Westward Expansion.

Student Support: This is available for any student. We have usually done this daily after science or social studies unless we need a break then we wait until closer to 2 p.m.

Our current study is on Measurement and Data.
We have spent about a week and half talking about customary and metric measurements and conversions.
Next week we will start the Data component.

School News…

10/26-10/30: Red Ribbon and Bully Prevention Week activities/dress days

10/28: Early release for staff professional development

11/11: No School due to Veterans Day

11/16-11/20: NWEA MAP Assessment week (mid year benchmark)

2020 Red Ribbon Week…

October 18, 2020

2020 Red Ribbon Week Activities

“Be Happy. Be Brave. Be Drug Free.”

Wednesday, October 21

Unity Day Against Bullying – Wear orange

Friday, October 23

“Voting for My Future to Be Drug & Bully Free” – Wear red, white & blue

Monday, October 26

“I Am Happy to Be Drug & Bully Free!” – Wear red or a shirt with a smiley face

Tuesday, October 27

“Use Your Head, Don’t Do Drugs or Bully” – Wear your favorite hat

Wednesday, October 28

“I Am Brave & Have the Power to Be Drug & Bully Free” – Wear a superhero shirt

Thursday, October 29

“I’m a Jean-ious…I’m Drug & Bully Free!” – Wear blue jeans to school with a red shirt

Friday, October 30

“Team Up Against Drugs & Bullies!” – Wear your favorite team jersey or shirt

Early Release and Conferences

October 17, 2020

Families,

Due to parent-teacher conferences this week, this is a friendly reminder that Thursday and Friday are half days.

Half day schedule:

8:00 – 9:20 is ELA

9:20 – 10:40 is Math

10:40 – 12:00 is Social Studies

**Students are also expected to check in with their “Specials” classroom as well during the day.

News 10/17 for upcoming week…

October 17, 2020

Hello Families~

The first week of the new quarter is in the books! Here’s the happenings and news you need to be aware of heading into the next week.

You should have been contacted by your child’s 1st quarter teacher to set up a conference. Report cards are being mailed home.
Teachers get to set their conference schedule (dates/times)
Thursday and Friday will be early release days (out at 12:00) due to conferences
As I mentioned in a previous email, I plan to inform you more frequently of your child’s performance. I am planning to send out a Quarter 2 progress report by the end of the week next week. If you see low scores/grades for effort and academic grades, I highly encourage you to look at what your child is turning in. Do not rely on the “Turn In” or “Submit” button in Google Classroom. Actually look at the work.
Remember, work assigned on a given day is due by 8:00 AM the next school day. Some students are struggling to remember this. Exceptions include illness and family travel. Then there is a small grace period.

Learning for the week of 10/19…

Reading: We will continue to read the book, The Road to Freedom.

Writing: We are working on an opinion essay.

Students had the choice of doing an opinion based on our book or they could select their own topic.

Final copies of the opinion essay are due Friday.

Math: Chapter 3 Division

Possible test at the end of the week

Science: Concept 2.2 Moving Objects

Test on Tuesday

Social Studies: Concept 5.1/5.2 Rise of Political Parties

Test on Friday

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Welcome to Quarter 2…starting Monday

October 8, 2020

Dear Families,

Greetings from Ms. Burnap! I hope this email finds you well and recharging from the time away from school. As I mentioned in my previous email before the break, the second quarter is a fresh start for the students so hopefully all will take advantage of that and put his or her best effort into learning and growing.

Google Classroom Codes (if your child isn’t able to get into the classrooms)

ELA 5ch6xxs 8:00 -9:30
Math 2ivrrj6 9:30 – 11:00
Sci/SS v2inie3 12:00 – 1:30
Specials 1:30 – 2:00

Classroom structure is very much the same as the first quarter.

LIVE lesson with a Nearpod
Independent Practice

Expectations:

Students should be up from bed, dressed, etc. before class starts.
Students should be on time to the start of each class.
Students should have breakfast done before the 8:00 class and lunch should be planned around the 12:00 class so students can attend class instruction, activities and work.
Students should have his or her camera on the entire portion of the LIVE lesson (minus asking to use the restroom or if there’s an emergency need at home to turn it off briefly.)
Students’ microphones should be muted unless directed by the teacher to unmute the microphone to talk.
Students’ independent work is due by 8:00 AM the following day.
Parents and guardians, you can assist in making sure your child is completing his or her work, by looking at what (s)he has turned in, not just whether or not (s)he has hit the “Turn In” button. You will be given notice when this happens via email or phone.

Quarter 2 materials distribution has been extended. If you were not able to get to Desert Meadows on Thursday or Friday before break to drop off quarter 1 materials and get the new materials for quarter 2, you have another opportunity. Tuesday (10/13) and Thursday (10/15) from 3:30-6pm each day.

Thank you for all you are doing to support your child’s education. Enjoy what is left of the fall break.

Sincerely,

Ms. Burnap

News for You 09/28

September 28, 2020

Dear Families~

Hello to each of you. We have reached the final week of the first quarter. I told the students this last week on Friday and many could not believe just how fast the time went. Below I have attached the letter from Dr. Sprout that was sent last Friday to each of you. This letter lets you know about changes coming to school/school year.

Changes to this week: Full days on Wednesday-Friday have been changed to half days to accommodate teacher/staff training and preparation for return to in person instruction.
Curriculum Distribution Pick Up for online learners: Thursday, Oct. 1 from 3-6 p.m. in Room 17
Monday, Oct. 12 (start of 2nd quarter) starts new learning. Some students will return in person, others staying online for another quarter, and lastly some online for the year.

In class learning this week:

Reading:

Monday = Unit 1 Mod B L17
Tuesday = Unit 1 Mod B L18
Wednesday = Unit 1 Mod B Test day
- Missing writing all due by today
  - Narrative writing about a personal memory/experience where a lesson was learned
  - Informative Essay about a topic (ocean, beach, jungle, mangrove, mountains, or coral reef)
  - Informative Brochure about the rainforest
Thursday = Quarter review (reading)
Friday = Quarter review (writing)

Math:

Monday = Ch. 3 L3 (division)
Tuesday = Word Problem (review)
Wednesday = Division (review)
Thursday/Friday = Project-based learning activity

Science:

Monday = Force and Motion virtual lab
Tuesday = Forces and Motion
Wednesday = Concept 2.1 Test

Social Studies:

Thursday = Concept 4.3 Constitution
Friday = Constitution

I hope this helps with planning for the week. As always, if you have any questions, please reach out and ask.

Ms. Burnap

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NTHY0JyKrEkDN-rWfQxE2zWtILU8nqeU/view?usp=sharing

Calendar changes this week…

September 28, 2020

Dear Families:

This week there’s a change to the school calendar. Wednesday, Sept. 30- Friday, October 2 were originally full days. These dates have now been changed to half days (early release) at 12:00. Teachers and staff will be working on preparing for in person instruction starting Monday, October 12.

Upcoming Half Days…

September 13, 2020

Here are the upcoming half days:

Sept. 23

October 14

October 22 (Parent Conferences)

October 23 (Conferences)

October 28

Half Day Schedule:

8:00-9:20 ELA (reading/writing)

9:20-10:40 Math

10:40-12:00 Science/Social studies

**Students are expected to check in with Specials area classes too.