Weekly Newsletter: The Week of April 26th

Hello Families!

We hope you are all staying well during these uncertain times. The ups and downs which have accompanied these unusual circumstances have been a struggle, but we are here for you and your child. If you are having difficulty with the technology we are using, please send us an email so we can get you in touch with someone who can help. If you or your child are struggling in any way please let us know, so that we can be of assistance to your family.

You should have received an email this week which included an invitation to the Epic! website. This is an awesome reading resource for our students to use and we have gotten some wonderful feedback about it. While it might be a struggle to go out and get books for your child to read at this time, there is an entire library for them to explore online! About one third of the class has accepted the invitation, but we have already read for over 13 hours this week! Congratulations to all of you who are reading on Epic! and to those of you who are reading books more traditionally and turning in your reading logs on Seesaw! You are doing a fantastic job!

 The Rocks and Minerals choice boards have not changed and the expectation remains the same in that we would like for students to complete one language and one math activity each day. There are many levels at which your child can participate in the activities and we expect them to challenge themselves daily to do the best work they can. If your child has had an assignment returned to them, we expect them to make corrections and submit the assignment again. If you can, please help us by monitoring your child's work and making sure that they are doing this.

http://internet.savannah.chatham.k12.ga.us/schools/Ellis/LE/Shared%20Documents/Lower%20Elementary%20ELA%20and%20Math%20Choice%20Boards%20April%2020-May%201.pdf

The daily journaling prompts remain optional, but we highly encourage your children to respond at least a few times a week as these writing exercises are helping them to build strong writing skills.  Our main focus is to instill in them the skills for building a strong paragraph and also to learn how to reflect thought on "paper".

Please remember, the Explorations choice boards have fun and engaging lessons and are still available to students. You can follow the instructions provided on the journal prompt for Thursday to have your child join the Explorations Seesaw classes and submit work.

http://internet.savannah.chatham.k12.ga.us/schools/Ellis/LE/Shared%20Documents/Lower%20Elementary%20Explorations%20Choice%20Board%20April%2020-May%201%20.pdf

Also, please remember that we have a reaccuring community meeting via Zoom every Monday at 11 am.  It is the same link and password every week.  That will be sent to your email every Monday morning via Transparent classroom so that you can have it handy.  Please reiterate with your children that we would like for them to make sure their face is in full view throughout the meeting, we ask that they are sitting (not laying down or walking around).  We also want them to refrain from using the chat option, as we have found that it is a distraction for some. This week, Ms. Beth is planning to stay on  Zoom  after our community meeting ends in order to meet with her 3rd Grade Writing Students. If you have a 3rd grade student, please be prepared for a longer meeting this week.

Dates to Remember:
May 15, 2020----------Last Day of School (stay tuned for details on a celebration)