The Week of September 27

 The Weekly Newsletter

Catch Up on Work Week

We will not be assigning new arithmetic, cultural, geometry, language, and daily journaling work this week. The only new assignment will be writing on Wednesday, but you still do have assignments with extended due dates. Please use your time wisely to catch up and submit assignments! We are excited to give you the gift of time this week!

PTA Reflections

Please check out the link below for more information about the PTA Reflections contest. This year’s theme is “I Matter Because...” Submissions are due by October 14.

https://www.ellismontessoripta.org/post/enter-the-pta-reflections-competition

Student Medical Questionnaire

Please use the following link to complete the questionnaire sent out by Nurse Chris.

Medical Questionnaire Link

Free/Reduced Lunch Application

Deadline: September 30, 2020 During virtual learning, breakfast and lunch will be available to SCCPSS students at designated bus stops at designated times. Breakfast is free, but lunch must be paid for online. If you receive free/reduced lunch, your meal status remains the same until September 30, 2020 and you must fill out another application by that time. Please use the following link to apply.

https://www.myschoolapps.com/

MAP TESTING Third year students have been logging into the MAP tests with such ease that we have decided to combine test sessions in order to accommodate more students at one time. Please see the schedule below for the new test session roster.

Monday 9-28-2020

Math

8:45 AM

Ken

Jasper

Amicus

Aidan

Osa

Titus

Stefan

Keith

Riley

Open Meetings On Tuesdays

Students will not be able to join our open meetings on Monday or Tuesday of this week due to MAP testing. We hope that we will be able to resume our open meeting schedule on Thursday, but will need to confirm this with students during our Morning Meeting on Thursday. We will miss meeting with the younger students at this time, but if there are any questions or concerns that need to be addressed, please email us or send a message on ItsLearning and we will get in touch.

Monday Open Meeting Schedule

1st years 8:45-9:05 

2nd years 9:05-9:25

3rd years 9:25-9:45

Amira

*Unless you have received different information from the teachers, your student is expected to work on Amira 3 times a week.*

Amira is accessible from the ItsLearning platform. Students should log in. Go to the black toolbar at the top of the page and click "groups". Then click "Savannah Chatham County Schools" on the dropdown menu. They will then see Amira's face and should click that box. When the screen says "Hi ______", your child should click the "Launch Amira" box. The tutoring is prefaced with an assessment to gauge your child's reading level. It is so important that you do not help your young reader in any way. If your child receives help Amira will not place them where they need to be!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1U7I8Z1UlmOlZb2AmwoV5zEvbko7fEv9ReS0lU2OBYuQ/edit?usp=sharing

Turning In Assignments

Students should find their assignments under the "plans" tab on Itslearning. When turning in assignments, students should use the "plans" tab, find the assignment, click "answer assignment" tab at the bottom of the assignment, then click on the "more options" tab in the toolbox and choose the square icon with mountains to add a picture of their work. If your student is sharing pictures that we cannot see and is asked to resubmit, we suggest you download the ItsLearning app onto your phone and take pictures with that and then submit them to assignments.

Dates to Remember

10/9/2020--------Fall Break (No School!)

10/12/2020-------Fall Break (No School!)

The week of September 20

 The Weekly Newsletter

MAP TESTING We received word that only 3rd Year students will be MAP testing during virtual learning. We will be testing 3rd year students in small groups this week and next. The schedule is below. It is imperative that students receive no help reading the passages during the reading assessments. If your child does not understand the meaning of a word you can not explain it to them. We use these assessments to guide our instruction and if your child receives help we might think they already understand concepts that they do not. Please click the link below for information about MAP testing. We are going to have students who are testing in the morning stay on Zoom after morning meeting. Students who are testing in the afternoons need to log in to our Zoom meeting by using the morning meeting link at 12:15. If your child is taking a MAP assessment they do not need to complete journal writing that day.

**You might need to disable the pop-up blocker on your toolbar to reach the assessment. If you receive the "OOPS" message, look at the toolbar and click the red x.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zHl5wyvVqX3IiyStPtg7evR83rGZBV3v/view?usp=sharing

Open Meetings On Tuesdays

Students will not be able to join our open meetings on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this week due to MAP testing. We will miss meeting with the younger students at this time, but if there are any questions or concerns that need to be addressed, please email us or send a message on ItsLearning and we will get in touch.

Monday Open Meeting Schedule

1st years 8:45-9:05 

2nd years 9:05-9:25

3rd years 9:25-9:45

Amira: Your Child’s Personal Reading Tutor

Our students will start using the Amira reading tutor this week. It is accessible from the ItsLearning platform. Students should log in. Go to the black toolbar at the top of the page and click "groups". They should click "Savannah Chatham County Schools" on the dropdown menu. They will then see Amira's face and should click that box. When the screen says "Hi ______" your child should click the "Launch Amira" box. The tutoring is prefaced with an assessment to gauge your child's reading level. It is so important that you do not help your young reader in any way. If your child receives help Amira will not place them where they need to be! Our students are expected to work on Amira 3 times a week.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1U7I8Z1UlmOlZb2AmwoV5zEvbko7fEv9ReS0lU2OBYuQ/edit?usp=sharing

Please view the link below to find help accessing assignments and navigating the ItsLearning platform.

https://www.loom.com/share/dd959101f1cd429dadd33a874a0ffceb

Turning In Assignments

Students should find their assignments under the "plans" tab on Itslearning. When turning in assignments, students should use the "plans" tab, find the assignment, click "answer assignment" tab at the bottom of the assignment, then click on the "more options" tab in the toolbox and choose the square icon with mountains to add a picture of their work. If your student is sharing pictures that we cannot see and is asked to resubmit, we suggest you download the ItsLearning app onto your phone and take pictures with that and then submit them to assignments.

Dates to Remember

10/9/2020--------Fall Break (No School!)

10/12/2020-------Fall Break (No School!)

The Week of September 13

 The Weekly Newsletter

Asynchronous Wednesdays

There will be no Zoom meetings for our students on Wednesdays. 

Asynchronous Wednesdays Expectations

Morning Meeting- Link to “Read Aloud” on ItsLearning

Students work towards completing assignments. 

Students will have a writing assignment (instead of journaling) to complete on Wednesdays.

Required Open Meetings On Tuesdays

We will continue to meet M, Tu, Th and F at 8:30. These meetings will last about 15 minutes and then our Open Meetings will begin. We would like to do a weekly check in with each student. We ask that ALL STUDENTS attend the open meeting at their scheduled time on TUESDAYS. 

Open Meeting Schedule

1st years 8:45-9:05 

2nd years 9:05-9:25

3rd years 9:25-9:45

MAP TESTING MAP testing is just around the corner! Please click on the following link to familiarize yourself with the test platform! Login using "grow" as the username and password. https://practice.mapnwea.org/#/practice-landing

Amira: Your Child’s Personal Reading Tutor

Our students will begin using Amira soon. Please view the slideshow below to familiarize yourself with the program. Your child will be able to access Amira from the ItsLearning platform. Learning with Amira is like having a personal reading tutor inside your child's computer. Amira listens attentively and provides help to reinforce skills. Amira is powered by machine learning and will adapt stories to meet your child's needs as they improve. At the end of each story, Amira gives a progress update of how your child is doing so you can set goals and see growth. More information to come.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1U7I8Z1UlmOlZb2AmwoV5zEvbko7fEv9ReS0lU2OBYuQ/edit?usp=sharing

Turning In Assignments

Students should find their assignments under the "plans" tab on Itslearning. When turning in assignments, students should use the "plans" tab, find the assignment, click "answer assignment" tab at the bottom of the assignment, then click on the "more options" tab in the toolbox and choose the square icon with mountains to add a picture of their work. If your student is sharing pictures that we cannot see and is asked to resubmit, we suggest you download the ItsLearning app onto your phone and take pictures with that and then submit them to assignments. If your child submits an assignment before it was complete, just send us a message on ItsLearning and we can return the assignment to be resubmitted.

Dates to Remember

10/9/20--------Fall Break (No School!)

The Week of September 6

The Weekly Newsletter

Asynchronous Wednesdays

Now that the school year has begun, we are continuing to review our instructional schedules and the impact of the virtual environment. Developmental Teams are tweaking Wednesday schedules to; mitigate excessive screen time for students,comply with district directives, allow staff to participate in required district training and curriculum planning. Consequently, Wednesdays will become a day for Asynchronous Learning so that students can complete assignments, reach out to their teachers for additional support if needed, and engage in classroom projects. Teachers will not be leading live instructional lessons on Wednesdays but will continue to post the expectations for the instructional day. Students still need to login to ItsLearning to complete and submit work every Wednesday.

Asynchronous Wednesdays Expectations

Morning Meeting- Link to “Read Aloud” on ItsLearning

Students work towards completing assignments. 

Students will have a writing assignment (instead of journaling) to complete on Wednesdays.

Meetings

We will continue to meet M, Tu, Th and F at 8:30. These meetings will last about 15 minutes and then our Open Meetings will begin. Students should attend our Open Meetings if they have questions about any of their assignments, ItsLearning, or any questions in general. Sometimes, if we see that a student needs assistance, we will ask them to come to this meeting. If we ask that a student attend the Open Meeting, and they do not, we will contact the family and schedule another time to meet with the child. We will continue to meet with students by grade level. Please abide by the following schedule.

Open Meeting Schedule

1st years 8:45-9:05 

2nd years 9:05-9:25

3rd years 9:25-9:45

Turning In Assignments

Students should find their assignments under the "plans" tab on Itslearning. When turning in assignments, students should use the "plans" tab, find your assignment, click "answer assignment" tab at the bottom of the assignment, then click on the "more options" tab in the toolbox and choose the square icon with mountains to add a picture of their work.

This Week's Assignments

1st Year Students 

Solar System-Due 9/11

States of Matter-Due 9/18

Arithmetic- Count to 120!-Due 9/11

Geometry- Geometric Solids-Level 1-Due 9/11

ELA-Journal Writing-Due Daily (Informational writing on Wed.)

2nd Year Students 

States of Matter-Due 9/18

Moon-Due 9/11

Arithmetic- Static Addition- Due 9/11

Geometry- Geometric Solids-Level 2-Due 9/11

ELA-Journal Writing-Due Daily (Informational writing on Wed.)

3rd Year Students 

Stars- Due 9/11

States of Matter-Due 9/18

Arithmetic- Repeated Addition/Multiplication Due 9/11

Geometry- Quadrilaterals -Level 3 Due 9/11

ELA-Journal Writing-Due Daily (Informational writing on Wed.)

Dates to Remember 

10/9/20--------Fall Break (No School!)