Dear Upper Elementary Families:

We have put together a schedule to help our community during this disruptive and difficult time. All levels of RPMS will be helping their families in a similar way with a child’s development in mind.

Because we are complying with the state mandated closing of our campus due to the illness outbreak/prevention, we have organized materials and resources to support learning at home. These include: daily morning meeting via video chat on Zoom, Khan Academy for math (4th grade families will have to sign permission slips first), daily schedule and planning of work, Google Classroom for submitting assignments, Seesaw for assignments and posts, and one on one support with Ms. Sadie.

Daily Meeting - We will start each day with a Zoom video meeting at 9:00 am. We will try and keep some of our morning rituals, such as saying the pledges together (US and World), taking attendance, and having a community meeting together. It’s important to connect as a community and allow some socializing and shared time together, which is important to the upper elementary child.

Khan Academy - This site is already used in our classroom, and is a great math website. There are videos that explain concepts, and lots of practice for each concept. The teacher chooses the lessons and uploads them for each student, as well as being able to monitor progress and assignments completed. 5th and 6th grade students have accounts and permission slips already. These students are very comfortable with using the platform, and enjoy it. 4th grade families and students will be getting permission slips this week, and a tutorial in class on how to use the site.

Daily Schedule - please see Documents section.

Passwords and websites needed- paper was sent home with your child’s logins/accounts

Google Classroom and Seesaw - With every student in UE already having a Google account, it made sense to incorporate this tool into our day. We will spend time this week giving tutorials on how to upload assignments and navigate the platform. Every student is comfortable with Seesaw and will find assignments, messages, and posts there. If you would like to include more people on your child’s account, please email me their email address and I can send an invitation link to them for Seesaw.

One on one support - I will be available to provide support for each student whenever they need help. We can schedule a video chat using Google Hangouts, or online meeting. We could email, or even talk on the phone. I want everyone to feel supported in their learning and please know I am happy to help both students and parents in any way I can.

Reading - We encourage and suggest daily reading of 45-60 minutes (independent reading and reading to an adult/family member). We also want each student to start keeping a reading journal in which your child would date the page, write the title of the book they are reading, and write or draw about the passage read that day or session. In addition, we would also encourage daily read aloud time where the adults/child share time where they can read aloud a chapter book and have discussion time afterwards. Upper elementary students could read out loud to younger siblings, for example. Even older students benefit and enjoy reading out loud and being read out loud on a regular basis. They may voice complaints, but it is grade level appropriate.While it may be tempting, screens are not a substitute for reading or educational opportunities that involve the hand, and this work should take priority.

Accountability - I will provide deadlines for assignments to provide structure to the work cycle and day. Please know this is a support to you and your child, and is meant to be a helpful tool.

If you have any questions, please reach out. I am very happy to help you and your family through this time.

Remember to talk to your upper elementary child about COVID, and let them ask questions. They are already thinking and worrying about all of the happenings that are affecting us all, and will be looking to the adults in their life for support and guidance.

Thank you,

Ms.Sadie, Ms.Stacey, and the entire Elementary Team

Lesson Videos

(Coming Soon)

Community Zoom Meeting Archive

(Coming Soon)

Documents

Daily Schedule

Educational Links

Fact Monster- is a free reference site for students, teachers, and parents. Get homework help and find facts on thousands of subjects.

Brittanica- a fact checked reference site that UE uses in class.

Merriam-Webster- an online dictionary, thesaurus, and word game site

Scholastic- go on a virtual field trip, has four themes a day, cross curricular

National Geographic Kids - great resource for animal research

Free rice - fun quiz type games to practice math facts, countries and capitals and more, for every correct answer rice is donated to World Food Program

Brain Pop- is designed to cultivate critical thinking skills and encourage children to ask questions and make connections.

Education.com - Unlimited access to an expanding library of resources that cover 800+ skills. Step-by-step learning with fun, interactive games for Preschool-5th grade with progress tracking.

Storynory- An online treasure-trove of free audio stories. You can listen to a mixture of original stories, fairy tales , and specially adapted myths and histories. Storynory has published an episode every week since 2005, so there is plenty to love and something for everyone.

The following blogs/sites have some additional ideas.:

https://blog.reallygoodstuff.com/11-free-reading-websites-for-kids/

https://www.weareteachers.com/

https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/135609 (large list of companies offering free subscriptions)