Good evening, dear families! I apologize for getting this out to you so late in the weekend, but I left for a camping trip immediately after dismissal on Friday afternoon. My daughter and some of her closest friends had their 3rd annual campout up on the Mogollon Rim. I was pretty anxious about leaving because I have been working every weekend since the end of July and I didn't know if I could unplug and take time off without constantly thinking about how much work was piling up on me. Turns out I was able to totally relax! Once I discovered that I had no cellular service, I decided there was nothing I could do for school, so I relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful pines and great company! The weather was incredible...30 degrees cooler than down in the valley! We just rolled into town a few hours ago and I was able to invite myself over to my mom's for dinner! It was a lovely 2 1/2 days! Now I'm home again and am thinking about the week ahead. Distance Learner families, please read past all of the subject updates because there is very important information about our online Galileo testing on Tuesday.

Let's take a look at the week ahead:

Language Arts:

     Poetry - The kids received their new poem on Friday. They will have two weeks to memorize "Ozymandius" by Percy Bysshe Shclley. 

     Grammar - We have reviewed all of the parts of speech and will continue to practice diagramming and classifying. We'll also learn about helping verbs this week.

     Composition - We are going to have a lesson about using transitions in writing and also about how to get your essays off to a great start by incorporating a hook.

     Literature - We will begin reading Pollyanna on Tuesday; during these crazy times, it'll be good to learn to focus on the positives!

Math - This week we will wrap up with unit one. The kids will work on word problems with order of operations, learning how to write the expressions to solve them. The final test on the unit will be on Friday.

Science - We'll wrap up our chemistry unit this week, too, but the comprehension check will be Monday of next week.

History - I'm super excited to start our unit on the Middle Ages! This is one of my favorite things to teach, and I know the kids will love it. At home learners, be sure to have answered the question regarding note-taking from Friday's Google Classroom.

Okay, so that's the update regarding what we'll be learning this week, but we have to remind you all of our schedule to take the first Galileo test on Tuesday. We'll begin first thing in the morning, so please get your kids to school on time. DL you will be logging into a Zoom at 8:10AM to join us. Please read on for more detailed instructions.  All students should remember that this test is just to see what the children know at this point. It is used as a benchmark to help us identify areas of struggle. There may be things that are on the test that they haven't been taught yet, but they shouldn't worry about those questions. Prepping them in advance to just answer each question to the best of their ability will help allieviate those concerns.

That's it for the in-class families. Enjoy the day off tomorrow.

Distance Learners, please read on. 

Galileo Instructions:

·         Go to website ati-online.com to log on.

·         We will individually email each child’s username and password.

·         Once logged in: find the top left corner where is says ‘select a class’

·         Find your HOMEROOM class (so either Scott - 4A, Kielmeyer/Shroll 4B, or Maza 4C)

·         If you click English or Math, you won’t be able to access the tests.

·         Click yellow box that says ‘take a test’.

·         You will see ELA (which stands for English Language Arts) and Math.

·         Begin with ELA.

·         Take a snack/exercise/water break in between.

·         Take the Math second.

·         We would like students to complete both – contact us if they need more than the 2 hours allotted.

·         Once in the test/s - 

·         Click the green arrow up on the top of the page to move to the next question.

·         You may have any of the text read aloud to you by clicking the button (perhaps utilize headphones if in a communal family space).

·         At the end of the test, you should see a grid with all the question numbers with check marks.

·         If you left a question unanswered, a colored exclamation mark will be next to the problem number.

·         Please go back and answer it before submitting the test.

·         Once finished with both tests, please submit and log out of Galileo.

·         Results are not readily available.

·         Just focus on doing your best work.

·         This data is helpful for teachers to plan for the year and target specific needs.

·         Parents, we imagine your role to be helping with technology steps, like logging in and signing out.

·         Please resist your desire to help your child – that will give us the most accurate data about where each students/the grade level is academically.

·         If a student is kicked out due to an internet issue, Galileo typically has progress saved. Students should log back in and be able to pick right back up where they were. If that is not the case, teachers/assistants will be on Zoom to help trouble shoot any problems. Use the "chat" in the Zoom to reach out to us if there are any issues.

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