*Remember: At home, students should be working on:
Math
Spelling
Health and Fitness (RHL PE class only takes care of the fitness part---your child will still need to complete health work at home)
Grammar / Punctuation
Literacy (Either the curriculum I provided or your own school-approved curriculum)
Science (If your child is not taking a science class at RHL)
November
2nd-6th: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. If they do not turn this makeup work in, they will receive a zero.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Please have your child answer these questions about the continent of North America on a piece of paper:
What country do we live in? What state do we live in?
What is the difference between an island and a peninsula?
Name two mountain ranges in the United States.
Define what a lake is.
How is the bison adapted for life on the Great Plains?
What are the cardinal directions?
If they were gone Thurs/Fri:
We did this assignment in class about elaborating with detail. Please complete this assignment at home.
Students are now re-writing their rough drafts as final drafts. They took their rough drafts home last week or this week (if they were absent last week). Their rough drafts should have 3 paragraphs pulled from the three sections on their graphic organizers. Please see me in class if you need more information about these materials. These will be DUE on the 12 (Mon/Thurs kids) and 13 (Tues/Fri kids) of November. Here is what I will be grading (for 24 total points):
Capitals at the start of sentences
Punctuation at the end of sentences
Complete sentences
Neatest handwriting (students can write in pen, cursive, or their best pencil penmanship)
Correct spelling of less-complex, common words (words like: our, there/their, like, etc.)
3rd graders should have at least 12 complete sentences (four per paragraph).
4th graders should have at least 15 complete sentences (five per paragraph).
Tardy papers will lose points for every day that they are late. This helps to teach the students time management, accountability, responsibility, as well as cope with / prepare for being held to college / career assignment standards.
October
26th-30th: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. If they do not turn this makeup work in, they will receive a zero.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Please have your child answer these questions about the continent of Europe on a piece of paper:
What is the difference between a country and a continent?
What is a peninsula?
Name two peninsulas in Europe.
What is the difference between a sea and an ocean?
If you could visit the Alps, the Mediterranean Coast, the European woodland, or Cotswold Village, which one would you visit? Give me two reasons why.
If they were gone Thurs/Fri:
Students are now working on their final drafts. These will be DUE on the 12 (Mon/Thurs kids) and 13 (Tues/Fri kids) of November. Here is what I will be grading (for 24 total points):
Capitals at the start of sentences
Punctuation at the end of sentences
Complete sentences
Neatest handwriting (students can write in pen, cursive, or their best pencil penmanship)
Correct spelling of less-complex, common words (words like: our, there/their, like, etc.)
3rd graders should have at least 12 complete sentences (four per paragraph).
4th graders should have at least 15 complete sentences (five per paragraph).
19th-23rd: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. If they do not turn this makeup work in, they will receive a zero.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Please have your child answer these questions about the continent of Antarctica on a piece of paper:
What is the difference between a glacier and an iceberg?
Why does Antarctica look different on a map versus a globe?
What is an ice sheet?
Why is it called the Southern Ocean, not the Atlantic Ocean?
What are 3 special adaptations an emperor penguin has and how do they help it survive?
If they were gone Thurs/Fri:
Please have your child use their graphic organizer to finish a rough draft of their personal narrative. They should be taking the notes that they put in their organizer and stretching them into complete, detailed sentences. They should write their rough draft in pencil, with their nicest handwriting. I am not grading spelling / punctuation at this point, only penmanship.
3rd graders should have at least 12 complete sentences (four per paragraph).
4th graders should have at least 15 complete sentences (five per paragraph).
12th-16th: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. If they do not turn this makeup work in, they will receive a zero.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Please have your child answer these questions about the continent of Africa on a piece of paper:
What is the difference between a plain and a savanna?
What is an adaptation that helps the elephant to survive in its habitat?
What is the unique relationship between the Masai tribe and the lion?
If they were gone Thurs/Fri:
Please have your child use their graphic organizer to write a rough draft of their personal narrative. They should be taking the notes that they put in their organizer and stretching them into complete, detailed sentences. They should write their rough draft in pencil, with their nicest handwriting. I am not grading spelling / punctuation at this point, only penmanship.
3rd graders should have at least 12 complete sentences (four per paragraph).
4th graders should have at least 15 complete sentences (five per paragraph).
5th-7th: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. If they do not turn this makeup work in, they will receive a zero.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Please have your child use this graphic organizer to plan out their personal narrative. They should write their topic, which should be a true moment in time, in the “topic” bubble. The topic should not be a whole vacation, but a moment in the vacation. Students are practicing adding detail and stretching out their writing with detail.
In the “idea” boxes, they should write what the beginning, middle, and end of their paper should be about.
In the smaller circles beneath the “idea” boxes, students should put key details that they can add to their paragraphs.
Fourth Grade Challenge: Each section of the organizer will turn into about four sentences. But I would like my 4th graders to add a small number two to each small, key detail bubble where they believe they could easily stretch that key detail into two or more sentences.
Here is an example of my own graphic organizer.
There were no in-person classes on Thurs/Fri this week.
September
28th-2nd: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. If they do not turn this makeup work in, they will receive a zero.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Have your child write the answers to these questions about Australia: Define outback, reef, and island. Tell what adaptations help a kangaroo to survive in its environment.
Have your child complete this worksheet. They are meant to invent an animal, give it a name, and choose a habitat for it. Then they should list three adaptations the animal has, and how those adaptations help it to survive. For example: “It has large ears so it can fan itself to keep cool.” These adaptations must make sense for the animal’s environment—it probably doesn’t need to fan itself to keep cool if it lives in the water, for instance!
Have your child define these words on a piece of paper: solemn, emerge, louse, perspiration, notion, and venture.
If they were gone Thurs/Fri:
We focused on the iReady in writing this week. The iReady window closes today. At home, please have your child work on journaling (writing 3-8 sentences depending on their skill level about their pet, their favorite part of the day, favorite game, etc.) to help support their writing stamina and their comfort with writing.
21st-25th: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. If they do not turn this makeup work in, they will receive a zero.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Have your child write the answers to these questions about Asia: Define desert, glacier, and archipelago. How many people live in Asia? What helps the giant panda to survive in its environment?
If they were gone Thurs/Fri:
We focused on the iReady in writing this week and will continue it next week. If your child will be gone for an extended period of time, please have them begin the iReady reading assessment (more info below). Otherwise, have them work on journaling (writing 3-8 sentences depending on their skill level about their pet, their favorite part of the day, favorite game, etc.) to help support their writing stamina and their comfort with writing.
14th-18th: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day. This makeup work relates, in a small way, to the lessons we learned this week. They will receive partial credit.:
If they were gone Mon/Tues:
Have your child write the answers to these questions about South America: What is the name of the mountain range beside the Amazon Rainforest? What does ‘biodiverse’ mean (the rainforest is very biodiverse)? How big is the Amazon Rainforest and why is it important? How is the jaguar different from the leopard?
If they were gone Thurs/Fri:
Have your child write a list of 3-5 ideas for what they want to write their personal narratives about, and then circle the one they want to write about. Bear in mind that personal narratives are about a moment in time, and they are true stories that happened to them (not a friend). If a child wants to write about a vacation they took, for example, they can write about a part of that vacation, not the whole, entire, week-long trip.
8th-10th: If your child did not attend this week, please have them complete the following work at home to bring in on their next school day:
Please have them write complete sentences telling me:
Their favorite place (a complete sentence would look like: “My favorite place is the zoo.”)
Their favorite game
Their favorite season
Their favorite food