Please join your Kindergarten teacher on Google Meet for a brief introduction.

Friday, Sept. 5 2-2.30pm

Mrs. Berner:

meet.google.com/xyy-boza-jfd (the code is xyy-boza-jfd)

Join by phone: (‪US‬)‪+1 201-903-3160‬

Ms. Affatato:

meet.google.com/nhr-gpbe-noq (the code is nhr-gqbe-noq)

Join by phone: ‪(US) +1 478-449-4161‬ PIN: ‪942 850 618‬#

September 8th, 2020

Welcome Kindergartners and Families!

Your teachers are so excited to meet all of you this week as we all begin kindergarten. We are going to learn so much this year!

Remote Learning (RL) per CPS's response to COVID-19 starts on Tuesday, September 8th. We look forward to working closely with our students’ families. It is imperative to support kindergartners at home and work together as a team to make sure that students are successful.Friday

LEARNING WEBSITES USED: Teachers will spend time reviewing how to use the following websites with parents and students during the first month of school.

All: Seesaw

Math: Freckle and Khan Academy

Literacy: RAZ-Kids and EPIC

Google Meet: virtual live learning time

We understand that remote learning will be unfamiliar and stressful- but how exciting for your kindergartener to learn alongside the adults they look up to! We are in this together and we will help you understand all learning tools and websites as we begin the year!

Please email us any time with your questions and concerns: Mrs. Berner (217) cberner@cps.edu and Ms. Affatato (121) aaffatato@cps.edu.

What to expect from Mrs. Berner and Ms. Affatato

This year in kindergarten, we will learn the alphabet letters and their sounds, how to use them to decode text in our favorite books and how to compose our own writing! We will explore fiction and nonfiction texts and learn to think like scientists! We will learn to read over ONE HUNDRED sight words, count to one hundred, add and subtract numbers, and learn about ways we can care for ourselves, others around us, and the beautiful world we live in.

Whether we are in front of a screen or finally back on the colorful classroom carpet, your child will surprise you with the changes they are sure to undergo in kindergarten!

The following are the learning goals for the next six weeks. Please review these skills at home with your kindergartner. If they have not mastered these skills, this is an excellent list to place on your refrigerator and work on each day for 5-10 minutes..

• Recognize all the letters in the alphabet out of order/Reconocer las letras del alfabeto sin orden

• Identify sounds of all the letters in the alphabet out of order/Identificar los sonidos de las letras del alfabeto sin orden

• Write first and last name independently/Escribir su nombre y apellido independientemente

• Read to your child as much as possible/Leanles a su hijo/a lo más que puedan

• Count from 0 - 50/Contar del 0-50

• Identify numbers 0 - 20 out of order/Identificar los números 0-20 sin orden

• Count objects up to 20/Contar objetos hasta el 20

• Name colors and shapes/Nombrar los colores y las figuras

• Tie their shoes/Amarrarse las agujetas de los zapatos

• Draw a picture and color it neatly/Dibujar y colorear cuidadosamente

Remote Learning Plan for September!

Your child will pick up many new skills this year, so as we progress our learning plan will change as we incorporate new content and developmentally appropriate activities (AND as we learn about our students and adjust to the ways THEY learn). Teachers will ALWAYS send out a notice for when these plans change and are available for office hours to address your questions!

YOUR CHILD WILL NEED SUPERVISION TO COMPLETE THESE ACTIVITIES EVERY DAY:

• Practice writing 2 focus letters in their literacy journal

• Draw pictures that begin with the sounds of our 2 focus letter in their literacy journal

• Write 1 sight word 5 times in literacy journal

• Respond to a story (video posted by the teacher) in literacy journal

• Practice neatly writing their name in their literacy journal

• Assigned alphabet and phonics practice on SeeSaw (starting week 3)

• Hands on Math practice in weeks 1 and 2

• Math pages from student workbooks (starting in week 3)

• “Friends Time” activity assigned daily so your child is prepared to interact with their new friends online!

YOUR CHILD WILL NEED SUPERVISION TO COMPLETE THESE ACTIVITIES EVERY WEEK:

• One STEAM project due every Friday (send a picture or video to your teacher to show completion and get credit)

• Reading Log due on Fridays (for extra writing practice, have your CHILD write down the titles of stories you have read at home and the read alouds your child views from their teacher). You need at least 5 books/week.

• Monitor your child during “Friends’ Time” Google Meets so they stay focused, learn to mute/unmute and take turns with their friends online (Meets are Daily)

• Ensuring your child is watching all required videos AND completing the daily required activities for each.

SEPTEMBER HOME LEARNING SUPPLIES TO BUY: Teachers will update you about materials your child will need AT HOME each month so that your child will be ready to learn as we begin new topics of study.

• 3-4 Pencils for writing (DO NOT allow your child to learn this new skill with a pen or marker- they can’t erase!)

• Pencil sharpener

• 24 pack of crayons or colored pencils

• 1 eraser (the pencil erasers do not last very long!)

• Spiral notebook and paper to draw/write on

ACCOUNTABILITY:

Remember, your child’s participation on-line will count as DAILY ATTENDANCE and GRADED (both their completion of learning website assignments and their participation in the GOOGLE MEET time). It is crucial you ensure your child is provided enough time to complete their activities as well as attending their Google Meet times once assigned. We recommend splitting up the required learning activities throughout the day so your child is learning and attending to lessons with fresh eyes and a focused brain. Young learners learn and work best in small windows of time not to exceed 20 minutes. You will receive a weekly progress report on your child.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY:

- enlist a trusted grown-up/older sibling to help your child log in to our learning websites (choose one Literacy and one Math) for at least 15 minutes on EACH DAILY. We recommend setting a TIMER.

- monitor that your child is doing to assigned activities on those websites and not others

- ensure that your child completes activities set by the teacher BEFORE they engage in other activities

- ask questions to the teacher during online office hours (email to set an appointment)

- follow all the Google Meet directives and expectations to ensure virtual learning occurs daily

GOOGLE MEET Guidance:

The reason why we required you to confirm a CPS email for your kindergartner was so we could virtually teach them!

Google Meet is a Video/Audio meeting space that will allow us to learn together. Many of you have not signed up for your child’s CPS email so we will be emailing your GMAIL account in hopes that you will be able to connect with us through that. If you do not have a CPS email address, your child will be unable to join our lessons. It is imperative that you confirm your child’s CPS email account so they do not miss out on this special learning opportunity!

The plan is this: Our class will watch videos daily for whole group instruction on our Math, Literacy, Science and Social Science topics. However, our students need more personalized supports! Just like we would if we were in the classroom, teachers will split students into small groups to work on specific skills.

Each child is invited to a reoccurring daily time of 30 minutes for learning with their teacher and a couple of other students on Google Meet/Hangout. You will receive an email on their CPS account that will have a link. You need to click on the link and then, your device will open Google Meet, will ask to use your microphone and video and then you will get to join our Google Meet ‘meeting’. Use headphones if you own them; this makes our meeting easier to hear!

This is NOT something your child will know how to do. You will need to set this meeting up for them and PLEASE sit with them through the session to teach them how to sit quietly unless their teacher asks them to speak. They need to understand they cannot touch any of the device’s buttons or the screen.

Our hope is that, for 30 minutes daily, your kindergartner will joyfully learn virtually with their teacher and some peers on topics for which they need support. We will be targeting alphabet letters, sight words, reading, writing and math concepts. If you and your child miss your assigned meeting time, it can not be made up. Therefore, we recommend being ready and online for the meeting time daily 10 minutes EARLY.

The first couple of days will be tricky. We have all our fingers and toes crossed that this will be a positive experience. Please prepare a quiet, clean and focused learning space with your device with writing paper, a pencil and headphones (if possible). Make sure your internet is up and running. Please have other children occupied so they do not interrupt our lesson.

30 minutes is NOT a lot of time! So please practice with Google Meet and make sure your child understands that this is school!

Here are some expectations for Google Meets. Please discuss ALL with your kindergartener, your family and any caregiver who might be in charge during your child’s meeting time:

Make sure that your child...

- has had breakfast

- has used the bathroom

- has a pencil and something to write on - no distracting toys unless we are doing a show-and-tell on Friday

- is in a quiet space - siblings CANNOT disrupt our learning, we only have a precious 30 minutes per group

- is sitting AT A TABLE - as I said, this is school: your child should be taking this seriously and showing that they are ready to learn.

GROWN-UPS: Let’s work together to help students grow into confident, independent, and problem-solving kindergarteners!

• Please be aware of your language when you are in the background of our meetings

• You AND your child need to learn and use the mute/unmute button and your child should know how to quickly perform this task alone (your teacher cannot wait for an adult to unmute each child so they can take their turn in an activity, for example).

• Please do not use our class meetings for conference time! We love to problem solve with you, but it cannot be during the time we are serving our students. Please email questions or drop into virtual office hours!

• Other family members should be completely clothed. We are using cameras and other children and families can see them in frame - let’s keep everyone’s comfort and safety in mind.

This is so important:

• PLEASE do not tell your child answers, write for them, sound out for them or in any way try to make their work easier.

Productive academic struggle is important for their development. It may feel like you are helping them but you'll only make them more reliant on you. This is the LAST thing they need!!

The adult’s role is to assist (as more of a facilitator and tech helper) during our sessions. Your child should be the only voice the teacher can hear unless there is a tech problem.