Greetings Families,
It is hard to believe, but we only have one week until fall break. I'm proud of the effort students have given during the midst of the challenges associated with COVID-19--distance learning, remote learning, and in-person procedures. They have done a great job adjusting to the challenges.
This week will unfortunately be a little wonky due to a couple different things. I'm hoping that despite the weird schedule, we can end this quarter on a positive note.
GALILEO TESTING
For distance learning students, they will start the day with whatever Galileo test you choose. I emailed you the instructions for testing last week. If you need that information again, please email me as soon as possible. Once they finish the two test, all they have to do is Spalding and math. I have a good deal of resources on the blog (this blog: NaakArete.blogspot.com) if you want your child to do some extra academic stuff.
Please ensure that your child has a good breakfast. I'm writing this at 8:45 p.m. Hopefully, your children are already in bed.
CLASS CELEBRATION
We will be having a class celebration on Friday. Due to COVID-19 protocols, it will be a very different activity from those in the past. We will be watching Pinocchio and eating popcorn. We had hoped to have distance learning students participate, but given that the in-person students aren't really doing anything, I'm not sure what that would look like.
POETRY RECITATIONS
Poetry recitations are this week on Wednesday, September 30th. RL students should post a video of them reciting the poem by Thursday morning.
FRIDAY ASSIGNMENTS
Because Friday is the last day of the quarter, all assignments are due by Friday at 4 p.m. Late assignments may not be graded and may result in a zero in the grade book.
GRAMMAR AND LITERATURE TIMES CHANGED FOR THIS WEEK
The last note I have for you before I talk about the lesson for this week is that we are changing the times for grammar and literature this week to allow for more time for a large writing project. For students who receive services from ESS, if this impacts your schedule, please continue to follow your regular ESS schedule, and we will accommodate your child's needs.
LESSONS
Language Arts: This week we have a normal schedule of spelling words and will take the test on Friday. We will also finish Pinocchio and celebrate the book on Friday. Recitations for “The Bee” will be on the 30th. We will begin memorizing “The Eletelephony,” by Laura Richards. Children should review daily at home. This week, we will be diving into writing! It will be important for parents of remote learning students to help ensure pre-writing maps, rough drafts, proof-reading edits, and a final draft is complete on it's given day. It will also be important for remote learning students' parents to provide extra support when proof-reading starts on Thursday. They will need this extra hand to write their final draft come Friday.Math: The final week of the quarter will be spent reviewing multiplication and division, which students should have started to study last year (this may be new content for students new to Great Hearts). At this point, a dedicated focus on memorizing the multiplication math facts will be very important. This skill will allow students to solve their work with greater accuracy and efficiency. The time spent studying math facts will pay dividends when it comes to completing homework more quickly and scoring better on assessments. For families who allow their children to use the internet, MathPlayground.com has a number of excellent addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division math facts games.
History: This week students will be reading chapters 1 & 2, Unit 2, Roman Empire. In this reading they will understand the legend of Romulus and Remus, and how the city of Rome began, and where it was located, as well as why the location was chosen. In addition, they also will be introduced to the many gods and goddesses that the Romans believed in and how that affected their daily lives. This and many new vocabulary words will be introduced. They will also take a closer look at the Mediterranean region (Europe, W. Asia, and N. Africa) and where the Romans expanded their empire, with a little look as to why they were able to expand their empire.
Science: Students will end the quarter taking everything they have learned about energy and waves and will now apply it to sound. Distance learning students will experience sound through a shoebox guitar on Wednesday and in-person students on Thursday.
Michael Naaktgeboren