May 4th – 8th

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???  This is crazy that we are in the last month of school.  There are a bunch of announcements this week so please make sure that you read through the blog carefully, and check if often.  Here is our WEEKLY LEARNING SCHEDULE.  Please do not hesitate if you have any questions or concerns.  You are WONDERFUL!!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*** MONDAY, MAY 4TH @ 1:30 – POQA (our parent organization) is sponsoring Quest’s Teacher Appreciation Parade this upcoming Monday, May 4th, at 1:30pm. We’d love to have you drive through our parking lot to say hello! Your teachers might even be tossing students a few treats through your car window as you drive by! In order to maintain social distancing standards, our educators will be spaced along the school—elementary teachers will be along the curb in the front of Q1, and jr. high teachers will be along the carpool lane in the back of the school. If you have students in both the elementary and the jr. high, feel free to make two trips around. If you are able to make it, we ask that students with last names beginning with letters A to M come between 1:30pm and 2:00pm, while those with last names beginning with letters N to Z come between 2:00pm and 2:30pm. To ensure social distancing standards are followed, please don’t exit your vehicles. Do, however, feel free to honk, cheer, and tell your teacher how much you appreciate them
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***Sign up for Quest’s virtual talent show! Click here to access the virtual talent show website. The talent show will be available to watch the week of May 18th! All video submissions are due May 8th, so get out your phones and start recording your talented kiddos (please ensure recordings are less than 5 minutes)! Though you’ll be able to upload videos from your computer, you might find it a bit easier to do so from your phone. Here is a short recording to show you how to do this.  I know I have talent in my class! Let’s show the rest of the school!

***Quest Jr. High
 annual “I MADE THAT!” Game Coding Competition is going on now.  We need everyone’s help. Please go to this site https://bit.ly/gamecodingcomp  Play the games on that site and rate your favorites. Your votes will determine the winners.

***Monday, May 18th thru Thursday, May 21st – End of year i-Ready diagnostic testing – Starting Monday the 18th  the school will be giving students an end of year diagnostic test for i-Ready reading and math.  I will meet with students in small groups and they will log onto i-Ready to take their test. I will be making a schedule later this week with the times that your child will meet with me everyday.  The time that your child will meet with me with be between 30 to 45 minutes a day of that week.  I-Ready will only be available from 9:00 – 1:00 on these days.  If your child CANNOT meet with me between 9:00 and 1:00 that week, please notify me as soon as possible.  Other arrangements will need to be made for your child to take the diagnostic.  
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April 27th – May1st

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAYLEY!!! 4/26
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEATH!!! 4/28

Last Friday was so much fun!! Thank you for letting me come to your homes and drop items off for you child.  I loved seeing their faces, and talking to them.  I really miss seeing all of my kids everyday and I wish that we could be at school, but I know that this is helping keep everyone safe and healthy.  Parents, you are all doing amazing jobs and I am so grateful for you.  I know that this is not the easiest thing to be going through right know but you are killing.  I am here to make things easier for you, so please let me know if you have any concerns, struggles, or questions.  I am here to help and support so please reach out.  Here is our WEEKLY LEARNING SCHEDULE for the week.  

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Friday Drop Off

Hello wonderful parents,
I have put together all of the student’s remaining things from the school, along with some extra art supplies that we will be using for our art times. This Friday I would like to come by and drop these off to the kiddos. This will just be a quick hello, me from my car and the students from their doorstep. I would love to be able to tell you when I will be dropping off these items, but our school does not have any boundaries and everyone is spread out.  I will start delivering at 10:30 and continue going until I am done. If you are not home when I drop off the items I will just leave them on your front porch.   If you feel comfortable with me coming to your home please fill out the google form attached below. If you are not comfortable with that please email me and let me know and I can tell you other options for pick up.  Also, if you checked out a chromebook from the school the last week of May is when you will turn those back in. Thank you for all you do! 

Friday Drop Off Form
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The Week of April 20th – 24th

***THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  A huge shout out to all of you awesome parents!  I have the best students in our class and the best parents.  This whole online learning is tough but you are killing it and I really appreciate it. We have a great week planned full of learning, so please check out our WEEKLY LEARNING SCHEDULE.  THANK YOU!!

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The Week of April 13th

WE MADE IT!!! I want to thank you for all that you have done and for all of your support. I admire all the parents that are doing what they can to help their child. I appreciate everyone sticking with our class and being patient as we all learn together on this e-learning journey. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
****Students will be using the GREEN CLOCKS that were sent home in the student packet.  Please help them put this together.  Cut the clock out and attach the 2 hands with the brad that was sent home.  
****BABY PICTURES!!!  Parents, I am doing an activity this Thursday with student’s baby picture.  Will you please email me a photo of your child from the ages of 1 year to 2 years old?  Thank you!!!

I want to let you know that I have mades some adjustments to our learning.  The first thing that I would like to change is how we are doing our math.  With e-learning students are struggling to really understand concepts that are being taught.  What we could get done in a week in class is a lot harder to do with e-learning.  I am going to slow down how we are doing math and make sure that students have activities to help enrich their learning. 

The second thing that I am changing is the math assignments.  I have set the the assignments as I have the Wonders  slides.  Students will go in the math slides everyday and find the days work.  This is where they will enter their math work for the day and then they will submit on Friday.  I will be checking everyday if work has been completed.  I am hoping that this will simplify everything that is showing up under the math tab and it will be less confusing. 

The third item that I would like to change is how tutoring is done.  It has been open to anyone to come but now I will be inviting students to come.  I will send you an email and a BLOOMZ message inviting your child to come, so please look for those to come. 

The last thing that I would like to change are the student trackers that I have sent you.  These trackers are very time consuming on my part and I need to simplify how I notify you of work being done.  So from now on I will send an email if your child has NOT accomplished any work for the day.  This includes Reflex, i-ready math and i-reading.  Please make sure that your child is completing their work.  You can find all of our work for the week on the Weekly Schedule Slides.  Please print these out for your child and look over it with them.  If you have any questions about the slides please do not hesitate to contact me.  
Click here for the Weekly Schedule
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A few Announcements

Parents, 
***I have completed all of the daily trackers and you can now view them and see what your child has accomplished during the day. If you have questions, or concerns, feel free to contact me.  
***Tomorrow (Wednesday) is our library day. Instead of meeting with me at 8:30, students will log into the Library Google Classroom and the click on Mrs. Anderson’s Zoom link. When they are finished in there then they will come back to me for math time at 9:00. If your child did not join her classroom with me on Monday they will need to join her class. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL, or BLOOMZ for directions on how to have your child join. Every Wednesday @ 8:30 students will meet with her. 
***For our language arts time, activity and tutoring for tomorrow (Wednesday from 10:30 until 1:00) I will not be meeting with students on Zoom. I have family business that I need to attend to. So for language art, students will watch a video with directions for the assignments that will be due tomorrow. I will post this under the Classwork tab under Language Arts. As for the activity and tutoring I will be canceling those. I will be back on Thursday and we will meet like normal.  
Thank you for being flexible during this time! You are amazing and I really appreciate all of your support!
Thank you, 
Ms. Beckstead
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The Week of April 6th!

 Welcome back from Spring Break! Well, kind of…
Our lives have been dramatically simplified over the last few weeks, but I recognize that Social Distancing comes with its own set of challenges. Let’s keep working together as an amazing team and make the best of this situation for this group of INCREDIBLE kids!

A few reminders as we start this new week:
  • We are starting earlier than the last 2 weeks!
  • Students should be logged on with all materials, ready to work NO LATER than the scheduled class.
  • Students need to be dressed, sitting up, in a well-lit area with as few distractions as possible.
  • Breakfast should be finished by 9:00! If anyone needs a snack, we have a break at 10:00.
Also, to help you stay informed about how your child is doing, I am going to be sharing a Google Slide with you. The slide is specific to your child and will be updated daily. It includes a daily breakdown of attendance, Reflex, I-Ready Reading and Math, as well as our daily assignments. If there are any questions- AT ALL -please let me know and I will be happy to help you out!
Below are the Daily Agendas that specify what students are going to be doing each day, as well a reminder sheet about the tasks that are to be done by each student, every day.
Let’s make this an incredible week.  Stay home, stay healthy!!!

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Zoom

Parents, 
I have encountered a few problems with using Google Meet, so because of this I will now be using Zoom. I have a link located in Google Classroom that will take students directly to Zoom.  However, if you did not log in today with us you will need to log on before we start tomorrow at 10:00.  Click on the Zoom link and then follow the directions.  You might have to download the program and restart your computer.  If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me.  
Here is a video on how to download Zoom
Thanks!
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March 23rd – 27th

How crazy has this last week been for all of you? It feels so wild to me that this has been our “new normal” for over a week. I seriously miss the kids, so thank you so much for doing all you can to have them online. I’m so thankful for our technology! 
I am proud of everyone for the amazing job last week. I know there were some difficulties with technology, some questions about assignment expectations, and a little confusion about how it all works. But- you all still did AMAZING, and this week will be a little smoother. Make sure to read to the end of the blog for some
 EXTRA FUN-FROM-HOME ACTIVITIES

Okay- here is what to expect this week:
DAILY
Reflex- get a green light!
iReady Reading- 15 minutes, each day
iReady Math- 15 minutes, each day
20 minutes of reading

MATH
We are going to be reviewing all of the strategies used to multiply and divide. Those strategies include:
repeated addition, skip counting, equal groups, arrays
We will also review finding the area of simple and composite shapes, as well as solving 2-step word problems.

READING
In Wonders Unit 5, Week 3 we are going to be reading about teamwork. Our stories are Rescue Dogs Save the Day and  Wildfires.  The comprehension strategy and skill for the week are Asking and Answering Questions, and  Author’s Point of View. 
Phonics:
Closed syllables
Related Roots in Words
Vocabulary:
-disasters    -accidental   -careless   -harmful   -equipment    -prevention    -purpose     -respond
In class (online), we learn about these vocabulary words in connection to ourselves. If you notice your child using any of these words in context, this would be a great opportunity to celebrate their efforts!

MARCH POEMS

Each month students are required to memorize at least one poem.  Below are the month’s poems.  We only read through these in class once, so they need to be practiced at home.  Students can pass off poems on Fridays whenever they are ready to recite them. 
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ART
If your child is interested, I am going to be doing a live art lesson on Friday at 9am, before Math. I will post the ZOOM link in our Google Classroom, as well as send out an Alert reminder on Bloomz. Supplies needed for this lesson are:
1 sheet of white paper, pencil, and black marker.

EXTRA FUN-FROM-HOME ACTIVITIES
Imagineering in a Box – This is a fun joint activity between Disney and Khan Academy
Sharks4Kids – Sign up to join in on fun, live webinars all about sharks
Lunch Doodles with Mo – Fun drawing videos with Mo Willems, the author of Piggy and Elephant books and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus books
San Diego Zoo – amazing videos, activities, and games
And, my favorite…
Georgia Aquarium – Check out live webcams from the different exhibits at the aquarium. The Ocean Voyager is so awesome!
Stay healthy, stay safe, and read a great book!
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BLOOMZ is not working

Parents, 
My end of BLOOMZ is not working. I have received a few messages today on Google Meet not working and I have tried to respond but it will not let me.  I will keep trying, so for right now the best way to contact me is through email: lbeckstead@questac.org
I will keep you posted and let you know when BLOOMZ is back up.
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