mrsjaffe14

Look right below today’s post where it says “Comments 1.” If your kids click on that, they can see my comment and add to it.

Mrs. Jaffe

P.S. If this is too clunky, I may do it through Google Classroom. I’ll let you know!

Hello Families!

The surreal nature of this time is starting to kick in. I am acutely aware of wanting to be in touch with my own children and other family and friends whom I see regularly and especially those I don’t see all the time. There is no rule book here or prior life experience that can guide any of us through this. We muddle on together.

What thoughts do I have to share today? I suppose I want to suggest that less is more right now. There is no way any of us can recreate at home what your kids experience in school in terms of being scheduled and engaged for six hours a day. If you can get your kids to read a bit, draw a bit, play some games, do puzzles or Lego, and get outside, then you are ahead of the game. If the rest of the time is spent on devices, so what? Whatever loss of formal academic learning you worry your kids are missing right now, take solace (can I even call it that?) that every kid across the country is in the same boat.

So, here’s where I want to share with you today:

1. If any of you feel the need to communicate with me directly, please don’t hesitate to email me with your questions or concerns: jaffe@bpsk12.org.

2. I am going to ask you to pass along two messages to your kids for me.

• I’m going to start a comment thread on the home page of this blog, and I want you to invite your kids to chime in. This way, they can share their comments with me and with each other. I just want it to be a fun way for us to get connected. 
• Please let your kids know that if they’d like to email me directly, as well, they should feel free to do that. 

That’s all for now. I send you all my best!

Mrs. Jaffe

Hello Families:

I was delighted to get out today for a long walk; it wasn’t warm and sunny, but at least it wasn’t raining. Many neighbors were out doing the same thing, including parents with kids on bikes in tow.

Teachers have been assured by Assistant Superintendent Patrick Larkin that Dr. Conti and superintendents from surrounding towns are convening today via teleconference to come up with a more formal plan of learning expectations for students during the upcoming weeks. I have no idea what that will look like, but will certainly be in touch with you as plans become finalized. 

In the meantime, I am forwarding links to a couple of other math games from Youcubed. These games include:

1. Fewest Squares – Students draw an 11×13 grid and try to find the fewest number of squares they can use to cover it without overlap or extending outside the grid. Youcubers have worked this question for hours at a time!

2. Poly-Up – Poly-Up is an online platform that pushes students to develop computational thinking skills while helping Poly fix machines.

Finally, here is some exciting news from the Burlington Science Center! Burlington kindergartners were scheduled to experience chick hatching in their classrooms this coming week. Leave it to Miss Pavlicek to figure out how to make that experience possible by live-streaming it from her home next Tuesday! 

Here’s a video Miss P. made to let all Burlington students know about next week’s live stream. In addition, here is a link to the live chick hatching stream which will air next Tuesday, March 24, 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Miss P. says that the feed may go live as early as Monday when she will be available for questions, but not much will happen on the hatching front until Tuesday. 

Finally, speaking of animals, I have gotten a couple of emails from students who want to know how our class gerbils are doing. Please reassure your child that Miss Pavlicek picked up the gerbils last Friday, and they are all resting (and being fed) comfortably at the Science Center. Stay healthy, and have a good weekend.

Best to you all,

Mrs. Jaffe

Hello Families:

I’m glad I got outside yesterday for a walk in the woods; today is likely to be an indoor day — for everyone!

I am hearing from a few of you that you find these posts useful. Please don’t get me wrong — the last thing I want to do is overwhelm you with suggestions. I do recognize, however, that part of the challenge for all of us is to figure out how to structure the day and change it up with some different ideas. For example, completing some Pearson math assignments is great, but it shouldn’t stress out your child or you. One of our parents reports to me that Math Playground is great fun for her kids, and they’ve even figured out how to connect with other kids playing the games. You’ll find the link for it at the bottom of the blog home page.

Also, remember that the Burlington Science Center continues to post daily science challenges and activities on their instagram and facbook accounts.

Here are a few new resources for today:

1. Today’s Boston Globe featured an article about daily online drawing lessons/exercises with Mo Willems, artist-in-residence at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The free lessons are called LUNCH DOODLES and air daily at 1:00 p.m.

2. If you want to take all the thinking out of how to plan your child’s day, check out these lessons/suggestions from Katie Novak and Alison Sancinito of Novak Eduacational Consulting. They’ve created a daily Homeschool Plan.

3. On days like today when outdoor activity is not an option, GoNoodle is a great outlet for short movement videos. Your kids are familiar with this. And yes, it may look silly to you, but trust me, your kids think it’s fun. You may have to set up an account, but it is a free resource.

Last thought for today … Read with your child! You may think your child is too old to be read to, but if you haven’t shared that experience recently, try it. Children love the opportunity to share a book with you, be it a picture book or chapter book. Make reading part of each day with your children. Read to them, listen to them read aloud, or alternate the reading. If you’re lucky and can get your hands on a second copy of a book your child is reading at home, read the same book and talk about it together. Worst case scenario, read what s/he has read after bedtime, and talk about it the next day.

That’s it for today. If you have particular needs or questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Best,

Mrs. Jaffe

Greetings Families:

I’m mindful of not wanting to pass along too many resources in one day, but I’ve put together a few more suggestions for your kids. These suggestions won’t fill a whole week, let alone three, but they may introduce some variety in your child’s daily routine.

Math

1. A few kids have cycled back to some older online Pearson assignments. Good for them!!! While this doesn’t represent any new learning for children, it is a great way to practice previously taught skills. Your child knows that all math lesson practice, whether in-class or homework, is assigned digitally. These assignment appear in the math Google Classroom folder. Because I have synced Google Classroom with Pearson, your child will immediately be directed to the Pearson website from Google Classroom to complete an assignment. There is no need for a Pearson login.

I, then receive a notification when the assignment is finished. Completing one assignment a day may be a good way to refresh skills.

2. I’m on the mailing list of a wonderful math resource site out of Stanford University called youcubed. I have used their activities before in class. Today, they sent along some suggestions for games your child can play with you or a sibling. Here are some of their ideas:

How Close to 100?

Tic-Tac-Toe Products

Ice Cream Scoop

The Four 4’s

A few of these activities/games even come with worksheets you can download and print. The last activity your child may remember working on during the first week of school. It’s a mind-bender!

Science/Social Studies

One of the regular apps your child has access to through Clever is the video-based website, BrainPop. The site is chock full of short, interesting videos in all academic areas. Each 5-7 minute video is followed by a quiz. Here are some suggested videos your child could watch that relate to what they have been learning about in science and social studies:

1. Science

– Ecosystems

– Food Chains

– Energy Pyramid

– Land Biomes

2. Social Studies

– Declaration of Independence

– Articles of Confederation

– Constitutional Convention

Also, March is Women’s History Month. If you type “women” into BrainPop’s search bar, you’ll find a number of videos on the lives of interesting women, past and present.

Best to you all,

Mrs. Jaffe

Families …

Sorry for multiple communications today. But, if you’re looking for additional resources for your kids, I meant to remind you that you can find links to a number of learning web sites at the very bottom of my blog home page. 

Mrs. Jaffe

Hello Families:

Mr. Musselman and Miss Pavlicek of the Burlington Science Center will be making some science challenges/activities available to you throughout your time at home. Check out their first videos on the Burlington Science Center website. 

Good luck, scientists!

Mrs. Jaffe

Dear Families:

You may have heard this evening that Governor Baker announced that all Massachusetts public and private schools will remain closed for at least the next three weeks. I can’t begin to imagine the disruption to your lives; I wish I could do more to be helpful.

While there is no required work to complete at home, you are probably already starting to think about ways of providing your child with some structure. With this in mind, here is a creative way of thinking about your child’s time:

Daily Routines …

Reading: 30 minutes

Drawing and/or music:  30 minutes

Creative writing/journaling: 20 minutes

Math: 20-30 minutes

Playtime (puzzles, Legos, cards, etc.): 30 minutes

Household chore: 15 minutes

Outdoor recess (!): 30 minutes

To assist you, there are also some digital resources I suggest you consider using. To access these resources, your child need only log into Clever, a single sign-on portal, from which apps such as ST Math, iReady (lessons), and Newsela can automatically be opened. Click here to log into Clever.  Once on Clever, your child will enter a user name (LASID@bps121.org) and password (last name and birth month/day). 

You may also want to check out this link from Scholastic Books which has made resources on their web site available during school closings.

Finally, I recommend you read Dr. Conti’s update  about remote learning options on the Burlington Public Schools website. Just expand the box for Elementary Schools. It includes much of the same information above.

Please keep in touch, and let me know if you need other suggestions.

Most importantly, stay healthy!

Best,

Mrs. Jaffe

Dear Families:

There is no rule book for approaching the weeks ahead. All our lives are being disrupted on every level. I know information from Dr. Conti will be forthcoming as soon as it is available, but that doesn’t lessen our uncertainty.

I know as much (or as little) as you do about the school cancellation. There will be no homework assigned during this period, but I do encourage you to keep your child reading! 

If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me. If I don’t know the answer, I will do my best to find someone who does. 

Best to you and your wonderful children!

Mrs. Jaffe

Dear Families:

If you haven’t done so already, please sign and return the Concord Museum field trip permission form and payment of $11.88. The deadline is this Friday, March 13.

Thank you,

Mrs. Jaffe