Weekly Update

 Hi Parents!

It has been a pleasure getting to meet you and put a face to your name during our recent conferences. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me and discuss your child’s progress. Your support makes all the difference!

Spelling:

Your child will bring home new spelling words on Monday, November 8th. The test on these words will be on Friday, November 19th. They should be practicing spelling and sorting their words each night. We are working on them in class as well. They were given a Spelling Journal where they can keep their words, sorts and activities in. I asked them to make sure they take that home each night and return it the next day. This way they can keep all their spelling work together. 

No School:

There are no in person classes next week. Please see the schedule below for the structure of next week. 

Monday- Teacher Workday (No school)

Tuesday- Teacher Workday (No school)

Wednesday- Asynchronous day (work on first part of packet)

Thursday- Student/ teacher holiday (No school)

Friday- Asynchronous day (work on second part of packet)

Asynchronous Work:

As you have probably heard, Loudoun County public Schools has made Wednesday, November 3rd and Friday, November 5th asynchronous days. Your child will not be coming into the school those days nor will we be meeting online. I have given your child a packet that they are to complete on these days. This packet is due back on Monday, November 8th. I have reviewed the packet and the expectations for it with your child. Please check your child’s Take Home Folder for this work. 

Dreambox:

As your child completes their Dreambox sessions next week, we ask that parents not solve problems for their children as this invalidates the data and makes it difficult for the program to determine what your child’s independent math level is. When you help your child solve a problem that is too difficult for them, the program thinks they have mastered that concept and moves on to more challenging concepts. This causes a lot of frustration at school when they are not provided any answers. 

Virginia Studies Weekly Payment:

The Online School Payment Portal has finally opened. Please make sure to go on and pay for your child’s Virginia Studies Weekly Newspaper. These were noted on the supply list and we have already begun to receive and use them. You can log on from the Hutchison Farm website, or use this direct link. The newspapers are $8.15 per student. Please make sure that you have selected me, Kristen Rivera as the teacher, so your payment is processed under our class. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Writing:  We are learning the structure of Writer’s Workshop and talking about what makes a good writer. 

• Math:  We will work on Subtraction. The students will be able to find the differences of numbers 999,999 or less. 

• Science:  We will wrap up our first Science unit,  Virginia’s Natural Resources.

Enjoy this time with your child. The time is precious and goes by quickly! I am looking forward to celebrating my birthday/ Halloween with my children, watching my son's baseball game tomorrow (if it's not rained out) and some much needed downtime. As you can imagine, I will also be plugging away on report cards and planning for next quarter. With that said, I am around if you have any questions/ concerns. 🙂

Weekly Update

 Hi Parents!

Thank you so much for all of your support and help with the study guides that are coming home. I am sure your child told you that everyone rocked the Chapter 2 VA Studies test this week! I was blown away by how well the students did and how much they enjoyed the unit. Whatever they did to prepare, I hope they keep it up! Way to go!!!

Spelling:

We will begin spelling next week. We will be using the Word Journey’s program you are probably already familiar with from previous years. Your student will bring home a list of words next week. They need to learn how to spell the word and know which spelling rule it falls under. This will not only teach them the spelling of the words, but also spelling rules which they can apply to other words they may need when writing. They will have their words for 2 weeks before being tested. On the test, they will need to write the spelling rules down and be able to not only spell the word correctly but also write it in the right category. I will randomly choose 10 of their words for the test. Since it is random, the students should learn all of them in preparation. 

Reading Log:

Please continue to fill out those reading logs. They are due to be turned in on October 28th, the last day of the quarter. Please reach out if you have any questions. 

Virginia Studies Weekly Payment:

The Online School Payment Portal has finally opened. Please make sure to go on and pay for your child’s Virginia Studies Weekly Newspaper. These were noted on the supply list and we have already begun to receive and use them. You can log on from the Hutchison Farm website, or use this direct link. The newspapers are $8.15 per student. Please make sure that you have selected me, Kristen Rivera as the teacher, so your payment is processed under our class. 

Agendas:

Some students were looking for a way to keep track of when their reading logs are due, tests are and other important information. In the past the school had provided agendas to the students. Since we are very digital now, they did not provide them this year. However, they are still important and a great way for the students to take responsibility for tracking their own assignments. This is a skill they will need in middle school and beyond. Although these are not required, I am attaching a link to a small planner you can purchase, if your child is interested in having one. Several students have asked recently about them, so I told them that I would send you a link to one in this week's blog post. Planner on Amazon

Fall (virtual) Conferences:

Please see the link HERE to sign up for our Fall conference. These will be held virtually, unless you email me and request an in person meeting. I am happy to hold those upon request, otherwise you will use the Meet link assigned to your conference on the day and time of our meeting. My time is limited late in the afternoon due to my own children needing to be at sports and activities, but I am more than happy to work with you to find a time that works for all if need be. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue Reader's Workshop and read the book The Tiger Rising. 

• Math:  We will continue working on Addition. The students will be able to find the sums of numbers 999,999 or less using Partial Sum, Commutative Property and  the Associative Property of addition.

• Science:  We will begin our first Science unit. We will study Virginia’s Natural Resources.

Weekly Update

 Hi Everyone!

Reading Log:

A reading log went home in your child’s Take Home Folder on Thursday. They should be reading for a minimum of 30 minutes a day. Each evening after reading they need to fill out their reading log to reflect their reading. A new reading log will go home at the beginning of each month and should be returned at the end of the month. The October reading log is due to school on Thursday, October 28th. The last day of the quarter. Completion of these reading logs are a part of your child’s participation and homework score. 

Virginia Studies Weekly Payment:

The Online School Payment Portal has finally opened. Please make sure to go on and pay for your child’s Virginia Studies Weekly Newspaper. These were noted on the supply list and we have already begun to receive and use them. You can log on from the Hutchison Farm website, or use this direct link. The newspapers are $8.15 per student. Please make sure that you have selected me, Kristen Rivera as the teacher, so your payment is processed under our class. 

No School:

Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday, October 11th. Schools are closed for the holiday.

Fall (virtual) Conferences:

Please see the link HERE to sign up for our Fall conference. These will be held virtually, unless you email me and request an in person meeting. I am happy to hold those upon request, otherwise, I will email you a Google Meet link to confirm the day and time of your conference. Please let me know if these dates and times do not work for you. My time is limited late in the afternoon due to my own children needing to be at sports and activities, but I am more than happy to work with you to find a time that works for all if need be. 

VA Studies online textbook: 

This week, your child was shown how to access their VA Studies book online from home through LCPSGo. We read the book together in class, but it is a great resource for them to read at home as well as they review and study for the assessments. The nice thing about the online textbook, is that they also include the option to have the passages read to them from the computer. Mrs. Kaz was kind enough to write up some directions on how to access this resource. I am including the link to that document HERE. Your child does know how to get into it, so hopefully they are utilizing this resource as they prepare for the test. 

Virginia Studies Test

The test for chapter 2 is scheduled for Wednesday, October 13th. The students have the study guide and access to the online textbook. They also made flash cards and a flipbook which has a lot of important information in it to help them review. Please make sure they are studying this information and prepared on Wednesday. As you may have noticed, there is quite a bit of information in each chapter and these chapters build on each other. It is imperative that the students are staying up on their studying so it doesn’t snowball on them. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue Reader's Workshop and read the book The Tiger Rising. 

• Math:  We will work on Addition. The students will be able to find the sums of numbers 999,999 or less using Partial Sum, Commutative Property and  the Associative Property of addition.

Virginia Studies:  We will review Chapter 2 of Virginia Studies. In this chapter we learned about the different tribes who settled in Virginia, the languages they spoke and how the way they lived related to where they settled in the state. The test is scheduled for this Wednesday, October 13th.

Weekly Update

 Hi Everyone!

Thank you for your patience with my updates in reading to the end.  I know you're busy, and I appreciate the time you take to stay informed about what's happening in our classroom.

VGA Testing:

As you have seen in Mrs. Smith’s updates, we are scheduled to take the Fall Growth Assessment in Math and Reading next week. These assessments are given on the computer, so your child will need to make sure they bring their ChromeBooks fully charged next week. 

Virginia Studies Chapter 2 Study Guide:

We have begun the second chapter of Virginia Studies, Virginia’s First Peoples. The study guide for this chapter went home in your child’s Take Home Folder today. It is double sided and contains quite a lot of content. Please make sure your child keeps it in a safe place and uses it to review often. The test is scheduled for Wednesday, October 13th.

Place Value Test:

We will take our Place Value assessment on Monday, October 4th. A study guide for this unit went home at the beginning of the week. Please help them review and prepare for our test. There are practice questions attached to the study guide that your child can complete for additional practice. They do not have to be returned, but I encourage the students to complete them in preparation for the test. 

Virginia Studies Weekly Payment:

The Online School Payment Portal has finally opened. Please make sure to go on and pay for your child’s Virginia Studies Weekly Newspaper. These were noted on the supply list and we have already begun to receive and use them. You can log on from the Hutchison Farm website, or use this direct link. The newspapers are $8.15 per student. Please make sure that you have selected me, Kristen Rivera as the teacher, so your payment is processed under our class. 

No School:

Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday, October 11th. Schools are closed for the holiday.

1st Quarter Interim Progress Reports:

1st Quarter Interim Progress Reports ("interims") will be issued today, Friday October 1st.  If your child receives an interim, it will be emailed to you today using the email address on file in your ParentVue account.  Not every student will receive one. You can update and/or verify your email address by logging into your ParentVue account.  If you are unable to access your ParentVue account, please contact our school office.  (I'm sorry; I'm not able to help you with this - you must contact the office.)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue Reader's Workshop and read the book The Tiger Rising. 

• Math:  We will take our Place Value/ Rounding Test on Monday and then begin our Addition and Subtraction Unit. The students will be able to find the sums and differences of numbers 999,999 or less using Partial Sum, Commutative Property and  Associative Property

• Virginia Studies:  We will continue with Chapter 2 of Virginia Studies. In this chapter we will learn about the different tribes who settled in Virginia, the languages they spoke and how the way they lived related to where they settled in the state. 

The weather this weekend looks to be nice! I plan on spending tomorrow at the ball field with my children (story of my life) and Sunday prepping my flowerbeds for the Fall! My children cannot wait to put up our Fall and Halloween decorations. I just need to fix up the flowerbeds before they begin decorating the weeds! 🤣