Welcome all families! This is officially the first blog going out to our "new class" for the 2020-2021 school year. Any of my kiddos and Ogg's kiddos who have opted to return to in person learning will now be returning to their given physical spaces, with Mrs. Burton co-teaching in room 9 and Mrs. Griffis co-teaching in room 8. We will spend much of the first week looking a lot like a normal first week of school, establishing routines and learning new expectations and learning how to love in person school again.
Math: We will begin math on Tuesday. They have been doing math all year, and I feel like establishing this routine on Tuesday will be fine-nothing new to learn about how to do math in person so we might as well dive in 😂. I do not want to waste any days and fall behind. The one thing I like about our new schedule is that math time will be consistent, M-Th from 8:55-9:50. This will be on Friday the first week, and then after lunch on Friday's from then on. We will begin learning about place value to the tens place.
ELA: We will complete our unit on weather by beginning a new lit study with the magic tree house book "Twister on Tuesday." Not only will this wrap up our unit on weather it will also begin our unit on Then and Now in Social Studies. There will not be spelling or new ELA this week, we will add that on next week. We will be reading the book "First Grade Jitters" to help us deal with any nervousness we may have about returning to school after so long out of school. We will also reread our story from the beginning of the school year, "Our Class Is A Family" as we make our transition back into the classroom with each other and new friends.
Social Studies: As stated above, we will begin our unit on Then and Now but probably more the second week back after we have established our new learning routines and schedules.
Science: We will also be tying our Then and Now unit with our sound unit which will also include a side unit on inventors. Again, look for this all to begin the second week back.
Meet the team: Since many of you are meeting me and/or our co teachers for the first time we felt it would be nice to take a minute to introduce ourselves. I will start.
My name is Ms. Shaw and I am a Flagstaff native. I graduated NAU with a Bachelors in Science in Elementary Ed with an Emphasis in Early Childhood. I began teaching at the age of 19 in preschool, putting my total years of experience at 27 - please do not do the math. I am the proud mother of the most amazing 17 year old aspiring writer and soon to be NPA graduate, as well as an equally naughty yet very cute Cockapoo named Phoebe. My 17 year old, Bradley, would not give me permission to include a picture of him and I do not do pictures so the only photo you get from me is one of my dog.
Mrs. Burton: My name is Christine Burton. I have a degree in Special Education and General Education. I taught for the school district for a few years before my second child was born. I stayed home until my youngest started Marshall in Kindergarten. Since then I have subbed exclusively for Marshall. I did take a detour for a few years and taught Preschool; but I always come back to Marshall! I am the mother of two teenage girls; Emily (17) and Erin (13). They both went to Marshall! I am a proud Marshall parent and teacher! I can't wait to see all the kids back in person!
Mrs. Griffis: My name is Mrs. Griffis and I am so excited to get started with your kiddos for the last quarter of the school year!! I have been a substitute teacher for 15 school years with Flagstaff Unified School District and have enjoyed watching kids as they have changed grade levels and turn into brighter, creative and uniques little people. I have two kids who are older and am about to be a grandma this year!! My husband and I have been married for 32 years and the attached picture was at our daughter's wedding. I'm excited to help finish this year out with Ms. Shaw's class! I will do my best to the transition to in person learning as stress free as possible. I am easy going and adaptable to children's uniques personalities and learning styles. I'm ready to see the kids again and enjoy the remainder of the year. I will be excited to meet all of them on March 22, 2021.
Supplies Needed: The question keeps being asked, "What supplies so I need to send to school with my child for the first day of school?" The answer to this is - almost nothing! We will have supply boxes and their own personal bags with everything they will need to be successful at school. This will include pencil, eraser, dry erase board and marker, pencil sharpener, a new box of crayons, new scissors, a folder for their Daily 5 work and a folder for notes and papers that need to go home. Please check this folder daily, just in case there is something in there, then please place back in their backpack promptly.
Here is what you will need to make sure your child brings in with them:
- Fully charged iPad everyday (this will go back and forth)
- Their headphones (these will stay at school)
- Any math manipulatives they were given (yellow/red counters, centimeter cubes - these will all remain theirs and stay in their supply bags. We do not have enough to replace these for every child so we need them to bring back in the ones they have at home)
- Science journals (these will still be added to for the remainder of the year, any new Shaw students will be given one)
- Spiral Notebooks (like the science notebooks, we will be adding to these, incoming students should have these as well)
- Months of the Year Handwriting Books - we will be using these as the morning work for the first week back. Any new kiddos will be given new copies.
This is the only materials your child can bring (and needs to bring) with them from home. DO NOT have them bring in any school/office supplies or any extra supplies that are not on the above list. If they do they will be placed back in their backpack to be sent back home. We are trying our best to keep what comes from home to a minimum this year. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Save your iPads: For those of you have not done so yet, we need your immediate help to save your iPad from imminent doom. iPads are crashing and dying without hope of return because of storage space issues. The storage issues are occurring because the kiddos are taking photos, videos, and screen shots they did not have permission to be taking. Now once the storage hits capacity it is causing the iPad to freeze, and this appears to be irreversible at this point. We need parents and guardians to delete all photos and videos off the iPads immediately. Once you have don't this we need you to go into the "recently deleted" and delete what you just trashed in order to complete this process. Please remember, these are not personal devices, they are educational tools for school purposes. Therefore the only pictures and videos that should be on there should be for assignments given be the teacher, at this point there have been none for our class. Also, the district has repeatedly stated that the only pictures for background is what is offered through Zoom. When we are back in the classroom I will not want them with any Zoom backgrounds on at all. Thank you for your timely attention to this matter, if it is not completed your child's iPad may crash soon.
Snacks and Other Donations: We will be giving our kiddos morning snacks. They are little, they get hungry and need fuel to get them through the morning. For the remainder of this year I am asking that kiddos bring their own morning snacks from home. However, sometimes we have families who cannot provide this, or students who just forget. We have permission to allow families to donate snacks for the rest of the quarter but they must be individually wrapped (enough for 24). For example, this means no bulk containers of pretzels, instead they must be individual bags of pretzels so that each student can have their own individual bag. If you would like to donate individually wrapped snacks for 24 students we would appreciate it. We are also in need of Kleenex and hand sanitizer, any donations of those would also be appreciated!
Playground Toys and Other Items From Home: Someone asked if basketballs, soccer balls, and other playground toys would be allowed from home. The answer is no. We do not want the kids bringing and possibly sharing any items from home. This includes no stuffed animals, dolls, make-up, electronics, books, notepads, art supplies, etc. They cannot bring anything from home except their backpacks, lunches, and their folder for notes to go home. With this, there will not be show and tell so we do not have items from home in the classroom.
How Does Your Child Get Home: This will be our most important question on the first day of school. Will your child be pick-up, FACTS, or bus? Please note that the school does not provide bus route information. You must contact the district and let me know which route (not the bus number - the route number) your child is on. Here is a link to the transportation department. Please find this out before the first day of school, and let me or Mrs. Burton or Mrs. Griffis know immediately. Feel free to email me.
Drop Off: Straight from our Marshall Mitigation Plans:
Families will verify a child's health prior to dropping off students or placing them on the bus.
Arrival begins at 8:20am and ends at 8:35am. Staff will assist families beginning at 8:20am.
Students will be dropped off in the west parking lots and will and go outside to their grade level section of the playground.
Staff will pick up students from their designated section of the playground at 8:35am.
Students who arrive after 8:35am must check in through the front lobby.
A few things to clarify, parents your are our first line in keeping everyone healthy. If your child is feeling under the weather, has a cold, fever, etc... please keep them home. We will be really adamant about sending sick children to the nurse and she will be sending sick kids home. It will be easier if you keep them home then if you need to make a return trip to pick them up.
Second, parents are not allowed to come in for drop off or pick up. We will be serving breakfast for those that will be eating. They will go outside to the designated playground section for the week when they finish. When the bell rings this is where they will line up to meet Mrs. Burton or Mrs. Griffis accordingly. Our first week both Burton and Griffis will be outside in the mornings so our kiddos can look for them and know where to meet (Field One). I will let you know each week where outside they are to go the following week.
Dismissal: Again, straight from our Marshall Mitigation Plans:
All students will stay in their classroom during dismissal.
Buses will be dismissed as they arrive.
There will be adults monitoring in the following locations:
Front door, Hallways
Older walking students will be dismissed first in order to be ready to meet their younger family members.
FACTS students will stay in the classroom until all other students have been dismissed. They will then be walked to their designated room for snack before class begins. This may take place in a staggered way depending upon the hallway traffic.
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