April 12, 2020
Dear Rowe Families,
It was certainly distressing to hear that we will not be returning to school this year. While it wasn’t a total surprise, I think most of us were holding out hope for better news. Due to the unpredictable nature of the spread of this virus, it is impossible for us to offer much information about rescheduling canceled events or providing closure for the students. Please know that we will remain in touch and will keep you updated as things evolve.
I couldn’t be more proud of our staff. Everyone has worked tirelessly to do all that they can to maintain as much connection and normalcy as possible for the students. We thank you all so much for your on-going support and your positive feedback. We are very pleased with what the children have been doing on SeeSaw. We also recognize that some families are doing more offline learning. We support you and know that it won’t look the same for all children. This is emergency distance learning and can't replace the daily teaching and learning that occurs in school. Our mission is to do what we can to keep everyone engaged in learning to the best of our ability.
DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING DAYS/APRIL VACATION LEARNING
As our "emergency remote learning" continues to evolve we are adding what we feel will be an enhancement to the learning experience for students. As you are aware, a big part of our philosophy on motivation and student learning involves choice and ownership. This Friday we will have a "Differentiated Learning Day" that will provide students with the choice to pick from several different learning activities. We recognize that students are spending a lot of time on screens so the vast majority of these options are non-screen activities. The work is designed for students to still spend the same amount of time on learning as they have typically been doing. Part of this time should also be used to catch up on work students may have missed over the course of the week. More specific details to come on Seesaw on Friday!
Also, teachers will provide one day of instructional activities for students through Seesaw to be completed over the April break. These asynchronous assignments can be done all at once or spread out over the week, whatever works best for your family. This allows us to finish up the school year on Friday, June 12.
Message from YCS
We know that some families have already turned in their submissions for the Arbor Day t-shirt contest. If families are looking for a project to do with their little ones, we could still use some more submissions!
I have attached the form that families should have their kindergarten /1st-grade students fill out and then email it back to us at lmadden@yarmouth.me.us or drop it in our 24-hour drop box outside the Yarmouth Community Services door. The deadline has been extended to Friday, April 17th
Best,
Go Noodle movement and calming breaks
Teachers often use this site called Go Noodle for movement breaks, mindfulness, and yoga throughout the day in the classroom. I am providing you with some information from them that you can use at home as parents if you find your children need some fun breaks, especially on those inclement weather days! They include some off-screen activities you can do at home. Please read on for more information:
We have heard from many of our amazing teachers asking for help in sharing GoNoodle with students at home while many schools are closed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
We absolutely support this mission.
We have pulled together resources for families to channel GoNoodle Good Energy at home - you can find all of these here.
Take care out there,
Team GoNoodle
MATH NEWS FROM MRS. CLARK- OPTIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
Greetings Rowe Parents,
I hope this email finds you well and in the comfort of your home. I'm sending a short note to let you know, that like my colleagues, I deeply miss our Rowe students and the hustle and bustle of school life. I have been checking in on Seesaw and I am witnessing incredible math reasoning among students as they complete the rich math exercises that were created by teachers. Students, parents, and educators are certainly making lemonade out of this difficult situation and your efforts are much appreciated.
To that end, I wanted to provide a resource that I will be adding to periodically. Consider this a Virtual Discovery Math opportunity. Every so often, I will be sending out an optional website or game that your child is invited to explore. Note that, like Discovery Math, this is entirely optional. These opportunities will accrue with the latest one being in color to distinguish it from the others:
Freerice.com This is a favorite site of mine as it offers so much more than math topics and it is based upon altruism. Developed by the United Nations World Food Programme, this site invites students to answer multiple-choice questions, and with each correct answer, ten grains of rice are donated throughout the world.
Per yesterday's tally: Global Stats
Grains of rice donated yesterday: 6,880,480
Over 202 billion lifetime grains.
This site was my son's favorite pastime as he learned the names and locations of all countries by spending endless hours on this site, thereby feeding countless people in said countries. I hope your child finds the concept motivating as well. Every grain of rice makes a difference! Kindergarten students may not solve many problems and they may need to use counters to add but every grain is a contribution.
Sincerely,
Susan Lobel, Principal
