Zoom Security and Grading Rubric

Hello 4C families!

I will post some of this information on google classroom but I wanted to send out this blog to go more in depth to parents.

Zoom Security

We will continue meeting twice a week for the remainder of the quarter. Our Monday meeting is focused community building, and our Thursday meeting is for math tutoring. 

I would like to let you know the security measures I have put in place to prevent unwanted visitors in our meetings. 

First, the Zoom links are not posted anywhere public, like this blog. The links will only be posted in our Google Classroom stream or sent out by email. 

Second, each meeting is password protected. Even if someone was able to hack into the meeting ID, they could not gain access without the password. It's worth noting that if you click on the direct link I send out, you will not need to enter the password. I have also enabled the waiting room so that I have to approve each meeting participant. Going forward, please be sure that your child's participant name is their first and last name. You can rename by opening the participant panel and right-clicking on your name. I will not admit any users with unfamiliar names, or names like i-Pad. Thank you for helping to keep our meetings safe!  I have also disabled screen-share, chat, and recording for our meetings. To protect everyone's privacy, please do not allow your child to record any of the meetings using another device.

Grading Rubric

By now, everyone should have seen the 4-point grading rubric sent out by Mr. Gillingham. We will be using these guidelines to assess student work. 

There seems to be a lot of questions and confusion about the pass/fail grading for this quarter. I'd like to try to clarify this if I can.

Your child will not earn a grade for this quarter, I will simply assign the a "pass" or a "fail" at the end of the quarter. It IS possible for your child to fail the 4th quarter, if they score lower than 50% overall. However, this does not mean that they will fail the grade. No student will be eligible for retention based on their quarter 4 grades. 

It is important that your child complete the work with their best efforts to make sure they are prepared for 5th grade. If your child has not completed much work since spring break, when we return to school in the fall, they will struggle in 5th grade. The work we are giving is to prepare your child, the best we can under these conditions, so that they will excel next year. 

You can see your child's grades in you go into to Classwork - View Your Work. You can filter by Assigned, Returned With Grade, Missing.

Please let me know if you have any questions! 

Thank you!

-Mrs. LaVell

rlavell@archwayarete.org

Moving to Google Classroom

Hello 4C Families,

The fourth grade team has decided to end weekly updates on the blog and will instead communicate important information through Google Classroom. Currently, all 4C students have accessed Google Classroom, so families should be able to keep up with important information there. I may use the blog from time to time so please do not unsubscribe, but it will not be for weekly updates.

Much of the work that has been submitted from weeks 1-4 has been graded and returned. You will be able to see this in google classroom and I sent out a blog post last week on how to view that.

We are still seeing a few students not mark an assignment as done and Mrs. Chilson and I have been commenting on those assignments and asking for students to go in and click "marked as done". In our last class zoom meeting I went over how to do this with students as well. If you are still having trouble with this please reach out. We have no ability to move assignments or to mark them as done for students. It is an important step so it does not continue to come up as missing. 

Also, if you complete the assignment through google forms it is saved in google forms but not marked as done in google classroom. Once it is marked as done we are able to grade and return. If a student completes the assignment in google forms and marks as done there is nothing else to do, no other work needs to be uploaded. The same questions are on both the .pdf or google doc as are on the google form, we just give them to you in both formats so you can choose how to complete.

Please reach out if you have any concerns or questions.

See you on Google Classroom!

-Mrs. LaVell
rlavell@archwayarete.org

-Mrs. Chilson
vchilson@archwayarete.org

Google Classroom Info

Hello 4C Families!

Sorry for the additional blog post but I think this may be helpful.

In the first week of google classroom we saw that many students had forgotten to "mark as done" so Mrs. Chilson and I assigned a grade and returned. That process has seemed to cause confusion and we will not be grading work unless it is marked as done (and submitted in google forms) or unless there is an actual attachment attached.  

This will not apply to an item that is a question (did you complete xtramath) or is an assignment in history or literature that is reading only and not a graded assignment. You will be able to see if an item is an assignment that is graded if it has a 5 part bar below it and a /4 notation. Once the assignment has been graded you will see a score out of 4 (4/4 or 3/4) in that space. An assignment will be marked 0/4 if there is no attachment for spalding or there is no google form submitted and/or attachment for other subjects.

I am going to include some photos below that Mr. Naak prepared that go over how to view student work in google classroom. I hope this helps.  

Students may still submit late work in google classroom and it should let us know that it has been submitted.If you see it on the list after several days, please let me and Mrs. Chilson know and we will look for it. 

Also, please let us know if you are having issues with uploading documents. As you can see from this process, a document really must be uploaded to the proper assignment location for this process to work properly. Just to reiterate, we are unable to move items or mark them as done for your students.

Today in our zoom meeting I will be going over the "mark as done" process for your students. Thank you for your patience and perseverance as we navigate this new process.

Please reach out to me and Mrs. Chilson if you have further questions. 

Quarter 4 Week 5 April 20 - 24

Hello 4C families!

Another week of remote learning is done and I'm hoping that you are all getting the hang of it and feeling more comfortable with google classroom.

There are a few things that I wanted to mention to you about google classroom.

Google Classroom may not work correctly if you are using a computer that is signed in to multiple google accounts. You may see a google form not load correctly because google is getting "confused" with multiple accounts. It is best to log out of all accounts and only be logged on to your student google classroom account.

Please make sure to look for the "mark as done" button when completing an assignment through google forms. This is an important step. You will find the "mark as done" button when you have clicked on "view assignment"  Above the "mark as done" box there is also a place for you  to click "attach" Please note that you must submit an attachment for all spalding assignments. This is a Great Hearts requirement. We have done our best to reduce the need to upload in other subjects. Other than spalding, all other assignments can be completed online through google forms and there is no need to upload.

As teachers in google classroom we have no ability to move student work or mark something as done if there is nothing attached or nothing submitted in google forms. The only option we have is to select "return to the student" and it will then come up as missing or not done by the student.

I know that uploading documents is time consuming and not an enjoyable task. I appreciate your efforts to submit assignments to the proper location so that they can be graded and given proper feedback and credit. Mrs. Chilson and I will do our best to try and remember if we have been told that an assignment is in an alternate location but we cannot always guarantee that that will be the case and you will run the risk of not getting credit for the assignment.

Thank you again for all of your support. Mrs. Chilson and I truly miss seeing our class everyday. We are trying to comment and give careful attention to all of the work that is being submitted and hope they are feeling that we are appreciating their efforts.

XtraMath:

These students advanced these operations in XtraMath. Great job!

Multiplication:
Zach

Subtration:
Will
Sully

Addition:
Alexa
Sophia

I have seen some discrepancy in the XtraMath reporting. Several students are showing up as not logging on when they are. Please use the XtraMath parent flyer that was sent with your student. If you need a parent flyer please let me know and I will email one to you. If you use a different login or a different account it will not be linked to the Arete account.

Lessons this week:

Math- Students will learn how to read and use a coordinate grid. In addition, they will learn about changes in quantities. Students should complete XtraMath each day at https://xtramath.org/.

History- Students will complete the unit on the U.S. Constitution. Students will then begin their study of America’s early presidents. Students will learn about George Washington this week.  Note: Tuesday’s history lesson is fairly long. Students should count any history reading toward their independent reading time. There is an optional activity on Friday. Students may fill in the missing words to the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution.

Grammar- Students will review prior content this week on sentence diagramming and classification.

Literature- Students will read independently or read along with audio of the assigned chapter of that day (https://librivox.org/the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-solo-version-2-by-l-frank-baum/). On Wednesday & Friday students will write a detailed summary of the chapter from the previous day (or days) noting important characters and events. Students should write a 5-7 sentence summary.

Science - there is no science this week.

If you have any questions please reach out.

-Mrs. LaVell
rlavell@archwayarete.org

-Mrs. Chilson
vchilson@archwayarete.org

Quarter 4, April 14-17, Remote Learning Week 4

Hello 4C Families,


I hope you enjoyed the R& R Weekend! All assignments and lessons for this week have been uploaded to Google Classroom. They are organized by day and there is an overview as there was last week. You are welcome to do them as they are laid out or you may work at your own pace. All assignments from this week are due on Monday, April 20th.


Lessons this week:

Math: Students will learn how to apply dividing with decimals to word problems. They will also spend time reviewing prior content.

Science: Students will continue their study of the circulatory system.

Grammar: Students will be introduced to new grammar content: relative pronouns and adverbs, correlative conjunctions, quotes, and irregular verbs.

Spalding: Students will learn three new words each day and practice ten phonograms.

Literature: Students will read and summarize two chapters this week from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

History: there is no history this week.

Please note: the paper packets from week one and week two are due. Please upload them to Google Classroom if you have not done so. If you are having difficulty please reach out to me or Mrs. Chilson.

We are pleased to say that all of 4C students have signed on to Google Classroom! We are still seeing several that are not completing any work. If you are having difficulty using Google Classroom please reach out. 

-Mrs. LaVell

rlavell@archwayarete.org

-Mrs. Chilson

vchilson@archwayarete.org

Quarter 4, April 6 - April 9, Remote Learning Week 3

Hello 4C Families,

You all should have received an email from Mr. Gillingham with your invitation to join google classroom.  We are expecting a learning curve for families and for teachers so content for this week has been paired down to allow for that.We will be using google classroom for the remainder of the year and I am looking forward to this new platform and all we can do with it. It won't be as good as being with you all in person in the classroom but it feels more connected to me than the paper packets we've had for the last two weeks.

I am including some info on google classroom before I discuss lessons for the week.

If you have questions about student login problems, you can go through the Help Desk:  https://theveeya.com/GreatHeartsFamilyHelp/

If you have question is about how to navigate Google Classroom, get assignments, and turn in assignments, you can go to “Google Classroom Family Walkthrough" on the Remote Learning 2.0 Resource Page:  https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/azresources/ 

The Google Classroom Family Walkthrough, which also has videos, is really good.   Here is a direct link to the Google Family Classroom Walkthrough: https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Google-Classroom-Family-Walk-Through-RL-2.0-AFR-4.1.2020.pdf

Please continue to work on XtraMath. If anyone needs login information please reach out and I will forward you the parent flyer. Many of you have been working hard since we have been away from school -- Great Job! 

The students below have completed the following operations in XtraMath:

Addition:
Bruin
Emily
Brady
Keira
Subtraction:
Zach
Any student that completes all four operations will be acknowledged on Arete's Facebook morning announcements and will get a prize from Mr. Gillingham when we are back at school!

Lessons This Week:

Math: Students will practice word problems and dividing with decimals. Students should also complete XtraMath each day. 

History: Students will read selected chapters about the early nation and the framing of the Constitution and answer questions. 

Science: There is no science this week. 

Writing: Students will answer writing a prompt from the history unit with a one-paragraph essay using proper grammar and spelling. 

Grammar: There is no grammar this week. 

Spalding: Students will copy the words once with syllable breaks, rules, and markings while watching the video. They will then copy the words two more times with syllable breaks only. Then students will also practice phonograms. 

Literature: Students will read chapter 5 this week- half a chapter each day. Students will also write a 5-7 sentence chapter summary, noting important events and characters.  

Free Reading: Students will read a book of their choice, independently for at least 20 minutes. 

We hope to see you all on the class zoom call on Monday! Thank you for persevering this week!

-Mrs. LaVell

rlavell@archwayarete.org

-Mrs. Chilson

vchilson@archwayarete.org

Upcoming Dates:

There is no school on April 10th or April 13th. This will be an R&R weekend. There will be no zoom meeting on April 13.

4C Zoom Meetings

Your student is invited to attend a weekly zoom math tutoring meeting.  This is completely optional and not required.  You student is always welcome to call or email with questions and they do not have to wait for the zoom meeting if they have questions.

Below the math tutoring zoom information is the information on the Monday weekly class zoom meeting. That meeting is also optional.


MATH TUTORING ZOOM - THURSDAYS

Time: Apr 2, 2020 01:30 PM Arizona
        Every week on Thu, until May 14, 2020, 7 occurrence(s)
        Apr 2, 2020 01:30 PM
        Apr 9, 2020 01:30 PM
        Apr 16, 2020 01:30 PM
        Apr 23, 2020 01:30 PM
        Apr 30, 2020 01:30 PM
        May 7, 2020 01:30 PM
        May 14, 2020 01:30 PM
 An email with this invite was sent to you

CLASS MEETING ZOOM - MONDAYS

Rachel LaVell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: 4C Class Meeting
Time: Apr 6, 2020 01:30 PM Arizona
        Every week on Mon, until May 11, 2020, 5 occurrence(s)
        Apr 6, 2020 01:30 PM 
        Apr 20, 2020 01:30 PM
        Apr 27, 2020 01:30 PM
        May 4, 2020 01:30 PM
        May 11, 2020 01:30 PM
 An email with this invite was sent to you.

-Mrs. LaVell

rlavell@archwayarete.org