Lower/Middle School Weekly Newsletter Archives - Page 2 of 2

Dear Craig School Families,

Welcome to Week Two of online instruction. Week One was such a success due wholly to the partnership and enthusiasm of the families and staff. After a few connectivity glitches we were all well on our way to successful learning. I have been popping into Google classrooms and watching all of your responses to lessons and I couldn’t be more proud. Thank you all for making the best of a very unusual and difficult situation.

As we embrace Week Two of online learning. I would like to add some relaxation and down time to our academic week. We will continue with the four days of academic instruction only this week and the weeks to follow academic classes will run from Monday through Thursday. On Friday we will schedule mindfulness classes and structured art lessons. I realize Mrs. Cap emailed an enjoyable art lesson last week, but very few of you participated. Let’s put Fridays aside for reflection, regulation and a little less screen time.

Last week Mr. Snowdon emailed some ideas for PE activities. I’m sure most of you are taking the time to enjoy our spring weather, getting out and breathing fresh air. For those of you who are spending too much time inside we are going to institute a simple chart to log minutes of daily physical activity. Can we all commit to thirty minutes a day? We will continue to send ideas for physical activities, but we are open to anything you want to log. Challenge yourselves and step away from the screen. We are sending an attachment for your physical activity diary. Please fill it out daily. You can mail it back to The Craig School weekly or submit it to Mr. Snowdon when we return to Craig.

Mrs. Cap and Mrs. O’Connor will be emailing you the specifics for Friday lessons but in the meantime academics as planned for today through Thursday and reflection and unbridled creativity for Friday. Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Janet M. Cozine

Dear Craig Parents,
As all of you are well aware the New Jersey Department of Health has issued the following statement. “In the event a board of education is provided a written directive by either the NJDOH or the health officer of the jurisdiction to institute a public health related closure, the board of education may utilize home instruction to provide instructional services to enrolled students”. Our obligation is to ensure we are preparing and planning for any emergency that could create an impact on our Craig campus. We have been exploring alternative instructional delivery methods. As mentioned in Mr. Jacks’ letter we have ready a plan for the delivery of 14 days of content. This includes packets and remote instruction for every grade. The packets and coversheets will be hand delivered today. If there are additional packets they will be mailed to you next week. Texts will be sent home where appropriate. Each teacher will be providing their own packet and offering the students an explanation of the content. All explanations for the work samples can also be found on the students’ Google Classroom. Each teacher will be addressing curriculum individually.

Our remote learning will follow your students current time schedule. We expect our students to be prepared for school days running as usual from 8:30 to 3:05. Clearly nothing can replace face to face instruction but each teacher will be available via Google Classroom to pose questions, answer questions and carry students through their specific content. For example, if your student has reading from 8:30 to 9:55 that teacher will be available remotely to guide the students class assignment. Student schedules will remain intact for all of the five content area subjects, Reading, Math, LA, Science and Social Studies. If you have issue with the internet, technology or your student’s personal schedule please contact us as soon as possible. Students will be expected to submit completed work through Google Classroom. The packets with hard copies can be submitted on the students return to school.

Our Clinicians will also be available for emails and / or phone calls during the school day. Best practice would be to email times that you could receive a phone call from the clinician.

Please be patient with the process since this is all new to us. Each teacher may make adjustments along the way to best serve the needs of their students. We want to emphasize that these are school days and our students will not get credit for their days if they do not participate in Craig’s remote learning program. Our goal is to support our students’ well-being and academic progress when the conditions for teaching and learning are less than ideal. If there are any questions and /or concerns do not hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Janet M. Cozine

From Brielle Miller

Venn Diagrams

These proud faces are displaying their Venn Diagrams! In LA, the 3rd grade boys are learning about Comparing & Contrasting people, places, and things in addition to the different ways of organizing our ideas. We began by using a Project Read Written Expression Planning Sheet. Then, children had the option to create a Venn Diagram or a 3 column chart! (It’s important to expose children to multiple ways of brainstorming and planning!) Next up, Mindomo Maps!

From Celeste Caparulo

Google Slide Art Portfolios

During our time of online learning, students have been zooming with me, Mrs. Cap, and drawing, creating various types of sculpture and paper collage. Students were asked to photo their art works, send me a copy and put it in their google classroom.

But now, with the help of Mrs. Guthrie, students have their very own Google Slide Art Portfolio!

All their art works can be inserted into individual slides, along with the title of the art piece. As a matter of fact, students, on their own, have been creating all sorts of art, and these pieces can be also added. It is a great place to keep everything!

Projects

Follow My Lead Drawing

2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th graders drew colorful parrots by ‘following my lead.’ I used my document camera, connected to my computer, so students could watch me draw a parrot, step by step. We talked about the parrots’ beak and how the shape of the birds’ beak was shaped, for the type of food, the bird ate. We discussed the beautiful wings and how they fan out when the parrot flies. Students decided on the colors used, for their birds. Below, are a few examples! Mrs. Cap

Cubism; Drawing Picasso’s Dog

Grades 5-8 draw a dog in the style of Pablo Picasso using the concepts of Cubism.

We discussed cubism, the form of drawing and painting that shows all sides of a subject, on a flat surface. Looking at Picasso’s Lady in a Blue Hat, we saw how he painted her nose going in one direction, her mouth skewed and her eyes, and ears, placed in totally different directions!

Step by step, students drew an eye on their paper, then turned the paper 90 degrees and drew a snout, and, turned the paper 90 degrees each time, after drawing paws, ears, another eye, a tongue and a tail.

Students outlined their drawings and colored their Picasso Dogs with colored pencils or markers.