3-4 choice board
This is an optional advocacy activity for this week: 3/8-3/12 focusing on our theme of the month: Environmental Awareness
Mrs. Maslen's Advocacy
Posts
Advocacy March Update
Advocacy Focus for March
Our Advocacy focus for March is “Going Green, a look at Environmental Issues and their Solutions”. All classes will be working and learning about environmental topics and how we can make a positive impact.
Spring Conference Sign Up
Conferences are coming up on March 18th & 19th. On the 18th, conferences will be from 8:00am - 8:00pm. On Friday the 19th, conferences will be held from 8:00am - 12:00pm. We will be posting the sign-up link on Friday, March 5th, so please look for that in your e-mail or the advocacy pages. The 20-minute slots are first come, first serve.
DEAR
March is National Reading Month!
The Westgate Events & Fundraising Committee is hosting the 3rd annual Drop.Everything.And.Read (DEAR) fundraiser during this time.This is a great time to celebrate reading, encourage students to be readers and give to your community!
Please consider reading a diverse selection of books. Students need books that provide both windows and mirrors if we are going to create more readers, writers, and people who feel included and recognized, and who understand that the world is far richer than just their experiences alone. The National Education Association recommends these books and authors to get you started. Reading is Fundamental offers this Diverse Book Finder link.
Donations can be made to Westgate by...
Check
Make payable to 'Westgate Community School'
12500 Washington Street
Thornton, CO 80241
ATTN: Teri Garrick
*NOTE: Please add D.E.A.R in the memo for donations.
Every bit helps. Donations from $5 - $25 are gladly accepted.
You can also donate here:
https://www.westgateschool.biz/Westgate-Events-25-admin-fee-events.htm
All donations will be used for needs such as:
- Finishing our playground
- Finishing the environmental educational campus
- Purchase of new technology equipment
- Additional teacher training
Contact Events Fundraising if you have any questions/comments.
Snack
Each class will have snack at some point in the morning. Please do not send your child to school with candy or treats as a snack. The snack should be (somewhat) healthy. Cookies, brownies, & similar items are considered treats. A good snack to bring would be fruit/vegetables, cheese, jerky, etc...
Upcoming Dates:
March 18th & 19th: Conferences
March 20th - 30th: Spring Break
March 31st: Beginning of 4th Quarter
No School Monday or Tuesday
No school on Monday 2/15 or Tuesday 2/16
February Advocacy Update
Welcome Back!
We are very excited to have kids back in the building on Monday!
Reminders:
-
Make sure your child comes with a cold lunch and water bottle. There will not be access to a microwave, and the water fountains are blocked off. However, your child can still fill up their water bottle throughout the day.
-
Please make sure your child brings back any hard copies & packets that were picked up earlier this quarter. We will be using those in class. Your child is also welcome to bring any school supplies such as notebooks, pencils, markers, etc...
-
Make sure your child has a jacket! We will be having outdoor recess whenever weather permits!
If your child is staying online, please make sure you have accessed the daily schedule along with the times for Zoom. There will likely be a lot of technical issues to work through this week, so I appreciate your patience as we work through this new way of doing synchronous online learning. Please reach out to me if there are any issues and I will do my best to get them resolved as soon as possible. All live lessons will also be posted as a recording in Teams if your child is unable to attend synchronously.
Office Hours
Now that we are back in-person, Office Hours will be moved back to Fridays. My Office Hours will be on Fridays from 2:30 - 3:30pm by accessing our normal Zoom link.
Advocacy Focus for February
Our Advocacy focus for February is Growth Mindset & Grit. Our class will be working on helping students learn to reframe failure and have perseverance and tenacity in their academic and personal lives. Identifying and replacing the negative self-talk that so many of us are accustomed to with positive self-talk will also be part of this unit.
Kindness Week
At Westgate, we believe in promoting kindness every single day. During the week of Valentine's Day, however, we traditionally focus on celebrating and prioritizing acts of kindness as a way to show our love, admiration and appreciation for one another and for our community. Just because we are navigating COVID this year does not mean we cannot continue to celebrate and promote kindness, it might just look a little different!
This year we are challenging our community to perform at least 200 acts of kindness as a school. We invite you to document and share your acts of kindness with us! Each day has a kindness type/ style and a challenge that goes with it. You can follow the suggestions for each day and document the kind act. Please share by using the hashtag #ShareYourKindness to tag your act of kindness on social media (social media tips are below), or you can send a picture or video directly to communications@westgateschool.org. The week will culminate in a reimagined Kindness Day where we will collect cards and letters of appreciation and then Admin will deliver via contactless delivery to local first responders, essential workers, and seniors at Bonaventure.
2/8 Monday - Words of Affirmation, Encouragement and Love
-
Write a letter, send a text, or make a phone call to someone you appreciate
-
Send messages (letter, texts, etc.) to five people with whom you’d like to send words of affirmation
2/9 Tuesday - Acts of Service
-
Do something kind (like a conscious act of kindness) for someone today
-
Share a compliment, smile (even behind your mask, your eyes will smile too!) at somebody, help clean up, etc.!
2/10 Wednesday - Quality Time
-
Enjoy intentional quality time with someone in your bubble
-
Play a board game, make dinner together and eat around a table, read a book, take a walk, etc.!
2/11 Thursday – A Day of Giving
-
Share a gift with someone (you don’t need money to give a gift!)
-
Cook a meal, bake a treat, make a craft or just give something from your heart to someone else!
2/12 Friday - Kindness Day Reimagined
-
Throughout the week, we will collect letters for essential workers and first responders. Admin will complete a contactless delivery on this day!
-
Free Kindness Day! How many acts of kindness can you give today?
Social Media Tips - Post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to share your acts of kindness
Our Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/westgatecs
Tag Westgate’s Twitter: @westgatewild
Tag Sharon Collins, Executive Director: @EdSharonCollins
Westgate’s Instagram is: @WestgateWild
Use #ShareYourKindness when posting on all platforms!
Upcoming Dates
Week of February 11th - Kindness Week
February 15th - Presidents’ Day - No School
February 16th - Teacher Work Day - No School
Week of 1/25/2021
Dear Parents,
Attached to your email, you will find the to-do list for this week as long as a few math pages in PDF form. These math pages were not sent home in the math packet. They will be on Class Notebook but you can elect to print them and have your child complete it on paper as well. (Please do not show your child the post-test until Tuesday). They will need to complete the post-test on their own without mathematical help.
This week, most students will be joining a group of 6 students or less for one day of in-person instruction so that we can give each student the PALS test. If you don't remember the day you are scheduled for, please check the following sign up link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F44ADA923A2F58-inperson Students in-person will have work time outside of the scheduled Zoom meetings; please see the Zoom schedule below.
When your child comes for their in-person instruction day this week, they will be allowed into the building at 7:45 a.m. Advocacy will start at 8:30. Classes will continue as they have been in distance learning with a few exceptions: 1. the advocacy teacher may not be as available to answer emails or chat questions. 2. There will be no small group meetings this week (not all students are in small groups). 3. Teachers will not be available via Zoom for the extra 15 minutes after Zoom class time for this week.
| Mon. 12/25 | Tue 12/26 | Wed. 12/27 | Thurs. 12/28 | |
| 8:30-9:00 | Advocacy | Advocacy | Advocacy | Advocacy |
| 9:30-10:00 | Language Arts | Social Studies | Language Arts | Social Studies |
| 11:00-11:30 | Math | Science | Math | Science |
| 1:45-2:15 | Art | Art |
Your child needs to bring the following items for their in-person day:
- All learning materials for the day including school supplies (such as pencils, colors, etc.)
- A water bottle (drinking fountains are still closed)
- 2 masks
- A cold lunch (there are no hot lunches this week and we do not have a microwave in the classroom).
- A book or silent time materials (coloring book, reading book, dot-to-dot, etc.)
Finally, please remember to respect our community and classroom by following the guidelines the school has set to keep us safe and healthy. If anyone in the household has symptoms or is ill, please do not bring your child in!
In order to limit the number and frequencies of quarantines, we are asking all families to:
- Conduct a Home Symptom Check Every Day
- Stay home if not feeling well; students may use synchronous learning option
- If your child is exposed, keep your child and their siblings home to monitor for symptoms and contact Mrs. Hopson (school nurse)
- If you have been exposed, please keep your student(s) home to monitor for your own symptoms. (10 days from exposure or negative test after 5 days from exposure)
- Use Attendance Notification Form to let us know of any change in way child is attending school
- Use COVID Symptomatic Report Form to let us know of COVID exposure or symptoms
January Advocacy Update
Schedules
The schedule for January 6th, 7th, and 8th are as follows:
|
Wednesday, January 6 |
Thursday, January 7 |
Friday, January 8 |
|
8:30-9:00 - Advocacy |
8:30-9:00 - Advocacy |
|
|
9:30-10:30 – MAP Reading (1 hour) |
9:30-10:30 – MAP Math (1 hour) |
9:30-10:00 – Science Pre-assessment |
|
11:00-11:30 – Language Arts Pre-Assessment |
11:00-11:30 – Social Studies Pre-Assessment |
11:00-12:00 – MAP Completion and Make-up (up to 1 hour) |
|
1:45-2:15 – 3-4 Specials |
|
All of our normal Zooms (other than Specials) will be the same link as normal!
|
Zoom Links for Classes |
|
|
Mrs. Maslen's Class |
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78023268323?pwd=QXkyaE5Heit3dFdDTktsTHcvVTFjQT09 |
|
Mrs. Cox's Art Class |
https://zoom.us/j/91581530519?pwd=ek9kSzdzMkhJdytMbnpSUXhxUEVPQT09 |
Passcode: See e-mail for password
Our schedule after this week is the same schedule that we had in semester 1:
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
|
|
8:30-9:00am |
Advocacy |
Advocacy |
Advocacy |
Advocacy |
|
9:30-10:00am |
Literacy |
Social Studies |
Literacy |
Social Studies |
|
11:00-11:30am |
Math |
Science |
Math |
Science |
|
1:45-2:15pm |
Specials 3-4 |
|
Specials 3-4 |
|
Specials
Our class will have Art as a specials class this quarter! See the link in the distance learning schedule below. The Zoom link for art is: https://zoom.us/j/91581530519?pwd=ek9kSzdzMkhJdytMbnpSUXhxUEVPQT09
The password will be emailed separately.
Supply Pick-Up
Supply Pick-Up will be on January 8 from 1:00 - 4:00 PM (South side of the school – near Lobby).
Important Dates
January 5 – Complete the technology readiness check for MAP assessment. Email me with troubleshooting questions.
- January 6, 7, 8 – Pre-Assessment and NWEA MAP assessment days.
Note: January 8th is a Friday and all three days require synchronous attendance. See the assessment schedule and Zoom links below. This assessment is crucial to planning for your student’s academic needs
- January 8 - Supply Pickup
- January 11 - Regular Distance Learning classes begin on Zoom. See the distance learning schedule.
- January 18 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - No School
- Week of January 25th - PALS Testing -
- Mrs. Maslen's class will be in-person PALS testing on January 25
- Mrs. Greder's class will be in-person PALS testing on January 26.
- If your child can't make the assigned date, please contact your advocacy teacher to arrange a make-up session.
Theme of the Month
Our Advocacy focus for January is Self-Compassion & Regulation. The learning goal for January is: Students will learn the basic tenets or self-compassion (Self-kindness vs. Self-judgment, Common Humanity vs. Isolation, Mindfulness vs. Overidentification). Students will examine their own places for growth, and they will work toward changing negative self-talk into positive mantras. Self-regulation will include topics such as coping skills, identifying and managing emotions, goal setting, & self-care.
December Advocacy Post
Advocacy Themes of the Month
Our new focus for December are Optimism & Gratitude! We will focus on ways to think more positively, as well as ways in which we can show who and what we are grateful for.
Conferences
Winter Parent Teacher Conferences will take place from 8:00am - 8:00pm on Thursday, December 17th and from 8:00am - 12:00pm on Friday, December 18th. The link to the sign up will be emailed to all parents on Monday, December 7th and will also be available on every teacher’s Advocacy pages. Please sign up for a time to meet with your child’s teacher!
Important Dates
Last day of school for kids - December 16th
Conferences - December 17th & 18th
Return to Distance Learning - January 6th
MAP Testing - January 6th - 8th(please check your email in January for more details)
Supply Pick-Up - January 8th (please check your email in January for more details)
Week of 11/30
Last chance supply pick-up is today!
- Monday, November 30, from 4 to 6 PM.
- Parents will need to park and come up to the front doors to receive their child’s supplies.
All missing assignments due by 12/9!!!
December Advocacy Theme: Gratitude
Week of November 16th
Math and MobyMax
Email from Director Collins: You will notice that K-8 teachers will be including 10 minutes of math practice each day as an assignment for every student beginning next week. We believe this daily practice is important for growth and retention of math concepts school-wide. Just as we ask for students to read each day, we are now adding daily math practice to our expectations. This assignment will not replace any standards-based instruction during math class but will be a supplement to support on-going growth.
In order to meet Director Collins expectations, as a 3rd grade team, we will be requiring a minimum of 10 minutes per day spent on MOBYMAX.com.
Your student should have their individual login for MobyMax.com and If not, they can send an email to their advocate for it. As a parent, you can login as well using their information to track their progress and see any updates.
Supplies Pick-Up
Supplies can be picked up on Friday, November 20th, from 9:00am – 12:00pm. These supplies include math packets, science newspapers and social studies newspapers that we will use for the rest of the quarter.
Thanksgiving Break
There will be no school during the week of Thanksgiving!
November 23rd - 27th - No School
Advocacy Theme
We will be taking time to review MobyMax on Monday and will continue to investigate the theme of community through the rest of the week.
Week of 11/9 - 11/13
Reminder- No school on Wednesday!!!
Distance Learning Schedule
As a reminder, here is our distance learning schedule moving forward. We have changed the time to include 15 minutes of help time at the end of each class. Mrs. Maslen will be on Zoom until the end time, even if all students are excused. Students are encouraged to jump back onto Zoom if they find they have questions or need assistance.
Monday/Wednesday
8:30 - 9:00 - Advocacy
9:30 - 10:15 - Language Arts
11:00 - 11:45 - Math
1:45 - 2:15 – Specials
3:00-4:00 (Mondays Only)- Mrs. Maslen's Office Hours (Help Time!)
Tuesday/Thursday
8:30 - 9:00 - Advocacy
9:30 - 10:15 - Social Studies
11:00 - 11:45 – Science
3:00-4:00 (Thursdays Only)- Mrs. Maslen's Office Hours (Help Time!)
Advocacy Theme for November – Community
The Advocacy theme for November is Community. Now more than ever, we need community. We will spend our time discussing the different communities we belong to, learning about other communities, and having fun together to create a welcoming community amongst ourselves.
Enrichment Opportunities for 4th graders!
Spanish Introduction will be held on Mondays from 4-5. Students will learn Spanish vocabulary and have a chance to practice it in conversations. Email Jason.brinkley@westgateschool.org for the Zoom information.
Mrs. Maslen is hosting Online Game Time for a few more Mondays this quarter from 4:15-4:45. Students will get to connect with their peers by playing games through the Jackbox.tv platform. Please email lora.maslen@westgateschool.org for the specific dates and the Zoom information.
Ms. Ross is hosting Acrylic Painting Club on Wednesdays from 4-5pm. Students will learn basic acrylic painting techniques. Email jasmine.ross@westgateschool.org for the Zoom information.
Enrichment Opportunities for 3rd graders!
Spanish Introduction will be held on Mondays from 4-5. Students will learn Spanish vocabulary and have a chance to practice it in conversations. Email Jason.brinkley@westgateschool.org for the Zoom information.
Mrs. Maslen is hosting Online Game Time for a few more Mondays this quarter from 4:15-4:45. Students will get to connect with their peers by playing games through the Jackbox.tv platform. Please email lora.maslen@westgateschool.org for the specific dates and the Zoom information.
Students can learn some basic painting techniques with Ms. Ross during Acrylic Painting club. This will be held on Tuesdays from 4-5pm. Email jasmine.ross@westgateschool.org for the Zoom information.
Social Zooms!
Now that we are going back into distance learning the need for connection and community is of great importance. Katie Goforth and Julie Ruhl will be hosting grade level Social Zooms for all students throughout the day every Friday. Social Zooms are intended to be an unstructured space for kids to connect. Ms. Katie and Mrs. Ruhl are hosting the Zoom, but the purpose of the Social Zoom is to allow students to connect organically. They will ensure the Zoom remains school appropriate, safe and comfortable for all students!
- There is a social zoom in the morning and one in the afternoon to accommodate different family needs.
- In Third Grade, the Social Zooms will be from 10:30-11:00am and 2:15-2:45pm
- Here is the AM [10:30 am] Link: https://zoom.us/j/98629368262?pwd=Ym5VNTh2bG5ZMXZuU2E3c2pORU10Zz09
- Here is the PM [2:15pm] Link: https://zoom.us/j/96680911182?pwd=dzFuSHJpUHg0WUJCYTRFOG96WVNHUT09
- Passwords for each meeting will be posted in your student’s Teams.
- Social Zooms are completely optional! You can join none, one, or both!
- Ms. Katie and Mrs. Ruhl will be monitoring the Zoom to maintain school expectations. If there are concerns during the Zoom, they will provide warnings and redirect behavior, but if the behavior continues, the student may be removed from the Zoom.
- If you have any questions, please email chandra.valenza@westgateschool.org - we hope to see your student Friday!