Week of Feb. 16th

Hello parents,
It has taken us some time to get past our big projects and we finally did it.  Here's what's on the agenda next.

Writing
We are taking our writing to a new level.  Today I introduced the kids to a site called Kidblog.  They have written tons of stories or short pieces this year, but most of these have been for themselves or a handful of their classmates to read.  I do this so that the kids can begin feeling more comfortable with writing and not have the fear of it being judged all the time.  We have worked on their mechanics a lot and they have conferenced with me several times about their writing.  Now it's time to introduce them to a bigger audience.  Kidblog allows me to set up a class under my name and put privacy settings on it to help your kiddos safe.  However, it does make their writing more public to the class, their teachers, their families, and others who know about kidblog.  I will be asking for some of you to join our class blog to help comment and give feedback regularly to the kids so that they have a genuine audience that they are writing for.  This helps motivate them to write and give a reason for them to pay attention to details like periods, word choice, and spelling.  For now all you need to know is the log in information for when this type of writing is assigned.

How to Get to Kidblog
1. www.kidblog.org/MrsGlackinsClass/
2. Click "Login" in top right corner
3. Select your username and type in the password "cclsccls"
4. Click on New Post if you are starting a new assignment.  Once you are here, it is very easy to navigate as it acts similar to Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
5. You must click on "Save Draft" if you plan on coming back to finish later.
6. If you are finished with your post, click "Publish".

If you want to return to a post that you saved as a draft, you must go to your Dashboard to find it.

Social Studies
We will be reading the book The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom.  This is the story that inspired our art project for the week which all of you are so kindly cutting fabric for.

Wednesdays
I am going to be very diligent about not sending home lots of homework on Wednesdays.  They may have a little bit of math if they do not finish in class, but otherwise I would just ask that they work on their times tables, memory, or spelling in the car or during a few free moments.  This will hopefully give your families time to worship this Lenten season.