Parent Letter
May 19, 2022
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Welcome to 5th Grade and Room 204! My name is Ms. Reynolds and I will be your child’s 5th grade homeroom and/or math teacher for the 2022 -2023 school year and Mrs. Yassky will be the 5th grade teacher and she will be your child’s homeroom and/or Reading teacher. As your students make the transition from 4th grade to 5th grade, we will work together to have a great school year. It is my job as a teacher, and yours as a parent/guardian, to make sure our students acquire all of the skills necessary to truly succeed.
I would like to share a little about myself with you. I graduated from Chicago State University with a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education with endorsements in middle school Mathematics, Language Arts and Social Studies. I also have a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and spent 4 years as a teacher leader with Network 9 Teacher Leaders in mathematics. I received my Certificate of Competition for STEM Certification and will use this knowledge to fuse math and science for my students. I also coached the Robotics Club. I am a very handy and helpful person. I love to draw, read and complete Sudoku puzzles during free time. I enjoy spending time with family and friends or traveling when I’m not teaching.
Here are a few non-negotiable summer items for students entering the 5th grade at Shoesmith Elementary.
1. Your child has work over the summer. Students are not done learning just because school is out!!! Research shows that students who don’t engage in academics over the summer lose 20% of what they have learned and with the pandemic, students will need to continue to learn over the summer. Each student has reading and math activities to complete over the summer. I think the best way to make sure that you child continues to learn during the summer, is to allow them to have fun, then work on math for 30 minutes and reading for 30 minutes each day and work on the summer math assignments in Nearpod. They should also work on Mobymax in order to fill in the gaps in their learning.
2. The math activities on Nearpod are challenging and your child may need some help, but please make sure your child tries to complete Nearpod lessons and use loose leaf paper to work out the problems. It’s okay if they struggle, I need to get a picture of what they know well and what they still need to learn. So please spend at least 30 min on Moby Max and a summer math lesson everyday.
3. Every returning Shoesmith student has a Mobymax account; they should be working on the program during the summer. Moby Max is an adaptive program and will allow your child to continue learning at their skill level. Student’s success requires 30 minutes a day of Moby Max. This will help your child with skills that they are still struggling with as well as help them to understand concepts that they are just learning.
4. Please have your child complete fact fluency on Mobymax each day.
Each of the items listed above are important to your child’s academic success. When we work together, everyone wins.
All students are required to pay a student fee at the beginning of the year. This fee is used to help provide each student with books and other material needed for them to be successful. If this fee isn’t paid, students will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities. This includes trips or any sports programs.
The supplies on the student supply list are divided into two categories, personal and classroom. All students must bring school supplies into the classroom personal supplies will be stored in a bin for individual students to access and classroom supplies will be stored in the class for community use. All of these supplies will need to be replenished in January. Items like spiral notebooks for math, Kleenex and hand sanitizer tends to run out during cold and flu season. (See attached Supply List.)
I thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation. In closing, I look forward to working with you and your child in the 2022-2023 school year.
Sincerely,
Ms. Reynolds
[email protected]
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Welcome to 5th Grade and Room 204! My name is Ms. Reynolds and I will be your child’s 5th grade homeroom and/or math teacher for the 2022 -2023 school year and Mrs. Yassky will be the 5th grade teacher and she will be your child’s homeroom and/or Reading teacher. As your students make the transition from 4th grade to 5th grade, we will work together to have a great school year. It is my job as a teacher, and yours as a parent/guardian, to make sure our students acquire all of the skills necessary to truly succeed.
I would like to share a little about myself with you. I graduated from Chicago State University with a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education with endorsements in middle school Mathematics, Language Arts and Social Studies. I also have a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and spent 4 years as a teacher leader with Network 9 Teacher Leaders in mathematics. I received my Certificate of Competition for STEM Certification and will use this knowledge to fuse math and science for my students. I also coached the Robotics Club. I am a very handy and helpful person. I love to draw, read and complete Sudoku puzzles during free time. I enjoy spending time with family and friends or traveling when I’m not teaching.
Here are a few non-negotiable summer items for students entering the 5th grade at Shoesmith Elementary.
1. Your child has work over the summer. Students are not done learning just because school is out!!! Research shows that students who don’t engage in academics over the summer lose 20% of what they have learned and with the pandemic, students will need to continue to learn over the summer. Each student has reading and math activities to complete over the summer. I think the best way to make sure that you child continues to learn during the summer, is to allow them to have fun, then work on math for 30 minutes and reading for 30 minutes each day and work on the summer math assignments in Nearpod. They should also work on Mobymax in order to fill in the gaps in their learning.
2. The math activities on Nearpod are challenging and your child may need some help, but please make sure your child tries to complete Nearpod lessons and use loose leaf paper to work out the problems. It’s okay if they struggle, I need to get a picture of what they know well and what they still need to learn. So please spend at least 30 min on Moby Max and a summer math lesson everyday.
3. Every returning Shoesmith student has a Mobymax account; they should be working on the program during the summer. Moby Max is an adaptive program and will allow your child to continue learning at their skill level. Student’s success requires 30 minutes a day of Moby Max. This will help your child with skills that they are still struggling with as well as help them to understand concepts that they are just learning.
4. Please have your child complete fact fluency on Mobymax each day.
Each of the items listed above are important to your child’s academic success. When we work together, everyone wins.
All students are required to pay a student fee at the beginning of the year. This fee is used to help provide each student with books and other material needed for them to be successful. If this fee isn’t paid, students will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities. This includes trips or any sports programs.
The supplies on the student supply list are divided into two categories, personal and classroom. All students must bring school supplies into the classroom personal supplies will be stored in a bin for individual students to access and classroom supplies will be stored in the class for community use. All of these supplies will need to be replenished in January. Items like spiral notebooks for math, Kleenex and hand sanitizer tends to run out during cold and flu season. (See attached Supply List.)
I thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation. In closing, I look forward to working with you and your child in the 2022-2023 school year.
Sincerely,
Ms. Reynolds
[email protected]