Class Newsletter Archives

Weekly Newsletter, June 5, 2020

Dear 2A Families,

It has been quite a week and I hope you are all well. The students continue to work very hard and show care for others. We are in the home stretch of the school year with our last week coming up! Assignments will be lighter toward the end of the week with some activities for families to do together. There won’t be much to “turn in” necessarily, but I would still like to see a photo or page that shows participation. Also, as we prepare for the summer, Ms. Borseth and I are thinking about ways to provide some suggestions for extension/enrichment projects for students. We will send this out as soon as it is ready!

Important Tidbits for this week:

End of year Zoom meeting:

We will have a final Zoom meeting on Wednesday, June 10^th at 11:30 AM.

*If you have pictures of your student or our class from the year, please send them to me no later than Monday, June 8^th by 3:00 PM.

End of Year Check-Ins:

There will be two check-ins for families to return library books, pick up report cards, and receive a special end of the year gift from me! 😊

We hope you can make it to one of the “drive-by” times below:

Wednesday, June 10^th 9:00 – 11:00 AM

Thursday, June 11^th 1:00 – 3:00 PM

Grades K-3 will be located in the SMM upper parking lot.

Goodbye for Mr. Ramseyer:

*This will be in the Monday Checklist*

Let us show our appreciation to Mr. Ramseyer as we near the end of our school year. We want to wish him luck in his new adventures in life and thank him for everything he has done for our school in two short years. Please take time to write a thank you note, make a short video or design a card. Other possible suggestions: take a picture with a sign that says thank you/we will miss you or draw a picture for Mr. Ramseyer. Use your imagination and creativity to show that his time at our school was memorable! Please submit your positive notes in the assignment titled “Goodbye Mr. Ramseyer” in Mrs. Framel’s google classroom. Please submit your notes no later than Wednesday, June 10th. Let’s give him a proper IRISH sendoff!

Tuition Contracts for Next Year:

During these challenging times, we reflect on the amazing dedication of students and staff, care for others, and high-quality education at St. Mary Magdalen School. I am so proud of all of the students for their flexibility and hard work during this time. I pray each day for all of you-that you are safe, healthy, and know God’s love. I hope that you have grown together as families and that you can see that while this time is a challenge, it is temporary. As a community, we are planning for next year and need your help! Tuition contracts have been sent out to all of our families. Please prayerfully consider signing to have your child attend St. Mary Magdalen for the 2020-2021 school year. Your children are bright, thoughtful, kind, compassionate, and great problem-solvers. We are blessed and honored to have you as a part of our community and pray that you will stay with us. Thank you for sending your children to St. Mary Magdalen School!

Invitation for feedback:

If you’d like to, please share with us any thoughts or feedback you have regarding the school year. I’m leaving this pretty open-ended and want to give you an opportunity to suggest improvements and let me know what worked well. It helps for future planning. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend and a great last week of school! Hopefully I will see many of you during the drive-by next week! 😊

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Dear 2A Families,

Wow–what a month we had! I can’t believe May is over and we are moving on to our final couple of weeks of school. I really enjoyed seeing the students in Zoom on Friday for our Fun Friday Fraction lesson. I just wish I could have shared the M & M’s with them! I am so proud of their hard work and focus, especially during this unique time.

The last couple of weeks of school are always very busy with special gatherings, celebrations, cleaning, and saying good-bye. I am missing the usual traditions that June brings, and am sad that we will not be able to say good-bye and celebrate in the same way. I am hoping to have a class picture and something special for the students as an end of the year gift. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to deliver this through a drive-by “pick-up” on the last day of school (June 12^th), but I’ll get it to the students somehow! Stay tuned for more details.

Important Tips for the Week:

Zoom Meetings

Tuesday, June 2^nd at 1:30 PM

Guided Bird Drawing

Friday, June 5^th at 11:30 AM

Topic: Fun Friday Read Aloud-Diary of a Fly

Report Cards this Trimester:

I want to thank the students for their efforts to complete assignments and assessments throughout this trimester. Last week’s Raz-kids assessments went well and I am proud of the students for completing them. We recognize and honor that COVID-19 has been a unique and difficult experience for everyone. Our goal in report cards is to communicate student growth and progress toward grade level standards. We have adopted a “Do No Harm” model for our report cards this trimester. Rather than seeing a grade (4, 3, 2, 1) or symbol, report cards will be in narrative form with “Meets Standards” or “Working to Standards” for each essential understanding. There is also a final comment section where I will continue to celebrate your child and their learning success this school year. I will also add in areas for continued practice and growth. The students have done a phenomenal job with distance learning—I am so proud of each one of them! 😊

I continue to keep you and your family in my prayers. Reach out with any questions or concerns you may have. I love to hear about the happy moments, too! 😊

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Weekly Update, May 26, 2020

Dear 2A Families,

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I’m sure this Memorial Day Weekend is a bit difference than others, but hopefully you are enjoying some rest, relaxation, and a little sunshine. The week ahead is fairly straight-forward as far as assignments. We are getting close to the end of the year and with that comes time to complete end of the year assessments and create special memories for staff who are moving on to new adventures. We also have the online Auction this week, beginning on Tuesday. See below for details and a request for help on your part, too!

Mrs. Mallahan’s Retirement:

Mrs. Mallahan is retiring after 32 years of teaching at St. Mary Magdalen! To help with her sendoff, we are putting together a video full of thanks for passing her joy and love of reading onto the SMM Community. Please take a picture of your student or student(s) with their favorite book and send to Melissa Morrier-Turk at MMorrierTurk@stmarym.org by Friday, May 29^th. If your student would like to write a note to Mrs. Mallahan or hold up a poster with an affirmation (thanks, you rock, etc.) that would be great as well! Thank you for helping make this retirement for Mrs. Mallahan a special one!

End of the Year Reading Assessments:

On Wednesday’s checklist, there will be directions for each student to complete an assessment in RAZ-Kids as their end of year reading assessment. This is to help gauge reading progress and will not adversely impact any student’s grade for 3^rd Trimester report cards. The assessment will help next year’s teachers plan and prepare the best course of instruction for each student for the beginning of 3^rd grade. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

Tuition Contracts for Next Year:

During these challenging times, we reflect on the amazing dedication of students and staff, care for others, and high-quality education at St. Mary Magdalen School. I am so proud of all of the students for their flexibility and hard work during this time. I pray each day for all of you-that you are safe, healthy, and know God’s love. I hope that you have grown together as families and that you can see that while this time is a challenge, it is temporary. As a community, we are planning for next year and need your help! Tuition contracts should be arriving in the mail very soon. Please prayerfully consider signing to have your child attend St. Mary Magdalen for the 2020-2021 school year. Your children are bright, thoughtful, kind, compassionate, and great problem-solvers. We are blessed and honored to have you as a part of our community and pray that you will stay with us. Thank you for sending your children to St. Mary Magdalen School!

SMM Online Auction:

The auction has changed to an online format this year! See below for the “Constant Contact” email that was sent from the school for all of the details. Make sure to take a look at our fabulous 2A Projects! Mrs. Akashio (Matthew’s mom) and Mrs. Cuellar (Benjamin’s mom) worked beautifully with the class to create a pottery project and the “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” basket. Both projects are available for families to bid on and bring home! Many thanks to our wonderful room parents for their hard work and dedication. Happy bidding and thank you so much for supporting our school!

May 26-30, 2020

Families, please join us for our Online Auction this next week. This is one of the most important events to help bridge the gap between tuition and the total cost of education for our students.

Our event begins May 26th at 2:00 pm and will run through May 30th. bidding will close at 11:59 pm.

Visit our auction website HERE to register, learn about online bidding, view our catalog or donate now.

Please share our auction website with your family and friends by selecting any of the social media sites on the auction home page under “share” on the right side of the screen.

For a list of frequently asked questions, please visit the school’s website here. Please send additional questions to Melissa Morrier-Turk at mmorrierturk@stmarym.org.

Weekly Newsletter, April 27, 2020

Dear 2A Families,

Thank you so much for picking up your child’s supplies on Friday. It was great to see many of you and some of the students, too! A big thanks to Mrs. Olson, Mrs. Buennagel, Mrs. Morrier-Turk, Mrs. Framel, and many others for organizing this great pick-up event! I spent most of the day in the lower parking lot so I missed quite a few of you in the upper lot. Thank you so much for coming by to gather supplies for your child as we continue remote learning through the end of the school year.

Important tidbits for the week ahead:

Virtus Safe Touching Lesson: Every year, the Archdiocese requires that the students receive two safe touching lessons per school year. We completed one lesson in the Fall. These lessons are written by the Virtus program. A parent letter about the program is attached (English and Spanish). If you wish to have your child opt-out of the lesson, let me know and I will send you the opt-out form. I have created the lesson and it will post on Monday (4/27) as a separate post from the checklist. I need to have all of the students complete this lesson by Wednesday (4/29). It may be a good idea for you to sit with your child as they complete this lesson. It should take about 20 minutes. I apologize in advance for the toddler in the background. C’est la vie…remote learning!

Epic! books: I am very excited to start using Epic! books this week! The students will have an assignment on Wednesday to complete as their reading job. It’s okay to explore the site and read books independently, but please save the “My Library” assignment for the day it appears in the checklist. Thank you. I am hoping to use Epic! as a way to connect with students and teach reading groups via Zoom beginning soon!

Materials and Packets: Most of the assignments for this week are still going to come from the packet that was mailed in early April. The materials that you picked up Friday can be stored at home for future use. Anything in the “Book Buddy” bag should be kept in an easy-to-access place at home as these are the materials students will use for the remainder of the year. Mrs. McMurray will be explaining the music packet that was included.

Assignments: Remember that assignments are due each day. Most of you are doing a great job with this so keep up the great work! If you cannot submit your assignments each day or something comes up, keep me in the loop! I am here to support you. 😊

Zoom Meetings: We will still have at least one meeting on Friday. I will post the link about a half hour ahead of time in Google Classroom and will try to email you the day before with the link.

Peace Day: Peace Day is Tuesday, April 28^th. Wear your peace day t-shirt/sweatshirt and be peace-makers! 😊

Faith-inspiration: My family and I are really enjoying Mass in our living room. For many weeks now, we have been using Formed.org from a parish in Denver, CO. I visited this same parish last summer on a family vacation. I really like the priest because he always has a tag-line in his homilies. They are one-liners that are pretty easy to remember and then keep in your mind throughout the week. Last Sunday was Divine Mercy Sunday. The Psalm below was a great inspiration for me this past week.

Psalm 118: 1

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His mercy endures forever.

May you know God’s abundant love and mercy.

I hope you had a great weekend. It went by too quickly! I am happy to answer questions so please don’t hesitate to ask!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Weekly Update, April 20, 2020

Dear 2A Families,

I hope you all enjoyed a little relaxation and sunshine over Spring break. It wasn’t quite as perfect as being on a beach in Hawaii, but it sure was great to take a break from school work. I also celebrated another trip around the Sun and my friends threw me a Zoom birthday party. It was lovely! I also tried to weed my garden and found that I am old now and my bones creak. I felt like Mr. Putter from Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant.

Learning Update:

This week, we return to Remote Learning. Not much has changed in format of the checklists, but please let me know if concepts are not clear or if there are any questions I can help to answer. I will continue checking email and the comments in Google Classroom periodically throughout the day, with dedicated times (office hours) in the morning (8:30 – 9:30 AM) and the afternoon (3:00 – 3:30 PM). This week, we will move into learning about Money in math and learn the value of each coin, then learn to skip count and count on to find the total value of coins. I will be making additional instruction videos for a couple of days this week, so make sure to watch the morning message video and the math video.

As we move forward toward the rest of the year, please make sure that you are submitting assignments through Google Classroom. It is fairly easy to do if you have a phone or tablet. Just click “add attachment” and then “take photo.” You can also take the photos, upload them to Google Drive, and then add them to Google Classroom as an attachment from Google Drive. You can also scan each assignment and upload the scanned documents.

Class Picture:

I also need your help! This week we were scheduled to take our school class picture. While we cannot complete this at school, I would like everyone to submit a photo in full uniform (vertical/portrait orientation) and email this to me. I will use the pictures to create a class photo and hopefully allow you to see it once it is complete. I also thought it would be fun for everyone to wear their school uniform to our Zoom meeting on Tuesday. I will be taking a class photo on Zoom on Tuesday so join us in full uniform!

Zoom meetings:

We will have two per week and I have scheduled them to be Tuesdays and Fridays, at 1:30 PM. I am hoping to use Tuesdays for peer check-in, answer questions, and read aloud. Fridays will be in the theme of FUN Friday with a Mystery Reader! To help with the safety of all students, Zoom links will be posted directly in Google Classroom a half hour before the meeting begins. Just click the link and enter the meeting password. I can only let students in from the “Waiting Room” if I recognize the name. So, be sure to enter your name or your child’s name so I know who you are.

Packets, Supplies, and Materials:

As you know, we won’t be returning to the school building this school year. ☹ While this is very difficult and emotional for many of us, we will continue to strive to provide excellent learning and instruction for the students. At the beginning of April, your family received a packet in the mail that has worksheets and materials to last through the next couple of weeks. In early May, Ms. Borseth and I will be creating a final packet/bag for you to come to school to pick-up. We will let you know the details of this in the coming weeks. We have to ensure proper social distancing, so we will be figuring that out and let you know when the materials are available. We will include in this packet student supplies/materials from their desks & cubbies so you won’t have to return to school to clean out the desk.

I hope you are all well-rested and that you had a blessed Easter! Easter is a season of joy and I pray that you are all filled with joy and hope as we celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection. Be assured of my daily prayers for each of your families.

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Weekly Newsletter, April 6, 2020

Dear 2A Families,

You are all amazing! That is what comes to mind each day as I look through Google Classroom and spend time looking through the work your student is doing each day. Thank you for your continued efforts to ensure your child continues to learn during this unique time. You are doing amazing work!

Important Updates:

Week 3 Remote Learning Survey: Thank you for your feedback from the survey/question. If you have not had a chance to respond and would like to, here is the link to the survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwK_jHoTOwSFw76F8v0LzFC0sTV6O4Uvn8PGds9ZHlckGQGQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Zoom Meetings: I am planning on two Zoom meetings this week. The information is below. I am working through some technical difficulties so I hope that these will be more accessible in the near future. See the email from Mrs. Martin for more information on joining us for our Zoom meetings this week!

I really enjoy these meetings with the students. It is great to connect with them and have the students interact with each other.

Holy Week: With direction from the Archdiocese of Seattle, we have scaled back on classwork during Holy Week, specifically next Friday. The math lessons will be review of material we have covered previously during Trimester 2. Our hope is that students can spend valuable time with their families and reflect on their relationship with Jesus during this time.

Spring Break: We will still be observing Spring Break, April 13^th-17^th. We will resume remote learning on Monday, April 20^th. I hope you can enjoy time together as a family and relax away from schoolwork.

Math: Math pages this week are linked to each checklist rather than in the packet. You will need to print the page off for your child or scribe the problems on a piece of paper. Please remember to submit a photo of the assignment in Google Classroom and then hit “Turn In.”

Have an enjoyable weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher

Weekly Newsletter, March 30 2020

Dear 2A Families,

I am so impressed by the dedication and quality of work that students are showing as we continue our distance learning. The highlight of my week was being able to see most of the class during our Zoom Class Meeting. What a treat! Thank you for assisting your child in joining us for this experience. I’ll plan at least one per week moving forward.

A couple of notes for next week:

Morning Message Videos

I want you to know that we are trying to stay consistent with our weekly schedule and checklists. I have added a “Morning Message” video for students to watch first each day. In these brief videos, I will outline the assignments for each day and provide additional clarification or directions as needed. My own kids are in KA and 1A and both of their teachers start each day with a morning message video. It has helped me tremendously as a mom so I wanted to offer it to all of you as a tool.

Math-3/30-4/3

Have you ever worked tirelessly on something and then one night you have this terrible nightmare about that one thing you forgot? Well, I did! Needless to say, I forgot to send home the math worksheets needed for the upcoming week. I have scanned them and will link them to each checklist. There are a couple of options:

-Print off the worksheet (black & white is fine), complete the assignment, and submit a scanned copy or picture to turn in

-Write/draw out the problems on a piece of blank paper and list the correct answer. Submit a scanned copy or picture to turn in

Thank you for your assistance and flexibility!

Science

On Tuesday, follow the Parent/Student Guide for Lesson 56-Describing the loudness of sound. On Thursday, follow the Parent/Student Guide for Lesson 57-How the environment affects the sounds we hear.

Spelling Test

Good job giving your student their spelling test! 😊 Keep up the good work next week. Remember to submit a picture of the test when you are turning in the test.

Grading Procedure

Students are receiving participation points at this time for grades. If they turn in the checklist and proof of complete and correct assignments, they will receive 100 points. If something is missing or incorrect, points are deducted. I am keeping track of individual assignments in the gradebook, like I normally would if we were in school. I am mostly looking for 100% effort. 😊 Effort and participation allow me to measure progress. I will always give a grade and write a comment for each checklist for every student. In the comment, I will note if anything needs to be corrected or completed. The student can then resubmit the assignment. Try your best to be timely when turning in assignments.

Thank you so much for participating in your child’s learning in this unique way. We’re all in this together so reach out if you need anything!

Blessings,

Mrs. Nicole Martin

2^nd Grade Teacher