March 16, 2020
Greetings Hellyer Families,
We hope you are all staying healthy and safe at this time and practicing healthy habits of handwashing, social distancing and staying home if you are sick. The most important thing to focus on is our health at this time including our mental health. There are resources on the Franklin-McKinley School District (FMSD) website to address mental health and ideas on how to talk to your children about the coronavirus to alleviate some of the fear.
A message was sent on Friday notifying families that school will be closed for three weeks from March 16-April 3 in order to address the current health crisis. In order to support you in keeping your children learning, FMSD is creating instructional packets for students. They will be available later in the week, and you will receive a message from FMSD letting you know when they are ready. Lunch will be available for pick up at school Monday-Friday from 11:00am-1:00pm for anyone under the age of 18.
We also wanted to provide additional resources for those who prefer online learning platforms to give you options on how to continue the learning. Several online learning companies have made their products FREE to families during this time of school closure. They might require you to create a username and password for your child unless it’s a product that we use at Hellyer, in which case students already have a login. Usernames are typically either 130+ 5-digit lunch number with the lunch number as the password.
One way to alleviate some of the stress is to create routines and schedules for your children. Your schedule should include time for math, reading, writing, exercise, free play/choice time and social skills such as practicing kindness and gratitude. A bonus would be to add science, social studies,art, music and/or foreign language. Work with your child to create a schedule that works for your family. You can use the timer on your phone, or kitchen electronics to help children pace their day.
Given the school closure, we will do our best to push the state testing for 3rd - 6th grades back as far as possible in the school year. For those looking to help prepare their children during this time, there are both online and printable practice tests located at http://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training/index.html. Students in grades 3-6 take the CAASPP mathematics, mathematics performance task, ELA and ELA performance task assessments. In addition, grade 5 takes the California Science Test (CAST).
The staff at Hellyer wishes you a safe, healthy few weeks and look forward to seeing you all soon. If you have any questions feel free to reach out via Class DoJo or email. Teachers will be in touch via email or ClassDojo as well.
Warmest Regards,
Jose Jacinto
Principal
Hellyer
Ideas to Create a Structured Daily Schedule
Mathematics - 30 minutes per day
Make up problems for adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing or work on the math pages from the FMSD packet.
Khan Academy - allows you to learn at your pace whether you struggle, are on track or advanced with instructional videos and lessons. Several classes have logins. Other subjects available.
https://www.khanacademy.org/
Zearn - Most classes have logins. https://www.zearn.org/
Freckle - Some classes have logins. Other subjects available. https://www.freckle.com/
IXL - Most classes have logins. Other subjects available. https://www.ixl.com/math/
Prodigy - Some classes have logins. https://play.prodigygame.com/
STMath - Math fact fluency.
https://www.stmath.com/
Reading - 30 minutes per day
Read a book, magazine, or work on the reading pages from the FMSD packet.
Epic! - Read an online book. Most classes have logins.
https://www.getepic.com/
Storyline Online - Listen to celebrities read books aloud.
storylineonline.net
Read Works - Read articles by reading level and answer questions. Some classes have logins. https://www.readworks.org/
Newsela - Read articles by reading level and answer questions. Some classes have logins. https://newsela.com/join/#/teach-or-read
Scholastic - Read articles about current events, science and social studies. www.scholastic.com/learnathome
Lexia (TK-5) - Students practice various reading skills based on their level. All students have logins.
https://www.lexiacore5.com/register
PowerUp (6th) - Students practice various reading skills based on their level. All students have logins.
https://www.lexiapowerup.com/
CommonLit - Read articles by reading level and answer questions. Some classes have logins. https://www.commonlit.org/
Writing - 30 minutes per day
Practice penmanship and writing neatly by writing a letter to a friend, writing a story, or a summary of what you read/did today.
Typing.com - Practice typing and word processing skills. https://www.typing.com/
Spelling City - Practice spelling, vocabulary, and word study.
https://www.spellingcity.com/
Exercise - 20 minutes per day
Create a circuit routine - jumping jacks, run in place, sit ups, push ups or play outside.
Go Noodle - Watch a video and do some fun movement activities. https://family.gonoodle.com/
Fluency & Fitness - Practice reading/math fluency with exercise.
fluencyandfitness.com
Kindness/Gratitude - 10 minutes per day
Keep a journal each day of what you are grateful for.
Do a chore without being told or help someone without being asked.
Write a thank you note to someone for something you are grateful for.
Science/Social Studies (optional)
Engineering Challenges! - Build something (tallest tower, house model, bridge, etc.) using common household objects.
Mystery Science - Watch videos with an option of hands-on activities to discover science topics. https://mysteryscience.com/school-closure-planning
BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. - Watch videos and answer questions on various topics. https://www.brainpop.com/
Art/Music/Foreign Language/Computer coding (optional)
Draw, paint, color, practice an instrument, sing or dance.
Duolingo - Learn a new language. https://www.duolingo.com/
Code.org - Learn to code with step-by step instructions. https://code.org/