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The Skokie School Home Scoop
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Dear Skokie Community,
I want to give you a window into what is happening in our building and classrooms. This Friday, our 5th and 6th grade Math/Science and Language Arts/Social Studies teachers met together in teams to collaborate, focusing on curriculum and pedagogy. We have been challenged this year to adapt our usual teaching practices to complement our new environment. Each day, we learn more, adapt, and refine our work with students. Our teachers are doing a wonderful job of co-designing the curriculum and pacing themselves together so that we can support students who may need to go in and out of quarantine. One of my favorite things to do in regular times is visit classrooms and observe our students learn, question, and collaborate. In our current environment, I have had the opportunity to hover in classroom doorways so that I can see and hear what they are learning. Here are some things that I see: -
Students engaged in discussions about character traits, theme, and the impact of setting on mood. Students are looking at a variety of texts, including novels, short stories, pictures books, and movie clips. They are using text evidence to support their ideas about characters and lessons that can be learned from stories.
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Students sharing their thinking with each other using Desmos in math. The work students are doing on their iPads is projected to the entire class. This allows for teachers to quickly assess student understanding, allows students to learn from each other's strategies, and leads to rich mathematical discourse. The Desmos tool has been especially helpful to us so that students can continue to share thinking with each other while maintaining a social distance.
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Students are watching their teachers demonstrate science work and discussing what they observe and wonder.
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Students are jotting about reading by using post-its and their notebooks. Writing about reading allows students to deepen their thinking about texts and leads to conversations with peers.
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Students are actively engaged in their World Language lessons. They can be seen doing physical movements that reflect the verbs they are learning, they are writing using the target language in their World Language notebooks, and they are laughing and having a great time while doing it!
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Exploratory teachers are putting energy and enthusiasm into their remote teaching! I know it has been hard for them not to see their students in person, but they are enjoying connecting with the students through Zoom and providing them with variety in their day.
I am very proud of our staff and students' adaptability to teaching and learning as we navigate a pandemic. Thank you for your support at home, as well! We are all in this together.
A Note About Halloween Spooky season has arrived! We are looking forward to celebrating Halloween in new and exciting ways. Our festivities will include dressing up as well as spooktacular activities. While each school and classroom will put their own twist on the day, we are all looking forward to having fun together! Due to safety concerns, there will be no food served or outside adults joining our festivities.
Here are some reminders that will help to ensure that all students enjoy their time in school. -
Children should come to school dressed in their costumes. We will stay in costume for the full time in school so students should be able to move around and use the restroom without costume assistance.
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Please remember to leave any weapons at home and only regular safety masks can be worn.
We are all very excited and will be sharing photos of our day!
Picture Retake Day: October 21st
The photographer will be taking pictures of students who were absent or retakes for photographic mistakes, such as a double exposure, or "funny" facial expressions. Students requesting retakes are to bring their original pictures to school on retake day to give to the photographer.
Morning Retake - 10:00 am Afternoon - 2:00 pm
Take care,
Betty Weir Louis Kotvis
Principal Assistant Principal
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District News
National Bullying Prevention Month & Unity Week
October is National Bullying Prevention month and while creating safe environments where all of our students feel included, respected, and valued is of utmost importance to us always, we make sure to take the time to revisit these anti-bullying efforts each October. Unity Day is held on October 21st and in celebration of Unity Day the District will be participating in a Unity Spirit Week. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring the Winnetka community together against bullying, and unite us in kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. We hope that this can become a tradition that we continue to build upon and celebrate each year.
Travel Restrictions Update
It is important to note that Indiana has recently been added to the Suburban Cook County Travel Quarantine list. If your family has visited any states on this list for more than 24 hours, you need to follow the Cook County Department of Public Health travel guidance and 14-day quarantine protocols. This applies to all families regardless of whether you stayed in a private home or what your activities were limited to within that state. Please reference this information from the Cook County Department of Public Health.
COVID-19 Testing for Symptomatic Individuals--Important Update
Please be aware that the District has received updated guidance from the Illinois School Board of Education and Illinois Department of Public Health. In order to return to school, the documentation required for symptomatic individuals with a negative COVID-19 diagnostic test is a negative PT-PCR COVID-19 test result OR healthcare provider's note indicating the negative PT-PCR COVID-19 test result. We will not longer be able to accept "rapid" Covid-19 testing results. Please confirm your healthcare provider is able to provide this type of test. Please reference this chart for further information: Here
Weather Preparedness
Now that the weather is becoming cooler, we ask that your child comes to school dressed in layers, including warm clothing, so they are comfortable during both outdoor and indoor learning. To increase ventilation in our learning spaces, we will continue to keep windows open in our classrooms, weather permitting.
Calendar Change:October 19 and 26 will be full days of student attendance
The District planned on implementing two half days of student attendance on October 19 and 26, which would count as an ISBE remote planning day. Instead, we are restoring these half-days as full student attendance days. This will allow us to maximize in person learning at this time and preserve the remote learning planning time for a later date. Please mark your calendars accordingly.
News from The Alliance for Early Childhood
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Pandemic Parenting: Tools and Tips, December 3, 7-7:45pm Register Here
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Pandemic Parenting: Tools and Tips, February 18, 7-7:45pm Register Here
Additionally, families are invited to participate in Let's Play! 2020-2021 Ongoing Community Programs. Upcoming events are as follows:
Family Action Network Events
Family Action Network, FAN, hosts a series of parent sessions with renowned authors, educators, and experts. See FAN's schedule here.
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Replies to this email will be sent directly to Betty Weir. Please note that unsubscribing from this email will unsubscribe from all Winnetka School emails.
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