4/9/20
Twin Groves-One Family: Spirit Wear
Please click HERE for an opportunity to purchase Twin Groves- One Family Spirit Wear. Thank you to Mr. Leven for putting this together. Staff, students, family members, and parents are welcome to order. Items will be shipped directly to your residence. The Spirit Wear store closes April 20th.
Middle School Learning Plans
As stated in the Superintendent’s message, our child’s teachers will use Schoology to send directly to your child all instructions and work. Parents will not receive a daily instruction email from middle school teachers.
If you are interested in seeing the daily assignments, I recommend sitting with your child at night and reviewing the next day’s work that is found in Schoology.
As a parent of two middle school students, we have made a nightly routine to go through their student portal (similar to Schoology) and write all the assignments down on a planner. This has helped organize my own kids and it has kept me up to date with their daily work. It also is a great way to connect with my kids!
Lesson Plans for Monday, April 13th
Monday, April 13th, is a designated planning day for all district staff. The students’ lessons will be available in their lunch course in Schoology. The students will be receiving the following message on Monday morning. Please have the students check their lunch course in Schoology for Monday’s work.
Tomorrow, the students will be receiving a message in their Schoology lunch course regarding this change for Monday, April 13th.
Schoology Lunch Course Introduction to assignment blurb:
Welcome to week 3 of D96 Remote Learning! Today will be a little different because you aren't going to be working with your regular classroom teachers on classroom topics. Instead, you have a choice of various activities all related to STEAM learning. S=Science T=Technology E=Engineering A=Arts M=Math
Please click on the slideshow link attached below to begin. The goal is to complete AT LEAST ONE of the activities on the menu board, but you are welcome to do more than one if you'd like. Each one has some kind of response or product for you to turn in through Schoology assignments also listed in your lunch course. Be sure to submit your work so we can see all the great things you are doing throughout the day.
While this day is designed for you to explore these different areas, we understand that you may have other classroom assignments and lessons that you might need to spend your time doing. If you would like to use this day to catch up on any work for your classes, you have the freedom to do that as well. We don't want to add more stress by letting things pile up. Take a breath and get caught up. These activities will be here all week so if you don't get to them today, That’s ok!
Because this day is designed for your teachers to be able to plan future lessons, please reach out to the person listed on the last slide if you have questions or tech issues today. We are here to help you! Have a great learning day!
Counseling Corner
Ms. Baker and Ms. McDevitt, School Social Workers
Ms. Koulentes, School Counselor
Ms. Leverentz, School Psychologist
The new normal in the Twin Groves Community looks a lot different than it ever has. Families have been cooped up in their homes for weeks. Many parents are not going to work, students are not going to school, and there is stress all around. Every family is different, but here are a few suggestions that may make this new normal a little less stressful.
-Create a schedule with your child that you can both agree to. Include school-work time, relaxation, exercise, alone time, etc.
-If students have both technology-based and technology-free tasks to complete, suggest that they alternate these types of tasks to give their eyes and brains a break from their screens.
-Short breaks make it easier to transition back to work than longer breaks. Aim for a 5-10 minute break every 30 minutes to allow enough time to breathe, stretch, and refocus.
-Parents need to make sure that they are taking care of themselves so they can take care of their families. Maybe create a schedule for yourself that includes some alone time or time outside to take a walk. 15 minutes to take some deep breaths can make a big difference.
-Spend time outside when you can! Fresh air is a great way to reset our minds and have a nice break
-Encourage your child to socialize with friends and family members virtually. Having some alone time is good but it is also important to maintain social ties.
-Check-in with your child periodically and just listen to them. This is a time to not fix anything but just hear how they are feeling. Validate your child’s feelings during this time - this is hard for everyone.
What’s Happening at Twin?
PE
During the month of April we will be continuing our remote learning. The students will receive a daily assignment/activity through Schoology. As this is new to all of us, we just want to communicate to the students to do the best they can. At times I’m sure they feel overwhelmed. As the weeks go by I’m sure they will feel more comfortable with all of this. Stay safe and healthy.
Health
This rotation, 6th graders will be working on understanding the human body and how the systems are interrelated. We will also discuss hygiene and human growth and development. The 7th graders are learning about drugs that affect the Buffalo Grove and Lincolnshire areas. These include prescription drug abuse, marijuana, alcohol, heroin, and vaping. A drug research project will be done at the end of the rotation. In 8th grade, students are learning about communicable and non-communicable disease. We have discussed COVID-19, STI’s, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
Art
All grades in art are creating and designing their own GOOGLE Doodle. Students were asked to explore the archives of past Google Doodles. The project is broken down into 5 stages - choosing two themes, providing visual evidence for the 2 themes, choosing one and creating a prototype, sharing and discussing their work with class peers, and then revising for final submission. Check out your child’s doodle design!
Music
As we are working on our remote learning, students are working through a program called “Breezin’ Thru Composition”, which will help us to create compositions that we can play on our devices and hopefully someday play on a keyboard. They are also using a notation app called “Noteflight”. This helps us to write our songs in the correct musical notation. We also are doing some “Responding to Music” activities, where students describe what they hear in certain pieces of music.
TASOL
This month in TASOL, we will continue to look at career choices and explore options through remote learning. Sixth grade students will be looking at their own skills and interests in order to create a resume. The seventh and eighth grade students will be choosing a career based on the interest inventories they have completed. Each student will research their career and create a presentation.
Brighter Days Art Contest
The Imagination Project is an opportunity for Chicago-area elementary, middle, and high-school students to submit their visual creations to a student art contest sponsored by the Chicago Sun Times. The theme of this season’s Imagination Project is Brighter Days. Entrants may submit up to 5 pieces of their original artwork–drawings, paintings, or digital designs. The contest runs from Apr. 6–24. A parent must complete the electronic submission form. MORE INFO https://chicago.suntimes.com/pages/imagination
Please read the Superintendent’s Message from 4/7/20
District 96 Community
Thank you to everyone who provided donations to our food bank a few weeks ago! Families are receiving both breakfast and lunch for kids AND food pantry items to supplement them.
We are now in need of additional items to support our families.
As this food bank is a collaborative effort of the Exceptional Learners Collaborative (ELC), School District 96, and School Districts 125 (Stevenson), 102, and 103, each community is asked to provide specific items.
The following are the items we would like District 96 Community families to provide, as you choose and are able:
Large brown paper grocery bags
Pasta sauce (cans or jars)
"Helper" Meal Kits, such as Hamburger Helper® (do not provide meat or poultry)
Butter
Canned fruit
Cereal
Juice boxes
Delivering Donations
Donations will be accepted 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM on Thursday, April 9th, and on Monday, April 13th – Friday, April 17th.
Please deliver donations to the FRONT of the ELC building, 990 Corporate Woods Parkway, Vernon Hills. Boxes for collecting donated pantry items will be outside, near the door.
Please observe social distancing when making deliveries.
It's my privilege to serve such a caring community!
Thank you,
– Julie Schmidt, District 96 Superintendent of Schools
Please read the Superintendent’s Message from 4/5/20
District 96 Community,
I hope each of you and your students are well. I appreciate your time to read all of this message, to be prepared for the week ahead.
Update on Remote Learning Plans
In my Apr. 1 message to you, I outlined some adjustments that would be made to our Remote Learning Plan effective Mon., Apr. 6. Below are some specific updates. Please review them as we begin the week.
We have also updated the Remote Learning FAQs, linked HERE. This information answers many questions about the remote learning plan, expectations, flexibility, grading, and more.
The most important message that I want you to hear is that–while we are making every effort to meet the vastly different needs of our students and families–we want to emphasize FLEXIBILITY in how you navigate remote learning in your own home.
Elementary Remote Learning Plan Update
Your child’s classroom teacher will send a Google Slideshow to your email by 5 p.m. on the day preceding instruction. Monday's instruction will be emailed no later than 5 p.m. on Sunday, but could come earlier. Please remember the email includes lessons intended for Monday. Teachers will be available for support on Monday, but not during the weekend.
The slideshow includes all the work and the instructions embedded for all content areas.
The slideshow will also be available to students through SeeSaw or Schoology, which your children can access from their iPads.
We are pleased to offer learning in this new format. We have made every effort to create these slides to be student friendly, so our students can navigate their remote learning more independently. Once acclimated, they will find the slides provide guided structure for them.
We acknowledge this structure may be new for some of your children. For this reason, we are asking you to spend the first day or two ensuring they understand how to manage the slide presentation. For example, many slides include links to video or audio sound clips. Your child might need some support determining how and when to "click" certain links. After some initial support, most students should be able to navigate the slideshows independently.
Middle School Remote Learning Plan Update
Your child’s teachers will use Schoology to send directly to your child all instructions and work. You will not receive a daily instruction email from middle school teachers.
Remote Learning Planning Days for Teachers
Apr. 13 and Apr. 24 are remote learning planning days for teachers. On these dates, instruction will be planned by instructional coaches, who will provide learning experiences for students to engage in on these dates. Any questions specific to those learning experiences will be answered by the instructional coaching team. Their contact information will be included in the learning information for that day.
More Messaging Through Your Doors and Windows
Send an encouraging message and an important reminder for safety from your household to the community. Download and print these signs and post them in your window(s) or on your front door.
Observing Social Distancing in KCSD96 (1-page pdf)
All In Illinois (multipage pdf–choose the version(s) you prefer)
These times require patience, understanding, and flexibility. We will get through this together....
Thinking of you all and wishing you well,
– Julie Schmidt, District 96 Superintendent of Schools