Dear Lab Families,
We completed an amazing 10 days of Virtual Lab classrooms and classes this week. A big Thank You is due to our fantastic students, and staff and teachers, Mr. T, Michelle, Katrina and Kathryn for their passion, creativity and "can-do" attitude! And to our parents for all their "behind the camera" support!
While we had hoped the need to social-distance due to COVID-19 would no longer be necessary going into April, all indications are that this will last for another 4-8 weeks.
Because of this, The Lab will continue providing its classes in a VIRTUAL-ONLY environment for the foreseeable future.
We appreciate your support during this very difficult time. We know it is impacting each of you personally - through loved ones whose safety you are concerned about, through job loss and threats to our livelihoods, and through the stress that being confined to home inevitably creates. We are thinking of each of you and your children during this time.
A bright spot though. What we are observing with The Lab's online class rooms is nothing short of miraculous! Our students are creating and maintaining community with each other throughout the day in our virtual Zoom Class Rooms. Some are logging-on early before the virtual class day even starts just to be with each other, and staying online long after classes end each day to visit and commune together.
Helping our children stay connected and maintaining a semblance of a "normal" daily routine is infinitely helpful to our children and teens at times of stress. The Lab is working to create welcoming, warm online spaces and community for your children and you during this time.
You can find log-on information to our virtual classes on our website at: lablearning.org
Please also consider joining our private facebook page so you can see pictures of our students and our amazing staff in action, and to share your own!
We love each of you and are here for you during this time. Please reach out if you see ways we can help or want to contribute your talents and ideas to our virtual adventure - we would love to have your help!
Best,
Lyndee
WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK. PLEASE TAKE OUR SHORT SURVEY
Please give us your feedback about The Lab and why you are or are not attending virtual classes. It helps enormously to hear from you and helps us make sure we are doing everything we can. Click here to complete the feedback survey
IMPORTANT DATES (Go to our website lablearning.org for links to join events)
March 30 TBD - Virtual-only classrooms continuing at The Lab
April 1 6:00-7:00 - Parent online support group (English)
April 2 6:00-7:00 - Weekly parent online support group (Spanish)
April 3 1:00-3:00 - PBL Showcase for Mr. T's class Learning from the Past
WE ARE EXTENDING OUR VIRTUAL K-3RD/4TH CLASS DAY TO 2:30
The k-3rd/4th virtual class day has been so successful that parents have asked that we extend it an additional hour to 2:30 pm each day. We are delighted to do this and will be adding time for math classes and pull-outs as well as virtual field trips and performance art to extend the day. There are no changes to our 9-3 daily hours for Mr. T's class.
The extended K-3rd/4th virtual classroom schedule is below or available online by Clicking Here
9:30-10:30
- Community Meeting
- Readers workshop and Phonics
- Interactive Read Aloud
10:30-10:45 - 15 min break
10:45- 11:30- Writer's Workshop
11:30- 12:30 Lunch Break
12:30- 1:30 Math small group/ Moby Max
1:30-2:30 - PBL Studio, Virtual Field Trips and Special performances, Movie time
HAPPENINGS IN MR. T'S CLASSROOM
This week Mr. T's class welcomed 2 new students! During our virtual class day from 9-3 each day, our 4th-8th grade students continued work on their new readers and writers workshop on realistic fiction! They studied techniques such as "grounding dialogue in scenes" and "writing endings that make readers swoon."
For reading they continued logging their independent reading 30-minutes a day and learned about "considering complex characters in context." For math, students worked on modules on Summit and Moby Max (please take a look at your child's dashboard-check our website under "Lab Family Resources" for instructions on how to do this if you've forgotten). Mr. T continued his "virtual" small group pull-outs which are going amazingly well.
Students also continued work on history, social studies, science and ELA through Summit, and are putting the finishing touches on their PBL presentations on "Learning from the Past -Preventing Slavery." Students will present their work on this at our Virtual PBL Showcase this Friday, April 3 from 1-3. See lablearning.org for the Zoom link to Mr. T's class.
HAPPENINGS IN K-3RD/4TH CLASSROOM
Our K-3rd/4th grade students continued their work in Writers Workshop on their realistic fiction pieces, identifying their protagonist and adding details about their lives and interests. Students are developing stories about firemen, ballet dancers, hockey players and outdoor adventurers.
In Readers Workshop, students continue to read independently for 30 minutes and then participate in virtual pull-out groups for Phonics instruction (emerging readers) and guided reading support (early fluent readers).
Students presented their PBL "Day in the Life of a Bug" projects on our Virtual Showcase on Wednesday and the audience learned about roaches (who can regrow their head), bees and how they support the Queen, and how butterflies smell with their antennae.
This week, our younger students also had the opportunity to hear stories read by astronauts in space, and learned about the life and work of the marvelous artist, Kandinsky, during WOW! Integrated Arts classes and created their own works of art inspired by him.
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