Baking at home? No eggs? No problem!

The applesauce substitute is my personal favorite! It makes baked goods nice and moist!

A Fresh New Week

Hi families,

Hopefully everyone is staying healthy and settling into a new routine of sorts. I want to take a moment to recognize how hard this is for everyone and to say how much I appreciate everyone's efforts in making it work to the best of our abilities. Go team!

Ms. Barker has worked really hard in the past week to develop a website for our school which will serve as the information source for all things Fisher-Mitchell. My weekly schedule can be found there under the 5th Grade tab. Resources from specialists can be found under their respective tabs. Information from the office and support services are available through the Hub as well. Please bookmark this page.  I have a link to it on my links bar on the right side of my blog for your convenience, too.  https://sites.google.com/rsu1.org/fmsfamilyhub/  A super cute Hello Video from the staff can be found on the Home page.

Fisher-Mitchell chromebook pick up is today (Mon., March 30) for those whose family has reserved one:

7:30-9:00am
5:00-6:30pm

If you did not reserve one, but need one, you can still make a request but may be put on a wait list. Contact Mr. Berkowitz if this applies to you. rberkowitz@rsu1.org

Have a great week.

Food & Toiletries Available at the Skatepark 3/27

Hangout Day/Time/Expectations

Virtual Hangout: Tuesdays at 10am!

As of right now, my plan is still to use Zoom for our meeting. However, it may be wise to make sure Google Meet is accessible for your student as well just in case something falls through with the Zoom platform.  Some of my colleagues have reported needing to move to Meet instead.  

A link will be provided on my Google Classroom page at approximately 9:50am the day of our hangout. The hangout will be approximately a half hour.  However, the first one may go a little longer since we are all new to this platform as a "class" and we haven't seen each other in a couple weeks.

Please click the link below and go over the following agenda and expectations with your child before our hangout on Tuesday so they know what to expect:
Video Meeting Expectations

Thanks for bearing with me as this gets up and running. Please help your child to be patient in recognizing there may be some technological glitches that come up, or changes with regards to how we meet. 

Zoom - How To

We will be getting ready for some Zoom hangouts, hopefully starting next week. Please prepare for this opportunity by making sure your device has Zoom installed. This YouTube video seems helpful to those of us who are new to this platform for communication!

At-Home Cooking Club Online!

Does your child like to cook or would you like them to learn this important life skill? Check out this At-Home Cooking Club!

"Stay tuned for a new cooking video releasing every Tuesday and Thursday at 2pm EST made with simple ingredients you hopefully already have in your pantry. Sign up is FREE."

https://tastebudskitchen.com/cooking-club/

Virtual Hangout

I know the kids all miss each other, and I miss them. One suggestion from our district leadership is to facilitate weekly hangouts through Zoom or Google Meet. Today, I put a poll on Google Classroom that I would like all students to fill out with their time availability for a virtual hangout with their classmates. Please assist them with this by reminding them of your own schedule at home, and if there is off-limits time for technology. Times listed include hour blocks between 8am-3pm. The virtual hangout will likely be about 30 minutes. (In other words, if the most popular time chosen is 11am, I will pick a day for us to hangout from 11-11:30am.) More info. to come once a time is chosen.

Internet Availability

Hello families,

Happy snowy Tuesday. Thanks to all those who have gotten on and at least checked in with me! I have heard from all but three families at this time, which is pretty awesome. Most kids have checked in on Google Classroom at least a couple times. I am hoping after next Monday, everyone has access and we can be in a bit more a groove with this all. You should be receiving an email from the Asst. Superintendent later in the week with some updates on how we plan to proceed with distance learning.


This morning, we received an email from the Director of Technology in RSU1, Dean Emmerson who wanted you to know the following information:

School and Library WiFi: If you are in need of a connection to the internet, our school parking lots are an option.  We have increased the speeds available to our "guest" network throughout the district.

Other options include the parking lot at local libraries and other school districts.  In Bath, Patten Free Library has a public WiFi network.

Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: Xfinity WiFi hotspots located in businesses and outdoor locations across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots and then launch a browser.

COVID-19 Home Internet options are available:

These company are offering free and discounted internet plans for qualifying households.

Comcast - https://corporate.comcast.com/covid-19
AT&T - https://www.att.com/shop/internet/access/#!/
US Cellular - https://www.uscellular.com/covid-19

We made it to Saturday!

Congrats, families! You made it through your first week of distance learning! I know there are many things we could all perfect and improve upon, but instead of being critical, let's all take a moment to be proud of what we DID accomplish. 

My biggest celebration of the week is seeing kids smiling through the photos you've sent me, and hearing about what kids are learning and doing outside of school. This is a truly unique time in their lives, and yours, and I think we can appreciate the small moments of individual successes and memories you are making with your children.

My biggest goal is for your children to take time to explore their creative side while they are home. In recent conversations with kids at school, I have learned that not all of them know how to use their imagination. I was sharing a story with a student about how when my brother and I were kids, we would take out all of our toys and stuffed animals and put them on the staircase, which we would pretend was a giant ship we were sailing around the world. The game was called "King Kong" because our King Kong doll was the ship's captain. We would play for hours until we would eventually get in a fight (like siblings do) and have to clean it up and take a break from each other. A student asked me, "You made that up yourselves?" I said, "Yeah! We made up all kinds of weird imaginative games for indoors and outdoors." The student responded, "I don't know how to do that."  It broke my heart. I truly believe the imagination is a muscle we need to exercise constantly or it loses its tone and becomes inflexible. Here is a cool blog I found which has some suggestions for imagination games. https://www.iseeme.com/blog/blog/2016/09/26/7-imagination-activities-for-kids/  So while you're home, encourage your kiddos to flex those imaginations. It doesn't mean zero screen time and zero structured time, but it's okay to let them be bored and figure it out.

In other non-school news, Mrs. Towle put me onto a couple local farmers' markets in the area.  I was able to get some really great looking carrots today without having to go into a store.  If you need some fresh produce, see what's going on in Bath with the farmers' markets. Some of them, such as I believe Goranson, will accept EBT cards. Many of the local farms have Facebook pages, so you can follow them on there for more info. 

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

March 20th

Yesterday was the vernal equinox, bringing us the earliest spring in over 100 years. Hopefully that means sunnier days soon ahead. (Although, aren't we getting some snow Monday into Tuesday?!)

Check out this article from Space.com about the vernal equinox!
https://www.space.com/vernal-equinox-2020-earliest-spring-124-years.html

I hope you've all been faring well during your first week of at home learning. I have been pleased to see activity from about 10-11 of the kids through Google Classroom, Google Docs, Flipgrid, or a combination of those platforms. I am hoping they're squeezing in some life skills (home skills) learning, creative time, exercise, fun, and socialization time in addition to light learning. I know a lot of kids have been keeping up with reading, which is awesome. I have seen reports from Freckle that kids are getting onto that, too. Thank you to all of you for all you're doing to help keep things going.

March 19th

Good morning families,

From 9:30-10:30 today and tomorrow, you can pick up your students' work packets from Fisher Mitchell School. Students work packets from me included: the letter I emailed you all, a science matter packet, some construction paper and computer paper, their book club book, and any materials provided by any other service providers your child sees during their day.

The Bath Skate Park invited students to drop by their parking lot last night and on Friday between 4-5PM to get some grab & go foods as well as school supplies. If you missed it Wednesday, try to drop by Friday. What a great community resource! If you don't follow them on Facebook yet, check out Midcoast Community Alliance.

Today I am getting Flipgrid up and running for book club groups. Please continue to have your student check out my Google Classroom page for information on how to connect with classmates as well as some learning opportunities I am sharing there. I am loving hearing from your children in the comments on Google Classroom!

I continue to add learning links to this blog as neat ones come across my newsfeed or get shared by colleagues via email. I hope you'll take some time to explore those with your child. If you're on a mobile device checking out this blog, be sure to scroll down and click "View web version" for better accessibility. The learning links are located on the right side bar on the web version. They don't seem to show up on the mobile viewing screen.

I know there have been some questions about some of the math links. I am going to have a hard time answering those questions as that compilation of learning links was put together by our Title 1 Math team.  Melissa Raedel may be the best point of contact if you have specific questions. mraedel@rsu1.org   My best offering to you is that many of those links will likely require a parent to sign up for an account before your child can begin to use the resource.

Have a great Thursday everyone.

Ms. Hoskins

March 18th

Hello families!

Mr. Berkowitz has created a Flipgrid for FMS to stay in touch with you all. This grid will be run by Mr. B, Nurse Ricki, and Ms. DeRosa. 

In the first post, Mr. B says hello and explains the purpose of the grid, as well as reading some links from our gratitude chain students contributed to back at Thanksgiving time.  It's always great to reflect on the things we are thankful for, but maybe especially during challenging times.

Here is a link to the grid.  Please let me know if you have trouble accessing it. https://flipgrid.com/fmschat

I will be starting a grid for students to have an opportunity to discuss their book club books. Hopefully they have all received their packets and books by now.  I posted on my Google Classroom page this morning asking if a student from each group could share the goal for end of Week 2 with their classmates as not everyone took their packet home.

Today I added a new learning link with math card game ideas. I hope this helps families find ways to fit in math in a fun way that feels like play.

Also on my Google Classroom page, I am posting daily question for students to answer. About 5 kids have been on so far to check things out. I am loving hearing from them!! Remind them to scroll down each day to see more posts. Some days there will be more new content than others.

I hope you're all doing well. Happy Wednesday.

Ms. Hoskins

I really appreciated this visual I found on Facebook this morning. Thought it might ease some parents'/guardians' stress. We know you are trying to do all the things right now. The things on the right are what's most important.

Pie in the Face Video

RSU1 Meals Update -- Memo from Food Services

March 17th Updates

Hello families!

I am trying to find ways to stay in communication without overwhelming you. I hope this helps! 

Google Classroom: In order to stay connected, it is my goal to add links, optional assignments, or check-ins to Google Classroom at least once daily.  I have already heard from three students via email, and I know many more are doing their best to fit in some learning from a distance.

Students can log in to Google Classroom with their rsu1 student account firstname.lastname@rsu1.org  and their password they've been using at school to log in to their chromebook. Please email me for assistance with password retrieval. 

Digital Pen Pals: Leah started a Google Doc letter exchange with me. This was wonderful! What I like about the Google Doc is it becomes an artifact children could print and save in their portfolio. If other students would like to use this as a method for staying connected while we are out, I will do my best to respond to their notes in a timely manner (within a day or two). They should click "Share" and bump the document to me each day they write something new though, or I may not see any changes.

Two other students emailed me through their parents.  This is another great option if parent does not mind sharing their email account with their child. I check my email periodically throughout the day, so I am reachable if you/they have any questions.

An important note about food services:  Starting March 17th (today) between 10:30am- 1pm M-F all RSU1 students may grab & go a free breakfast or lunch at: Dike-Newell, Fisher Mitchell, Phippsburg Elementary School, or Woolwich Central School.

Leprechaun trap, courtesy of Thadeous.
He says, "So what happens is the leprechaun will walk under the trap, trying to get the pot of gold, and disturb the stick that is holding it up. Then the trap will fall down on the leprechaun holding him\her in place."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Be sure to have your child check out the links I've shared on Google Classroom, as well as the question of the day!