Letter from school Board about technology

Dear families,

York Region District School Board has been identifying opportunities to support the continuity of learning and caring for all of our students. We know not all of our students have access to the technology they need to access these resources, and we want to hear from our families. 

We have created a brief questionnaire to help us understand how many of our students require technology (devices or internet access) to continue learning at home. If you have multiple children attending a YRDSB school(s) who require technology, please fill out this form for each child.

If your child has access to a device such as desktop, laptop or Chromebook with Internet, you do not need to complete this questionnaire. 

As always, please continue to visit  www.yrdsb.ca/covid19 for school-board information and www.york.ca/coronavirus for public health information. 

Sincerely,

Louise Sirisko

Director of Education

Copy of email I sent home before March Break

Literacy

●     Read, read, read - chapter books, non-fiction books, newspaper articles on www.teachingkidsnews.com, recipes, comic books!! 

●     Write, write, write  - make up your own prompts and write a paragraph, write a creative story, write a small moment story https://www.journalbuddies.com/prompts-by-grade/3rd-grade-writing-prompts/ 

●     Help an adult make a grocery list for a healthy meal (see Health below). 

●      The Sora app is available to all YRDSB students and staff to access e-books using the Sora mobile app or online. The company has added 100 additional titles for the next 90 days. 

Website: https://soraapp.com/

Find: York Region District School Board

Student Login: 0+username   (usernames are taped in student agendas)

Math

●     Practise basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) with games - War, Multiplication Squares, https://www.math-drills.com/ (printable practice sheets), https://www.abcya.com/games/math_facts_game  (we have not started our multiplication and division unit yet, where we will be investigating different strategies to solve questions, but it would be helpful for students to be comfortable with multiplying up to and including 7x7)

●     Count money (up to $10) and make change

●     Practise telling time - what time do you do things at home (e.g., what time do you wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, eat dinner, etc.)

●     Use a ruler or objects like paper clips or toothpicks to measure the perimeter of flat (2-D) objects in your house.  Remember, the perimeter is the distance around the outside of the object.

●     Using the grocery list for a healthy meal (see Literacy above), look at flyers or online flyers and find out how much the meal would cost to make. 

●     Create a border around a piece of paper using different patterns. Estimate the perimeter of your pattern. Then actually measure it using a ruler. On the inside of the border, draw a picture or make an advertisement for a book fair

●     Choose 5-10 different items in your house. Estimate the length and/or width of them. Measure them. Put them in order from longest to shortest

Health/Active Learning

●     Plan a healthy meal using all the food groups for your family. What makes your meal nutritious? How many of the foods do you think were produced locally? Globally? Why?

●     How many foods can you find that were made locally in your house? How many were made globally? Where were most of your foods processed?

●     Make a list of different things you can do to stay healthy over the break. Check off the ones that you do.

●     Keep track of your activity with this fun tracking sheet!http://www.nourishinteractive.com/system/assets/free-printables/240/activity-tracking-kids-exercise-sheet.pdf?1343335916

Learning websites from school Board

http://www.yrdsb.ca/Students/Pages/Online-Resources.aspx


https://www.ontario.ca/page/learn-at-home

Epic Books website is now available for students

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share some information about Epic Books for your child.  First of all, Epic Books is an online library of books for students to read.  I have made a variety of "libraries" for our class based on our Science units, and sometimes I allow the students to choose freely from the wide variety of books and videos available.  Although I do not have to pay for this service while we are at school, it is normally unavailable for children to use at home without a membership.  I was really happy to hear that during the time schools are closed, Epic Books will be opened up for free for any students whose teachers use it with them at school.   You can try accessing it at https://www.getepic.com/students and use our class code: ETJ-0072

Not that I'm trying to encourage electronics use, but we also sometimes use the website ABCya in class.  There are lots of fun educational games on this site.

Hoping everyone is doing well,
Mrs. Farley

I can't believe it's March!

Hi everyone,
Here's a quick update about what's happening in our room these days!


Literacy:  In Literacy, the students are proofreading and editing their personal narratives.  We hope to have the good copies done by the end of this week. 
I was so pleased with the oral presentations, "Me, Me, Glorious Me!"  Thank you so much for your support with helping your child gather materials, as well as write and practice their presentations. Mark sheets should have come home to be signed and returned last week.

Math:  We are just finishing our unit on Time and Money.  There will be a study guide coming home on Tuesday and there will be a quiz on Thursday. 

Science:   We have begun our unit on Strong and Stable Structures.  Students have built bridges from paper and will be further experimenting with using their knowledge to build both strong and stable structures with a variety of materials. Thank you to everyone who has been saving and sending in small boxes and tape for the structures the students will be building later in the unit.

**Please continue encouraging your child to show you his/her agenda every night so you can write in your signature.

**Math homework will continue to be sent home on Wednesdays, to be returned (in most cases) by Friday.

**All students should be reading for at least 15-20 minutes every night and writing it in their red duotang reading log.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 312!

Happy February!


Hi everyone,
Here's a quick update about what's happening in our room these days!


Literacy:  In Literacy, we have been working on making our writing more detailed and interesting through strong word choices. Students have also started presenting their Oral Communication projects they were assigned to complete at home, "Me, Me, Glorious Me!" - please check in your child's agenda for his/her presentation date.  In Media Literacy, we are investigating the purpose and intended audience of media texts, and using the "overt and implied messages" in media to "draw inferences and make meaning".

Math:  We are partway though our unit called Time and Money.  This unit has us exploring the connection between number lines and time, learning how to tell time to 5 minutes on an analogue clock, reading time off a digital clock in different ways (1:25 or 25 minutes after),  investigating fractions, and representing and exploring money and making change up to $10 in a variety of ways.

Science:   We have begun our unit on Strong and Stable Structures.  Thank you to everyone who has been saving and sending in small boxes and tape for the structures the students will be building later in the unit.

**Please continue encouraging your child to show you his/her agenda every night so you can write in your signature.

**Math homework will continue to be sent home on Wednesdays, to be returned (in most cases) by Friday.

**All students should be reading for at least 15-20 minutes every night and writing it in their red duotang reading log.

Room 312 update

Hi everyone,

I can't believe we're nearing the end of January already!!

Literacy:  In Literacy, we are continuing on our personal narratives.  Last week we focused on making interesting leads for the stories and practising reading orally to each other.  This week the focus will be on identifying where more details and better words should be used to make their writing even better.  We will also be practising using the "APE" strategy (Answer, Prove, Explain/Extend) to answer questions, and continuing with our literacy centres.

Math:  We finished our mini-unit which introduced and practised some of the geometry expectations, and will be starting a new unit on Time and Money.

Science:  This week, we will start a unit on Strong and Stable Structures.  We will need a variety of boxes, cardboard, tape, and other materials your children might specifically need for their building project.  More information will be provided to your child over the next week or so.

Technology:  We have been learning, with Mrs. Ford in the Learning Commons, how to do some coding.  If you have access to a computer and the Internet at home, your child can log in to the website and show you a little what we've been doing.  Although you won't have the actual "Microbit", your child can still show you some of the coding.  We will be continuing working with her on a new project using the Microbits starting next week.

**Please continue encouraging your child to show you his/her agenda every night so you can write in your signature.

**Math homework will continue to be sent home on Wednesdays, to be returned (in most cases) by Friday.

**All students should be reading for at least 15-20 minutes every night and writing it in their red duotang reading log.

**There will be an oral presentation assignment, "Me, Me, Glorious Me!" handed out this week.  An information sheet will come home with your child as some of it will need to be completed at home.