Friday 27 March 2020

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. 
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.


Learning websites from school Board



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


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

Thursday 19 March 2020

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

Monday 2 March 2020

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.