September 2, 2020

HOMEWORK WEBSITES...

1. EPICBOOKSFORKIDS.COM: https://www.getepic.com/app/Class Code ITM- 5829KHANACADEMY.ORG: Class Code: DPJMU237 (The Netflix For Books!)

2. Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com/c/NzQxODIzNTE0NFpa Class Code: f5a3uef (Writing Assignments and a place to ask your teacher for help!)

3. Brainpop (Grades 4-6) https://www.brainpop.com USERNAME: mrmassey PASSWORD: mass

4. Brainpopjr (Grades K-3) https://jr.brainpop.com USERNAME: cgmassey PASSWORD: mass

Write and save your work (Write About It, Talk About It, Activity and Quiz)on Google Docs -click PRINT and then SAVE to GOOGLE Drive or PRINT and save in a duotang!!!

5. Ontario "Learn At Home" https://www.ontario.ca/page/learn-at-home

6. TVO mPower (Math- Use the login I emailed you!) https://mpower.tvo.org/#/login/

7. XtraMath.org https://xtramath.org/#/signin/student_other (login with the username and pin I emailed to your HDSB Google Mail account!)

8. MyBluePrint https://myblueprint.ca (Log in using your HDSB account! and research and save info about your Dream Jobs!)

9. KhanAcademy.org https://www.khanacademy.org (log in watch math computer science and language lessons in video form and then complete quizzes and activities!)

10. Free Textbooks from Nelson Publishers! Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Math Textbooks: Colour Textbooks (Grades 3-12) Click on the link below and enter the USERNAME and PASSWORD I included below:(https://www.mynelson.com/mynelson/staticcontent/html/PublicLogin.html?signout=true

My Nelson USERNAME: ontario48 Password: NelsonON123

You can go to all of the Grade 4 Textbooks, read and try to answer in a work booklet or on Google Docs!

Mr. Massey :)

Keep working hard kids! I can see your progress on all of our websites! Email me or post on Google Classroom if you need help or just want to ask some quesitons!

Mr. Massey

Here is a Schedule You Could Follow Next Week!

Grades 3 - 5 Suggestions.......

Time

Activity

8am - 9am

Breakfast/Get ready for an awesome day! And yes, change out of PJs :)

9am - 9:40am

Assuming you’ve gotten a good night of sleep, your thinking will be sharpest in the morning so let’s start the day strong with some math! Whoo hoo!

Khan Academy math practice has got your back. Depending on your confidence and grade level, one of the following courses are likely good for you:

• 2nd grade math
• 3rd grade math
• 4th grade math
• 5th grade math

One practice that we’ve seen teachers and students use to great effect is to start, regardless of age, on Kindergarten and then move to 1st grade, 2nd grade, etc.

Course challenges and unit tests can be used to accelerate through material. If you don’t have too many gaps, you should be able to get through a previous year’s content in 1-3 hours. If you do have gaps, it may take a bit longer, but that is good! This is your chance to fill in those gaps that might otherwise hold you back in the future.

You’ll see that if you are able to put in at least a solid 30 minutes a day of math practice and keep leveling up skills, you’ll see big gains and, most importantly, really see the world in new and exciting ways!

One you are at your grade level, try to set a goal of leveling up at least 3 skills a week.

9:40am - 10am

Play. Ideally play outside. Get that heart pumping.

10am - 10:30 am

We just released the first version of reading comprehension practice on Khan Academy. It is grouped by grade level:

• 2nd grade
• 3rd grade
• 4th grade
• 5th grade
• 6th grade
• 7th grade
• 8th grade

We recommend starting at your grade level and doing 1-2 practice sets per day (or 10 practice sets per week). This should take about 10-20 minutes per day. If you find it difficult, completely okay to start at an earlier grade level. Likewise, if you find the passages and questions to be easy, feel free to move to higher grade levels.

10:30am - 11am

Silent reading. Curl up with a favorite book or magazine. Here is a great list of titles that you might want to get your hands on:

http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/compubs/booklists/summer/alsc-2019-summer-reading-list-grades3-5.pdf

11am - 11:20am

Break/walk/play. Try to get that heart pumping again!

11:20am - 11:40am

Khan Academy Grammar: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar

Recommend starting by taking the course challenge a few times to figure out what you know and don’t know.

11:40 am - 12pm

Journaling/writing. Things to write about/prompts:

• Write a funny or exciting adventure story about what happens when school is closed.
• What are you excited or worried about?
• Write a letter to yourself 10 years in the future. What do you want to tell your future self?
• How do you think the world will be different after the novel corona virus?

12pm - 1pm

Lunch - Listen to an educational podcast! Try Brains On! If you like science, Forever Ago if you like history, or Story Pirates to hear funny stories written by kids.

1pm-2pm

Enrichment:

• Code.org Express course (block based for beginners).
• Khan Academy computer programming, (text based for beginners to intermediate)

Programming computers is far more fun and creative than you probably ever imagined. Both these resources start by creating fun cartoons and animations and work your way up to creating fun games that your friends can play.

2pm-8pm

Relax, go outside, work on passions, time with family.

8-9pm

Lights out, time to sleep!

Grades 6-9

Time

Activity

8am - 9am

Wake up, make your bed, eat breakfast and get ready for an awesome day! And yes, change out of PJs :)

9am - 9:40am

Let’s start strong with some serious math brain training. Remember your brain is like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets!

Khan Academy math practice. Depending on level, one of the following courses are likely appropriate:

• 6th grade math
• 7th grade math
• 8th grade math
• Algebra I
• Geometry

One practice that we’ve seen teachers and students use to great effect is to start, regardless of age, on Kindergarten and then move to 1st grade, 2nd grade, etc.

Course challenges and unit tests can be used to accelerate through material. If you don’t have too many gaps, you should be able to get through a previous year’s content in 1-3 hours. If you do have gaps, it may take a bit longer, but that is good! This is your chance to fill in those gaps that might otherwise hold you back in the future.

9:40am - 10am

Go for walk/run. Youtube JustDance/workouts if weather is bad. Maybe 15 minutes of Yoga with Adrien?

10am - 11am

Reading time. Here is a list of good books for grades 6-8:http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/compubs/booklists/summer/alsc-2019-summer-reading-list-grades6-8cor.pdf

Here is another list.

Sal Khan’s favorite science fiction books that he read around your age include:

• Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
• Ender’s Game,by Orson Scott Card
• Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

11am - 11:20am

Break. Walk/run outside if possible.

11:20am - 12pm

Khan Academy Grammar: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar

Recommend starting by taking the course challenge a few times to figure out what you know and don’t know.

Journaling/Writing

Things to write about/prompts:

• What would you do? Research how the virus spreads and different plans that leaders have made to slow it or stop it. Then imagine you are an elected official. Write a plan of your own to slow or stop the virus in your own town.
• What are you excited or worried about?
• Write a letter to yourself 10 years in the future. What do you want to tell your future self?
• How do you think the world will be different after the novel coronavirus?
• What part would you play? People in many, many different jobs play a role in managing this outbreak. Make a list of jobs that can contribute to a solution, and write about which job you’d want and why.

12pm - 1pm

Lunch - Listen to an educational podcast! Try RadioLab If you like science, Forever Ago if you like history, or Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls if you like biographies

1pm - 2pm

Science and social studies. Khan Academy high school biology could be used. Do research on what a virus is and how it spreads. Keep track of the news and how the various countries are responding to the pandemic. Khan Academy resources:

• High school biology
• American history
• Computer science principles

2pm-2:30pm

Walk/break

2:30pm-3:30pm

Enrichment:

• Code.org Express course (block based for beginners).
• Khan Academy computer programming, (text based for beginners to intermediate)

Programming computers is far more fun and creative than you probably ever imagined. Both these resources start by creating fun cartoons and animations and work your way up to creating fun games that your friends can play.

3:30pm-9pm

relax, go outside, work on passions, time with family.

9-10pm

Lights out, time to sleep!

Homework Over the Never-Ending March Break :0

1. READING - Epic Books for Kids (Listen to books, read books out loud, complete quizzes), Try to retell what you read (What is the MAIN IDEA the author wants me to learn? , retell 5 important points, and make personal connections to what I read
2. WRITING - Write in a journal each day, create Google Docs, Brainpop Grammar Lessons (WRITING FORMS: Try to write 1 of each the forms; DIary, Story
3. MATH - Complete paper tests and other incomplete work in your RED duotangs - Khan Academy, Xtra Math.com, Brainpop (MATH lessons)
4. SCIENCE - Brainpop (search ¨Rocks” for videos and lessons with printable worksheet activities, or they could be completed online and saved to your Google Drive to then share with Mr. Massey for grading (BONUS MARKS: Research a rock or mineral and create a GOOGLE SLIDE PRESENTATION that teaches the class all of the attributes of your rock or mineral.
5. SOCIAL STUDIES - complete ¨My Provincial Research Project” in your red duotangs. Make sure to complete all maps neatly and be ready to present your province when you return from the break in April (BONUS MARKS: Create a Google SLIDES Presentation about your province that includes songs, food, art, tourist attractions and people from your province!)
6. PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Get outside everyday for a walk/hike, ski, run!
7. HEALTH: BRAINPOP HEALTH Lessons
8. ART: Art Hub for KIDS, Brainpop Art

Take care of yourselves and your families and see you in April!

Mr. Massey

Dear Parents and Guardians of Massey Students!

We are using a program called XtraMath to increase speed and accuracy in arithmetic. Your child is invited to spend a few minutes each day practicing math on a computer, tablet, or phone. If you would like your child to do XtraMath on a tablet or smartphone, look for XtraMath in the app store. You can purchase the app for a few dollars. On a laptop or desktop computer, XtraMath is available for free at xtramath.org. Here's what you need to do: In the app or on the website, select Enroll. Enter your email address and enrollment code, (sent home in a flyer). This will (1) create a parent account for you if you don't have one, (2) link your child's account to your account so you can review his/her progress, and (3) save your child's account information for easy sign-in on that computer or device. If you already have a parent account for your child from a previous class or personal use, then this enrollment process will allow your child to resume XtraMath where he/she left off rather than starting over in my classroom. For more information about XtraMath watch the videos on their website, xtramath.org. Think of XtraMath as a math vitamin! For best results, your child should do XtraMath once per day as regularly as possible. It only takes a few minutes so make it a part of your daily routine. Math facts are the building blocks of your child's math education and your child will be well rewarded for the time they spend practicing on XtraMath.

Thank you!

Mr. Massey

Make a Habitat Diorama

Due Friday December 13th, 2019

One of our big science units involves comparing and contrasting the needs, adaptations and habitats of different animals. A habitat is the natural environment in which an animal usually lives (butterfly fish in the ocean, black bear in the forest, rattlesnake in the desert, etc.). Adaptations are special characteristics that animals have developed in order to survive in their habitats. Pick one animal and use reference books and the Internet to learn about your animal’s natural habitat and adaptations. After you’ve finished your research, you will create a diorama of your animal’s habitat. A diorama is like a stage set made from a cardboard box with no lid (shoeboxes work great). To create a diorama, you turn the box on its long side and cover the background (bottom of the box) with painted or colored scenery. Then, you place figures and objects in front of the background like characters and props on a stage.

Please note: Animals must be real (no animal legends), wild (no domesticated animals/pets) and cannot be extinct (no dinosaurs).The habitat must also be NATURAL (no houses, cages, aquariums, zoos, etc.).

What you need:

• Cardboard box (or shoebox) without lid

• Suggestions for decoration: A variety of art and craft supplies, including paint, colored pencils and markers, crayons, colored crepe paper, colored construction paper, colored modeling clay, pipe cleaners, animal print or furry fabric swatches. A collection of natural objects, such as small rocks, leaves, grass, moss, pine needles, and twigs.

• glue

• scissors

What to do:

First, add background scenery to the bottom of the box. Then, stand the diorama up on its side before adding the figures and objects. You may use cut-out pictures of animal figures and objects, or build them from clay and other materials. Be creative, using any materials available to craft your animals (Ex: pine needles for antennae, pipe cleaners for legs, tiny rocks for eyes, etc.) If possible, add natural or crafted objects to your habitat to make it look realistic. Glue the objects to the box so they won’t fall when the diorama is carried.

Dioramas will be presented in class. Complete the attached presentation form about your animal and its habitat. You will share this information with the rest of the class when you explain your diorama.

In order to receive full credit, you must complete the diorama and the presentation form.

Have fun!

Mr. Massey

Today the individual CCAT (Grade 4 Gifted Testing) was sent home in a white envelope with your child's scores. Our class wrote the test November 21-23. The CCAT test 3 areas:

•Verbal (words) •Quantitative (numerical) •Nonverbal (spatial)

If you have any questions about the results, click on the slideshow below for more info!

CCAT Information For Parents

http://www.peelschools.org/students/40hours/volunteerjobboard/Documents/The%20Canadian%20Cognitive%20Abilities%20Test%20-%20information%20for%20parents%20[1].pdf

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Thursday November 14th, 2019

On Monday November 18th, Progress Reports will be sent home in your child's zippy/backpack. I have scheduled Student Led Conferences for Thursday night and Friday morning. There is a slip of paper in the Progress Report envelope. If your time or day does not suit you, please send me an email and I will do my best to find a time for us to meet!

Looking forward to sharing!

Mr. Massey

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Friday September 13, 2019

We sent home flyers for our Martin Street Fall Fair today!

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Tuesday Sept. 10th, 2019

Today, we sent home the Halton Children's Water Festival field trip permission forms home with your child. Please sign and return no later than Monday Septermber 23. The field trip will take place Friday September 27. Click on the link below to find out more information!

HALTON CHILDRENS' WATER FESTIVAL!CLICK HERE!

Today the class started some benchmark assessments in Reading (Paragraph Reading Test) , Spelling (Gentry Test) and Math (Anecdotal Grade 4 Assessement). These tests will help me guide your child this term in their learning goals!

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Monday Sept. 10, 2019

Our class had a tour of the Learning Commons (Library) with our amazing LIBRARIAN Mr. Duff! We will be allowed to sign out books during our next library period.

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Thursday Sept, 5th, 2019

Mr. Massey sent emails to parents about our EPIC BOOKS account! Students can use their accounts at school and at home (this month for free!). We will be using this website for our classroom READALOUDS (class altogether) and INDEPENDENT reading and research for SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE and other subjects. It is a searchable library that has been called "The Netflix For Books!" Students will have a free account all year long to use during school hours, and if you enjoy the site at home, we may decide to purchase a full account! Happy Reading!!!

Our MATH HOMEWORK website "DREAMBOX" is active if your child had an account last year. As soon as the Board approves the account for our class (hopefully in a couple of weeks), I will send home log in details! DreamBox LINK: https://insight.dreambox.com/dbl-resources

School Code: z3vf/martinsps Classroom Code: 52226

P.S. Don't forget to pack your ME BAG items into your schoolbag for tomorrow's presentation! Practice speaking about each item and why it is important to you! I can't wait to hear about your special items! :)

Mr. Massey :)

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Wednesday Sept. 4th, 2019

Please return all FIRST DAY FORMS in the envelope sent home on Tuesday by this Friday at the latest. Be sure to sign each form before returning them with your child. Thank you!

Students were sent home with a ME BAG poem! I am asking each child to choose 5-7 items that they could bring in their backpack to use for a SHOW AND SHARE on Friday! Help your child practice speaking about their items before Friday! I can't wait to see and hear about some things that are important to your child's life! - Mr. Massey :)

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Tuesday September 3rd, 2019

Dear Parents and Guardians of Grade 4 Massey Students,

I would like to say hello to those parents I have had the pleasure of already knowing, and greetings to my NEW parents!

I am so excited to be your child's teacher this year! It has been great to reconnect with my students from last year and to meet some new faces! Some of you are new to Martin Street, and I hope that we have made your children feel at home!

This is my 14th year teaching at Martin Street School, and my 20th year as a teacher!

I was born in Guelph, Ontario to a Registered Nurse (mom) and a High School teacher (dad). I attended the University of Guelph for my Bachelor of Arts degree (History), then moved to Australia where I graduated from Teacher's College with a Masters of Teaching and a Master of Education. My younger brother also went university in Australia and is also teaching Grade 3 at a boys school. He is married and has 2 young boys. I loved teaching and surfing in Australia, but I missed skiing in beautiful Canadian snow and wakeboarding in our clear freshwater lakes during the summer at my family cottage on Lake Joseph in Muskoka (2 hours North of Toronto).

The 2019-2020 school year is off to an awesome start! We have been working on practising classroom and school procedures and expectations, but more importantly, we have been building a sense of community through our "School of Belonging" activities, ice-breakers and games.

Mr. Albrecht is the captain or our ship, and the best principal a school could ask for! We have a new Vice-Principal named Mrs. Febers. If you call the office, you will hear the kind voices of our secretary Mrs. Martalog!

HOMEWORK - Halton District School Board guidelines are 30 minutes for Grade 3s and 40 minutes for grade 4s. So far, the only expectation I have asked the students is to read OUT LOUD for 20 minutes at home to a parent or guardian (or stuffed animal!).

GOOGLE will be our main communication and work medium for students and teachers. Emails, Word Documents, Slide Shows and videos will all be accessed through your child's account with Halton District School Board. I will send home log in and password info cards so that you can access their work at home with your child!!

INDOOR SHOES, WATER BOTTLES and EMERGENCY CHANGE OF CLOTHES are suggested for all students.

LIBRARY BOOKS - We have had our first book sign outs with our amazing Librarian, Mrs. Duff ! I ask students to sign out 1 Fiction and 1 Non-Fiction book each week. We will discuss how to choose "Good Fit" books at their appropriate reading level and, when possible, non-fiction books that support our curriculum learning topics (for example, the Grade 4s will begin the year with a "Canada" unit for Social Studies and "Animal Habitats" in Science.

Please don't hesitate to email or call about ANYTHING big or small!!!! I would LOVE to hear about how your child feels about the year so far!

Kindest Regards,

Mr. Christopher G. Massey (B.A., M. Teach., M. Ed.)

Grade 4 Classroom Teacher Room #216

my email: masseyc@hdsb.ca

Class Website Address: https://sites.google.com/hdsb.ca/mrmassey/home

***please feel free to contact me anytime with any concerns - BIG or small!***

Welcome back to Martin Street! I hope everyone had a great summer!

HOMEWORK WEBSITES:

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MATH...

1) DREAMBOX (Math Manipulatives/Visual Learning/Number Sense, Numeration and Place Value)

School URL: https://play.dreambox.com/login/z3vf/martinsps

School Code: z3vf/martinsps

2) KHANACADEMY (LOGIN to save your progress: Videos of lessons, practice questions, quizzes and units tests)

www.khanacademy.org (each student now has an account - have your child login at home and you can add your email to receive updates on their weekly progress!)

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READING...

1) EPICBOOKSFORKIDS (Netflix for Books!) Don't forget to READ OUT LOUD to practice your FLUENCY!! Can be accessed at school and home before 7:00pm each night. Get your homework done early! :)

https://www.getepic.com/app/profile-select

EPIC BOOKS CLASS CODE: ITM5829 (then proceed to login to your child's account!)

2) INTOTHEBOOK! (Students log into their account and work on Reading Strategies: Main Idea, Making Connections, Inferencing)

https://reading.ecb.org/

(Raz-Kids has been cancelled this year for Grades 3 and 4 by the Halton District School Board - for Grades 1-2 only)

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WRITING, SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, HEALTH, ARTS and TECHNOLOGY...

1) BRAINPOPJR.COM (Students log in and can watch lesson videos and write using different TEXT TYPES: Stories, Procedures, etc.) Brainpopjr.com is also a great all-in-one site for Science, Social Studies, Health, Math, Arts and Technology. After watching a video, students can choose from 10 activities that will help demonstrate their understanding of the topic.

**Brainpop will not SAVE any writing, so I suggest copying and pasting into their Google Docs accounts and then they can print the activity at school - after some help with editing from peers and the teacher!

https://jr.brainpop.com/readingandwriting/

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Dear Parents and Guardians of Grade 4 Students,

I would like to say hello to those parents I have had the pleasure of already knowing, and greetings to my NEW parents!

I am so excited to be your child's teacher this year! It has been great to reconnect with my students from last year and to meet some new faces! Some of you are new to Martin Street, and I hope that we have made your children feel at home!

This is my 14th year teaching at Martin Street School, and my 20th year as a teacher!

I was born in Guelph, Ontario to a Registered Nurse (mom) and a High School teacher (dad). I attended the University of Guelph for my Bachelor of Arts degree (History), then moved to Australia where I graduated from Teacher's College with a Masters of Teaching and a Master of Education. My younger brother also went university in Australia and is also teaching Grade 3 at a boys school. He is married and has 2 young boys. I loved teaching and surfing in Australia, but I missed skiing in beautiful Canadian snow and wakeboarding in our clear freshwater lakes during the summer at my family cottage on Lake Joseph in Muskoka (2 hours North of Toronto).

The 2019-2020school year is off to an awesome start! We have been working on practising classroom and school procedures and expectations, but more importantly, we have been building a sense of community through our "School of Belonging" activities, ice-breakers and games.

Last year was our first year in the new school building and we have grown from a Kindergarten-Grade 5 to Kindergarten-Grade 7!

Mr. Albrecht is the captain or our ship, and the best principal a school could ask for! We have a new Vice-Principal named Mrs. Febers. If you call the office, you will hear the kind voices of our two secretaries Mrs. Royce or Mrs. Martalog!

HOMEWORK - Halton District School Board guidelines are 30 minutes for Grade 3s and 40 minutes for grade 4s. So far, the only expectation I have asked the students is to read OUT LOUD for 20 minutes at home to a parent or guardian (or stuffed animal!).

GOOGLE will be our main communication and work medium for students and teachers. Emails, Word Documents, Slide Shows and videos will all be accessed through your child's account with Halton District School Board. I will send home log in and password info cards so that you can access their work at home with your child!!

INDOOR SHOES, WATER BOTTLES and EMERGENCY CHANGE OF CLOTHES are suggested for all students.

LIBRARY BOOKS - We have had our first book sign outs with our amazing Librarian, Mrs. Webber! I require students to sign out 1 Fiction and 1 Non-Fiction book each week. We will discuss how to choose "Good Fit" books at their appropriate reading level and, when possible, non-fiction books that support our curriculum learning topics (for example, the Grade 3s will begin learning about "Ontario" and the Grade 4s will begin the year with a "Canada" unit for Social Studies).

Please don't hesitate to email or call about ANYTHING big or small!!!! I would LOVE to hear about how your child feels about the year so far!

Kindest Regards,

Mr. Christopher G. Massey (B.A., M. Teach., M. Ed.)

Grade 3/4 Classroom Teacher Room #216

my email: masseyc@hdsb.ca

Class Website Address: https://sites.google.com/hdsb.ca/mrmassey/home

***please feel free to contact me anytime with any concerns - BIG or small!***