News and Upcoming Events
School closures have been extended until the end of June
All work continues to be posted on Hapara. We will be following the same format as we did with Phase 2 for the remainder of school closures. It seems to be working for everyone who is using it. Please continue to provide me with feedback to let me know how things are working for you. I have been adapting/changing things as I hear from you. I want distance learning to be as easy and accessible to you as possible. Your suggestions and feedback are always welcome and appreciated!
Phase 2 of School Closures
For the second phase of school closures, primary students are expected to do about 5 hours a week of work in Math and Literacy. We are finding creative ways to incorporate other subject areas into this learning time. Literacy time will include French and English literacy. Our new French teacher Mme. Kennedy will be introducing herself this week!
For this new phase, I will be using Hapara Workspaces to share assignments. Hapara Workspace can be accessed through the student portal. Each week I will share a Reading workspace, a Writing workspace and a Math workspace. There will be 3 to 4 colour coded columns in each workspace. The first column (blue) will always tell you the learning goal. The middle column (yellow) will have teaching, tools, resources and practice activities, the third column (green) will be the work that needs to be completed and submitted. In some cases there will be an assessment column (purple) to show you how the activity will be assessed.
I will always post workspaces at the beginning of the week and leave them up for the week (or longer) so that you can work at your own pace.
On Monday, April 6th, I will have a Google Hangout Meet to do a quick tutorial and question period so that everyone is familiar with how to use this amazing tool!
I will keep the resources below (from phase one) posted and updated incase you are looking for additional activities in any subject area.
Happy learning and as always, please reach out to me with any question, concerns or suggestions!
Resources to promote health and wellbeing
OCSB List of Helpful Resources for Learning At Home
First Reconciliations and First Communions
First Reconciliations and First Communions have been postponed. We will communication with you when we have further details.
Religion
A Prayer Remembering God is With Us
Lord god, you are always with me.
You are with me in the day and in the night.
You are with me when I’m happy and when I’m sad.
You are with me when I’m healthy and when I’m ill.
You are with me when I am peaceful
And when I am worried.
Today I am feeling (name how you are feeling)
Because (reasons you are feeling this way).
Help me to remember that you love me and are with me
In everything today. Amen.
Prayer for Children - Kathy McNicholas
Dear God,
You created the world-and have loved and
Cared for us ever since.
Please watch over our world now.
Please help all the doctors, nurses, and scientists
Working for healing.
Please help our leaders to make good choices.
Please keep our teachers and our friends safe
Until we can be together with them again.
And please wrap Your loving arms around us all and remind us
How You are always our good and kind Father.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
June Feast Days:
Holy Trinity Sunday: Sunday, June 7
Corpus Christi: Sunday, June 14
Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Friday, June 19
Nativity of John the Baptist: Wednesday, June 24
Feast of St. Peter and Paul: Monday, June 29
Digitial Bible Resources
Biblestudytools.com (Remember to change the setting to NRSV - New Revised Standard Version)
Biblegateway.com (Remember to change the setting to NRSV - New Revised Standard Version)
Growing in Faith Student Resources are now available:
Using the Growing in Faith link on the Student Portal:
Student Login:
username: GIFGIC_student99
password: Student99
First Communion Prep:
You can continue watching out Blessed series at home. We were on Session 2 of the First Communion program. https://dynamiccatholic.com/blessed/first-communion/program-view/session-2
Images of Hope: In preparation for our Catholic Education Week theme exploration: Igniting Hope,
I encourage you to draw or find (print) images of hope. In these days where there is much uncertainty, it is always good to focus on staying hopeful. Discuss as a family, what it means to be hopeful and how you see others sharing hope in these troubling times in our world. How can you spread hope. You child can draw or print images of hope they see. Please bring your images with you to school as we prepare to create a collage for the front display in May.
Please consider watching Mass on TV or online. There are many options being made available during this time of closures. YesTV offers the Daily TV Mass at 1pm on weekdays and 10:30 on Sundays.
These are great resources to use during Lent and otherwise to enhance your child's faith formation: https://www.ocsb.ca/six-religious-education-resources-for-families/
See craft below:
Math
Please see the weekly workspace for lessons and learning activities!
Kodable
I have created Kodable accounts for all students. This is a great resource to learning coding skills. Our next Math Unit will be Locomotion and Movement and this is an ideal resource to practice skills.
To access your account:
- Type game.kodable.com into your web browser
- Click on "Get Started" (orange box on the left side of the page)
- Click on "Already have an account? Login here
- Click on School Profile
- Enter our class code: StJPIIGr2
- Find your name and click on: Play
- Have fun!!
Zorbits Math
Zorbits can be accessed from the student portal. I have added 2 digit addition and subtraction assignments to your child's profile that you can use at your pace for extra practice. They will be available until the end of the month! I have also added 3 counting assignments (by 5s, 10s, and 25s) to help with our unit on money.
Language
Please see the weekly writing workspace for writing activities.
I would also encourage you to keep reading daily. Our most recent reading strategies were identifying the main idea and the supporting details and comparing and contrasting. Keep practicing these while reading.
This is an incredible resource to keep up with reading and comprehension. It includes great extension activities, too. Hope you check it out!
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome/grades-1-2.html
The Arts and Phys. Ed.
Our next unit for both subjects was Dance! We were going to have Momentum Moves dance workshops next week. Since this won't be happening please consider using the link below to access this free resource which you can use at home during the school closures.
http://www.getedgeucated.ca/users/checkout/auth
Find your own ways to be well and stay active. Enjoy your family time!
Science Project
Our new unit focuses on the needs and characteristics of animals. Our animal classes project will be a guided, individual research project with some possible group collaboration opportunities! It will be unfolded in stages over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for updates on the Writing Workspace!
The following resource is being made available for free during school closures. This is an excellent site which we use in class and the students really enjoy. Please take advantage of this offer:
Class Dojo
This year I will be using Class Dojo as a tool to track learning skills and work habits. I will be rewarding points for students who display our targeted learning skills (responsibility, organization, self-regulation, collaboration, initiative and independent work). I am hoping that all of you will consider creating a parent account. It is a great means of parent-teacher communication and it provides you with daily immediate feedback and ideas for discussion with you child. There is also a parent-teacher messaging feature, which allows you to communicate with me directly. I will be using the "Class Story" section, to give you updates about what's happening in class. Parent and student invites are being sent home this week in your child's blue communication folder. Please keep them in a safe place.
Homework
As a school we are trying to reduce the amount of paper we are using this year. As a result, I will be encouraging use of our digital resources for homework. I highly encourage you to use Zorbits and Raz Kids at home. These are excellent resources that have been purchased by the OCSB for all students this year. They are an great way to review Math and Literacy skills. Reading nightly is also encouraged either with online books or hard copy books. I have set students to start at their June reading level in Raz Kids. They do have access to a few shelves before and after incase their level has changed over the summer. They will automatically progress as they finish reading the books on a bookshelf.
Current Math and Language units are updated regularly on the "Curriculum Updates" page should you want to know what we are working on so that you can review further with your child.
I realize that some of you might not have easy access to technology and I also see the value in handing in homework to build responsibility.
Therefore, I will also be sending home one double sided page each week with daily language practice. For the first 2 weeks of the school year, this will be a growth mindset refection. After that, it will be a "Daily Language Review" page focused on building spelling, grammar, reading and writing skills. This will be sent home each Monday and will be due back to school each Friday.
Google, Raz Kids and Zorbits Passwords
All passwords have been glued into the front cover of your child's homework duotang. Raz Kids and Zorbits accounts have been purchased by the Board for all of our Grade 1-3 students and both programs can be accessed through the Student Portal link on our school website or by using the links on the login cards. We will be using both programs in school. Please make use of these great resources at home, too! Your child's Google account will be used throughout the year for various assignments. You can check their Google Drive at any time to see what they are working on!