Happy May First!

You have all been sent your username login and passwords for Office 365 TEAMS!   So now you have some things to Figure Out!

There will not be any communication through TEAMS at this time.  It is important that you read through all of the important information with your family about how to access TEAMS and the expectations that go along with being a responsible digital citizen.

Next week, we will continue with our Shape of the Week and use of our Classroom Blog but we will also navigate our way closer to having a virtual class meeting.

Unfortunately, I am unable to work online today as I have some family matters I must  tend to.  Please continue to work through your weekly activities, hand in your assignments and I will get to them as soon as I can.

Have a Fantastic Friday and we’ll meet up again on Monday.  Mrs. E.

Good Morning. Today, I am thinking about all the birthdays we had in April.  So I have a special video power point for you.  Eyela and I want to say Happy Birthday to all of our April Birthdays!

Click on the link below!   Have a thoughtful Thursday and keep up the good work!  Some information about Office 365 should be coming your way today.  Mrs. E.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eC1VO73M3aEoV6dw0AYbmxel7HrrdKBu/view

Correction:  The Shape of the Week indicated that you were to do My Bean Plant for READWORKS this week.  My mistake.  It is the reading passage WHAT DO PLANTS NEED! Thanks for your understanding.

It is What’s Up Wednesday and I am going to share with you a Mystery Doug learning lesson right here on the post.  Linnea has been watching a bird nest right outside of her window.  Some of you may have seen robins in your backyard or the park.  You may be familiar with their blue eggs.  This video will give you some insight as to why birds lay their eggs in the Spring.  It will also share with you some very unique bird nests and people nests.  That’s right, nests for people.  So take a look at the video and then the bonus photos.  You can access the video right from the link below!   Enjoy! (This is just for your learning experience – you do not have to have to submit anything.)

https://mysterydoug.com/mysteries/birds-spring#slide-id-8400

I also wanted to share that I will be sending out Office 365 TEAMS username and passwords so that we will be able to access the Division 9 TEAMS program and have our first class meeting some time in May.  Over the next few days, you will receive information on how to access the TEAMS site, the digital citizenship information as well as  district, school and class rules and expectations for TEAM meetings. I will also be sending the OFFICE 365 Log-Ins to your family home email addresses.  Communication through this platform will not begin until I have established that all Division 9 Students can login with Office 365 and access TEAMS first.  TEAMS will not be used for assignments.  The DIVISION 9 BLOG will continue to be the home for all class information, assignments, Shape of the Week and learning opportunities.  

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning To You!  Good Morning, Good Morning And How Do You Do?

The Day Of The Week is Tuesday!   The Day Of The Week Is Tuesday!  The Day Of The Week Is Tuesday!  The Date Is Number 28!

We haven’t been able to sing that song in some time now.  Where has the month of April gone?  We are down to the final 3 days of April and then we open up into the new month of May.  Thank you for all the assignments you handed in last week.  I have added a Spring Acrostic Page to the blog.  As I am still learning, I do not know why the poems decide to present themselves in unusual ways on the blog.  They dance across the page in a way that I do not publish them in.  They must be feeling the rhythm.

This week we are going to review some of the reading passages from ReadWorks.  We are going to take another quick look at Fractions and turn our Word Collector brains into Word Detectives with a final few spring poems to end off the month.

There are also new ways to approach your learning when you access the Shape of the Week page.  There will be poem titles to hover over in order to download the activities and the fraction math questions will be on a fillable answer sheet that you can submit.

Today is Talk About It Tuesday and I would like to talk about my Sunday journey to REDWOOD PARK, in South Surrey.  Let’s pretend we are on a field trip.  The park was home to twin brothers, Peter and David Brown.  In 1893, (how many years ago is that?) their father gifted them the large plot of land so that they could log and farm the area.

However, the brothers didn’t want to destroy the beauty of the forested area and instead filled the vast space with their favourite trees from all around the world. There are many exotic trees in the park.  I believe there are at least 32 different species of trees including the tall Redwood trees.  The brothers were committed to their forest and even built a tree house to live in.  A replica of the tree house is in the park.                                                                                                                                                             

This is what the sign, at the entrance to the park trails, shares – Prayer Of The Woods: I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights, the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun and my fruits are refreshing draughts, quenching your thirst as you journey on. I am the beam that holds your house. The board of your table, the bed which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat. I am the handle of your tools, the door of your home. I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty.  Those who pass by, hear my prayer and harm me not.

One of the most unique parts of the park are the whimsical fairy houses.  Hidden away in the middle of the forest is a wonderland of fairy homes.  They hang from branches, sit on nursing logs and drape the roots of fallen trees.   Maybe you can draw or create your own fairy home.  Perhaps, you have your own fairy land right in your back yard.  Use your imagination and think about the possibilities.   Enjoy  your  day!  Mrs.E.

Animals Gone Wild!  I think we have an animal fashion show happening here.  Thanks Linnea and Dexter.

It’s Fantastic Friday!  Hope you are all well and going to enjoy the sun of today before the April showers arrive.  Again, a big thank you for diving into so many activities and assignments this week.  They are provided as a guideline so please know that you and your family are to engage in what best suits your learning style at this time. I do encourage you to send in 1 activity/assignment per week and work on two ReadWorks reading passages.  If you can tackle more, go for it!  Stretch your thinking, extend your learning and make the most of this learning opportunity from home.  Home is where the HEART is.

Your Fraction Exhibits for the Math Museum have put a smile on my face as your displays have not only shown your understanding of fractions but your creativity.  I was also a little hungry after my gallery walk as there were a few yummy food items used as math manipulatives.

I know many of you have enjoyed doing the Spring Acrostic Poem.  You can use that style of poem for many themes.  You can make an acrostic poem for your name.  You can make an acrostic poem related to what is happening during this historical moment in time.  You can make one related to your favourite sport.  As Word Collectors, you can use one of your favourite, longest words and challenge yourself. There are endless possibilities with acrostic poems.

Monday, April 27, is a Professional Development Day.  I will be collaborating virtually with the staff at Clinton as well as with other educational professionals.  So there will not be a Monday morning blog post or shape of the week assigned on that day.  I will post on Tuesday.  You can access any of the past activities I have shared, check out the library or music page or continue to develop your skills and talents. Anna is building with Lego, Cara is baking with her sister, Malaya is painting rocks, Gokul is making foil creatures, Zahra is doing science experiments and Jocelyn is seeing Fractions in the most unusual places in her home…Math Is Everywhere! (click on the experiment/museum to see)

                                                              Zahra’s Science Experiment                                        Jocelyn’s Fraction Museum

Next week, only 2 reading passages will be assigned. They will be reading passages you have already seen from the past two weeks.  It has been brought to my attention that when you receive your results back, correct answers are not revealed when you have an error.  I am going to see what I can do about that.  It is important that we learn from our mistakes or misunderstandings.  Thanks for your patience on that matter.

As I leave you today, remember to be kind to one another and the Earth.  Be Environmental Super Heroes and take time to appreciate nature.  Everything on Earth is alive                                                                                                                                                                   Everything on Earth is connected                                                                                                                                                         Everything on Earth has a purpose                                                                                                                                                       Everything on Earth is to be embraced      (Aboriginal Worldview)

EVERY CHILD  MATTERS!  YOU MATTER!

Have an Earth-Friendly Friday!   Take care, Mrs. E. 🙂

Hello Green Team!

Our morning messages this month would have encouraged our Clinton School Community to be Earth Friendly.  Division 9 would have turned into the Green Team and we would have presented an environmental message at the April month end assembly.

We may have focused on keeping our water ways clean and free of pollution.  One of the ocean’s environmental enemies is plastic, especially plastic bottles.  Unfortunately, with the recent pandemic, there is a new environmental challenge; plastic gloves.   It is so important for many workers, care givers and those doing tasks out and about in our communities to wear protective gloves.  These gloves, though, do no belong in nature.  So on this Think About It Thursday, take some time time to think about what the Division 9 Green Team message would be if we noticed plastic gloves tossed everywhere in our neighbourhoods.  (There was supposed to be a photo here that I took of some plastic gloves thrown into the bushes and trees but I’m having some tech challenges today. So please use your imagination 🙂   You do not have to share your thoughts with me.  Just simply think about your role as a responsible, respectful Clinton Star Environmental Hero!

I do appreciate the poetry and math museum assignments that have been handed in.  Your creativity, effort and on-line home learning shows me you are continuing to GO and GROW, just like nature!

Have a Thoughtful Thursday,                                                                                                                                                                  Mrs. E

Today’s post is going to be a little bit different.  I am learning just like you and on this Earth Day I am posting a power point accompanied by a voice recording.  It will feel like we are in the classroom, looking at my computer screen and I am sharing with you the power point I have made. I’m sorry I had to rush through the power point but I only had a maximum of 5 minutes to record.  At any time though, you can click PAUSE on the presentation and read the information or look at the pictures on the powerpoint.

Just copy and paste the link below to your browser or go to the sidebar of the blog and click the link under the Earth Day category!   The link is Div 9 Earth Day Power Point Project.  I have also added some Earth Day Song Video links.

  I hope you like the Earth Day activity that I share with you and that you celebrate Earth Day today and everyday!                                                         

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ju5fs_6TxRzld7BvaYXmuW1-zybpMbv7/view

This week  “share class results” is turned on for your READWORKS assignments.  The program automatically marks the multiple choice pieces of the questions.  The comprehension questions must be graded. Even though answers may vary,  READWORKS tries to provide the most accurate answers.  When you access your name from the class list on the program, it will show assignments to do and submitted assignments.  If you click on submitted assignments, your results and the answers will appear once I have checked it and posted the grading.  

Next week, the plan is that I will assign one passage from last week and one passage from this week as assessment pieces.  Just as we use a practice, practice, perform approach in class, I am hoping to do the same online.

This week you will be having fun with a Math Museum Fractions Exhibit.  You can use any items for your museum exhibit. Just make sure that there is something equal about the items you choose (size, shape, colour, theme) and that you add some information to let me know what your gallery piece shows.  I made an exhibit. I used Easter Eggs.

All my eggs are the same size so they show equal parts.  I made 2 fractions out of each but you do not have to do that.  I am sharing a variety of ways to see the math concept. The great part about my exhibit is that I had the opportunity to eat 1/2 of the display 🙂 More importantly though, I had a hands-on experience, enjoyed making the display and learned something.

Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Good Morning!  Happy Meaningful Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We had super weather on Saturday.  Did you get out for a bike ride, walk, backyard picnic or garden time?  I did some more gardening and played with Winnie.  She is getting stronger and bigger each day.  She is still very tiny and will be visiting the vet today to have a check up and her 12 week booster shots.   Can you find her in the photo.  When she is on something dark, she is so very hard to see.

We are starting week 4 of teaching and learning away from one another. Our daily experiences are not what we are used to and we may hit some roadblocks this week trying to maintain a routine and getting to our assignments. I have tried to create a similar week of expectations as last week you have some consistency and you can work from what you have already experienced.

A huge thank you to parents, grand-parents and older siblings who are supporting you at this time. We couldn’t do it without you and it is greatly appreciated.

I have created a new page on the menu header of the blog related to your Spring Cinquains.  You can see what other spring and nature thoughts your classmates have been thinking about.

Earth Day is on Wednesday and right now our planet Earth is doing some healing.  Yet, nature continues to show us how it keeps going and growing which is what I know you all can do too.                                                                              So Keep Going and Keep Growing!

Miss you,                                                                                                                                                                                            Mrs. E.

We’ve made it to the end of another week.  On this Figure It Out Friday, thank you for figuring out how to balance your lives in order to get some key learning activities and assignments completed.  The ReadWorks Program seems to be working as almost all stories have been read and questions answered already, on a 4 day week.  How amazing you all are.  I am hoping that you are also figuring out that your reading assignments have a Science component woven through them.  Next week, the passages will have a similar science theme but move from plants to insects and spring creatures.

Thank you so much to those of you that have sent me either a Spring cinquain or a photo of the Mrs. E Doll you created.  It has been a joy to see your effort and creativity.  It is an expectation that you do send me one assignment each week so try and send me either your cinquain or Mrs. E. drawing, or both if you haven’t already.

Our highlight of today is that Mrs. Jefferson has shared some more music links to keep you movin’ and groovin’.  I added her suggestions to the Music Page on the menu at the top of our classroom blog.  Scroll down her music page to see the new additions.

Movin’ and Groovin’ reminds me of the Talent Show that was going to be coming up.  I believe all of you have unique talents that could be shared.  So…I am going to give you the opportunity to share with me a short video clip or photo, if you like, of your talents.  Some of you have already been showing me some of the new talents you have been exploring thanks to the inspiration of the O.K. Book.

For example, Zahra has been learning how to chop up vegetables and take on the evening dinner chef duties.

  Thanks Zahra for being proud of your new talent!

Some of you play an instrument, sing, dance, work with puppets.  Some of you are artists or good at telling jokes. A few of you enjoy juggling, skipping, gymnastics or creating science experiments.  There is absolutely no pressure to participate or an expectation for you to show and share but I know many of you have been experiencing new opportunities or have been taking the time to improve on the talents you already have.  So let’s have some talent sharing of our own.  Again, it is completely optional, requires parent permission before shared and is just a little added bonus opportunity for you to consider over the next month. Let’s say May 20th (if we are still virtual learning) would be the last date to share a photo or very, very, short video clip. (Again, it does not have to be a video.  If you like playing the guitar, you can show a photo of you playing it)  Just like our daily sharing in the classroom with our mascot, Eyela.  Just have fun with it.

Have a wonderful day and weekend and I will reconnect with you on Monday!    Mrs. E.