Month: April 2020

Thanks for visiting this website.  I hope you are all doing well and found creative ways to spend your time at home.  Online schooling will look differently than the classroom.  I hope to communicate with all of you through this blog (providing announcements), emails (my email is kash.sihota@burnabyschools.ca), and Microsoft Teams (I have never used it before, but it is another way we can communicate with each other).  Make sure you click on the “ANNOUNCEMENTS” heading to see what we will be doing daily.  Hopefully this will be an effective way to communicate with all of you.  I am looking forward to hearing from everybody! And remember to keep washing your hands and practicing social distancing!

MONDAY, APRIL 20TH

Happy Monday Division 6! I hope you all had a good weekend and had a chance to get outside for a walk with your parents or listen to some music or watch some funny videos on youtube.  Here’s your schedule for today and remember to be flexible with the schedule.  If you get tired, take a break, but try your best!

• PE WITH JOE – Continue with Wednesday, April 8th, 2020.  Do it for 20 minutes today.  This is a slight increase, but I think you guys are ready for it!  I can also offer you guys a choice – you can do PE WITH JOE or you can search on youtube for some JUST DANCE videos.  If you choose JUST DANCE videos, then I want you to do the JUST DANCE videos for 20 minutes as well.  Please choose appropriate videos if you choose to do JUST DANCE.  Again, take breaks and drink water when necessary.
• RAZ KIDS – Continue with 20 minutes.  As I mentioned before, this will be a part of our regular routine.
• POETRY – Log into MS TEAMS and look for the CLASS MATERIALS folder.  In the CLASS MATERIALS folder, there is another folder titled “POETRY”.  Click on that folder and you will see a PDF that is 3 pages long.  The first two pages is about creating a poetry booklet.  We will not be creating a poetry booklet this term, but we will be creating a poetry PPT.  Don’t worry too much about that right now, you’ll have lots of time to create that.  For now, go to page 3 of that PDF.  You will have instructions on how to create an ACROSTIC poem.
• POETRY – Your assignment is to create an ACROSTIC poem based on your first and last name.  Read the instructions on how to create an ACROSTIC poem and review the examples provided.  Try to stretch the sentence if you can that will help you create a poem that is more interesting.  I always think the best poems are the ones that help the reader to visualize the poem.  Submit the ACROSTIC poem on MS TEAMS under the ASSIGNMENTS tab.  The due date is at the end of the week.  You can create as many acrostic poems as you want, but submit your favourite one.  If there is a problem with submitting into the acrostic poem, don’t worry about it.  Save the file on your computer and we’ll try to figure something out.
• HOW TO CREATE A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION – watch the video and become familiar with it. There is a link under the RESOURCES section labelled “HOW TO CREATE A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION”.  Some of you maybe familiar with how to create a PPT, so this would be good review.  The video is about 13 minutes.
• COOL MATH 4 KIDS – Continue using Cool Math 4 Kids today for 15 minutes.  Try some of the games that you didn’t try the other.  We will be starting a new math program called IXL.com.  I have set up your accounts and will be emailing it to you shortly.  So, make sure that you check your email for your account information.
• PRACTICE TYPING with Dance Mat typing again for 15 minutes.  If some of you have found a different website that you would like to use, you can use it.  But I do want you to practice for 15 minutes.
• Explore MS TEAMS – It’s good to see that some of you guys completed the journal entry that I put under the ASSIGNMENTS tab.  To be honest with all of you, I wasn’t planning to have you guys do it.  It was more of a test for me to see how to upload a file under the ASSIGNMENTS section.  But having said that, I’m thinking now that it would be a good thing for you guys to complete.  This way, you get familiar with how to complete an assignment using MS TEAMS.  Take your time with it, and try your best to complete it.  The due date will be by the end of the week.
• Another note on MS TEAMS – I am emailing your parents today about the Burnaby School Districts policy on DIGITAL RESPONSIBILITY GUIDELINES.  I WANT YOU TO REVIEW THAT WITH YOUR PARENTS.  Please DO NOT CALL OTHER STUDENTS AND DO NOT USE THE VIDEO FUNCTION ON MS TEAMS.   MS Teams is meant for educational purposes.  You can use the chat function and type messages to each other.  Thanks for being considerate and look to explore MS TEAMS.  I’ll activate all your accounts on Wednesday around 11 am, so that you are able to use the chat function.   Thanks for all of your patience.

Well, that’s enough for today. There’s a lot to read, watch, and do, so remember to be flexible with the schedule.  If you need to take a break, then make sure that you do!  I’ll leave a new message for tomorrow!

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

UPDATE:  Please do not use the video chat function for MS Teams either.  Let’s all be respectful of everyone’s privacy.  You can use the chat option where you can type messages to each other.
​Thanks.

Good morning Division 6 and happy Friday!  This is the end of the first week of class together  Today, we will continue with the same routine that we’ve begun this week.

• PE WITH JOE – Continue with Tuesday, April 7th, 2020.  Do it for 15 minutes and try your best to keep up.  Take breaks and drink water when necessary.
• RAZ KIDS – Continue with 15 minutes.  As I mentioned before, this will be a part of our regular routine.
• COOL MATH 4 KIDS – Continue using Cool Math 4 Kids today for 15 minutes.  Try some of the games that you didn’t try yesterday.  See which ones you like!
• PRACTICE TYPING with Dance Mat typing again for 15 minutes.
• A reminder, today was the due date for your email where you tell me how you are feeling.  Try your best to email me, it gives some of you practice with how to create and send an email.  This will be important for us as we continue our online learning.
• Another reminder – Division 6, I’m going to have to ask you guys to stop sending emails back and forth to each other because I am apart of those emails.  The last few days, I’ve been receiving a lot of those emails in my inbox and they are filling up my inbox. I am losing track of some important emails because of that.  I still think it’s important for you guys to talk with each other, so I’m opening up MS Teams today at 11:30.
• Finally, log into MS Teams and explore it.  You may be wondering, what is MS Teams? Well, from my understanding, it is a Microsoft program where I can upload files (such as assignments) for the whole class to access AND you can send me your completed assignments on it. There is a FILES and ASSIGNMENTS section that we will be spending our time on.  In the FILES section, you will find a folder that is labeled CLASS MATERIALS.  In that folder, you will find folders for some of our subjects there.  I will try to post assignments in that folder.  There is also an ASSIGNMENTS section, where you will be submitting assignments to me.  There is a chat function, but we have to be mindful and remember to follow our classroom rules of using respectful language.  It’s been a long time since any of you have talked with each other, so I don’t mind if you guys try the chat.  I’ll have the chat open, but please DO NOT use the phone call option to call each other.  The reason is that I cannot supervise what happens in the phone call.  I am sure that you will all follow that instruction.
• There are some tutorial lessons on how to log into MS Teams under the TUTORIALS section.  I am new to MS Teams as well, so we’ll see how it works together.  If you have any problems, let me know.  When I tried it for the first time, I was a bit unclear as to how it worked.  But I kept on trying and I’m starting to understand some of it – I think 😊.  So take it slowly and look at the TUTORIALS section to understand how to log into MS Teams.  Remember, this is a program that we will try to be using, so we should understand that it is being used for educational purposes.

Enjoy the weekend.  Read a book, play a board game, go for a walk with your family, listen to some music, or watch a movie.  I’ll post again on Monday next week.  Until then, take care!

THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 –

Good morning Division 6, hopefully you all enjoyed the first day of online learning!  If anyone had a problem with logging on to anything, please email me and let me know.  Today, we’ll be continuing some of the same activities that I had listed yesterday.  We’ll be doing the same for tomorrow as well.  The reason is that it brings a sense of routine to the day and our online learning.  We will be beginning our newest writing unit next week and it will be poetry.  If everything works out okay, I’ll upload your poetry unit onto MS Teams and then you will have access to chosen poem.  I’ll speak more about poetry next week.  I’ve uploaded 2 new links on how to use Microsoft Word under the RESOURCES section. I tried to find some videos that would be helpful and not too long. The first video is about 14 minutes long (if you need a break while watching, go for it!).  The second video is about 5 minutes long.  If you have any spare time today, practice creating a word document – you could write a short story for fun if you want.

Let’s take a look at what today’s schedule looks like:

• Let’s begin this day with watching the next PE WITH JOE video.  We’ll continue with his video dated Monday, April 6th, 2020.  I want to try to do this everyday for 15 minutes.  The reason I want to do exercise every morning is that I remember a teacher mentioning to me that he would take his class outside and do a walk the first thing in the morning.  His class would go out for a walk whether the sun was shining or it was raining.  He mentioned to me that he felt like exercise first thing in the morning was important – it helped keep the kids alert and ready to learn.  Again, remember to make sure that there is enough space for you to exercise and drink plenty of water after you finish.  If you get tired during the exercises, take a break and then rejoin.
• Next, log into RAZ KIDS.  Again, use it for 15 minutes.  This will be apart of our daily online learning.  I know that some of you already read more than that, but for now keep it to 15 minutes.
• COOL MATH 4 KIDS – This is website that I want you to use for now.  It’s a great way to get regular practice and review with your addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions in a fun way by playing games.  Make sure that you select your grade and explore which games you want to play.  Play for 15 minutes.
• Our fourth activity for today, is to practice our TYPING skills. Continue with Dance Mat Typing and try practicing for 10 minutes today. Typing is a skill that will be helpful for you now and the older you get.  So, keep on practicing!
• Next, watch the 2 videos on how to create a word document under the RESOURCES section labelled MICROSOFT WORD TUTORIAL PART 1 AND PART 2.  This may be review for some of you, which would be good!  Like I said earlier, try to write a short story or a free write of your choice if you can to practice creating a word document.  There isn’t any topic, I’ll leave that up to you for now.  Using word will be a skill that will help you this term, so getting familiar with how to use it with some practice will be beneficial.  The first video is about 14 minutes and the second video is about 5 minutes.
• Finally, I have received some emails already and it’s great to see how you guys are doing!  If you didn’t have a chance to email me yesterday, try today if you can.  I really do want to know how you guys are all doing.  You can tell me some of the things that you did over the spring break or what you did at home that was fun or whatever you feel like.  Try not to write just one sentence.

That’s it for today.  Make sure you get some fresh air (but make sure you are with your parents when you do).  I’ll be posting a new message for tomorrow by 9 AM.  See you guys then!

Mr. Sihota

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020

Good morning Division 6, welcome to our first day together! We’re going to begin our online learning this week.  Make sure that you  look at this “ANNOUNCEMENTS” page everyday for updates.  I will be posting the day’s activities by 9 AM everyday.  Please note, we always want to be flexible with the schedule and try our best to complete what is scheduled.  For today, explore the headings at the top of the screen: announcements, resources, tutorials, and more.  Hover over any of the headings and click on it.

For today, the schedule looks like this:

• Hover over the resources page and click on it.  There will be links to all of the following websites that I want you to go to.
• First, log into “RAZ KIDS”. It is a reading comprehension website.  Your parents will have the password for you.  I want you to use Raz Kids for 20 minutes today.  This will be something that we do regularly.  Keep it to 20 minutes a day, do not go over.
• Secondly, watch “PE WITH JOE”.  Exercise is so important to your physical health.  Because of COVID-19, we all know that it is important for all of us to stay inside, but we have to make sure we get daily exercise.  So, I want you to watch the youtube video for “Friday, April 3rd, 2020 (HE’S WEARING A SPIDER-MAN COSTUME …. SO COOL!).  Make sure that there is enough space for you to do the exercises.  It goes for 30 minutes, but I want you to try it for 15 minutes.  If you get tired in between, take a break.  If you want to do the full 30 minutes, that is up to you.  After you’re done, make sure that you drink plenty of water.
• Then, click on the link for “PRACTICE TYPING”.  I want you to develop your typing skills.  Type for about 10 – 15 minutes.  Let me know what you think of this website.
• Finally, I want you to email me.  Hover over the “and more” heading and click on it.  You will see a link for your email account.  I want you to write me an email and just tell me how you feel?  It’s been a long time since we talked and were in a classroom.  There have been so many changes to our daily lives and I want to hear how you guys feel.  I can tell you that I miss going into class and being apart of the classroom and seeing you guys.  I also miss watching any kinds of sports on TV. But I always feel that we have to make the best of the situation.  So tell me some fun things that you have done as well! I’ve been catching up with reading some of my graphic novels that I have.  Write down as much as you feel like.  Not only is it important for me to read how you are feeling, but I will also see that you can send me an email.  In the heading section of your email, type – “How I am doing“.  If you are unsure of how to log on or send an email, go to the “TUTORIALS” heading and click on either tutorial.  Your email is due by the end of the week.

I will be keeping regular office hours of 9AM to 3PM from Monday to Friday.  I can reply to emails during that time.  And finally, take your time with exploring things.  Remember to check this ANNOUNCEMENTS section everyday for updates and the day’s schedule.

Enjoy the day.  Keep positive and the next update will be at 9:00 AM on Thursday!

​Mr. Sihota