Welcome to Online Learning

Hello to Division 8 and Parents,

We really enjoyed being able to connect with so many of you either by phone call or email last week. You all seem to be doing well, engaging in many wonderful activities with your families.  We are very fortunate to be able to work with such a wonderful group of students and families.

Thank you for being patient with us as we learn and investigate ways we can best support our students with online learning.  We are currently learning  to navigate through this NEW Class Blog which we hope to have up and running after the Easter weekend. We are also trying to find learning platforms for online learning that will be most effective and useful for our students.

The idea of this blog is a way to communicate and stay connected. On this site we will be sharing activities, resources, and some helpful tips to keep learning happening at home.  We are also hoping to have assignments posted here as well.

It is taking us some time to get things organized for learning at home, but as you know, we have set up a few programs (not without issues of coarse)  that students can be working on for now.  We know there has been a lot of information sent out to you in the last little while and we are trying to be cognizant of this.  We believe this blog will help minimize the emails. 

For now this is a recap of what has been set up for learning at home:

• Raz- Kids:  provides comprehensive leveled reading resources for students and allows students to listen to, read at their own pace, and record themselves reading at their reading level.
  • • Go to Razkids.com   Click:  KIDS LOGIN
    • Choose Teacher dsilva35  and then enter password: (2 symbols)
    • If you are in need of  password please contact one of us to send it to you
• Epic:  We have added your child to our classroom on Epic!. It is not something you have to use. It is important to be reading at home everyday, as you know kids love it and it is important for literacy development. We know that libraries are closed and if we are able to get into some inquiry activities, Epic! has many books to explore. It is also a great tool if you find your resources at home are limited. Please don’t feel like you have to read on Epic everyday, it is just a helpful tool if you need reading material.
• Splash Math (Splash Learn): Math learning program for fun math practice
  • • Go to Splashlearn.com    Click: Sign in     
    • Click: Class         Enter Class cod :  WZNZKD
    • Select Profile: Find your name and click on it
    • If you are in need of your child’s password please contact one of us to send it to you

We have also send an email with a set of tasks students can be working on, some to be completed this week and next. The tasks include:

• KWL Chart for Chick Unit (Was Due April 8th )
• Title Page for Chick Journal (Due April 14th)
• Covid-19 Time Capsule (Ongoing)

You may be asking a few questions: 

• Will there be a lot of screen time involved? Our hope is to balance activities out so that our students are not spending hours on the screen and are getting outside to get fresh air.  We would also prefer kids to read actual books and will be touching base with you to reach out and get some books to you in the next week.
• Where can I find communication from you? Once this Blog is up and running we will be sharing communications here,  Until then it will be through email.  Individual communication, specific to your child, will always be through email
• Do I need to schedule a full day 9-3 of school? No, learning at home will look different for everyone. Realistically, 1-2 hours is all that will really get done. It is important to keep routines happening at home. For example, when children get up in the morning have breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, discuss activities for the day etc. plan food and physical activity breaks. Be flexible, some activities might not get done, it might not be the right moment for the learning to happen. Children learn most when they are curious! If you follow their interest you will all have more fun.
• How can I get in touch with you? We will be working at home on school related things between 9AM to 3PM.  Ms. Silva, Monday and Tuesday and alternating Wednesday and  Ms. Sharma, alternating Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday.  If you send an email, to both of us, the teacher who’s day it is should answer you pretty quickly. We are more than happy to answer questions or just chat, please don’t be afraid to contact us.

Once again, Thank you for your patience as we learn new platforms and explore different ways of supporting you and your child’s learning at home. We hope that this information is not overwhelming. Please know we will figure this out together! We look forward to connecting with you more!

Warm Regards,

D.Silva & S. Sharma