Month: March 2020

Hello Everyone,

Hopefully you have already read the last two blog posts, you found MS Teams online, and you are getting ready for our distance learning by getting set up at home. Please let me know via email or on the TEAMS general conversation page if you have any questions.

Yes, we will be doing a new unit! You will have to imagine our UNIT WALL, but here is the info for you to start thinking about.

Unit Focus Statement:

Humans create a variety of systems and tools to get their needs and wants met.

This will be an inquiry into:

• The nature of needs versus wants
• Our use and management of natural resources (renewable and non-renwable)
• Systems we create to get our needs and wants met
• Government systems
• How we use scientific information to get our needs and wants met (Rocks and Minerals, Geology, Geography, Chemistry)
• Basics of Economics and trade here and around the world
• Financial Literacy, Proportionate Reasoning, Budgeting
• French-speaking countries in the world

Core Competency Focus:

Critical Thinking

Your Questions:

Assignment # 3 is going to be making a chart. Can you make a T chart in MS Word or any other program you can save and upload, using the Microsoft tools you have online, that will show things you think are needs versus wants in this world? Can you do this in collaboration with someone from class by contacting them via phone or via email? (Remember, you have everyone’s emails in Outlook, you just need to be sure you know a person’s first and last name.)

Due by next Monday, April 6th

Hello Everyone,

Your next task is to get in to Microsoft Teams successfully, so we can all meet in the same place. First, read this entire blog post carefully!

How can I get to Microsoft Teams?

• Log in to your One Drive account at home.
• If you look up in the top left corner, you will see a small grid of dots. Click on it.
• There will be a menu of O365 Apps (Applications). Click on “All Apps”
• Choose the app called TEAMS (it has a purple icon/symbol)
• A new screen will come up for TEAMS, click on O-365 Suncrest Division 5 Team
• Scroll to the top of the GENERAL page to see my posts there from the start.

What can you do in the program Microsoft Teams?

• You can have a group written conversation on a topic or ask questions on the main page GENERAL section by replying to prompts Ms. D puts up on that page. Make sure you are on topic. Scroll through the page before you post a question. If you have a question for a specific member of the team, you can put an @ symbol in front of their name to address them, but it will be visible to everyone.
• You can be in a video conference with any number of members from our class team. Ms. D has to lead those meetings and send you an invite to join.
• You can see your assignments on the assignments tab at the top.
• You can upload your assignments using the assignments tab, and then it will show me you are done with something I assigned.

Submitting assignments:

• For our first assignment on the e-port, finish the e-port entry. Then, view your post online. Copy the LINK to your e-port entry that is in the address bar of your browser. Then, paste the LINK in the assignments part of TEAMS. Press submit and it will show me you are done!
• ALL assignments on the eport can be done that way.
• If the assignment is something else, like MAKING YOUR SCHEDULE AND TAKING A PICTURE OF IT, which is assignment #2, then you can upload a photo and submit it under that assignment.
• Questions, ask Ms. D.

What MS Teams is NOT:

• It is not a hangout where we chat at any time — it is for school.
• It is viewed by everyone, visible by myself and District people, so please use the Golden Rule.
• It is not a place to put spam like tons of pictures and random messages that are not on topic. It will ruin our ability to communicate learning together, so please don’t do it.
• It is not perfect — there will be some hiccups along the way, but we will be patient with the technology and make sure it works for us.  Thank you for your cooperation and collaboration so we can make distance learning work!

Okay, go check it out! If you have problems accessing it, let me know.

Ms. D

Hello Everyone,

I am so glad to see many of you have already written your e-port on Documenting History. I hope you are also setting up a schedule for yourself using the six categories I gave you. I will be sending you emails to show you how I am doing each of the categories, too!

Our next task will be getting everyone set up in Microsoft Teams and connecting via videoconferencing.

Please read these tips about video conferencing and communicating as we begin working together online.

What makes a quality video during a video conference?

• Find a space in your home where direct light will not be streaming IN to the camera, because then you will be washed out when we see you.
• Figure out what will be behind you when you video conference with us. It is best to have a blank, less busy, or neutral background. Look at the videos I send later today as an example.
• If you can put a light behind your computer, so light is shining on your face, that is a good idea. But, make sure it isn’t too bright. Natural light is the best, so facing toward an open window is great.
• Your video screen needs to have your face and shoulders in the shot. Prop up your device so it can be at the right level for this.
• Get dressed and make yourself presentable! Pajamas are cool, but maybe not in a video conference.
• Look at the camera while you are speaking, NOT at the picture of you on the screen or the picture of the person. It is hard, but do your best!
• Make sure you have your device set up so it doesn’t move. Put it on a table or make something it can prop up against so you don’t have to touch it.
• Find a private space as best as possible, or at least let everyone in your house know you will be on a call.

What is proper etiquette during a video conference?

• When you log in, start by making sure your audio is muted and video off.
• Remember, the person who called the meeting is the leader in charge, like the person who is the chair of a class meeting.
• Wait until the meeting leader says it is time to give your input. Until then, keep your microphone on MUTE.
• When you would like to speak, raise your hand and be recognized by the leader to speak before you turn on your microphone.
• Only one person speaks at a time.
• Remember, we can see what you are doing. Don’t do anything that will distract from the meeting.
• Remember, we all need to be respectful and courteous. Be kind, understand that this tool is new to many people, and be patient when the technology doesn’t work.
• Go to the bathroom before a conference call. Don’t ask to go to the bathroom during the conference call. If you have an urgent situation, leave the call, and then you can rejoin later.
• Please don’t take video or snap photos during the conference call of your screen, etc. We don’t take pictures of or record one another without permission.
• Do not “chat” during the meeting using a sidebar. That isn’t any better than the sidebar conversations we have during class. Do your best to listen to the entire conversation.

Chatting with one another in EMAIL or on MS Teams:

• When you send emails to one another or to Ms. D, think about how we are trying to support one another with kind words.
• Think about the tone of what you are writing, and ask if it is respectful or the write kind of writing for the audience you are speaking to.
• Avoid using a bunch of emojis. A quick smiley face is great! A whole sentence made out of 10 emojis is sometimes annoying, as it doesn’t really say anything to me. Use words.
• Use a greeting and salutation, or ask how the person is doing before immediately asking the person for something in email.
• Use pleases and thank yous. It helps with the tone of your mail and people will want to help you more.
• Don’t attach documents and videos in mail. Use other ways, such as sharing documents in One Drive with one another, or using links to photos in a shared album like Ms. D will do.
• Remember that we are still in school when we are learning in an electronic environment, even though you are physically at home.
• Remember the Golden Rule we discussed in class.

Okay, if you have read and you understand this, then take a moment now to find a videoconferencing space that will work best for you. 

Thank you,

Ms. D

 

Hello Division 5,

It is hard to be learning at home without any structure. Even I have found that hard! I mean, sure, we could stay in bed until 12 PM, watch movies all afternoon, and then make dinner…..but, then I feel like a marshmallow on the couch, and I have a hard time getting rid of my anxious energy and going to sleep!

So, one of the teachers I follow on Twitter, who also loves project-based learning, recommended a way to schedule the day.

We will be using this to help schedule our days of distance learning together. Here is how it works:

1. Every day, you will have a choice of activities to do in six categories.
2. You may do the categories in any order, as long as you do all of them.
3. Tasks need to be done for the amount of time given.
4. Select any activity from the list under each category. Don’t repeat activities, unless you are finishing an activity from the previous day. It is good to finish what you start before moving on.
5. Complete tasks at any point in the day between the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. Talk with Mom and Dad about the best schedule. Maybe from 9 AM to 3PM, so you stay in school hours.
6. You can provide suggestions to add to each category, too! Just email me your suggestions to add to the coming week’s list.
7. Some tasks are mandatory and some are optional. Mandatory tasks need to be completed by end of day Friday of each week, and I have put them in italics. 
8. Our first week, we will just try this out. Second week, Ms. D will provide instructions about how to document the choices you made, as I would like to be able to give you feedback on how you are using your time.
9. I recommend making posters or a schedule to put on your fridge.
10. Ms. D will be doing this, too! Parents are welcome to participate.
11. I will add options as we go along and re-post each week.

Here are the categories:

MAKER HOUR (60 minutes)  Do something creative! Make something new! Take a picture of it to document your work!

• Paint something
• Make a mini model of your home (extra challenge, make it to scale). You could also just measure the area and perimeter of each room in your house, as a review from our last math unit.
• Create a cartoon
• Make a marble roller coaster out of found objects in the house
• Make prints using paint and found objects
• Read about and create a 5 Clue Video Challenge for us
• Make a puppet show and present it to your family or us
• Create a website, blog, art journal
• Do SCRATCH online or find something on Code.org to do coding
• Do Tynker coding for free
• Bake something
• Take a box and make something out of it
• Make a mini catapult out of found objects
• Do a Science-U science activity at home
• Make a newsletter for your home
• Do napkin folding for your home
• Do the Getty Museum Art Challenge — Read about it here.
• Grow some plants from food scraps. See how here. or on this website too!
• Create something from the MAKE Magazine Maker Project Library (most materials can be found in the home)
• Make instruments from things in your home
• Find, pick and dissect a flower to learn its parts
• Make paper airplanes that fly very far.
• Exploratorium California Science Snacks with home supplies.
• Do edible science projects.
• Do a fun science experiment creation using office supplies.
• Make a homemade weather measurement instrument
• Watch a GEERING UP UBC Engineers Science Activity online, which is live streamed at 11AM every weekday.

FITNESS HOUR (60 Minutes) Get moving, get some exercise, get your heart pumping!

• Go walking outside
• Or, if you can’t go out, go walking a mile on YouTube with Alana
• Create your own fitness routine
• Do Just Dance on video games or YouTube
• Look up Fit with Frank videos to do a fitness routine in the home
• Do Pilates for Beginners (was recommended by my daughter’s dance instructor)
• Do the New York City Ballet Warm Up Level 1 if you like dance
• Do Yoga for Kids for beginners, shorter class with basic poses
• Do Yoga for Kids for a bit longer class
• Do the Scientific 7 Minute Workout from the NY Times
• Go for a bike ride outside with someone in your family
• Use the Healthy Living 25 Ways to Get Moving At Home
• Face Time or Zoom with a friend while doing a workout. Do it together! Just need two devices.

INDIE READING (30 minutes) Reading, preferably offline but if you are out of books and need to go online, at least not news or current events articles.

• Build a fort with a blanket over a table or chairs and do some reading under it
• On Amazon.ca, if you have the Kindle App, there are lots of free books to read
• With your library card, check out online resources for Burnaby or Vancouver Public Libraries
• Use Audible for free right now to listen to tons of online audible stories.
• Use the Burnaby School District’s Tumblebooks Account to access books online. Press the ebooks tab at the top.
• Ms. D is looking for more options!

SERVICE (30 minutes) Clean and help!

• Unload or load the dishwasher
• Sweep or vacuum the house
• Call a grandparent, family member, or friend to help them feel connected during this time of isolation
• Help with the laundry — loading, folding, putting things away
• Dust the house or blinds
• Clean windows
• Help with the garbage or compost runs
• Clean off counters
• Wipe doorknobs and high-touch spaces with cleaner
• Take care of a pet
• Clean the toilet
• Organize recycling
• Watch your younger sibling so your parents can have a break

GENIUS HOUR (60 minutes) Learn something new and document your learning in some way.

• Learn morse code and practice using it with a sibling through the walls.
• Learn magic tricks for beginners
• Learn about Animation Pixar in a Box on Khan Academy
• Play Chess online with Masters
• Learn how to Beat Box, creating new sounds with your lips
• Study Yourself — Experiments to Learn More About Your Body Exploratorium
• Mandatory: Keep working on independent project, document your notes and resources used. What new questions have you added since the first 10 you created? What new questions do you have after doing research since before break?

UNIT, NUMERACY, LITERACY HOUR (60 minutes) Specific learning opportunities at our grade level or connected to our unit….more to come.

• Use the grade 4/5 Resources on the Burnaby School District’s Continuing Learning Website for literacy, numeracy, or ADST
• Play or create math games using cards.
• Play math games or do literacy activities with dice.
• Make a graph of something — for example, which birds come to visit your backyard, or the objects everyone owns in the house, or make a graph by collecting information from friends online.
• Write something using a picture prompt on The Learning Network, NY Times
• Make a 15 second Word of the Day Video and share it (NY Times)
• Do a Math Activity on YouCubed Home Activities, Stanford University
• Do the Weekly Waterloo Math Challenges by Grade then check answers later
• We talked about blood types in our first unit — try out this module to learn about blood typing and how they match up patients. Fun game!
• Practice your online research speed skills. Do the Google a Day challenge.
• Use other general online math and literacy learning RESOURCES from the Burnaby School District’s Continuing Learning Site, including Prodigy.
• Do a writing prompt:  Mandatory task this week, E-Port Documenting History

Questions? Email me!

With kindness,

Ms. D

Hello Division 5,

As I said in my last post, our main focus for this first week together in our new distance learning environment will be finding connection with one another AND finding structure. Our learning together now will not look like what we did in the classroom, because that is impossible. We can’t turn the awesomeness of MACC into an online course. But, we can do many, many things, and maybe we will come up with new creative ways to work together.

We will still use our E-Portfolios, and that is a good thing!

Assignment #1: Documenting History

So, these are historic times. Schools closed all over the world, no travel, businesses shut down, and our world turned a bit upside down. It is okay to feel anxious, bored, lonely, or upset. I know I have. It is also great that some of you have found creative and positive ways to use this time, either doing projects independently or just spending time with your families. This has been very important for my own health, as I found ways to keep myself mentally and physically active during the break. It is also helpful to talk or to write about how you feel, so that our feelings get out of our heads and on to the paper.

You may want to document this time in a journal! Most historians are recommending everyone take notes about what they are experiencing, feeling, and doing during this time.

This is how historians put together our past stories, through the journal writing of the people who experienced the past. I remember when I wanted to learn about the Titanic, the diaries and journals of some of the passengers were fascinating!

So, here are some questions for your E-PORT to think about this week, as you become an official historian of 2020. Remember, the more detail and descriptive vocabulary you provide, the better a person reading your entry will understand exactly what it was like for you during the last two weeks.

Title:  Documenting History

Questions:

1. What has it been like for you during spring break? How did your daily life change because of the health recommendations?
2. What did you think about this last week? What questions do you have? (Be as specific as you can.)
3. How are you feeling about what is going on right now? (Be more descriptive than just “bored”?)
4. If you felt anxious, upset, restless, or emotional, did you use any self-regulation strategies to help you?
5. How did you use the time over the last two weeks?

Please include a picture of one of these things:

1. something you made
2. a picture of you doing one of your chosen activities during the last two weeks
3. your view from your window
4. something you could see during a trip outside for fresh air

I look forward to seeing what you have to say!

Ms. D