Progress Reports and Homework

Progress reports went home today. Please return the envelope and completed interview note as well as the signature part of the report. If the interview date or time does not work for you please return the note with a suggested day and time for a phone interview. I will be posting new writing homework tomorrow since we will be starting a new writing form tomorrow (procedural). Also, please return student portfolios once they have been checked over. Thank you!

Portfolios

Student portfolios went home today. Please take some time to go through the portfolio with your child. There is a tracking sheet at the front which will track their progress specifically related to the paragraph criteria from now until the end of January. Please complete the tracking sheet with your child. All of the work in the binder stays in the binder for the year so it can be tracked and referred to at any time in the classroom. The envelopes with work to stay at home will go home next week. Please return the portfolios at any time next week. As usual, if there are any questions please let me know. Thanks.

Dream Box Math

The Dream Box math logins were sent home today in your child's agenda (front page). The user name is their first name and the first letter of their last name (all lower case). Their password is their student number. They are using their student number instead of a picture password so that they can memorize their student numbers. They need to know their student numbers for all netbook and computer access at school. I will be sending home an information letter about Dream Box math to parents tomorrow. Students need to follow the link on the blog to access our school profile of Dream Box math to be able to log in.
Portfolios will be sent home on Friday. If there are any questions about anything please let me know. Thanks.

More inquiry math Oct 21...

Another example of our work today - using a different method for addition! Fantastic job using rounding to add and explaining your steps (process), Kelsey! Way to go!

Inquiry Math Oct 21

A snapshot of some inquiry math work we did today! We are working on explaining our thinking and explaining our process. Thank you Audrey for letting me share your wonderful work! Great job explaining your steps (process). Click on the picture to enlarge.

HW and Portfolios

New writing homework was posted today. The feedback from the students has been very positive and the work I have been receiving is excellent! Please let me know if you have questions regarding the homework system. Assessment portfolios will be sent home by Friday. When they are sent home please take some time to go through the binder with your child and talk to them about their work as well as the descriptive feedback that they have received. Your child should be able to tell you about the checklists, expectations, feedback and next steps. Please sign and date the form in the binder and send it back to school with all of the work still in it. This binder will be used throughout the year to collect your child's work so they can use it in the classroom to help bump up their work. An envelope of work will go home as well, the work in the envelope can stay at home, but please return the empty envelope. If there are any questions please let me know. Thank you!

Homework Oct 14 - 18

New writing homework has been posted. Please use the link to the right. Homework is always due on Mondays (unless it is a long weekend). Homework right now consists of completing the writing task, reading using the RAZ Kids program (minimum 2 books and quizes per week) and using the IXL math program. There are many different math topics students can work on. I would focus on place value practise and rounding to the nearest 10 right now. Dreambox math should be set up before the end of the month. Photo orders are due Wed Oct 16, retake day is Mon Oct 21. Scholastic orders are due Friday Oct 18. If there are any questions please let me know. Thanks.

Oct 7

New writing homework was posted today. It is due after Thanksgiving. All the students did a fantastic job on their first writing homework! I was very impressed! I am setting up a class access login for the math ixl site since students are unable to spend a long time working on the site. The logins will be sent home tomorrow and will be good for 30 days. I am hoping that we will have access to Dream Box Math before then! As always, please let me know if there are any questions or concerns at any time. Thank you.

Writing Homework

The link to the weekly writing homework is now working. It is at the top right of the blog page. Please click on the link to access the form and weekly instructions. Students can type directly onto the form, or type their homework on a Word document (or equivalent) so they can save it, and then copy and paste the writing onto the form. The need to enter their name at the bottom and hit submit! They do not require an email address or log-in.  We will start with a few sentences since typing will be new for some. If there are any questions at any time please contact me. Thank you!

Reading Homework

Log-in information for our reading homework was sent home today. RAZ-kids is an excellent online reading program that allows students to read at their individual level and answer questions about what they have read. The program will move them through the levels when they are ready. I have placed students at appropriate levels however if you feel that your child is not at the correct level (either too easy or too difficult) please let me know and I can change their level if needed. I have asked students to read and complete the quiz for 1-2 books by Monday Oct 7. I have access to the back end of the program and I am able to track how much students are reading, so it does not need to be recorded.

If you receive a blog update email with a link on it, please disregard it. I am testing the written section of the online homework and will send instructions when it is ready to start. As for math homework, I am asking that students spend time on iXl math practising basic facts (2 and 3 digit addition and subtraction, multiplication to 7 x 7 and division). The link to iXl is under math links on the left side of this page. We will begin the Dream Box math program once it is ready. 

If there are major problems with the online homework please let me know and an alternate program can be arranged for your child. If there are any questions at any time please contact me at the school.

The online homework program is an excellent form of academic practise and it also provides the students with the opportunity to develop important technology skills that they will continue to use and build on in following years. I appreciate your support and patience with this program! Thanks.