Christmas Fun

 Our class has been really busy with a few fun art projects for Christmas. We worked on Christmas thank you ornaments for the bus drivers, created reindeer puppets, made ornaments for our families AND created an artwork that looks like stained glass!

Covid Tests

 Ho Ho Ho! 

    For all the good little boys and girls this year, the elves have been busy making Covid Rapid Tests at the North Pole! Santa's helper, Miss.Sturgeon, handed them out on Friday. 

   Please keep it in a safe spot. These are fabulous! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Spirit Week!

 

Our Remembrance Day...

    Our class took part in learning about World War I, as well as the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We learned about how animals helped humans during the war, and learned about Sgt. Stubby, the highest decorated war dog from WWI. We had a lovely ceremony in our class. The students made cards, which I later delivered downtown to the War Monument and Tomb.

Progress Reports

Parents can access Progress Reports today! Miss.Sturgeon has contacted most parents who need interviews already and time slots are full for November 12th. Please refer to the email that was sent to all parents regarding more information about interviews and reports.

Take time to review some goals for your child and read skills with them.

Terry Fox

 Our TERRY FOX FUNDRAISER event begins tomorrow. Our school hopes to raise $3000 for Cancer Research and we need your help! Stay Tuned for information about our run day on Wednesday and other fun activities planned!

Program Night Slides

 Here is the active link to our Google Slides Program Night Information:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13ivpdIlRU5P96qsTGZBj5PjTi2Z6itXpUuf7EgyABKk/edit?usp=sharing

Photo Day

 Please note that Picture Day is this upcoming Tuesday! 

HOMEWORK IS HERE!

     Hello Parents! For those who want to encourage the routine and discipline of homework during the week, there will be a Grade 3 and Grade 4 homework HAPARA WORKSPACE with tasks posted by Monday evening. It will be grammar or math basics, usually based on what we are working on in class. They will be due on Fridays. Students who have a printer can print the sheets and fill them in. No printer? No problem! Simply use scrap paper or lined paper, or even a notebook of your choice and just write the answers to the questions. Make sure to number them accordingly!

Passwords and Logging In

 Hello Parents,

    Our class has been patient trying to log into our Chromebooks and Hapara. Unfortunately, we are waiting on the Tech Support Help Desk, as many students are not able to log into our system, even with new passwords. We hope this will be fixed shortly.

Adopt A School! We have been adopted!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I would like to personally invite you to join me in making a difference in the lives of the children at St. Martin de Porres Elementary School by supporting us in the upcoming Indigo Adopt a School program. 

 

We’re thrilled to announce that our school has been adopted by Pinecrest Chapter Indigo! From September 13 to October 3rd, this store is going to fundraise on our behalf. We’re also going to be raising funds to support our library through an Adopt a School online fundraising page, which you can find by searching our school name at loveofreading.org.  Help us reach our goal!

 

Our school is going to receive every dollar raised to support our library and a 30% discount off books when we shop at Indigo, Chapters and Coles using program donations. 

 

Through the Adopt a School program, we are hoping to raise enough money to put one new book into the hands of each and every one of our students!

 

Please visit loveofreading.org from September 13 to October 3rd to show your support for our library.  I look forward to surprising the staff and children at St. Martin de Porres Elementary School with all the new library books this year!  

 

Sincerely,

Margarita Ziroldo

Principal

We are off to a great start!

We have had a great start to our new year together. The weather has been quite lovely and students are getting to know our routines.

Math- Both grades are beginning to review PLACE VALUE and a digit's worth depending on where  it is located. Our grade 3's will practice up to the 1,000 place and grade 4's up to 10,000.

Language- We will begin with some narrative fiction story reading comprehension and vocabulary building. We will also be playing Making Words games on Word Wednesdays, and reviewing spelling patterns and grammar.

Art- We are learning how to smudge to create shadows in art. Our drawings will look more 3D once we practice this skill.

Welcome Grade 3/4!

 Welcome to Grade 3 and Grade 4. We have a split grade class this year and so far, there are 20 students in our room. My name is Miss.Sturgeon and I will be your child's teacher. 

Our classroom layout is arranged with single desks, spaced as far as they can be to allow

for some distancing. I purchased a CO2 monitor for our room so we know when to further ventilate and open windows, and we have a Board provided Austin model Hepa filter to clean the air. Our room had new lights installed over the summer and it looks very cheery!

Please send your child with extra masks as they can get dropped, lost or dirty after recesses. They will be required to wear masks at all times at school.

Please have students bring a water bottle, as our water fountains are bottle refill only and not open for sipping/drinking right from them.

If you have any questions, please email me at katrina.sturgeon@ocsb.ca and I will answer within the range of school hours.

If you are curious, here are photos of our classroom as it looks so far:

Spring Virtual Learning

 Alright everyone (especially Parents), just breathe. 

    Here we go again! We are back to virtual learning with our children. The days will be structured the same as the previous virtual learning sessions. We will begin with attendance and a check-in at 9:15am. It will often be Math to start the day, but sometimes we will alternate with Language project work. The learning will be synchronous (teacher guided, live) until about 9:55 and students will begin their independent practice work (asynchronous). I will still be live in the Google Meet for any questions students have, but my camera and mic will be off so they can concentrate. Next, students will log into another Meet with Mr.Dignam for French/Social Studies/Music. After lunch, beginning at 1:00pm, students will have a variety of subjects such as language, religion, science, arts, health. There will be time at the end of the day (around 3:15) to revisit incomplete work or review math.

SCHEDULE:

9:15- 10:30    MATH

10:30-10:45   RECESS BREAK (go outside OR be active. Try not to stay at the computer)

10:45-12:00   French (Mr. Dignam)

12:00- 1:00    LUNCH BREAK (try to be active at some point in this hour)

1:00-2:15       Language Arts Subjects

2:15-2:30       RECESS BREAK  (go outside OR be active. Try not to stay at the computer)

2:30- 3:45      Science and Math Review (some days religion, health or arts)

Virtual Learning Update

 

What will Monday, April 19 look like for Elementary Students?

• There is currently no education staff working in our schools during the Spring Break from Monday, April 12 – Friday, April 16.
• Staff will return to work on Monday, April 19 to collect items and tech, and will need some time to transition to remote learning and make arrangements for our system classes.
• Before the regular lunch hour period, parents will receive a link to their child’s classroom Google Meet page. This link will connect with the classroom teacher on the afternoon of April 19 and every day during the lockdown.
• During the remote learning period, students will follow their regular school timetable. This schedule includes start and end times and times for lunch recesses. 
• Parents may decide the appropriate amount of online screen time for their child during the remote learning period. Educators will connect online with their class every day.
• We do not have a date for the return to in-person classes and transportation. 
• We will keep you up-to-date as new information becomes available.

Miss.Sturgeon is Away

 Miss.Sturgeon is away. Work will be posted in Hapara for students for the day for working in class or at home.

Homework

 Please let me know if you want your child to continue doing homework this year. Only two students are completing it and handing it in weekly, so I am not sure if I should continue with it. Email Miss.Sturgeon if you want it to continue.

Miss.Sturgeon

Pixton

 Students need to go to  https://join.pixton.com/xa6tw  then click log in with Google. Make sure you are signed into YOUR account first.

Read A Thon Form

 Today we will be filling in our Reading Form during class. Here is the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSef7GGSONvApkF-sMlW4QJEpi3_BPGT5p53YarRrvEWkxnb5A/viewform?gxids=7628

PICTURE DAY TOMORROW

 Tomorrow is our photo day. Dress you best and get ready to smile for your portrait!

 

Read- a-Thon

 Our school wide Read A Thon begins this week and tomorrow is our Dr. Seuss dress up day! Wear any colours or stripes or hats inspired by Dr. Seuss. 

OUR GOALS:

• As a class, we will read 4 books a week (read-a-louds)
• Try to read for 15 minutes before bed every night at home.
• We will read 2 (or more) full novels this month at snack times.
• For 15 minutes of each day we will have DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) after lunch recess.

STUDENTS MUST FILL IN THIS FORM by Friday March 5th:

READING FORM

Class Professional Graph Making Site

Today, click on the blue Create A Graph word below to start entering your data to create a graph.

Create A Graph 

Spirit Week This week!

This week is Spirit Week and we are kicking it off with a possible snowstorm. Please watch for school bus cancellations.

Tuesday- PJ Day- Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday-17 Athletic wear day- Ash Wednesday

Thursday- 18 Rainbow day- wear as many colours as you can!

Friday-  19 Plaid and jean day

Pizza Night tonight!

 *This offer is not valid through Uber Eats or Skip the Dishes*

Our Catholic School Council has organized Lorenzo's Pizza Fundraiser for today,  Wednesday, February 10th.  Pick up or no-contact delivery will occur between 11 am and 10 pm at the Kanata location;

Lorenzo's Kanata (Glen Cairn)

100 Castlefrank Road

www.lorenzoskanata.ca

(613) 836-3311

Please mention or show this flyer when ordering and Lorenzo's will donate 25% of all sales (in-store, over the phone, or online) to the school for technology resources!  Valid only on the above date.   

Homework

 Miss.Sturgeon is trying to give students an online work break, so the homework will be very small. This week will be practice in using Area Model Multiplying (versus the usual standard algorithm). This helps students improve their flexibility in thinking about way number pull apart and re-combine, in addition to practicing multiplying by increments of 10 and 100.

Homework Break

Miss.Sturgeon's Grade 5 class will be having a break this week from online nightly homework. Students voiced they needed a break from looking at tasks online/on a screen.

Homework will resume the following week with some multiplication practice and line graphing.

HOWEVER----students are encouraged to make flash cards or time themselves practicing TIMES TABLES to ensure they are memorized. This can be done nightly.

Our Schedule

 Our schedule for each day looks like this:

Our Day:

9:15- Log into Sturgeon Google Meet through Student Portal Meet: Click on Google Meet icon. This will mostly be a math focus, and start with attendance and prayer, as usual.

Recess: 10:30-10:45

10:45- Log into Google Meet for French Dignam through Student Portal.

Lunch 12:00-1:00

1:00-Log into Sturgeon Google Meet through Student Portal Meet: Click on Google Meet icon. This will mostly be a Language writing, reading or making words focus.

Recess: 2:15-2:30

2:30- Log into Sturgeon Google Meet through Student Portal Meet: Click on Google Meet icon. This will be a phys ed. project time, a drawing lesson, or science. This might also be correcting work or review of earlier tasks.

The link that will be in your Hapara Google Meet icon starting Tuesday morning will be the one we will re-use for every Meet. It is up to you to watch the time at home and log in at the times listed above!

Miss. Sturgeon

Google Meet Monday January 4th

 Our Class will have a check-in Google Meet on Monday (tomorrow) January 4th at 1:00pm. This will be to ensure who  has the technology up an running and who is able to access Hapara and see the posted work. We will also introduce a project for the week that combines Physical Education and Procedural Writing skills. 

There will not be Homework Posted on this blog while we are doing Online Learning. The tasks on Hapara will include all that needs to be completed. 

Students need to access the Meet through their student portal this time, instead of through email or calendar. They will click the Meet icon and select the teacher and join. They may enter a waiting room if they enter before the teacher.