MakerFaire Links from the notice :)

June 2, 2015

Dear Parents,

It’s hard to believe the year is coming to a close!  We have lots on the go, so here is a reminder list to help all of us stay organized J

1.  Friday is Sports Day!  Please join us!  Your son/daughter has been assigned a house colour.  It would be wonderful if the students could dress in their house colour for the day to show team spirit.  We are also having a bike/scooter parade where students in K-4 can decorate their bike/trike/scooter/wagon/helmet etc in their team colours.  No skateboards, please.

2.  Bayridge is undertaking its very first Maker Faire this year.  All of the classes in the school are taking part.  Our class has self-selected their groups and are busy planning out their projects for the Maker Faire. 

What is a Maker Faire?

An opportunity for the students to make something creative with their classmates.  You can click on the link below if you want to see some information about some of the bigger Maker Faire's that occur:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU7ZfqtYFBs#t=172  There is a mini maker faire taking place this weekend (June 6-7) the the PNE Forum if you would like to attend a makerfaire in person.  The link is: http://makerfaire.ca  and here is a link to a youTube video from the mini maker faire website: https://youtu.be/dU7ZfqtYFBs

Our Bayridge Maker Faire will take place on Tuesday, June 16th.  Students will have planned out their creation by then and will spend that day creating it.  The four categories are: animals, transportation, signage, and art.

What is needed to help the students?

All of our projects must be made out of recycled materials.  You should expect your children to come home over the next two weeks looking or asking for materials that they can use on their projects.  The students can start bringing in the materials now and we will store them in the classroom.  They are only permitted to use recycled materials (tape, glue and string can be new). 

Please ask your child(ren) what they are planning to use for their creation and help them save the materials or send it to school with them. 

Come and see the Projects

There will be a gallery walk of the projects on the afternoon of June 16th.  Parents are invited to join us from 2:15-2:30pm to see what the projects in the class look like.

3.  Swimming at Sunnyside outdoor pool:  we will be going swimming on Friday, June 19^th and will need parent drivers to transport us there.  Please mark your calendars J

We are looking forward to a wonderful finish to a wonderful year!

All the best,

Mrs. Williams and Ms. Grewal-Glups

The Birth Lottery-we need your help!

Dear Parents,

This week we started an assignment called "The Birth Lottery" where students randomly drew a country to become their new "Birth Country."  The students were very excited and curious about having a "new" (pretend of course) county of birth!  On Tuesday we looked at the Canadian Geographic site navigation and on Thursday we will be looking at what the various terms mean (building vocabulary).

This assignment is to help the children to understand that they were born into a country of great wealth and opportunity where children have the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the "United Nations Declaration of Human Rights."  It is also designed to "scaffold" our students to help them build background knowledge about the quality of life in other countries.

The curriculum link is: • uses simple maps to interpret and present information

The students have a series of questions to answer comparing their new"Birth Country" to Canada.  The guiding questions are in their Social Studies duotang.  The site we are using for this task is:

http://worldmap.canadiangeographic.ca/

The assignment is considered complete when all of the fact finding questions are completed and the reflection questions on the last page have a connection that the child has made to his/her quality of life.

"Fully meets" means that the student will be able to "make a connection" between his/her quality of life in Canada and what the quality of life for a child in a developing country is like.

We really need your help!  Because the wifi at school is being less than co-operative we need the help of your home wifi and your guidance.  I do not like students doing research on-line unsupervised, so I am requesting that you work on the assignment together with your son/daughter over the weekend, if possible.

I encourage you to discuss this assignment with your child.  If they are curious about any of the facts they find, please help them find answers to the questions they may have.  The conversations that you have with your child are so valuable!  Please share your viewpoint, your questions and your experiences.

The reflection questions on the last page are the "deep thinking" questions.  Your son/daughter may need help to answer these questions because they are still building life experience.  It's OK to prompt your child by asking questions and giving background information.

In class we have been talking about community services such as: healthcare, education, sanitation (clean water and waste disposal), roads/electricity/municipal services, housing, food and transportation-but we are just beginning to build our knowledge about these topics.

We would like to be able to present our learning on Monday and Tuesday next week with the students sharing one reflection question from the last page (they can choose which one.)

Once again, thank you for your continued support.  Ms. Glups and I sincerely appreciate the partnership that we have with you in educating your son/daughter!

BYOD and iPad apps for student iPads

Because we feel that it is important to teach digital safety and citizenship, respect and responsibility for their devices and how to use a personalized device for learning, Ms. Glups and I will be offering the opportunity for students to bring their own devices to school.

After the winter break we will be moving toward a "BYOD" or "bring your own device" model in our classroom.  The devices are to be used for class work and will be put away in the cupboard when they are not being used.  Any student who wishes to bring their own device must have a signed permission form on file.  All students have access to school ipads for their work and are not required to bring their own device.  The advantage for a student to bring a device they already use at home is that they can save their project work to their device and personalize the log-ins for various apps.

Devices are not allowed to be used during recess or lunch (not only for the security of the devices, but so that students are free to run and explore the outdoors during their breaks.)  As stated in our BYOD permission form, we cannot be responsible for the devices, however we will do everything in our power to keep the devices safe by reminding students to store their devices in the locked cupboard when not in use and reminding students to put their device in their backpack at the end of the day.  It is highly recommended that students have a sturdy case on the device.

The next question is..."What apps should my child have on his/her device?"

The following is a list of apps that we use at school to learn new concepts, develop our inquiry skills, practice concepts and demonstrate our learning.  I have tried to keep the list to a minimum... :)
The following apps are for the ipad.  If you open this blog on your ipad, the links will take you to the app in the app store.  Android has the same apps available at the google play store, searchable by name.  (Android tablets are also welcome in our classroom)

A web shortcut is different than an app, but can be made to look like an app on the ipad.  To make a website link "shortcut app":

1.  Search for a website in Safari
2.  Touch the arrow to the left of the website address at the top of the homescreen
3.  Touch the icon, "Add to home screen"
4.  Touch "Add"
and Shazam!  the icon for the website is now on your iPad home screen :)

Inquiry: (Content)
-Wonderopolis.org *web shortcut http://wonderopolis.org/
-Word Collage ($0.99) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/word-collage/id527057508?mt=8


Practice:
-IXL.com *web shortcut http://ca.ixl.com/
-Tumblebooks.com *web shortcut http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/customer_login.asp
-Spelling City(free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/spellingcity/id538407602?mt=8
-Raz-Kids (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/raz-kids/id474207297?mt=8


Show what you know: (Creation)
-Canva (Free) https://itunes.apple.com/app/id897446215
-iMovie (Free on new iPads, $4.99 otherwise) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/imovie/id377298193?mt=8
-Book Creator ($4.99) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/book-creator-for-ipad-create/id442378070?mt=8
-Prezi (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/prezi/id407759942?mt=8
-Kidblog (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/kidblog/id565951433?mt=8
-ShowMe (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/showme-interactive-whiteboard/id445066279?mt=8
-Explain Everything ($2.99) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/explain-everything/id431493086?mt=8
-Art Set ($1.99) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/art-set/id469918702?mt=8
-Skitch (Free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/skitch-snap.-mark-up.-send./id490505997?mt=8


Workflow: (Communication)
-Dropbox (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/dropbox/id327630330?mt=8
-Evernote (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8
-Flick. (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/flick./id644265534?mt=8
-iPEVO Whiteboard (free) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/ipevo-whiteboard/id594766738?mt=8

There are lots of apps that the students are enjoying for concept practice like math and science.  If you are looking for a specific app to support a content area (like times-tables in math) please drop by and I can recommend a few.  Buying a lot of different apps is not only expensive, it is sometimes overwhelming for the child.  Occasionally, I may recommend an app which I will send via email or a blog post.  I will not ask a child to load an app on their device at school, and recommend you keep your child's iTunes account and password as a parent only system at this age.  If you have any questions about parent restrictions that can be applied to the ipad, I'm happy to chat about your specific requirements and make recommendations.

Please feel free to drop by with any questions you may have about device use in our classroom and I would be happy to trouble shoot and help in any way I can.

Happy apping!

Diana

Cain's Arcade Cardboard Challenge-Holiday Edition

It's been a busy final week in room 123!  In addition to the many holiday events and our live chat with our Classroom Champions mentors (which I will blog about over the break) we had one particularly inspiring lesson...

On Thursday Anna brought in her cardboard arcade game to share with the class:

The cardboard arcade game was inspired by Caine, a young man from Los Angeles who built a cardboard arcade in his dad's auto supply shop.  This video tells his story:

We decided as a class that it would be fun to try to make our own cardboard arcade games if we had free time over the holidays.  This is an optional project-we understand that the break is a very busy time for families.  We will spend some time on Monday, January 5th (our first day back together) sharing our games.

This project helps students to develop creativity, problem solving, and artistic/presentation skills (to name a few).  These are the 21st century skills that are becoming essential in the new job market that is rapidly changing with automation and outsourcing.  By the time our class graduates and enters the work force, the skills students will need to get a high paying job will be much more than what we can teach from a textbook or worksheet.  Ms. Grewal Glups and I hope to ignite a passion for curiosity and inquiry this year-and this project is a great opportunity to explore these big ideas.

For more thoughts on innovation and 21st Century competencies, Sir Ken Robinson is a great place to start.  He has several TedTalks and a very cool RSA Animate if you google him and click on "videos".  He has a bit of a cameo appearance at 4:40 in this Caine video:

 I'm looking forward to students "thinking outside the box" (if you will forgive the pun...) and sharing what they designed when we return after the break...and hopefully it will give mom and dad some quiet time over the break while the kids are working on their projects too :)

Wishing everyone a restful, creative holiday!

Diana

Catching up on October!

It's been a busy few weeks in room 123!  Here are a few photos of what we have been up to in our room...

Pumpkin Art-we have been practicing using line to create pattern.  Our Zen Tangle pumpkins turned out beautifully! 

Aren't these Halloween costumes great?

Goal Setting!
We have been working hard on setting goals.  We decided on a personal goal and an academic goal.  We will be uploading our academic goals to our FreshGrade portfolios to share those goals with our families.  Our main wonder was, "What is an academic goal?"  Here is what we came up with...

Students wrote about their goal and drew a picture to "visualize" themselves successfully accomplishing their goal:

I hope everyone is enjoying their extra-long weekend!  Here are a few reminders from the PAC:

Check writing campaign - our check writing campaign for the new playground is in full "swing"! A big thank you to those families who have already donated. If you would like to contribute any amount big or small will be appreciated. Keep an eye on the countdown above to see us getting closer to our beautiful new playground. Playground/Aviva Community Fund Contest - the final round of the AVIVA Campaign starts today.  This is a much needed $5000.00 if we make it into the judging round.  Please consider signing up with as many email accounts you can and vote every day.  I haven't gotten any spam or extra email and all you need to supply to sign up is your name and an email address. Introducing Hot Dog Day - every second Wednesday (on non-hot lunch weeks) the PAC will be selling hot dogs to raise funds towards our new playground. No need to pre-order just bring cash. Hot dogs will be $2, chips and juice $1 each. First hot dog day will be Wednesday November 12th. Clothing Drive -  Cleaning out your cupboards and closets for Fall?  The PAC will once again be teaming with Developmental Disabilities for it's  bi-annual clothing drive.  We will begin collecting bags and boxes of clothing and household items starting November 14th through November the 18th.  The PAC earns $3 a bag.  It's a great way to clean out your closets, donate to charity and help your school all at the same time. DIVERSEcity Coat Drive - Coinciding with the clothing drive we will be collecting warm winter coats, boots, mittens and hats to donate to families in the Surrey community in need.  If you are able to separate those items from your clothing bags, that would be appreciated.  We will also be collecting cooking oils, lentils and rice.  You can begin bringing in your donations on November the 14th. Yearbook Cover Contest - does your child love to create art? It's time to submit entries for the yearbook cover contest. Submissions can be hand drawn, computer generated or painted. Submissions are due on November 12th. The students will vote on the entries and the winning intermediate art work will go on the front cover and the winning primary art work will be on the back cover. Winners will also receive a free yearbook  Holiday Cards - Parents don't buy your holiday cards just yet! The PAC is trying a new fundraiser this year featuring your child's artwork. In a few short days you will receive a sample greeting card with your child's personal art on the cover that can be ordered and used as greeting cards to send to friends and family. More details to follow.

Welcome to Room 123!

Dear Parents,

Welcome!  We are very excited to get the year started!  Thank you for your patience as we get the year up and running.  We will be introducing the following programs in the coming weeks:

Classroom Champions!  Our Mentor Athletes are Justin Snith and Tristan Walker.  They are Luge athletes and came in 4th at the Sochi Olympics earlier this year.  They are the youngest Canadian team to compete in the Olympics and we are thrilled to have them work with our class.  The topic for the next few weeks is GOAL SETTING!  Students will be setting a short term goal and sharing it with at least three people.  We will be checking in with our goals and setting longer term goals as the year progresses.  You can view Justin and Tristan's video for our class here:

http://www.classroomchampions.org/content/532/Tristan-Walker-and-Justin-Snith-Hard-work-makes-wishes-into-achievable-goals-



Kidblog-our class blogging platform for students to share their thinking and learning through writing.

Spelling city-individualized student spelling lists and activities to practice spelling at home

FreshGrade-our student/parent/teacher portfolios where students and teachers can upload evidence of learning and share with home.

RazKids- our home reading resource providing books and quizzes.

IXL Math- a math practice resource for home practice

Student log in username and passwords will be coming home for students to share with their parents.  Links to the programs are all in one place!  Click the tabs at the top of this blog to go directly to the sites.

Be sure to check out our student blogs and our first lesson on Digital Citizenship/Online Safety.  You can find the link here:


http://kidblog.org/Bayridge123/teacherdiana1/welcome-to-kidblog/

This Thursday, October 23rd we will be having open house style student led conferences from 1:30-4:00.  Please feel free to drop by and learn more about our class.

Have a happy week!
Diana, Gurdev and Nielsen

Our paintings in the style of Yvonne Coomber for Dot Day turned out beautifully!

Mr. Smith teaching about rights and responsibilities