April 3rd, 2020

4/3/2020

Please see the following email, shared earlier this evening:

Good evening,

First, this week's plans have been uploaded to Seesaw. They were uploaded at approximately 1:00 pm this afternoon. Going forward, the weekly plans will be released on Fridays at 1:00 pm with the exception of holidays. However, I know that many of us (including myself) are new to Seesaw. Students and families may also be seeking non-tech options to access the weekly plans. Therefore, each Friday I will also email a PDF copy of the plans so that regardless of your experience with Seesaw, you and your students will be able to access some of the week's optional activities. This week students were all sent some differentiated vocabulary words (this means that different students received different words). The words would have been posted to your student's journal. If you are unable to view the words on Seesaw, please let me know. I will email you a copy of your student's vocabulary list. Attached to this email are a copy of this week's plans. Posted to Seesaw since our last email is also a video example of one of this week's numeracy activities, "I Spy 1/2". On Thursday the Read Aloud video was "How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?" and today's was "The Girl and the Wolf".

Second, I know that the sudden move to Seesaw has been overwhelming for many of you. I understand. Please know that Seesaw is a new platform for me as well. We will all learn and improve together. If you are interested in learning more about some of the ways that you can use Seesaw at home to share your student's learning (ie. taking photos and videos, drawing pictures, writing notes, etc.), Seesaw has a number of instructional videos that may help: https://web.seesaw.me/get-students-started. You can also look at Seesaw' home learning resource page (https://web.seesaw.me/remote-learning-for-families) for further ideas on how to connect with Seesaw and other resources.

Third, previously I shared a resource page created by our Physical Education teachers to support families who were looking for ways to get healthy and active at home during this time. Today I wanted to share a similar resource page created by the Music teachers (https://sites.google.com/fmpsd.ab.ca/fmpsdmusicathome/home). The Fort McMurray Public School Division is focusing on numeracy and literacy outcomes for Grades 1-3 students, however, we know that many of you are interested in fun activities that students can do with their families. Hopefully these resources help! You can also follow Mrs. Power's Music Room on Facebook for more fun music ideas and activities.

Finally, earlier this evening Mr. Thorne shared an email with families about item pickup. As you are likely aware, some schools in our school division are engaged in making arrangements for parents to pick up student belongings. At Christina Gordon we will also be providing an opportunity for those parents who wish to pick up important personal items. Details will be sent out on April 21st, immediately following our Easter Break. We previously sent an email to parents indicating that if there are essential items, such as medication, that you need immediately, please contact us and we will arrange for this to happen swiftly. If there is something that you need now that can't wait until after Easter Break, please email myself or Mr. Thorne and we will ensure we do our best to accommodate your request. We do understand that many of our families are struggling with these unprecedented circumstances. We are trying to do this item pick up while still respecting that most will want to follow the directive we keep hearing from the experts that people should stay home if possible. At Christina Gordon our number one priority is always the safety of our students, staff, and families. Now more than ever we all need to do what we can to stop the spread and get through this event safely.

Take care! As always, please let me know if you have questions or concerns in regards to any of the above,

- Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher