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Please see the following information: Next week, we will be hosting a Cougar Cruise - a reverse parade. We have planned for Monday, April 27th. Families are welcome to drive by between 1:00 and 2:00 pm on Monday to wave to our CG staff. We will be practicing social distancing and wave to families as they drive by using the marked route in the parking lot. Families should remain in their vehicle at all times. Recognizing that not all of our families will be able to come, and that many probably would want to say hi, we will do a quick Facebook video to wave to any families tuning in from at home as well. See you then!
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Please see the following email shared earlier this evening: Good evening, I hope that everyone had a good spring break. A few updates from our class and community to share with you today. First, the weekly plans for April 20-23rd were posted this morning to Seesaw. However, I know that many of you are still not consistently using Seesaw, so I am including a PDF copy of the plans for families that would still prefer to receive work through email. The only thing NOT included are individual student's vocabulary lists. These were shared through Seesaw messages. If you are still needing a copy of your student's vocabulary list for the week, please let me know and I will provide you with a copy. There are also two videos to support this week's numeracy plans as well as today's Classroom Read Aloud selection, "Little Red-Cap". April 20th- Seeing Parts and Whole April 20th- Multiplication Monday (3x) April 20th- Read Aloud Second, the Wood Buffalo 2022 Arctic Winter Games are excited to announce their “Design the Mascot Contest”. The contest will run from April 15th until May 15th and is open to all children in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, ages 5 – 12. There are four animals that can be chosen from: a buffalo, beaver, lynx, or a raven are the animals that can be used as the mascot animal. Artists are asked to then design the costume and to name the mascot using their imagination, keeping the theme of the Arctic Winter Games in mind when submitting their entry for judging. The winning artist will receive a Wood Buffalo 2022 Arctic Winter Games prize pack and will be a guest of honor at the 2022 AWG Mascot Reveal Party. Full contest details and rules are available on the Wood Buffalo 2022 Arctic Winter Games Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/woodbuffalo2022/). Good luck! Finally, the Wood Buffalo YMCA Community Programs are currently seeking: letters, cards, and colouring pictures, made by students and/or their families to be delivered to the region's vulnerable populations as part of "Operation Porch Light". They are trying to bring a little light to those struggling with isolation. Letters will be distributed to seniors, the homeless, and participants in day programs, isolation centres, and drop-in centres. They are hoping to get over 1000 letters so tell a friend! Write a letter each week! Challenge your friends and family. Please send uplifting messages and letters to: “Operation Porch Light” YMCA Community Programs 106B, 9816 Hardin Street Fort McMurray, AB T9H 4K3You can also follow "Operation Porch Light" through the following social media accounts: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B--m74RoCah/?igshid=9cqf880y488k Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YMCAWoodBuffalo/videos/1456148384572254/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/YMCAWoodBuffalo/status/1250182554285518848?s=20 Thank you everyone, as always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns in regards to any of the above. Remember, please do not hesitate to contact me about the weekly continuity plans for clarification, support, or assistance. All the best, - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
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Weekly Instruction Playlist: Please see the following email, shared earlier this evening: Good afternoon, A few end-of-week updates. First, as per Mr. Thorne's email earlier today, all Fort McMurray Public School Division schools have been directed to follow the regular school year calendar. As such, school will be closed and teachers will be offline, taking a much needed break after today, Thursday, April 9th, and returning Monday, April 20th. To allow families to also maintain some sense of the normal year as well, this week will be time "off" for our students, with no weekly learning activities provided for them to complete. You will receive the next weekly learning plan on Monday, April 20th. During the break staff has been asked to focus on their own well-being and that of their families. As such, teachers will not be in communication with you during that time. We appreciate your understanding and assure you that all teaching staff will be available to you again when they return on Monday, April 20th. Second, as per Mr. Organ's email earlier this week, parents who wish to pick up their student’s personal effects from school may schedule a time to do so. Please rest assured that ALL student items that are not picked up at this time will be available for pick up once things have returned to normal and we return to school. Families do NOT need to pick up items at this time. To schedule a pickup time, please follow Mr. Organ's instructions as outlined below: Step 1: Parent Sign Up (April 8th-19th) Sign up for a designated time slot to pick up your student’s personal effect using this Sign Up Genius Link (see below). When you access the sign-up link, input your student’s name (not your own) and indicate if you need to pick up items for a sibling at the same time.
Parents will drive up to the bus lane in front of the school during their chosen time only. While remaining in their car, they will be given their student’s personal effects. Process for pick up
Families who were unable to pick up their student’s personal effects during the assigned time may contact the school through email to request another time that can be arranged by the school. Families who feel there are items missing from their student’s personal effects, can email the school with the description of the item missing and the school will attempt to locate the missing items and arrange a time when parents can come to pick up after April 25th. If there are important items that parents are unable to wait for April 22-24th to pick up, the parent is requested to email the school or teacher with specific details. As time allows, staff will locate the item and arrange for you to pick up. Please remember that the school is closed between April 10th and 20th for Easter Break. GRADE 3 - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040B4FAAAF2DA7FD0-student4 Finally, included below are the Classroom Book a Day videos that have been shared since our last email on Monday. Please enjoy, and as always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns in regards to any of the above, Tuesday - "Piece = Part = Portion" by Scott Gifford Wednesday - "Tony's Bread" by Tomie dePaola Thursday - "Belly Breathe" by Leslie Kimmelman - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
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Weekly Instruction Playlist: Please see the following email from Mr. Organ in regards to item pickup: Student Item Pick up - Christina Gordon For those parents who wish to pick up their child’s personal effects from the school at this time, we are happy to provide the following process. (Realizing that many parents may choose not to pick up at this time, please rest assured that ALL student items that are not picked up at this time will be available for pick up once things return to normal and we return to school.) Step 1: Parent sign up (April 8 - 19) Sign up for a designated time slot to pick up your child’s personal effect using this Sign Up Genius Link (see below). When you access the sign-up link, input your child’s name (not your own) and indicate if you need to pick up items for a sibling at the same time.
Parents will drive up to the bus lane in front of the school during their chosen time only. While remaining in their car, they will be given their child’s personal effects. Process for pick up
Families who were unable to pick up their child’s personal effects during the assigned time may contact the school through email to request another time that can be arranged by the school. Families who feel there are items missing from their child’s personal effects, can email the school with the description of the item missing and the school will attempt to locate the missing items and arrange a time when parents can come to pick up after April 25th. If there are important items that parents are unable to wait for April 22-24 to pick up, the parent is requested to email the school or teacher with specific details. As time allows, staff will locate the item and arrange for you to pick up. Please remember that the school is closed between April 10th and 20th for Easter Break. Thank-you, Rick, Chris, and Erin Select the survey link for your child’s grade below:
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Weekly Instruction Playlist: Please see the following email from Mr. Thorne, shared earlier today, in regards to this week's continuity plan and our upcoming Spring Break: To: All Christina Gordon families From: Rick Thorne, Principal Re; Spring Break - April 10-20 Dear Parents, I am hoping you are well in these difficult times. It's hard to believe that we are already nearly a month into our new (temporary) reality. During these times, I realize that days and weeks run together and we often find ourselves wondering what day it is. Not a surprise when, for so many of us our regular routines are off, and each day is like the last. It wouldn't be a surprise if you hadn't even realized that Spring Break is upon us. At this time, on behalf of the staff of Christina Gordon, I wish those of you who celebrate it, a Happy Easter and to all a nice Easter break. Because schools have been directed to follow the regular school year calendar, school will be closed and our teachers will be offline, taking a much needed break after Thursday, April 9th and returning Monday, April 20th. To allow families to also maintain some sense of the normal year as well, this week will be time "off" for our students, with no learning activities provided for them to complete. You will receive the next learning plan on Monday, April 20th. During the break staff has been asked to focus on their own well-being and that of their families. As such, they will not be in communication with you during that time. I'm sure you can all relate to the importance of taking care of oneself during these trying times. We appreciate your understanding and assure you that they will be available to you again when they return on Monday, April 20th. While it is not easy to see all that is happening 'behind the scenes' our staff has been working tirelessly to stay in touch and provide you with learning activities that are helpful, without causing any undue stress for our families. On top of that they have to do that in a way that is very unfamiliar to most of them, without being in a room with the children that they have such important connections with. They truly do need and deserve the break. Until we reconnect on April 20th, please stay well and continue to do all you can to help stop the spread. Sincerely, Rick Thorne, Principal
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Weekly Instruction Playlist: Please see the following email, shared earlier this evening: Good evening, A few updates from school. First, Christina Gordon is having a door decorating contest! Decorate your doors, inside or out, in a spring or Easter theme. Then take a picture and send it to either myself or Mrs. Power (karla.power@fmpsd.ab.ca). The photos are due on April 20th and will be put on the Christina Gordon Facebook page on April 21st for public viewing. The winning door will then be announced on April 23rd. Get decorating Cougars! Second, Mrs. Power will be hosting another live concert this Tuesday, April 7th, on her classroom Facebook page (Mrs. Power's Music Room) at 1:00 pm. Tune in and sing along! Can't make it? You can always check back later to watch the recording. Third, today is Multiplication Monday! Each Monday I will post a multiplication challenge on our classroom Seesaw page. This week students are challenged to work on their 2x tables. Need some help? Check out this week's Multiplication Monday video. Please remember, all weekly activities or activities shared on our classroom Seesaw page are completely optional. Please do what works best for your student and your family. Finally, today's Classroom Book a Day selection was "Bruce's Big Move" by Ryan T. Higgins. This week we are going to try and get back on track with an update email at the beginning or end of the week if needed, as I know the almost daily emails have been overwhelming. As we settle into our new routines, I am hoping that I will be able to contact you at the beginning, or if necessary, end of the week as before. However, if you still want daily updates, please check our classroom website's Agenda page or the Seesaw Blog for our daily Read Aloud videos. Thanks everyone! As always, let me know if there are any questions or concerns in regards to any of the above, - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
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Weekly Instruction Playlist: 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
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Weekly Instruction Playlist I hope you are all having a great Thursday! Today is World Autism Awareness Day. If you wear blue today, be sure to share a photo on our Christina Gordon Facebook or with me on Seesaw. We are also having our Virtual Multicultural Potluck. Make sure to share a video, picture, or recipe of one of your family's favourite dishes with us on the Christina Gordon Facebook page or on our classroom Seesaw. This is a great learning opportunity! There is a lot of Math practice that happens while cooking. Finally, our CG Staff has been missing all of our amazing CG Cougars. Be sure to enjoy this video from all of us to all of you!
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Please see the following email, shared earlier this evening: Good evening, I know that I said I would try and limit emails to Mondays and Fridays, but there are few updates I thought families might appreciate receiving before Friday. First, the Fort McMurray Public School Division has recently launched the #ABLearningatHome and #FMPSDLearningatHome campaign. We would love to see photos of students and families learning at home. More specifically:
Second, so many important events have been sidelined by our current circumstances. One that we always look forward to at Christina Gordon is our annual Family Multi-cultural Night and Potluck. If you look at our school calendar, this event was scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday, April 2nd) night. Obviously we can't be together physically to share in this special evening, but we can make the best of this situation by sharing virtually. See the attached poster for information on how you can participate. Let's make this happen and prove that physical isolation doesn't mean that we can't still be together while apart. What a great opportunity to turn this into a "learning at home" experience for your children by having them help you prepare or serve the meal. Or maybe you just take advantage of the time together to share the meal as a family and then virtually with our Christina Gordon family by posting photos on social media or sending them to the school to post for you by replying to this email. Remember, multi-cultural. Wherever we are from represents 'our' culture, so anything that you prepare can be part of your culture, whether you are from Nunavut, Newfoundland, Namibia or New Zealand and all places in between. We have more than 50 countries and all provinces and territories represented at Christina Gordon. Let's see how many cultures we can represent! Finally, I know that not all of our families are currently using Seesaw. If you are not able to use Seesaw consistently, but would still like to access the daily Read Aloud videos, you are able to do so. I will still be posting the videos each day on our classroom website on the Agenda page. You can also check our classroom's Seesaw Blog which will have the videos and comments from our classroom community. The video for yesterday was "What Does it Mean to Be Kind?" and today's video was "If You Give a Dog a Donut". As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns in regards to any of the above. I am also available to help students and families with technology issues or setting up Seesaw accounts. Just send me an email and we can arrange a time to talk. Thanks everyone, - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
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