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Please see the following email, shared Sunday, May 24th, 2020: Good evening, Just a few updates to share with everyone this evening to assist families in the upcoming week. First, as per the email from the office last week, the Fort McMurray Public School Division has developed some assessment guidelines that will be used to provide students with a final report card. It is important that families know that we recognize that not all students and families have been involved in at-home learning to the same degree. We know that there are many factors that may have contributed to students and families not participating in some or all of the home learning activities. Teaching staff will continue to provide online learning activities for students until the end of the school year, but we continue to recognize that all families have very different circumstances that impact their level of involvement. What continues to be most important is that families and students know that the Christina Gordon Public School staff will continue to support our families. Attached is the document from FMPSD that we hope will provide some clarity on assessment guidelines and how they will be used. It is important to note that for some students, particularly those who did not participate in online learning activities or who participated in a very limited way, information from students' Term 2 report card may be carried forward to help provide an end of the year assessment. Please know that as a school we are very proud of the efforts of our families to provide the best learning experiences for their children during these challenging times, given their own unique challenges, barriers, and limitations. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns in regards to the above. Second, students in Grade 3 generally spend the end of May and June learning about Life Cycles in Science. This year we had intended to study a variety of insects and invertebrates as part of this unit such as fruit flies, ispods, etc. Due to classes being cancelled, I opted to cancel the majority of this order for the 2019/2020 school year and accepted a credit to use towards next year. However, I know many students in our class were extremely excited for this unit and our "bugs" to arrive. So, I decided to continue on with our study of painted lady butterflies. The caterpillars arrived last week, on May 20th. They are now comfily settled in my apartment, safe from the cat of course. I wanted to find a way that I could share updates as well as activities and lessons with students and families. So, I created the following hyperdoc that can be used at home. By clicking on the objects/individuals in the PDF, you will be linked to resources such as: read aloud books, art activities, songs, photos, lessons, etc. As always, this is a completely optional activity. Alberta Education has asked that home learning for Grade 3 be approximately 5 hours in length per week with a focus on Literacy and Numeracy. This Science resource is for families that are able or interested in participating. I will send out updated versions of this document as the caterpillars grow and change. This may not always coincide with our usual Friday release of information, as caterpillars do not understand timetables. There is no pressure on families to participate whatsoever. Interactive- Butterfly Lab Study (May 24th) .pdf Third, a reminder that this week (May 25-29th), we will be hosting a #CGcares Virtual School Spirit Week. You are invited to participate and share your photos with us using #CGcares on our school Facebook page. Please see the attached poster for each daily #CGcares theme. This week will culminate in the "CG Cougars are Kind Parade," on Friday, May 29th from 1:00-2:00 pm. This will be a very similar set up to last time except at the end, we will be collecting donations for the Wood Buffalo Food Bank Association. Families are welcome to drive by between 1:00-2:00 pm, following the marked route in the parking lot and to bring a nonperishable food item if you are interested/able. As with any school Spirit Week, this is not mandatory. Fourth, June is generally when Mrs. Power teaches dance during Music classes. Last year the Division 2 students participated in Dance Battles which were lots of fun. This year Mrs. Power had decided to challenge all of her students to an online Dance Battle. Here is how you can participate:
Fifth, it is the final week, Week 4 of Team Canada Champion Chats. This is a program that students participated in throughout the school year in which Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes coach students on a variety of health and mental health topics. For students and families wishing to continue the program at home, they have created more online learning resources. This week students are developing an "Attitude for Gratitude" with coach Angela Whyte, an Albertan Track & Field athlete. Below are the video and the accompanying lesson plans: Week4 TCCC- Angela Whyte (EN) - Attitude for Gr... Week4 TCCC- Gratitude Lesson_vEN.pdf Finally, the next continuity plan will be shared this Friday at approximately 12:30 pm with students and families on Seesaw. As per previous weeks, I will also send a PDF version home in an email update. Thank you for your patience over the past few weeks, waiting for videos, activities to upload onto Seesaw. I am doing my best with the wifi available to me. They will be posted as quickly as I can. As always, please do what is best for your family. The weekly continuity plans and any activities created and shared on Seesaw are meant to assist families, not provide any undo stress or worry. Attached are the continuity plans that students and families can use for this upcoming week. Below are some of the video links that have been shared to Seesaw since our last email update: May 20th- Read Aloud CG Staff- CG Apple Toss May 21st- Read Aloud May 22nd- Exploring Units of Time May 22nd- Read Aloud May 24th- Butterfly Update Students are also always welcome to use Mathletics, Reading Eggs, or Raz Kids while working from home; to get some extra math and reading practice. If you need assistance with a student's account (ie. login information, passwords, etc.), please let me know. Have a wonderful week and please let me know if you have questions or concerns in regards to any of the above, - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
Read Aloud Playlist:
Weekly Instruction Playlist:
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Please see the following email, from Mr. Thorne, in regards to our upcoming Term 3 report cards: Dear Parent, As we approach the end of the school year, our school division has been actively engaged in developing assessment guidelines as directed by Alberta Education. Attached is some information on these guidelines and how teachers will be providing final report cards for students. It is important for you to know that we recognize not all students and families have been involved in at-home learning to the same degree. We know that there are many factors that may have contributed to students and families not participating in some or all of the home learning activities. Please know that we do understand that all families have been participating to the degree that they are able to given their particular circumstance. Our teachers will continue to provide online learning activities for students until the end of the school year but we want you to know that we do recognize that ALL families have very different circumstances that impact their level of involvement. What is most important is that families and students know our teachers, school and school division will continue to support them as we wind our way through these uncertain times. Attached is a document from Fort McMurray Public School Division FMPSD Parent Information: Assess Student Work and Reporting Final Grades FAQ’s. We are sharing this with you in hopes that it provides you with some clarity on the assessment guidelines developed and how they will be used. It is important to note that for some students, particularly those who didn't participate in online learning activities since in school classes ended on March 15th or participated in a very limited way, information from students’ Term 2 report card may be carried forward to help provide an end of year assessment. Please know that as a school, we are very proud of the efforts of our families to provide the best learning experiences for their children during these challenging times, given their own unique challenges, barriers and limitations. Please take care and stay safe, Rick Thorne, Chris Organ and Erin Andrews CG Admin Team
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Weekly Instruction Playlist: Please see the following email shared earlier this evening: Good evening, Just a few updates to share with you for the upcoming week. First, it is Week 3 of Team Canada Champion Chats. This is a program that students participated in throughout the school year in which Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes coach students on a variety of health and mental health topics. For students and families wishing to continue the program at home, they have created more online learning resources. This week students are asked to get active with coach Michelle Salt. Below are the video and the accompanying lesson plans: Week3 TCCC- Active Charades.pdf Week3 TCCC- Michelle Salt (EN) - Active Charade... Second, next week (May 25-29th), we will be hosting a #CGcares Virtual School Spirit Week. You are invited to participate and share your photos with us using #CGcares on our school Facebook page. Please see the attached poster for each daily #CGcares theme. This week will culminate in the "CG Cougars are Kind Parade," next Friday, May 29th from 1:00-2:00 pm. This will be a very similar set up to last time except at the end, we will be collecting donations for the Wood Buffalo Food Bank Association. Families are welcome to drive by between 1:00-2:00 pm, following the marked route in the parking lot, and to bring a nonperishable food item if you are interested/able. As with any school Spirit Week, this is not mandatory. Third, one of our very own CG Cougars and classmates, Hanishka, is being featured in this year's Leader in Me Student Speech/Essay contest. Hanishka has chosen a topic she is very passionate about, "Change Starts With Me - Help to Keep the Living Environment Healthy." Please take some time to watch and vote for Hanishka's speech at the following link, and please share the link with your family and friends: https://leaderinmespeechcontest.us.launchpad6.com/contest5/entry/1035. Finally, next week's continuity plan will be shared this Friday at approximately 1:00 pm with students and families on Seesaw. As per previous weeks, I will also send a PDF version home in an email update. Thank you for your patience over the past few weeks, waiting for videos, activities to upload onto Seesaw. I am doing my best with the wifi available to me. They will be posted as quickly as I can. As always, please do what is best for your family. The weekly continuity plans and any activities created and shared on Seesaw are meant to assist families, not provide any undo stress or worry. Below are some of the video links that have been shared to Seesaw since our last email update: May 19th- Multiplication Monday May 19th- Read Aloud Message- Mrs. Power Students are also always welcome to use Mathletics, Reading Eggs, or Raz Kids while working from home; to get some extra math and reading practice. If you need assistance with a student's account (ie. login information, passwords, etc.), please let me know. Have a wonderful week and please let me know if you have questions or concerns in regards to any of the above, - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
Read Aloud Playlist:
Weekly Instruction Playlist: Please see the following email, shared earlier this evening: Good evening, Just a few updates to share with you at the end of this week of home learning. First, the Fort McMurray Public School Division would like to recognize how difficult this has been on students and families and that there are times that we all need support. As a result, FMPSD has launched the FMPSD Online Wellness Support Website. This site is a resource for any families/students who need extra support in the following areas:
Please don't hesitate to use these resources and remember that the staff at Christina Gordon are always here anytime our students or families may need us. Second, please see the following letter from Mr. Thorne in regards to registration and class creation for the 2020/21 school year: Dear Parent/Guardian, I trust you and your family are doing well in these unprecedented times. I realize it may be difficult at this time to think ahead to the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, but as a school we believe it is important that we do everything in our power to ensure we are ready to roll once things return to ‘normal’. As we approach the end of the school year, as happens every year, the teachers and school admin will be engaged in the process of grouping students into classes for the upcoming school year. From time to time we receive specific requests for students to be in particular class groupings due to extenuating circumstances. Each of these requests is considered seriously, however, it is not always possible to accommodate them given what is best educationally using our existing resources. We do recognize that parents have valuable insights and information about their child regarding their educational and social needs that may help us in our process. If you do have information that you feel we should consider, I ask that you provide this to me in writing or by emailing richard.thorne@fmpsd.ab.ca no later than Friday, May 22, 2019 . We are unable to entertain requests past this date. We cannot consider telephone or word of mouth requests and would ask that requests come directly to me rather than to teachers. It is important for parents to realize that we only consider requests where there are extenuating circumstances that we may not be aware of. We do NOT entertain requests for particular teachers. Much care is taken by our teachers when they compose classes to ensure that each class has a mix of students that provide for the best possible learning environment. Once these classes are created, we will not be in a position to entertain parent requests. If you have not yet completed your registration for next year, it is imperative that you do so as soon as possible. Also. if you are aware of families who plan to register their children for 2020-21 at Christina Gordon, It may be a good idea to suggest they register their children soon, so that they can be best placed as our new classes are created. As always, know that our Christina Gordon staff is here to work with you and support you in any way we can as we find our way through this uncertainty. Regards, Rick Thorne, Principal Third, Girls Inc. continues to offer supports for our community while maintaining social distance. Girls aged 6-18 can still access programming at: https://girlsincofnorthernalberta.org/post-7718/. Please go to the link to check out online, virtual programming that is available for girls in Fort McMurray. The link provides an explanation of and scheduling of current programs. If you are interested in what you see in this link, look beneath the information page to select a link to the registration form. Fill out the form provided to be connected to Girls Inc. programs. Or, to register for a program you can go directly to: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZE3Eu32Z8U6eHchS848MRvckXA8pMBVrbTifo6C1zbqEfAQ/viewform. Finally, next week's continuity plan was shared on Thursday at approximately 1:00 pm with students and families on Seesaw. As in previous weeks, attached is a PDF version for families who are not consistently using Seesaw. Attached are copies of the PDFs shared with families on Thursday. Please remember that all activities are meant as suggestions only. Everything is optional. Please do what is best for your family. The weekly continuity plans and any activities created and shared on Seesaw are meant to assist families, not provide any undo stress or worry. Below are some of the video links that have been shared to Seesaw since our last email update: May 12th- Read Aloud May 13th- Happy Birthday Iyla! May 13th- Read Aloud May 14th- Weekly Numeracy Lesson May 14th- Read Aloud Students are also always welcome to use Mathletics, Reading Eggs, or Raz Kids while working from home; to get some extra math and reading practice. If you need assistance with a student's account (ie. login information, passwords, etc.), please let me know. Have a wonderful long weekend and please let me know if you have questions or concerns in regards to any of the above, - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
Read Aloud Playlist:
Weekly Instruction Playlist: Good evening, Just a few updates this evening. The first is Week 2 of the Team Canada Champion Chats challenges. As shared last week, this is a program that students participated in throughout the school year in which Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes coach students on a variety of health and mental health topics. For students and families wishing to continue the program at home, they have created more online learning resources. This week students are asked to practice Mindfulness on a daily basis. Below are the video and the accompanying lesson plans: Week2 TCCC- Lanni Marchant (EN) - Mindful Momen... Week2 TCCC- Mindfulness Lesson.pdf Second is a note from our new Superintendent of Schools, Jennifer Turner, on school re-entry planning: Alberta Education is seeking input from the education community regarding school re-entry planning for K-12 students in the 2020-21 school year. ASCA (Alberta School Councils' Association) needs to hear from parents on member school councils in regard to school re-entry planning, elements for consideration and/or areas of concern in local school communities. The survey is for all parents in the school community. All parents with a student in the school are members of the school council, all parents with a student in the school can submit input. Please contribute input with the online survey link below, by May 14, 2020. https://www.albertaschoolcouncils.ca/about/the-parent-voice/survey Third, the Fort McMurray Public School Division has recently shared information for families on the Center for Online Mental Health Support. This is a new resource that has been created since COVID. They have now added support for Fort McMurray families as well as youth and children. Finally, next week's continuity plan will be shared this Thursday at approximately 1:00 pm with students and families on Seesaw. As per previous weeks, I will also send a PDF version home in an email update. Attached are copies of the PDFs shared with families on Friday, for families that did not have the opportunity to check Seesaw over the weekend. Please remember that all activities are meant as suggestions only. Everything is optional. Please do what is best for your family. The weekly continuity plans and any activities created and shared on Seesaw are meant to assist families, not provide any undo stress or worry. Below are some of the video links that have been shared to Seesaw since our last email update: May 5th- Read Aloud May 6th- Read Aloud May 7th- Read Aloud May 8th- Weekly Numeracy Lesson May 8th- Read Aloud May 11th- Multiplication Monday (1x) May 11th- Read Aloud Students are also always welcome to use Mathletics, Reading Eggs, or Raz Kids while working from home; to get some extra math and reading practice. If you need assistance with a student's account (ie. login information, passwords, etc.), please let me know. Have a wonderful week and please let me know if you have questions or concerns in regards to any of the above, - Ashley Barrington, Grade 3 Teacher
Read Aloud Playlist:
Weekly Instruction Playlist: |
