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9/27/2018

Student Emails

Dear Parents, 

In the front of the agenda, I have now put a label which identifies your child's email address and their password. They have been told they can try to login at home, but I will give them a chance to try this at school tomorrow. This is their entry into the Google Universe, which I will be using for a number of student activities and tasks. Please keep in mind that it is a process, and I am there to help the students be successful with it. It can take time, but it is worth it as they will then be ready for using Google tools to help with their learning in the later grades. To get in, here are the instructions. 


  • Login to www.ocsb.ca
  • Click the icon "Student Portal JK-6"
  • You will then be prompted to enter the email address. 
  • If the email addres has been entered accurately, it will ask you for the Password. 
  • You will then likely go through their terms of service page, and on to their email. 

Please let me know over the course of the week if there are any difficulties.

Regards,

J. da Costa

PS. I have put the above link in Quick Links which should take the students directly to the Student Portal.

Reading Points Program

Dear Parents,

A fun incentive-based reading program called "Reading Points" will be given to your child to bring home tomorrow. (It will be in an orange duotang.) Rather than the traditional "Reading Log," this is meant to encourage the students to read daily/nightly in a way that engages them and offers them many reading opportunities in a variety of forms. Daily reading is an important tool in helping to improve reading fluency and comprehension for children. This program is intended as a Monday night to Thursday night program. The information on how to use Reading Points was explained to the kids today, and is outlined on the first page of the Reading Points duotang they will be given tomorrow. I told them tonight that they could read a book and "count it" as their first Reading Points entry. I will show them how to input it into their Reading Points folder tomorrow, and then they can take it home. Please note that the Reading Points Folder will normally be a home activity, so students do not need to carry the folder back and forth to school every day. They return the folder to me when they have reached their first 6 hours of reading. (Nevertheless, I will ask them to bring their folder later this month so that I can ensure they are doing the program and know how to use it.) Here is a copy of the Reading Points they will be bringing home tomorrow in their orange duotangs:


I would like to emphasize that I want to make Reading Points a "fun" and rewarding activity for your children, rather than just another school subject/homework assignment. Getting the students to develop a life-long love of reading is always our main goal! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Regards,
John da Costa

9/25/2018

Words of the Week: List 3

WORDS OF THE WEEK - List 3

Short i Words


1.in
2. win
3. spin
4.is
5.his
6.will
7.hill
8. spill
9. hit
10. quit

BONUS: season

Bravo, Grade 2s!


Dear Grade 2s, 

It was a beautiful day for our Terry Fox Walk on Thursday. You did a fantastic job taking part in this important event which will help raise money for cancer research. Thank you very much to our parent volunteers who joined us. Bravo, Grade 2s!

Mr. D:)

Walking for Terry!


Warming up for the big event!

1st Communion/Reconciliation Meeting Tonight

Dear Parents, 

A reminder that there will be a meeting at St. Leonard tonight for the parents of those students who will be making their 1st Reconciliation/1st Communion at this parish. It begins at 7PM at the Church. For those families who are part of St. Brigid or St. John the Evangelist parish community and wish their children to do the sacraments through those churches, please call the parish office at 613-821-0761 or email the office at stbrigid.stjohn@gmail.com.

Regards, 

J. da Costa

9/17/2018

A Big Thank You to Parents

Dear Parents, 

I wanted to thank you for coming to our class on Tuesday for our Student-Led Open House. Attedance was excellent this year. I was proud of students for all of their hard work in making it a successful event. Remember that if you were not able to make it Thursday night, the students can show their work to you at another time. (ex. lunch,before school.) Kindly write me a note and I will arrange it. 


List 2 Words of the Week (W.W)

WORDS OF THE WEEK LIST 2 - Week of Sept. 17th
Short -e- sound


1.pet
2.wet
3.pen
4.hen
5.when
6.tell
7.well
8.spell
9.went
10.sent

BONUS: Autumn


Welcome to the XtraMath Program!

Tonight’s homework task is to try a fun site called “XtraMath.”
It will help you learn and memorize basic Math  addition and
subtraction facts. To access XtraMath, click on this link:

https://xtramath.org/#signin/classroom2?c=Y5AQYWUA


Click your name, and Enter your 4 digit passcode. (I glued

your 4 digit XtraMath passcode today in the top right corner
of the front of your agenda today!)

You will then be taken through several steps to begin.


You should practise these basic facts on XtraMath regularly.
Learning and memorizing your basic addition and subtraction
facts will make it easier for you when you need to add and
subtract using Math problem-solving questions! This is also
an activity you will get opportunities to do during class time
on our Ipads and ChromeBooks.

Enjoy!

PS. For Ipads/Iphones/tablets etc. you can download
the Xtramath App but this is OPTIONAL. Alternatively
you can login to the site through Safari, and create a
shortcut to your desktop. An extra step is required but
there is no cost:)

9/11/2018

Digital Samaritan Program and Agreement

Digital Samaritan Program and Agreement

Dear Grade 2s,


Next week, we will begin our Digital Samaritan program will show you how to
become responsible digital citizens, and how to use computers and other
devices safely. Before you are allowed to use our class Ipads and other school
devices, please read over the  Agreement in the front of your agenda with a
parent. It will look like this:



Once you have completed the activity, please get your parent to sign it. Now you
can use our devices!


If your parents would like more information about the Digital Samaratin program,
they can click this link below.


Regards,


Mr. D  ;)



9/10/2018

Remind Class Code

Good Evening,

It was brought to my attention that some of you are getting asked for a "Class Code" when you attempt to get into the Remind app. If you are asked for the class code, our class code is dac2d1819. Please let me know if you have any difficulties getting into the app. 

Regards,
J. da Costa

Words of the Week: Spelling Strategies Information

WORDS OF THE WEEK (W.W): SPELLING
STRATEGIES


Today, students copied down their very first Words
of the Week (we often call them W.W. words for short)
At the beginning of each week, students will copy the
week’s ten “Words of the Week” in their agenda.(I will
also post the words on the Blog for students who are
away or have missed words.) The first six words are
chosen based on common letter sounds and/or spelling
patterns. ( Example: short a sound in hand, splash)
Some of the chosen words will also be in the same direct
word family (ex. bend, spend). The other four words will
be words from our classroom ''Word Wall.'' Often these
words do not follow regular phonetic or spelling conventions
(ex. night), or they are often confused with other words
(ex. where, were, we’re)

Listed below are some strategies to help students learn,
practise, and study their Words of the Week list. Students
should choose one strategy per night to practise their words.
(Different strategies work best for different students.) A
short quiz on these words will normally take place on Friday.
While there is no formal written component to be handed in
as homework, it is essential that students practise their
Words of the Week nightly at home to help ensure success.

A. Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check: Students look at the word,
say it, and write it. They then cover the word, try to spell it
correctly, and then compare the words to see if they were able
to spell it correctly. (See a sample and recording sheet below)



B. Word Patterns and Families: Students can try to sort
as many words as they can from their list based on common
spelling patterns (ex. wreck, wrong) or words in the same
Word Family (This means that they both rhyme and have an
identical spelling pattern.  (ex. mill, thrill.) It’s also fun to come
up with non-W.W words that belong with each pattern.

C. Dictionary Study: Discovering and learning the meaning of
new unfamiliar words is important. Look up any Words of the
Week in the dictionary and copy some of the (meanings)
definitions out.

D: "ABC" Order: Students can copy out the words (or some
of the words) in Alphabetical (ABC) order.

E. Sentences

Students can practise writing their Words of the Week
words in proper sentences. It’s important to ensure that
the reader or listener would be able to tell from the
sentence what the word means. (Ex. for the word swim,
“I like to swim in the pool.” instead of “I like to swim.”)

F. Story:  Ask the student to write or recite a short story
using as many of their Words of the Week in one paragraph
or story. (Note: The story is allowed to be silly as long as
it makes sense!)

G. Games: Students can design their own word searches,
crosswords, riddles, jokes etc. based on their Words of
the Week, and ask family members to solve them!

H. "Do" The Words as a Cheer:  This group of activities
has often been my students' favourite! Ask your child to
"do" their Words of the Week." For example, they can
"cheer" each letter of the word while pretending to swing
a baseball bat. See the list of activities in link:




*** While doing all of these activities each week is not
necessary, doing a variety of activities from week to week
(as opposed to doing the same ones all the time) is
recommended!

Here is a “printer-friendly” version of the information in
this post if you would like to print it.


List 1 Words of the Week (W.W)

 WORDS OF THE WEEK LIST 1 - Week of Sept. 11th


**** Short a sound

1.am
2.ham
3.at
4.hat
5.can
6.man
7.and
8.hand
9.has
10.had
BONUS: Canada

Great First Week!

Dear Students,


Last week was a terrific first week!  Each
one of you earned a sticker! I enjoyed meeting
all of the students in my new class, and I am
looking forward to a fantastic year with all of you.
Week Two will be even better than the first one!!!

Regards, 

Mr. D

9/06/2018

Receive class updates by Text and/or Email!

Receive Email/Text Class Updates! ("Remind" App)



Dear Parents,


For the past two years, our class has used the "Remind" App. I received positive
feedback about its usefulness, and I plan on using it again this year. This app will
allow me to send messages to your email addresses and phones to remind you of
different events our class will be involved in. Please note that it is not a replacement
for our school calendar, and it will deal more with reminders related specifically
to our class/grade as opposed to whole school events. (I plan to send out various
reminders when possible, but you will still need to refer back to the school
calendar account for a full list of school events.) Whether you would like to use
this method of communication is your personal choice, but my goal is to get as
close to 100% participation as possible. I appreciate your patience in these
beginning stages! If you are interested in receiving these reminders, please
read the information below. I will be giving students a ‘hard copy” of this
information tomorrow.


1) Reminders by Smart Phone


On your iPhone or Android phone, open your web browser and go to the following link:




Follow the instructions to sign up for Remind. You’ll be prompted to download the mobile app.


2) Reminders by Email (Smartphones)


Join online by clicking the following link:


Text the message @dac2d1819 to the number (613) 209-0694.


3) Reminders by Email
(Desktop Computer, Notebooks, Chromebooks)


Don’t have a mobile phone? Go to rmd.at/dac2d1819 on a desktop compute
to sign up for email notifications


Here is a PDF version of the full info sheet from remind.com

Please feel free to write or call if you have any questions about the Remind App.


Regards


J. da Costa