Week 2 already!

Thanks for your patience. This web site is finally functional, though skeletal. I will continue to build it as I go.

• Program Night: Our Program /Meet the Teacher Night is this Thursday, Sept. 14 (Rm 220). I look forward to meeting all who can make it. I teach grade 6 in the mornings and grade 4 in the afternoons, so we will follow that order on Thursday:

• Gym: 6:30 - 7:00 pm.

• Room 220: 7:00 - 7:30 pm.

• Agendas/Planners: The school is collecting $10 for the student Agendas. Please send in $10 with your child if this is still outstanding. Cash is fine, or a cheque made out to Holy Cross School.

• Scholastic: Students received their Scholastic booklets for September. The deadline for orders is Thursday, Sept. 21st. You can now pay conveniently online through the Scholastic website (Parent Pay), or you can send a cheque, payable to Scholastic Canada, in to me via your child. Please do not send in cash. Either way, you will still need to send in the hardcopy order form to me.

• Homework: Students will receive homework most days. I will try to keep their weekends free. This week, students will receive a Homework Folder that holds notes and handouts that go home to you, as well as their homework. They will also receive a Homework Pouch (zipped bag) where they will keep their Homework Folder, Agenda, and reading book.

• Spiral Math: Students will have Spiral Math Review Monday-Thursday. Spiral Math continually revisits (or spirals back) previously learned concepts. I will typically collect/check it on Fridays. This will be one sheet (front and back) with a column of math for each day. I would like students to show their math work, so they can certainly staple extra paper to this sheet if they need the extra space. At this stage, they should not be using calculators for these questions. We are starting this very slowly and taking up each question, as students are new to the process and may not be familiar with some of the concepts. I expect that this will speed up as they get use to it. Eventually they will be checking their own homework in the mornings as part of our Bell Work, with me taking up only a few of the more challenging problems. Grade 6 is an EQAO year, so this continual review should help them prepare for this provincial assessment at year's end.

• Reading: Students will be expected to read a minimum of 40 minutes per evening, Monday - Friday. They had read 30 minutes in grade 3, so 40 minutes is more appropriate for grades 4-6. Grade 6s can certainly read more. I am encouraging them to develop a habit of reading each night before bed, and recommending that they go to bed early enough to accommodate for this. Developing a routine is the easiest way to get the time in. I am asking that students fill out their Reading Log and that you initial it to insure that they are doing their reading.

• Spelling: Student will receive a spelling list of 16 words each Monday. They will review the words through the week. They will have a spelling test each Friday. The first word on the list is the WOW word (Word of the Week). I challenge students to try to use this word in their speech as much as they can throughout the week to expand their vocabulary.

• Books: Student will visit the school Learning Commons to check out up to 4 library books each week. I am also augmenting this with our Class Library. They can take books home from our class library as long as they sign them out. Please encourage your child to look after these books and keep them in good condition. Keeping them in the Homework Pouch will help with this.

• Communication:

• Agenda: The Agendas can be used for communication. I will check them regularly, so we can jot notes to one another through that.

• Email: You are also free to email me any time (maria.robinson-cseke@ocsb.ca). I should check my board email daily.

• Website: will try to keep this website up-to-date. I will put reminders and announcements in this Class News section. I will also try to keep the Homework section up-to-date, to keep you informed. Students will also be writing homework reminders in their Agendas. As I am teaching both grades 4 and 6, please take care to note if reminders are specific to one grade or the other. If I don't specify, it will likely be for both.

• Remind: Finally, I have set up an account with Remind.com . I will post reminders there that will automatically go to your phone or email. You will need to sign up for this if you would like to be on our class notification list. Please sign up at: https://remind.com/join/9ab9c2a

Have a great week.