October 2017

FreshGrade
• Check your email for
your invitation
Conferences
• Open times. Come at
your convenience
Assignments
• Keep up on what we’re
doing on the
Assignments tab on
our website
Khan Academy
• Ask you child about
their account. Daily
practice is encouraged
Typing Web
• Touch typing is an
important skill.
typing.com is a great,
free resource for
learning
Times Tables
FreshGrade
Many of you are connected to FreshGrade,
and are seeing your child’s work on line at
your convenience. I hope you’re enjoying it.
For those of you who have given me your
email address, but have not yet connected to
your child’s FreshGrade portfolio, check
your JUNK or SPAM box, just in case it went
in there. If not, please contact me with your
email and I will update your information.
I have not received email addresses from
some of you, so if you wish to keep connected
with our class this year, please send me and
email with your information and I will update.
The students have their Math Start Up
package in their portfolio now, so you can
see how they’ve done. We will be working on
Fractions, Decimals, and Order of
Operations next.
Science: Scientific Method is now complete,
and will be uploaded when we have finished
evaluations.

• A very important skill. Note the new evaluation style we use in

Daily practice is Division One – Rubrics. Traditional marking
encouraged. with percentages is a thing of the past, and
• Also, check out we will be using rubrics for more detailed
mathplayground.com assessments. If you have any questions,
for fun practice please contact me at swsmith@vsb.bc.ca
 DOWNTOWN TOUR FIELD TRIP

We had a great time on our field trip on Friday, Oct. 6. We did a tour of the
downtown core from Science World, to English Bay, across by Lost Lagoon,
through Coal Harbour, then finishing up at the Olympic cauldron at Jack Poole
Plaza.
We had a lot of fun with a ‘scavenger hunt’ game where students could try and
figure out the clues from our outing.
We would like to thank all the parent chaperones who were able to attend and
enjoy the day with us.
Hopefully we will be able to go skating at Robson Square this December. We will
keep you posted.
 Halloween Potluck Lunch
Tuesday Oct. 31

Students are in the process of organizing a Halloween Potluck

lunch on Tuesday Oct. 31. This will be a whole pod event, so the
students from Division One, Sixteen and Seventeen will be hosting
the event.

We will plan to begin in the afternoon, around 1:00 pm.

We would like to invite parents and guardians to attend. If you can

make it, we’d love to have you join us!

We encourage all families to bring a favourite dish to share with the

pod (you do not have to make enough food for 80 people, just bring
a dish that you would like to share).

We will be sending home more information soon.

 ASSIGNMENTS Conferences
Students have completed their first MATH Our Conference schedule is a
assignment for the year. It was the MATH START bit different this year. Students
UP package. This was a review to see how have created their GOALS at
students do with addition, subtraction, school, and will bring them
multiplication and division. Their evaluation is home to you. The expectation is
posted in FreshGrade. Check it out to see how that parents and students will
your child is doing in these areas. go over the GOALS together,
Students who are working towards mastering review, and revise them, sign
these skills will continue to get practice through them, and then send them back
our programming, and through Khan Academy. to school. They will be uploaded
into FreshGrade as part of your
child’s portfolio.
Khan Academy Conferences will be available to
Khan Academy is an incredible resource for anyone who wishes to attend,
many studying needs, including Math. Students but they are not individual
have an account where they can develop their sessions. The time slots are
Math skills. open, and parents can attend at
their convenience. I’m only
We will have time during the school day to work asking for you to indicate an
on this, but I encourage all students to spend open time slot so I can prepare,
about 10 – 15 minutes at home each day as accordingly.
‘homework’.
During the conferences,
Your child has the log in information. students will show parents what
in is their FreshGrade portfolio,
and what they are currently
Typing Web and Times Tables working on.
Typing is probably as important a skill as
printing/handwriting. Students today should learn As many of you are on
to touch-type to help them in their future FreshGrade, and attended the
education and jobs. A fantastic website with a fully workshops in September, and
free program is typing.com. Here students can set have already seen and signed
up a free account and practice their typing skills. your child’s GOALS, you may
With daily practice they will be able to touch-type opt not to attend,
in a few months. understandably.
If at any time you wish to set up
The ability to do mental math is an important life an individual conference or
skill. We need it for daily calculations as adults. meeting, please contact me,
Students practice their Times Tables four times and we will do so.
each week, but should also practice at home.
One fun place to practice is mathplayground.com.
Students should be doing both activities for
‘homework’ each day.