Welcome to the 2020/2021 school year!

Week 7

This is going to be an interesting week. We may have snow! Please remember to dress your child in layers as our classroom is very hot and we will be going outside as often as we can. Send an extra pair of socks in case there are wet feet. If your child is wearing winter boots to school please send shoes as well. My plan is to store the boots in the hall and have students go one or two at a time to change into them. Shoes will be kept at their desk. I will ask for clarification for the rest of the winter clothing. We will have to keep clothing separated but we also will need it to dry and will not want wet clothing in the classroom. 

 

On Friday I will be doing some fun Hallowe'en themed activities. We are not allowed to have a traditional party with snacks this year due to health and safety regulations. Students are allowed to wear costumes but must wear their proper mask at all times. No weapons and costumes must be movement safe. Please remember we will be going outside as often as possible.

 

Meet the Teacher will be happening this week. It will be done virtually on Google Meet. I will be sending out an invitation today with a link to the meeting. We will all be meeting on Tuesday at 4pm. This is not an interview session, it is a time where I will be showing you some of what we have been learning as a class. If you are unable to make the meet and would like to speak with me at a different time, please send me an email and I will see what we can arrange. My email is peggy.macleod@ocdsb.ca

Language:  Last week I made a last-minute change to the reading plans. We read a poem called Little Bat and completed some different language activities about the poem. I really liked the format of this reading passage as it included both comprehension activities and word work. This week we will be completing another similar nonfiction text on Bats. I will be using this as a warm-up to the final project in our science unit on Habitats.

 

In writing we completed the published copy of the I AM poems we wrote earlier in the year. This week in the theme of the season we will be writing I AM a Monster poems. Students will be writing from the viewpoint of a monster they have created.

Math:  This week we will be learning about the properties of a rectangle. Students will be learning to define and identify perpendicular lines, parallel lines, lines of symmetry and right angles. We will also be working on strategies for subtracting larger numbers involving regrouping. I am currently following the Scope and Sequence plan for math set out by the School Board. This means that very soon we will be starting multiplication and division. I will be teaching a lot of tricks, patterns and using a lot of games to make this as fun as possible for the students. The more they enjoy it the easier it will be to learn.

Science:

This week we will be learning more about the food web. Last week we learned about how pesticides used by farmers to protect crops from bugs travelled through the food chain to affect the peregrine falcons. This week we will be learning about Wolf Island and how the food web is balanced naturally in nature. I will also be starting students on their final research project! Each student will be selecting and researching an animal and its habitat! This project will be completed at school as we are unable to bring work back and forth this year.

Gym:

We have finally be given the green light to use equipment during gym!! The equipment will be used by just our class and I will be sanitizing it after each use. This is opening up our class to a variety of new games including one touch and 4 square. I will also be able to start units on ball-handling skills.

Health: Working in nicely with our focus on science this week, we will continue to learn about what food choices are necessary for a happy healthy body.

 

Music The class has been working very hard on rhythm and beat over the last week. They are loving the body percussion activities we are doing.

Contact:  If you have any concerns or would like to meet with me, please call me at school or send me a note and we can arrange to speak at a time that is good for both.

If you leave a message for me on the phone system be aware that I will probably not return if until the following day. These messages come to me as an email and I can not listen to them from my computer at school as the speakers are not functioning. Also, we no longer have telephones with an outside line in the classrooms, this means I can only call on break if the phone in the office is not being utilized. That being said if it is an emergency please speak directly to Donna or Sandra in the office. 

The school number is (613)521-5922.
My email address is peggy.macleod@ocdsb.ca


Looking forward to a fantastic year!!
Peggy MacLeod 

 

 

 

Welcome to the 2020/2021 school year!

Week 6 

Well, last week brought more changes to our class. We welcomed two new students Taysi and Eisa from on-line to in class and we said goodbye to the grade 5s who will be joining their peers in Mr. Forget's class. This is a good change as it keeps both class numbers low.

 

Environment Canada is again calling for rain all week. We will be going outside every day unless it is pouring hard. Please have your child prepared to go outside.

 

 

 

 

New policy and procedures:

As many students, classes and schools are having to isolate for extended periods of time, new procedures have been put in place by the School Board and Ministry. If your child is absent for more than 3 days, they will be required to continue to their learning online while absent. I will be placing work that we are completing in class on our Google classroom. Students will also be expected to attend lessons virtually. They will be sent Google meet invitations and will be expected to join lessons. Attending lessons will be very important for absent students. We have a full class and I am teaching two grades, there is little time available to go over missed lessons. This is different from the spring in that attendance is required and assignments on Google classroom must be completed by absent students. I will be sending out parents invitations to the Classroom so that you can monitor your child's progress and work completion. If there are changes to this new directive, I will let you know.

 
 

Language:  This week we will be continuing to working on narratives. We will be learning to answer questions that require them to pull information from different parts of the text.

In grammar, we will be learning about proper and common nouns. 

 

In writing we have been working on procedural writing. We completed some shared writing activities last week where we wrote the steps to follow in a fire alarm and a lock down. This week we will be continuing to work on procedural writing.

Math:  This week we will be continuing to work patterning. Last week we learned about repeating, growing and shrinking patterns. Students learned how to create a pattern using a pattern rule and how to identify the rule when given a pattern. We will be continuing to practice this throughout the upcoming week. We will also be working on continuing patterns and creating tables when given a pattern rule.

Science:

This week we will be learning about the food chain! We will be discovering what a producer, consumer and decomposer are and what important job each do.

Health: Working in nicely with our focus on science this week, we will continue to learn about what food choices are necessary for a happy healthy body.

 

Music The class has been working very hard on rhythm and beat over the last week. They are loving the body percussion activities we are doing.

Contact:  If you have any concerns or would like to meet with me, please call me at school or send me a note and we can arrange to speak at a time that is good for both.

If you leave a message for me on the phone system be aware that I will probably not return if until the following day. These messages come to me as an email and I can not listen to them from my computer at school as the speakers are not functioning. Also, we no longer have telephones with an outside line in the classrooms, this means I can only call on break if the phone in the office is not being utilized. That being said if it is an emergency please speak directly to Donna or Sandra in the office. 

The school number is (613)521-5922.
My email address is peggy.macleod@ocdsb.ca


Looking forward to a fantastic year!!
Peggy MacLeod 

 

 

Welcome to the 2020/2021 school year!

Week 5 

 Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you had a happy, healthy, safe and fun weekend. This weekend held a few events for me. My youngest son finally had his graduation ceremony on Friday. It was a long waited for quick socially distanced event. I also managed to get out during the nice weather and go on a hike in the woods with my dog, Mika.  We had a quiet at home Thanksgiving dinner, not our usual family get together but we still had a great time. 

 

Our class is expanding! This week we welcome back several students from the virtual classes. We are now operating at a very full capacity. I am not sure where I will fit these new desks but I will be redesigning the room to make it happen.

 

Some of our students are having difficulty keeping their masks on during class time. With recent increases in Covid cases in Ottawa, and the announcement of move back to stage 2 conditions it is very important that students not only wear their masks but wear them properly. Please ensure that your child has a properly fitting mask and discuss the importance of wearing masks properly with your child. I will be hitting hard on this all week.

 

Environment Canada is calling for rain all week. We will be going outside every day unless it is pouring hard. Please have your child prepared to go outside.

 

There are many absences in our class due to illness, please review the Ottawa Public Health Covid screening tool for children.

https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/public-health-topics/covid-19-and-schools.aspx

 

 

New policy and procedures:

As many students, classes and schools are having to isolate for extended periods of time, new procedures have been put in place by the School Board and Ministry. If your child is absent for more than 3 days, they will be required to continue to their learning online while absent. I will be placing work that we are completing in class on our Google classroom. Students will also be expected to attend lessons virtually. They will be sent Google meet invitations and will be expected to join lessons. Attending lessons will be very important for absent students. We have a full class and I am teaching two grades, there is little time available to go over missed lessons. This is different from the spring in that attendance is required and assignments on Google classroom must be completed by absent students. I will be sending out parents invitations to the Classroom so that you can monitor your child's progress and work completion. If there are changes to this new directive, I will let you know.

 

 

Language:  This week the grade 4s will be working on narratives. They will be learning to answer questions that require them to pull information from different parts of the text.

The grade 5s will be starting a four chapter mystery story called The Garage Sale Mystery. 

In grammar, we will be learning about proper and common nouns. 

Math:  This week we will be starting a new unit on patterning. This unit works well with the number work we have been doing. We will also be finishing up adding larger numbers and move to subtracting larger numbers. Grade 5s will be learning to add and subtract numbers with decimals.

                                       

Physical Education: This week we will be playing running games and relay races that use different body movements.

Science:

Grade 4s will be learning about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. They will also be learning about the food web.

Grade 5s will be learning about the Digestive System.

Health: This week we will be learning about nutrition and the importance of a balanced diet and healthy food choices.

 

Music We will be starting rhythm and beat.

Contact:  If you have any concerns or would like to meet with me, please call me at school or send me a note and we can arrange to speak at a time that is good for both.

If you leave a message for me on the phone system be aware that I will probably not return if until the following day. These messages come to me as an email and I can not listen to them from my computer at school as the speakers are not functioning. Also, we no longer have telephones with an outside line in the classrooms, this means I can only call on break if the phone in the office is not being utilized. That being said if it is an emergency please speak directly to Donna or Sandra in the office. 

The school number is (613)521-5922.
My email address is peggy.macleod@ocdsb.ca


Looking forward to a fantastic year!!
Peggy MacLeod 

 

   

  

Welcome to the 2020/2021 school year!

Week 4  

  We had a very eventful week last week. There were a couple of indoor recesses and a false fire alarm. Although it was very rainy we managed to sneak in our Terry Fox run early in the week. We also doubled it as a nature walk to look at habitats. There are many absences in our class due to illness, please review the Ottawa Public Health Covid screening tool for children.

https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/public-health-topics/covid-19-and-schools.aspx

     This week is calling for cool rainy weather. Students will be going outside whenever possible, please dress your child accordingly. It is extremely hot in our classroom.  An indoor recess means that students have to remain at their desk, they are not permitted to walk around or do other activities that we would have in past years. If we have a week of rain please understand that your child has been seated at their desk for the entirety of the day, with the occasional 2 minute washroom break. They may be hyper, tired, frustrated or quiet when they return home. Please give them time to move and recharge.

Language:  This week the grade 4s will be starting to look at the parts of a narrative and will be learning to answer questions in full sentences using the words from the question. We will be focusing on Right There questions where the answers can be found directly in the text. 

The grade 5s will be starting their unit on Mystery stories. They will be reviewing the parts of a narrative and specifically the parts of a mystery story.

In grammar, we will be learning about proper and common nouns. 

Math:  This week we will be comparing and ordering numbers. We will also be working on mental math strategies to help when adding larger numbers. I am hoping to move onto subtraction by the end of the week.

                                       

Physical Education: This week we will be playing running games and relay races that use different body movements.

Science: 

Grade 4s will continue to be learn about different behavioural and structural adaptations that different plants and animals have to help them survive in particular habitats.

Due to illness and injuries most grade 5s were absent this week. So will be starting to learn about the muscular system on Monday.

Contact:  If you have any concerns or would like to meet with me, please call me at school or send me a note and we can arrafnge to speak at a time that is good for both.

If you leave a message for me on the phone system be aware that I will probably not return if until the following day. These messages come to me as an email and I can not listen to them from my computer at school as the speakers are not functioning. Also, we no longer have telephones with an outside line in the classrooms, this means I can only call on break if the phone in the office is not being utilized. That being said if it is an emergency please speak directly to Donna or Sandra in the office. 

The school number is (613)521-5922.
My email address is peggy.macleod@ocdsb.ca


Looking forward to a fantastic year!!
Peggy MacLeod