As you know, students have been working hard on weekly blog posts, sometimes writing about things they're doing at school and sometimes writing about their personal experiences. This week, their topic will discuss something they did over the holidays and they have to include one of their own pictures from the break (or ones their parents took on their phones!). I encourage you to do the following activity with your child​ so that they learn how to do this and can do so independently for future assignments.

The ability to move photos and file from one device to another through the cloud is a technological operation that your children will do thousands of times in their lives. Learning this skill early helps them see the connections they can make with technology and how they can use different media to tell their stories. By the end of the year, students should be able to move images, videos, and text files from one device to another with ease by using our Google Drive accounts. 

But how do we do it? Depends if you're on a laptop or desktop computer and where your file currently lives. The photos we're using this week are probably on a mobile device, though some people do upload them to their desktop or laptop computers, too. Below are two different sets of instructions, depending on which device you're on.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions at all! 
-Mrs. LS

Hi parents of Division 6, 

The EduMinions are blogging! Yay! Here are some tips to read and comment on your child's blog as the year progresses:

1) First, head to our Kidblog account. You can bookmark this page as it is the main space your child will be posting to for the remainder of the school year. 

2) For easy navigation to your child's work, click on their name on the right side of the screen. Find the blog post of theirs you'd like to read and click on the title to open it.

3) Read their post and leave a comment for them! You don't need to be logged in to comment. Write your name in the box above the comment post so they know who you are.

Keep in mind that Mrs. LS has to approve comments before they can be viewed by anyone else, including the students. This is to protect our kids and to teach internet safety in a controlled environment! 

4) If you're curious about work in a specific subject, check out the Categories column on the main page to find our posts in that particular area:   

5) Check back to your child's blog throughout the school year! 

If you have any questions, as always, please contact Mrs. LS. Happy commenting :) 

Many of you have been asking about the weekly spelling routines and what to expect. Typically, students will copy down their personalized spelling list for the week on Mondays and have a spelling test on Fridays. On short weeks, like this week, the test will change to a Thursday instead. During these first three to four weeks of spelling practice, I am getting kids used to the routines of spelling as well as how to practice both at home and school. Therefore, you shouldn't panic about this week's test at all - we're all getting used to a new school year still! 

We use an iPad app called SpellingCity to deliver our lists and tests each week, which is part of why I've asked for earbuds/headphones to be sent to school for your child. This program allows me to personalize your child's spelling list to a challenge level that suits them and it also creates activities and spelling games based around those words.

For the record, I do not put a lot of emphasis on the tests but rather, on the continual practice and use of spelling words (or words with similar spelling patterns) in student writing. I also encourage you to practice general spelling skills with your children at home through games like Bananagrams, Scrabble, or Boggle. Regular playing of word games and writing practice at home can increase spelling competency in written work at school.

​For those of you who would like to access the activities available for your child's spelling words on SpellingCity.com, read on! 

The SpellingCity app is available for both iOS and Android devices. You can also access the web portal by clicking here. 

The rest of this post will detail step-by-step instructions of how to navigate the web portal, as well as let you know about usernames and passwords. (See Step 1 to figure out your child's username and password if using a tablet device)

If you are wondering what your child's progress is in the area of spelling, click on "My Records" in the top menu on the page. There will you be able to see which activities your child has completed, how much time they've spent on them, and even which words they are struggling with! ​