This is what I received from my kids school today... Shaw has provided free K-12 learning that is more comprehensive than this
TLDR; school work will be focus on Math and Reading, 5 hours per week, content released every Monday
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We hope this email finds you and your families well in the face of these uncertain times. As your child’s teachers, we have been working over the past days and weeks to put together a plan to continue our learning online. Just as learning from home is new for our families, online teaching is new for many of us, and we know there will be pieces to iron out and perfect in the days and weeks ahead. We are very excited to be taking this first step today and starting to reconnect with our students online.
As you know, the Government of Alberta and the Calgary Board of Education have indicated that the requirements for Grade 5 are that learning be no more than 5 hours weekly and be primarily focused on literacy (ELA) and numeracy (math). We will also be tying in some multidisciplinary pieces from the Science and Social Studies curricula. We want to emphasize that we know this is not school as usual – just moving online. We do not expect parents to replicate the school environment at home. Instead, the learning opportunities we are creating are designed to further the critical literacy and numeracy understandings your child has, to reconnect them with us and with their classmates, and to put them in a strong position for future academic work.
How to Access Online Learning
We will be using Desire2Learn (D2L) as our primary platform for online learning. D2L is the platform that we have used this year to communicate with you. In order for your child to access D2L, they will need to follow these steps:
Go to https://d2l.cbe.ab.ca/
Click on “Sign In” under CBE Students and Staff
Log in using their CBE ID Number (usually between 9 and 11 digits) and their computer password they use at school
Once logged in, you will be able to see a Grade 5 ELA Online course and a Grade 5 Math Online course
We will make learning tasks for each week visible on Monday. You’ll be able to see them on the home page of each course.
What We’ll Be Up To
We have been working hard to come up with fun and engaging ideas for tasks that will further your child’s literacy and numeracy learning. In ELA, we’ll be starting a whole-grade novel study of Tuck Everlasting - a fun book that many classes were planning to read later this year. In Math, we’ll be starting the study of Statistics and Probability which gives students many opportunities to flip coins, toss dice, and survey their families.
Getting Help
Although we are working collaboratively to create these learning opportunities, your child’s homeroom teacher remains in charge of supporting your child in their learning. Please contact your child’s teacher via email if you have any questions or need support with the tasks or with using D2L.
Finishing Up Outstanding Work
Some Grade 5 classes have work items that were started before Spring Break which their teacher would like to complete. Teachers will be reaching out to their individual classes if this applies. Our goal is to have all outstanding work wrapped up within the next week.
Your Teacher’s Existing D2L Course
Your child’s teacher may keep their existing D2L course active and provide links to activities or other programs that were used in their classroom or are available for extra practice. You are welcome to use these activities and programs if you are looking for additional schoolwork beyond the mandated 5 hours a week for your child.
***
We want to thank you in advance for supporting your child as our learning transitions online. We are very excited to continue working with your child, and seeing them “online” in the days ahead! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher directly.
Sincerely,
The Grade 5 Teaching Team