Hello families!
This week started off with a school-wide “snake read.” Students paired up with their buddy classes, and the whole school snaked down the hallway to read or be read to.
Literacy Month is well underway. On February 25, author Eric Walters will be visiting all the intermediate classes to share his stories!
We are getting nearer to final projects for Lit Circles, and spent some time this week looking into settings and themes.
In Math, we have continued practicing multiplication, working on consistency and accuracy with our methods. I asked students to model the window method in blocks, to help us better understand what we are really doing when we break the numbers into place values and arrays. We practiced two- and three-digit multiplication drills too. 
On Wednesday, the class had a double block of Music, and so Phys. Ed. and Math were condensed into one. We played a running version of the card game “battle” or “war” where students had to race to meet me in the middle and then answer multiplication facts! It was high-energy and fun!
In Restorative Justice, Kaylie introduced the connection between stereotypes and racism, which is a very large and complex topic. We will be learning more about the biases that exist in our society with her in coming weeks.
In Social Studies, we read two picture books, Shi-shi-etko and The Secret of the Dance, to learn about the impacts of the Indian Act on two characters’ families. These are both wonderful books for opening discussion and making connections to our learning about Indigenous traditions and colonial laws.
During Take Me Outside time on Friday, we had a scavenger hunt for items in nature that matched paint samples, and were asked to sketch them. 
Afterwards, we played a wild game of Capture the Flag. I am grateful for the sunny skies today after our rainy start to regular outdoor time last week!
A notice for the Stream of Dreams went home this week. We will be painting wooden fish to create a mural on the school fences, while learning about local streams and storm drains. If you are able to volunteer to help take down the existing fence art (February 22), assist with painting (February 25) or install the fish (February 26), please return the bottom portion of the notice to me or the office by Tuesday, February 18. Thank you!
I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend! There is no school on Monday, in recognition of Family Day. Enjoy the extra time with your families! 🙂