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Hello Everyone,

Great work today during ULTIMATE! We had a great time out in the sun! Thank you to Ari, my past student, who volunteered to do a free outreach program with the kids. He is the co-owner of a business called Elevate Academy. They have summer ultimate camps at Champlain Community Centre nearby if anyone is interested. Ari said he will send me a flyer for class. He gave everyone wristbands, too! Thank you for your participation today.

Please finish up some math! Work on the “Show What You Know” assignments and unit tests, so you finish a minimum of two units this term for your report cards! For many of you, this means pretty much finishing the grade-level book so you are ready to move on to new material next year. If you are in grade five, I will be communicating your level and what you have finished to Mr. Gaitens. Those continuing with me, I will be doing a fall assessment and we will then figure out where to start you next year, as the math activities will be different from your first year to avoid repetition.

MASKS are coming along! Many of you did the spackle today, and hopefully will have time to sand either tomorrow or Monday. If you are still working on plaster, you are behind and need to get going to catch up, as spackle can’t be put on until all the plaster is finished. Consider simplifying your design if it is not working out the way you planned, so you can meet the time deadlines. This is fine and is part of the design process! Finishing within a certain timeframe is part of the design process, too!

REFLECTIONS — Please do the self-reflections I sent home today ON PAPER, then show it to me and we will be doing our final reflection for the E-Portfolio and Report Cards. Do not get any help at home, thank you, as this is your own personal reflection piece. You can wait and do the “I CAN” statements in class, as I have the posters for it.

LIBRARY BOOKS: All personal library books are due. If you have books for your project, then that is okay and Ms. Ho has extended the deadline for you.

Have a great day! Stay cool, wear sunscreen, get hydrated, take breaks in the shade, and wear appropriate clothing so you don’t overheat!

Ms. D

For this project, choose one environmental accident or disaster that has occurred where human activity was the cause.

Your job is to use this incident to help prevent future disasters!

Find out:

• Details of the incident–where, what, how, when
• What was done to clean up the mess
• What the impact on the environment was
• How the damage to the environment hurt the ecosystem 
• How the incident impacted humans directly
• Could the incident happen here? If it did, then what would be the impact?
• What should we do to avoid that happening?

You will need to have:

• Notes and bibliography 
• A way of sharing the info with us, whether diorama, ppt, prezi, or speech and slideshow of pictures. 
• A chart to show data you found about the event

Criteria (rubric to come):

• Complete research with notes in Google Docs where you have put a bibliography entry first and can then cut and paste info you find.
• Good communication skills as you present your information, clear enunciation, volume, speed
• An effective visual aide with evidence
• Must have info relating the event to both impact on environment and on US
• Must have a chart with data, whether about the event or Vancouver as you talk about how to avoid disaster here. Chart must be labeled appropriately, appealing, and use units on x and y axis effectively.
• Uses data and past event details to really convince us we need to avoid events like that here.

For your reference, Top Man-Made Disasters!

Hello everyone!

Some of you have chosen to start your animal research early, and thank you for your enthusiasm! We do have time in class to do this project, so you don’t need to do it all at home. It was not the assigned homework and it is not due until EOD Friday.

Not everyone has told me which animal they are doing. So, to help, and to make sure we all are doing a variety of animals, respond to this post with the animal you are doing.

BTW, if anyone has had trouble paying for OWL, please let me know, so I can check in to it on Monday.

See you soon!

Ms. D

 

Hello Everyone! Quick Updates!

As I said in email to all parents, some students did not receive the Deep Cove Kayak notice today. If you missed receiving it, you can find it under Notices. Each parent will also need to fill out the waiver form, which is done electronically at the Deep Cove Website.

Tuning IN Reflections: Students should have selected six articles from the Nature Unit links on the Articles of Interest Page. They then should write a reflection for each one. Please include a few lines to tell us what the article is about, and then a longer section with the thoughts, questions, and feelings they had about the article. Due April 10th, Monday.

Math: For our nature unit applied math, we are focusing on data and charts. This will mean doing a series of smaller math projects. Our first is all about Earth data. Tonight students need to finish page one, finding number facts about the Earth.

Battle of Books: All students have first book signed out! See blog post about the competition and guidelines.

Everett Crowley Park Walk April 11: Weather depending (I will be looking on Monday to see if it will be nice enough), we will walk from Suncrest to Everett Crowley Park on Tuesday, April 11th, starting at 9AM. For tonight, I have asked students to find out the history and any interesting facts about the park. We will discuss over next three days.

Rain Jacket for April 18th Watershed: Please look for rain jacket with hood. Think about what backpack will travel well — think light, think waterproof.

Library: Please bring your books for tomorrow!

Caribou Test: Caribou Test for April is tomorrow afternoon from 1-2 PM

Student Leds: We look forward to seeing you tomorrow! Please come at the time assigned. All students need to leave the classroom at 2PM so I can have a quick break before starting at 2:10 PM. I will also not be in the classroom from 5-5:30 so I can get some dinner. If younger siblings are coming, please be advised they will need to stay with parents the whole time, as we will have lots of crazy stations set up! Thank you for your help.

Have a great evening! See you tomorrow!

As we discussed today, our new unit until mid-May is called The Nature Connection! 

We began today by spending some time outside and doing close observations of our natural surroundings. Tonight I have asked everyone to do the same for 15 minutes at home. Please keep your journals in your backpacks during this whole unit so you know where they are and can use them for observations!

Unit Focus Statement:

Human beings impact AND rely upon the balance of nature’s interdependent systems.

We will inquire into:

Interdependence in ecosystems

Biodiversity of species

How human interaction with the environment can affect the balance of systems

Earth’s water supply

First Nations’ perspectives: nature, science

The role of close observation, documentation, data, and charts in science

How the moon, sun, weather, and tides affect our lives

How we express our connection to nature through poetry or art

I look forward to another great unit!

 

Dear Parents:

As part of our unit on interconnectedness with nature, we will spend some exciting time outside and learning about nature. Here are some quick notes about upcoming events:

Everett Crowley Walk ​April 11: Everett Crowley Park nearby is a great place to explore for a shorter walking trip to identify plants. I need 2-3 parents to walk with us from the school and back, weather depending, on Tuesday April 11, 9:00 – 12:00. Please let me know if you can help.

OWL Visit ​April 12: The OWL Rescue organization from Delta will visit us April 12th from 10:00-11:30. There will be a fee of approximately $7.50, and I will be collecting it after the visit because I need the kilometre charge to indicate the exact amount. Please let me know if you have any concerns.

Watershed Field Trip April 18: Remember field trip to Lower Seymour coming up! Details on what to bring will be reviewed in class. Bus leaves promptly at 9AM, so please be at school at 8:50.  No umbrellas allowed for students and adults, so please have waterproof jackets with hoods to stay dry. Also helpful is a small, water resistant bag, and we will talk about how to prepare for this in class.​

Dragon Boating May 16,23,26: Dragon Boating confirmed for mornings of May 16, 23 and 26 for $25. Notice will come out late April so we can space out payments of field trips. If you volunteered to help drive, please mark dates and confirm via the notice.

Deep Cove Kayaking June 20: Our end of year celebration is June 20th, Tuesday; notice going out Wednesday, April 5th. Two hours of kayaking with instruction and guides, as well as picnic/bag lunch at the park. I am collecting $28.85 early due to a deposit being required. Thank you to PAC for some funding to lower costs. I will need parent drivers for transportation. Please advise via the notice if you can help. Three parents can participate in kayaking, and we also need some people to just help with getting us there and back. Any concerns, please let me know!​

Ultimate Session in June: A past student of mine now has a business of his own (and made me feel old and proud all at the same time!) — Ultipros Academy — and he will be coming to do a free ultimate session with the students in June! For more information about their group, please see:   https://ultipros.jimdo.com/​

Independent Project Display June 23rd Tentative 12:00 – 2:00 PM:​ We will display independent projects this day. We will tentatively do it over lunch with the hope you can come and see student projects, taking a quick break from work. Please mark calendars and see if you can join us. If you need me to adjust hours so you can make it (without doing after school) then please let me know.

Helpful Items for Nature Exploration:​  

• ​Look for egg cartons and 12 ounce glass jars with lids. Please keep at home until needed. 
• For students with sensitive skin, it may be helpful to have cheap gardening gloves from the dollar store (only if they fit well so they can grab things) as then they don’t have to worry about accidentally touching an irritant during plant collection. 

Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions! 

Ms. D

 

As announced in class today, as part of our new unit on interconnectedness with nature (another post on that to come Monday), Ms. DeTerra has challenged everyone to try and visit as many green, nature spaces as possible during the month of April.

To help provide incentive, Ms. D will give a prize to the person who visits the most green spaces by April 30th!

 

Here are the requirements for the challenge:

• Green spaces include Burnaby or other Lower Mainland parks, lakes, beaches, trails, eco-sculptures, playgrounds, conservation areas, golf courses, or other public outdoor spaces (for example, a courtyard park between buildings, as long as we can tell where it is, would be okay.)
• You must take a picture of yourself (a selfie or have your parents/friends take it) at the green space to prove you were there. The picture must include something that makes the space recognizable. For example, a sign, a recognizable building, or a street sign.
• Each space can only be counted once. For example, if you take pictures in different areas of the same park, it does not count. 
• Save your photos until the end of the month, then bring them to school on a USB or have them uploaded to Google Drive so you can put them in a slideshow to show me.
• The prize will be worth it, so do your best! Many of you have lots of green spaces around you to explore.
• Yes, our park next to Suncrest Elementary counts, if you get a picture of yourself in it.

If you have any questions, post them in the comments below for everyone to see!

Good luck! 

Hello Everyone,

Great work today on all of our projects! Here is a quick update of where we are at for today:

Playground Project: They are starting to really come together! More work time tomorrow. We are doing all the work on this project IN CLASS please, not at home. Remember, when you are done with your equipment, you will need to do a write up on each one to explain why we should have that equipment on the playground. Use persuasive language! Provide detail about how it works and why you chose it. When all partners are done, you will be covering the base with either sand or paint. Deadline to complete is Wednesday, March 8th.

Mysteries and Debates: A few of you still need to get mysteries in, so please do so as soon as possible. All debates are finished and some rubrics have been marked. As soon as you receive yours, please get it signed.

Math: Part of the class is doing a re-take. We did not do it today given how well everyone was working on their projects, but it will be ready to go for tomorrow. If you received your quiz back today, because you do not need a re-take, please get it signed and return.

Socials: Please see the previous blog entry about primary research and complete an interview. Your questions and the answers from the interview need to be typed on Google Drive and turned in by Wednesday, March 8th.

French: We are doing all of the culture research at school, and students are recording what they find out on a Google Doc. Packets 3 and 4 were handed back today. Please study the vocabulary presented, how to make singular/plural words, how to conjugate PORTER, and about male/female adjectives.  

E-Portfolio and Independent Project: Please write a paragraph on e-portfolio by end of day tomorrow about the topic you want to do and why you want to do it. Time has been given in class to do this, and more time is available tomorrow. Due EOD March 3rd.

Art: Great job painting! More time to get these finished up tomorrow in class. Hopefully they are all done so we can stack the cards up by March 10th, Friday.

Thanks and have a great night! 

Hello Everyone,

Some updates and changes to deadlines because of people needing more time:

Debates: Good job to our first debaters today! We will continue debating tomorrow and possibly Monday so all teams have a chance to present.

Math: Applied Quiz will be moved to Monday. Independent Math have two unit tests done by March 3rd. Thank you!

Mysteries: More time to work on mysteries tomorrow. If you need more time to finish your story, I can be flexible, but you need to be a good communicator and talk with me tomorrow. If you are ready to submit, please turn it in here. 

Playground Project: This will be the major thing we work on next week, all week, so once you are done with your mystery stories, you are ready to ROLL!!

French: We went over packet 3 and 4 today (singular and plural nouns, ER verbs and conjugation of PORTER, Emotions, and adjectives.) We will continue to practice and have a quick check-in quiz our last week before break. To learn more about cultures in the world that speak French, each student is also researching a nation that speaks French other than France or Canada. They will find out the percentage of people who speak French and investigate one celebration or festival in that country. I challenge French Immersion students to write about their research in French instead of English. More criteria to come, but right now we are just researching. Due by March 7th.

Socials and Primary Research: To finish with our discussion on discrimination, and to learn more about primary research vs secondary, students will be conducting an interview of someone. They will ask about their experience coming to Canada and/or their experience with discrimination. We will create questions together, and I will do an example of an interview in class. This will be very helpful for when we do our independent project, as primary research is required. Due by March 7th.

Independent Project: We do five major units per year, and then we do an independent project. Students have already brainstormed topics on their e-portfolios (and these portfolios will be where they document their research and progress.) Final topic is due on March 3rd so Ms. D can begin to help look for resources.

Secret Project for Celebration of Learning: Good job today! We will practice again tomorrow during gym.

Have a good evening!

Ms. D