November has already brought us some peaceful moments such as working together in a caring, productive way when creating Charlotte’s Web dioramas.  The setting of the scene was Zuckerman’s Farm and students worked in groups of 5 to create their Magnum Opus work within a time frame of one hour and 15 minutes.  It was truly remarkable to see how the students cooperated and created together with purpose and peace.

Division 10 worked with the story, “Somewhere Today” and then created their own thoughts about how something challenging in the world can be made better with kindness and love.  They appreciated learning of each others ideas and positive thoughts.

Students have put 6 poems into their hippocampus (file folder in their brain).  This week, they memorized the poem Hands.  They enjoy using their hands to act out the pieces of the peace poem.

Today, we had a lovely Remembrance Day assembly with a moment of silence during the 11th hour. The voices of Division 10 could be heard when every student sang the song Peaceful, led by Mrs. Jefferson.

A few weeks ago, Division 10 created a mulch bed of leaves for the garden.  They were then given the opportunity to sketch pieces of the garden that will be going into a dormant state as we move through the seasons.  Their work is highlighted in the Clinton Community Garden display case as well as on our classroom window.  It was so quiet and peaceful as they sketched in nature.  Check the links below for a few sketching moments.

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As we move further into November, students will be preparing for the December Christmas concert.  A notice went home today sharing the white and black clothing that we hope each student is able to wear for the performances.

We have also been working with personal safety skills and coming home today is a home address/contact information form that students independently filled in.  They may need some guidance in learning some of their personal information.

We would also like to welcome Ms. Zhu to our classroom on Friday afternoons, from 2-2:30 as she brings to all of the primary grades the lessons from a program called Everyday Speech.  We look forward to our Friday afternoon sessions.

We also appreciate Ms. Rempel supporting us in the classroom during the afternoons.  Today, she shared with us the pumpkin seeds she seasoned and baked.  We appreciated the crunchy, roasted, healthy treats as part of our connection to nature.

Just a reminder that Monday is Remembrance Day (students are coming home with a poppy) and school is not in session.  Word work will not be coming home.  Students have been told that they can use the Rainbow Write strategy, The Spelling Bee word work sheet or the Spelling Octopus ideas to support their practice of the word list this week.

Have a peaceful, pleasant long weekend.

We began our week with displaying our “stained glass” window decor for the light over darkness celebration of Diwali.  We also made, just outside of our classroom, some rangoli designs using chalk for all to see.

The week progressed with our Spider On The Floor practices so we would be ready for the assembly today.

Click on the link to see one of our practice pieces.

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We also had to say farewell to Charlotte as we read “Last Day” from our novel.  We then were excited to read on and meet all of the spiderlings that came from Charlotte’s Magnum Opus, her masterpiece, her egg sac.  In honour of the 514 spiders that hatched from the egg sac, we created our own baby spiders.  There were definitely “spiders on the floor.”

“Math is Fun” is our classroom motto for our math lessons and this week we had fun with pumpkin math.  Our classroom pumpkin ended up with 432 seeds inside.  We then moved on to working with symmetry, glyph data collection and coding.  A glyph is a pictorial representation of data.  The coding was the biggest challenge and some students will continue to work on this skill.

It was wonderful to see all the costumes today.  Buddy Bingo brought many smiles and our afternoon of tricks and treats surely brought goodness and light to the room.  What fun was had!

As we begin the month of November, please note that there is a time change this weekend and we fall behind.  Students may be going home in darker afternoons as the days gets shorter.  Health and safety are part of our curriculum and students have been and will be focusing on fire safety, using symbols to promote safe choices and being reminded of how to respond during emergency situations.

As Division 10 ventures out on Halloween night, they have been reminded about and have shared over the P.A., safety tips for this evening.

I look forward to seeing everyone back tomorrow for a wonderful beginning to November.

Have a spook-tacular night!

Happy Halloween and Happy Diwali! 

We have been engaging in many reading experiences this month.  We have continued to enjoy our novel study with Charlotte’s Web with students reading along in class.

We also had to say good-bye to our classroom Charlotte so she could be free to roam in our Clinton garden and create her outdoor orb web.  We hope she creates a magnum opus, a masterpiece, an egg sac so that we can see her spiderlings in the spring.

We have continued to work with reading stamina in class with the hope that the learning will transition into your home.

We have also engaged in some prediction, connection, retelling and story strategies throughout our reading lessons.  The classroom window demonstrates some of our predicting of a story ending with Too Many Pumpkins. Have a read if you are able to pop by the classroom.

Students were excited to help support the Clinton garden as we continue to consider the possibilities when we connect with nature.  We used the school playground leaves to cover the soil around the garden plants so that the roots, soil and creatures beneath the soil will keep warm during the winter.  The plants will soon become dormant and division 10 believes they are helping the garden to hibernate.

With Halloween coming up, we created some Witch Brews and Stews.  We reused our paint palates from our nature painting and added some play-clay items.  There are some very unusual and unique items in the Witch Brews.

We look forward to an exciting week of Diwali and Halloween activities.  Please read the notices that have gone home today so you are ready for next week.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Where has the time gone?  We are already midway through the month of October and so much learning and adventure have taken place in room 15.

We continue to connect to the possibilities of nature, while developing our knowledge of spiders and insects.  Charlotte’s Web continues to move us through some interesting conversations and has inspired us to learn a song called, “Spider On The Floor.”  We will perform this at the Halloween Assembly.  A notice regarding Halloween Day will come out to families soon.

Visual Art, through the lens of the Entry Point Approach, has had us look at the aesthetics of art considering line, colour, shape, balance and emotion.  Students had a chance to work alongside some of the Pop Art of Romero Britto, creating their own Pop Art Pumpkins.

They especially enjoyed connecting with nature by painting with items from nature.  The experience was very peaceful and rewarding as twigs, fir cones, leaf stems, leaves, stones and coniferous branches were used to paint with.  They began to learn about the creative process.

Our glistening spider webs were a lovely addition to our pumpkin patch, with other students in the school commenting on their beauty.

On Friday, Division 10 was able to participate in a mock election process.  With the provincial election on Saturday, students became familiar with the voting process. They watched their buddy class vote for candidates that are actually running in the Clinton Community.  They then were able to vote in their own special way with candidates created from Charlotte’s Web.  The Zuckerman Farm election had Charlotte for Team Arachnid, Fern for Team Human, Templeton for Team Rodent, Wilbur for the Farm Team and the Sheep running as an Independent.

Ask your child how the voting process went.  The results are in:

In third place, Templeton The Rat from Team Rodent.  In second place, Wilbur from the Farm Team. And our elected Mayor of the Zuckerman Farm is…

Charlotte from Team Arachnid!

Congratulations to all of Division 10 for having the opportunity to participate in the democratic voting process.

As always, remember that the weather is changing and rain is often in the forecast.  Students are often going outside with only a hoodie on.  Coming in cold and wet does not allow for students to work to their personal best. Please encourage a rain jacket or umbrella for these outdoor day experiences.

Happy Provincial Election Weekend!  We Voted!

We have been exploring math strategies and concepts through games and activities on Fridays.  The concepts learned in the week and over time are put to use and recalled through our math explorations.  It is so encouraging to see the students work together to practice some of their math skills.

As students continue preparing for weekly Math Flights, they now have Word Collector sheets coming home on Mondays.  These home-link pages support students with their word use and pattern building skills connected to the word lists they have for their weekly word quiz. The word sheets do not have to be returned to school but should be completed by Thursday, word quiz day.

We have been learning about spiders and have experienced some orb web walks, observed our classroom spider and made visual art part of our learning.  Charlotte’s Web continues to bring us together for story time and we have appreciated creating some spider art pieces.  Students enjoyed making their own orb webs out of glue and glitter.

Division 10 appreciated the pumpkin patch field trip and decided to create their own pumpkin patch.  Pastels and Sharpies supported their artistic talent and we look forward to our patch growing with some  Pumpkin Pop Art to come. Students are working with the Aesthetic window of visual art that provides a lens into line, colour, shape and balance. 

As we move toward the end of the week, we look forward to meeting our Division 6 buddies while sharing our gratitude and appreciation for classmates, Clinton staff, community, family and friends.  We give thanks for the harvest and the beauty of nature as we continue to consider the possibilities when we connect with nature.

We had such a lovely day for a trip out to Maple Ridge to visit the Laity Pumpkin Patch South Farm.  Division 10 appreciated seeing Wilbur, petting some of the barn animals, connecting with scarecrows and picking pumpkins.  The Tree Maze, Corn Maze and the Corn Maze Race challenge were so much fun.  The Games, Glow Garden and Obstacle Course brought smiles to all and nothing beats having an outdoor lunch amongst the mountains and countryside.  Everyone got to choose their own pumpkin and are now ready to celebrate the harvest, Thanksgiving and Halloween. Thank you to Marlow for donating his pumpkin to the class and thank you so very much to our parent volunteers who helped out with lunches, pumpkin bags, hand washing and washroom breaks.  Much appreciated.

Here is a just a bit of an insight into our day.  I tried to catch everyone in a photo, yet with all the excitement, it was a challenge. Some are hiding out in the Sheriff’s Jail in one of our class pics.

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It was a beautiful Friday with all the students in Division 10 wearing orange, yellow and red in honour of Orange Shirt Day and Truth and Reconciliation.  Monday is a national statutory holiday for Canadians to reflect and be informed about the residential school system and abuses. It’s a day to honour the healing journeys of residential school survivors and their families. 

As part of our connection to Indigenous teachings and learnings, we are experiencing the possibilities of being out in nature. We opened a window to some leaf art and we will continue to use nature as part of our visual art activities.

On Thursday, October 3, we will enjoy a community building opportunity with all of the primary classes when we visit the Laity Pumpkin Patch in Maple Ridge.  We hope that the field trip will provide us with real life experiences on a farm, with farm animals and the harvest of the season. 

Enjoy this long weekend as you spend time with family considering that learning supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land and our ancestors. (First Peoples Principles of Learning)

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Dear Families in Division 10:

It was a pleasure meeting with you at Parents as Partners.  I look forward to us working together to best support our community of learners.  They are an enthusiastic, eager group ready to tackle their learning journeys.

Now that Autumn is here, please make sure you send your child to school with appropriate clothing for a variety of weather.  Outdoor recess and lunch time are valued at Clinton.

Our first community building field trip will be on October 3, at Laity Pumpkin Patch. The experience will help students to connect with what they are learning through their novel study, Charlotte’s Web, their seasonal and science observations as they relate to our classroom inquiry as well as their understanding of the harvest and plant growth.

The students recently participated in the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope, are participating in story and conversation related to Truth and Reconciliation with a focus on Every Child Matters and have shared their respect for Diversity and Inclusion.

We will soon begin our Math Flights, Word Quiz work and Reading Stamina sessions. Our first library time will be Tuesday, September 24 and students will be able to take out 2 books each week following story time.

We also welcome Ms. Rempel to our classroom in the afternoons and we look forward to Mr. Dosanjh being able to work with small groups and one-to-one with students as they move along their learning journey.

The year is underway and as we say good-bye to Summer and hello to Autumn, we quote Charlotte, from Charlotte’s Web, with the word “salutations!”

We ended our Spring Fling with Sport’s Day.  It was a good day for a Fire Fighter Splash Down at the end of all of the events.

Summer came early this year, on Thursday, June 20 and we enjoyed our time at Queen’s Park.  The Sportsplex provided us with some flying, jumping moments. Click on the link below:

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After the ribbon cutting opening ceremony of the Clinton Little Library on Friday, hosted by our buddy class, we moved to the front of the school with all of the grade 2/3 classes to celebrate the Summer Solstice.  We also acknowledged National Indigenous Day, the first full day of summer, the full moon and the seasonal cycle.

Mrs. Enchelmaier did an interactive story read.  Students created all of the summer sound effects for the story.  It was followed by all students gathering round a circular parachute to connect us to the seasonal cycle.  The rainbow colours reminded us of diversity and inclusion.  We all worked together to get the summer beach balls off of the parachute.  It was a great way to end the Grade 2/3 seasonal gatherings.

Tuesday, we will head to Ron McLean for our final park picnic.  Some of the other grade 2/3 classes will join us.

It has been a wonderful seasonal cycle of learning, adventures and joy.  We have come to our final blog post for the year.

Please look back on our full year and enjoy all of the moments from the Autumn Equinox, Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox to our now Summer Solstice.

Please also take a moment to check out the garden display box as Divison 10 not only cleaned out the garden but they added some sketches for the summer season of the garden.

Happy Summer!

June has brought us lush green lettuce in our courtyard garden containers.  Division 10 was fortunate with the weather as little watering of the plants was needed. Each student was able to take a full bag of fresh, organic lettuce home with them and we are hoping for the roots to grow another batch of leaves for us to harvest in a few weeks.

Spring and Summer give us opportunities to play outside and what better way to support student engineering design skills than to have opportunities for Division 10 to build their own playgrounds.  STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) project boxes allowed for groups to engage in playground building designs.  It was wonderful to hear the many conversations and see the creative ideas.

We have now completed our playground creation and they are on display in the hallway.

Division 10 also earned many house team points for all their colourful support with the team spirit days.  A sea of red, a day of blue, a colony of yellow and green team spirit was shared in Room 15 this week.  Thanks to all who participated.

We look forward to Sport’s Day tomorrow.  Students will be dismissed at 1:00.

A very happy Father’s Day to all those who take on a father-figure role in the lives of the children in Room 15.  We know that you all ROCK!