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From a Second Skating Session to a Kindness Quilt, from Pink Shirt support to our Hands Bulletin Board display, we ended February with kindness, care and support for one another. Our Hands presentation was well received at the February Assembly and Finn The Frog was a welcomed character on our Leap Year Day.  Thank you, Ms. Minoza, for sharing, This Book Is Perfect.

We look forward to the final weeks before March break.  Students are invited to participate in a spirit day, DECADE DAY, Tuesday, March 12, that will take them back in time to a different era.  For students that have never even lived a decade, choosing to dress from a previous decade can be a challenge.  So please, parents and families, share your thoughts about your favourite era and help your child participate in this final spirit day before Spring.

The Clinton Leadership Team has created a power point with some suggestions.

https://sd41-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/2099061_edu_burnabyschools_ca/EQl1IydhMfdKqEg_pwNPUUcBxph4NwhwoVYs29027S1yIQ?e=Ko0haE

Students are also looking forward to the Primary Days of Music that will be at Confederation Elementary School on Wednesday, March 13.  They have also been invited to a Movie Afternoon on Friday, March 15, in the gym, sponsored and put on by the Clinton PAC.  We are a busy bunch of bees in Room 15.

As we move forward to the Spring Break, please note that students will be bringing home their extra clothes and shoes for a freshen up.  Their school supplies will be removed from their desks and put into bags that will hang on their coatroom hooks.  Please send a reusable bag to school next week so that supplies can be stored.  Some students will be bringing home a list of supplies that they will need replenished.

Happy March! Spring is just around the corner!

We have been pleased to have Ms. Minoza work with us on Thursdays.  She has been exploring the Narrative Window of the Entry Point Approach with students.  Visual Art by way of First Nation’s Art has been a focus.  Students have been looking through the lens of story to appreciate, understand and question works of art. The entry point approach gives opportunities for many conversations and discussions related to the visual art pieces.

Students have moved to a focus on stretching, balance, flexibility, strength and mindfulness as they approach their personal practice with yoga poses during P.E. class.  They have been learning that health and wellness can come from independent opportunities rather than just team sports and events.

We reached the 100th day of school in Room 15.  Our eyes were opened to the possibilities of 100 and we worked through a variety of lenses to combine items, numbers and experiences that connected with the number 100. 

We look forward to another skating adventure next Tuesday as well as the Pink Shirt Day events and assembly next Wednesday.  We end our month with a leap into learning on Leap Year Day, February 29. What a full month, for sure!

Thank you to all the families for participating in such a wonderful friendship opportunity for Division 10.  A special appreciation for all the lovely treats that were sent my way.

Students enjoyed wearing the reds, pinks, purples and hearts for House Team points.

They also enjoyed delivering and sharing cards and goodie bags with their classmates.

Cheers to a wonderful afternoon of fun.

The students played well together and will continue to share kindness and care with one another.

Please note that Friday is a Pro-D Day and Monday is Family Day.  We wish you all a wonderful time with family this long weekend.  The 100th Day of School will arrive on Wednesday, February 21 in Room 15.  Students are asked to bring a collection of 100 items such as paper clips or beans or toothpicks or beads or pasta pieces or…  whatever they desire to bring that they can break up into groups of 5 or 10 or 25 for our 100’s day math activities.

The sharing of culture has been such a delight in Room 15 and we certainly couldn’t move forward with February without celebrating the Lunar New Year, based on the lunar calendar.

In the Northeast of China, families come together to eat dumplings and play cards.  Children make red paper cutouts, freeze them outside and hang them as ornaments.  Division 10 used a plastic laminate to ice their red paper cut-outs and hang them in the Clinton Garden.  The colour red is prominently displayed, symbolizing a wish for good fortune and happiness in the year ahead. There are no limits to the design.  The more cuts you make, the more intricate the pattern.  It becomes a partnership between your hands and your imagination.

When at the school, please take a peak at the hanging ornaments in our school garden as well as read the accompany message board information.  We hope you enjoy the ornaments as they pass on a sense of love, kindness and friendship at this time of year.

Division 10 also tried their hand at Chinese Calligraphy, putting effort into creating the characters that represent Spring Blessings.  The newness of the Lunar New Year brings freshness and growth, wealth and prosperity, just as the season of Spring does.  Our diamond decorations hang proudly on the hallway bulletin board, wishing everyone a beautiful year of the Dragon.

Just a reminder that Valentine’s Day is coming up and a notice has gone home related to our Friendship Celebration on Wednesday afternoon.  Please take a moment to read the notice and consider supporting your child as they participate in our afternoon of being together as classmates and friends.

                     Sun Nin Fai Lok          Gong Hay Fat Choy            Gong Shi Fa Cai

Now here is a commentary by Eugene Wang for our Student Participation in our Blog posts:

“Hi, my name is Eugene.  I celebrate Lunar New Year by scaring the beast away.  I wear red because the beast doesn’t like the colour red and it scares him away.  I eat dumplings, long Ramen and bao at this time.  My parents and elder family give me red envelopes full of new money.  I am dressed to celebrate the New Year of the dragon.  My coat is from China.  My hair dress is from my Auntie.  I am dressed up in my new fashion clothes for a fresh start. I am a Horse on the Chinese Zodiac.” 

Groundhog Day brought a level of learning to Room 15 with students going to Groundhog Weather School.  They shared their predictions, their desires for an early spring or continued winter weather conditions as well as their knowledge about the rodents that come from the Marmot family.  Groundhogs, also known as Woodchucks, are mammals that hibernate through the winter.  When they are ready to come out of their burrows to feast on plants, as they are herbivores, they give an indication that Spring is on its way.  Farmers used to look out for animals when they would come out of hibernation.  This gave them the indication that they could plant their crops.

Division 10 went out to search for their shadow on this February 2 and did not see it.  Therefore, the forecast is for an early Spring.  Keep in mind that the most famous groundhogs are correct only 1/3 of the time.

We ended January and will continue into February with our floor hockey experiences.  With the NHL all-star weekend here and the amazing year that our local Vancouver Canucks are having, we had to participate in some hockey skills.  We have our new scheduled date for our ice skating session and that will be Tuesday, February 27.  We will keep the skating momentum going with our floor hockey games.

We also have the fortunate opportunity to be learning some American Sign Language in class this term.  We are one of few classes in Burnaby that have been accepted for this experience.  Every Tuesday, we have a 20 minute Zoom meeting with our district ASL staff who have been encouraging our students to learn how to sign words related to the daily calendar experience.  We have worked with days of the week, seasons and weather.

Our literacy week ended with a staff presentation of a Reader’s Theatre performance of The Enormous Turnip.  After watching the stage performance live, the class wanted to give it a go.  Ask them about their acting and narrating debut.

We look forward to the many activities that will present themselves in this month of February that has us experiencing February 29.  It is a leap year.  Please check the calendar of activities that was sent home on pink paper.

Hi, this is Lucas.  I am the writer of the first part of the Division 10 BLOG for today.

It was very fun to have the light show in the gym when we did Reading In The Dark.  It was quiet when we were reading.  It felt like being at home.  I read “Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, Cabin Fever.”  It felt like we were in a Winter Cabin when we were reading.

On Wednesday, we had Cool Fact Day!  One of my facts was, “an octopus has 9 brains and blue blood.”

On that day we also went skating.  I had to use the bar when I first got on the ice but then I got better.  I did fall a lot and I took some breaks to eat my snack.  Next time, I will ask for more help from some of the teachers and intermediate skaters so that I can stay on the ice longer.  Here are some photos of my friends. 

  Thanks for reading my BLOG post.  Lucas.

Division 10, along with all other Clinton students enjoyed being aboard the READING TRAIN.  It was an express train to literacy on Thursday.

Hosting the month end assembly was such a wonderful experience.  The students did an amazing job of being the MC’s, sharing the poem Look In A Book and presenting a Monthly Macarena.  Many staff and students said that they really enjoyed the assembly and we all felt very proud alongside of our buddy class.

What a great way to end January as we move toward February next week.

Please remember to send in your photos of your Family Literacy Day activities; an email from the school and notice from our classroom went home on Friday.

We so enjoyed the book characters that came to life at Clinton School today.  Thank you to those Division 10 students that received points for their house teams.

Our class also recited a poem over the P.A. to kick off our reading week.  We made many announcements today to get in the spirit of literacy activities.

Tomorrow, students will be Reading in the Dark so flashlights and books need to come tomorrow to school.

Cool Fact Wednesday will see many cool fact mittens arrive to school on Wednesday.  We hope to be skating that morning so cool facts can arrive on Tuesday or be shared after lunch, on Wednesday. Our library day is Tuesday this week so please have reading books arrive tomorrow.

Thursday we will board the Reading Train.  Students are asked to bring books for that event as well.

Division 10 along with Division 6 will host the month end assembly with a literacy theme.  The assembly will be at 1:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

We then encourage all of you to participate in reading literacy activities for Family Literacy Day on Saturday, January 27.  It is a Family Party Theme.

Please continue to support literacy at home as we encourage reading, writing, listening and speaking at school.  Our Winter Cinquains are now displayed in the classroom window with a few more 5 line poems waiting to be put up.  Enjoy the Warm Up To Reading poetry.

Welcome to 2024 and the bitter cold of winter.  It has been quite exhilarating for Division 10 to experience such below zero temperatures.

Before the holiday break, all grade 2/3 classes gathered together for the winter solstice celebration and we certainly have now come into our winter weather journey. While students were creating Winter Cinquains, that required some deep thinking about a winter environment, the snow began to blow and a Thursday afternoon blizzard brought excitement to the classroom.  This real world experience supported their ideas for creative writing.

A cinquain is a 5 line poem that connects a title to describing words, action words and emotions.

The second term will have a focus on the components of listening and writing from the language arts curriculum.  Speaking and reading were the focus for first term but will of course continue to be part of our literacy learning.

With 10 weeks until Spring Break, students also realize that this is the time of the year to put forth their personal best and demonstrate their learning, understanding and progress from first term connections.

Many of the primary students are also very excited about going ice skating.  We have had to be very flexible though and accepting that not all will be as we hope it to be.  We expected Hip Hop lessons but they had to be cancelled.  We expected a Band Concert but it had to be cancelled.  We expected to have instructors for skating lessons but they too have now been cancelled.  We certainly appreciate your understanding. Notices did go home, sharing this information.

Today, with the freezing temperatures, we took advantage of the cold weather and did some experimenting with phases and stages of matter.  We wanted to see how a liquid changes into a solid.  We placed many different quantities and shaped containers filled with water to see if it would turn into ice.  It did and quickly.  We were able to then see how quickly the ice would melt.  We continued the process throughout the day.  Real World Experience!!!

Literacy Week will be another highlight of January.  Division 10 will be hosting the month end assembly at the end of the Literacy Week, on Friday, January 26 in the afternoon.  There will also be many theme days during that week. Stay tuned for more information.

Please remember to read planners daily, send students in warm clothes for the weather and continue to build upon skills such as reading, spelling and math facts.

As always, thank you for your support and Happy New Year!

The first term has flown by and we are now at the holiday season.  All of Division 10 wish all of our Room 15 families a most happy, joyful and healthy festive season of fun and memory-making moments.  We look forward to seeing you all in 2024.

As the year comes to a close, here are a few joyous moments and activities that students on the Enchelmaier team engaged in.  Always nice to see the smiling faces, except when we had our Grinch Day:)

https://sd41-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/e13432_burnabyschools_ca/Eeru1SFJ9p5ImgIvtKkgQ4UBGb3oa1PP8VKP2oBmeK92Qg?e=xhafB9

Click on the link above to hear our heart filled Grinch recital.

Here are the Winter Games with a Fill Santa’s Sack Game, Snow-Cone Race and Snowball Fights (thanks Ms. Grant for some of the ideas 🙂

We had fun going to the movies when we took a Mouse to the Movies.  We got to watch The Snowman and The Grinch.

We had many story time sessions over the past few weeks and Ms. Hossack in the library gave students the opportunity to take 3 books out over the holidays.  Remember to bring them back.

We also read about the Cobweb Christmas and The Golden Christmas Tree which reminds us that every Christmas tree should have a spider in it.

We ended 2023 with a Winter Solstice Celebration with all of the Grade 2/3 classes, sharing some of these stories.

The Pancake Breakfast and Sing-A-Long, with a song dedicated to Mr. B, will carry us through the holiday season with smiles on our faces and an appreciation for a wonderful year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Pancakes for Breakfast, Pancakes for Supper, Pancakes Pancakes!

Emily Carr – Tree Life

Winter Forests

Festive Hat Day!

Snow is on the Way!   As well as Hip Hop.  Please join us at the gym on Friday, Dec. 15, for the full school Hip Hop Performance at 2 p.m.  Reminder: Thursday, December 14 – Festive Sweater Day!