Hello everyone,
Its another new month, which means its time for an update from Div. 1. Students have been especially busy this Fall at school. Volleyball season started, and our team has played their first couple of games against other schools in our zone. Students on the team have been busy practicing at lunch. In addition, preparations are underway for our winter concert! Students have been busy practicing their lines, designing the set, and working on other technical, behind-the-scenes, parts of our winter concert. Also, fundraising started for our June camp. I am so proud of all of the students who are taking on these volunteer roles around our school.
We ended October with our annual Halloween costume parade, teacher presentation (in costume, of course!) and class party. Thank you to everyone who brought snacks and games to make our class party extra fun.
Looking ahead, there are lots of things happening in November, so please scroll to the bottom of this post for a list of important dates for this month. As always, if you have any questions, please contact me via email.
For the last two weeks of October, we had the pleasure of having Ms. Brule, teacher-candidate from UBC, complete her short practicum in our class. Starting next week, Ms. Brule is only going to be visiting our class once a week, on Thursdays. These weekly visits will continue after Winter Break.
Math
This month in Math, we are learning about multiplication and division. We started last week by reviewing (or learning about) multiples, factors, prime numbers, and composite numbers. We will progress to learning about how to multiply and divide decimals and integers (grade 7), and will learn about order of operations. We will also continue to develop strategies for multiplying and dividing larger numbers.
Language Arts
This month in reading, we are starting our first Book Club. Students will get to choose a novel to read (from a collection of novels chosen by me). All of the novels have the theme of overcoming challenges. Students will be responsible for reading their novel, completing the reading activities, and discussing their novel with their group in the timeline given.
This month in writing, we are taking a break from non-fiction writing (biographies and autobiographies) and will be moving on to story writing.
Social Studies
This month, we will shift our focus from Science to Social Studies. In Social Studies, we are going to learn about the rise and fall of early societies. We’ll use the Social Studies inquiry process and skills to ask questions, gather, interpret and analyze ideas, make inferences, and share our findings and understanding with others. We’ll learn about features and characteristics of different early civilizations and what lead those civilizations to fall.
Health Education
Starting last month, we began a unit on hazards in British Columbia. Using the ‘Master of Disaster’ program, we are learning about emergency preparedness and hazards in B.C., like floods, wildfires, earthquakes and tsunamis. Over the next few weeks, we’ll shift our focus to online safety, digital literacy, and digital citizenship.
Young People’s Concert
Our first YPC field trip is coming up on Friday, Nov. 28th. Bus pick-up will be shortly after 9:00 a.m.. This performance will be featuring Grupo America by Las Americas.
Dazzle your students with Grupo America’s visual explosion of glamour, colour, and spirited music! This Latin dance extravaganza presents folkloric and contemporary dances from Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and the US, taking audiences on a journey from the pre-Columbian to the modern era. Students learn about the three main influences in dances from the Americas: European, African, and Indigenous. Each dance is introduced with a brief description of the country and the dance’s origin and story. (https://www.kbamonline.com/#/grupo-america/)
- Monday, Nov. 3rd – Photo Retake Day
- Friday, Nov. 7th – Div. 1 Snack Sale (Camp Fundraiser) and Fun Friday (Bring a Stuffy Day)
- Monday, Nov. 10th – Remembrance Day Assembly
- Tuesday, Nov. 11th – Remembrance Day – school is closed
- Friday, Nov. 21st – Professional Development Day – students do not attend
- Friday, Nov. 28th – Young People’s Concert