Our class is hard at work investigating how engineers create bridges! We will be building our own model bridges, looking to meet the criteria:

-Bridges must be between 12-20 inches long

-Bridges must only be made using the provided materials (popsicle sticks, yarn, tape, glue, paper, straws)

-Bridges must hold as much weight as possible

-Bridges must be able to balance on top of the two book ‘towers’

Stay tuned as we begin building this week!

Thank you so much to our parents, guardians, and families that were able to attend our Student-Led conferences! It was so lovely to see everyone and celebrate the amazing learning and hard work of our Division 5 students! For those who were not able to attend, I will reach out tomorrow with an alternative date or a virtual option. Once again, I am feeling so grateful for our amazing learning community.

Best wishes,

Ms. Ward

Hi parents, guardians, and families of Division 5!

Very soon, you should be receiving an e-mail with some important information about Student Led Conferences on Thursday, May 12th. This year, we are excited to be able to welcome you into our classroom for in-person Student Led Conferences! Please check your e-mail for information on how to sign-up for a time slot. I will send out some information about what to expect sometime early next week.

However, I know that not everyone is available on this day and some families may not be comfortable being in-person yet. Please reach out to me and we will make something work! I am looking forward to celebrating each and every student’s accomplishments with you all!

Best,

Ms. Ward

Our class is hard at work preparing for our ‘Tiny Art Show’! We are using paints to craft a small painting on canvas. For inspiration, we watched this Artist who challenges himself to match ANY object’s colour. He does this by making keen observations and using colour theory. We will continue learning about colour theory as we exploring painting!

Our Engineers are hard at work designing an alternative to a single-use plastic product! Our goal is to create something that is convenient and can easily replace the plastic items we use every day (ex: plastic cups, disposable forks). We know that while some single-use plastics cannot be avoided (ex: plastic wrappers on medical supplies), there are many kinds we could replace with a new, interesting invention! Stay tuned!

Bubble artist Melody Yang holds one of the world records for getting the MOST people inside 1 bubble (181 people)! Below, she shares her recipe for bubble solution. We will try creating our own ‘perfect’ bubble liquid in class!

Have you ever noticed that banana flavoured things taste NOTHING like real, fresh bananas? Well, every time you bite into a banana-flavoured candy, you are actually ‘travelling back in time’ to taste a species of banana that is now extinct! The flavouring is based on the Gros Michel species of bananas, which were wiped out many years ago by a plague. The bananas we eat today are a different species, which don’t taste the same!

Humans have been adjusting, selectively breeding, and changing plants for hundreds of years! Check out what bananas used to look like below:

Today, our class talked about the prehistoric, aquatic, mysterious creature known as the ‘Tully Monster’. This species is known to be around 14 inches long, lived in streams/creeks, and had 2 long eye stalks and a large clawed appendage. However, many paleontologists are in disagreement about what kind of animal it was: was it related to a squid? Was it more like a fish? Is it something different altogether?

What do you think?

Have you ever tried ‘street food’? This could be a meal served in a cart or in a food truck! Some common street foods you might see include hot dogs, gyros, crepes, etc. Vancouver is famous for the Japanese fusion cart known as ‘Japadog’. What started as 1 street cart has now turned into over 8 carts and even a restaurant!

We also read a story about boy who wants to eat Halal hot dogs with his family after prayers. Halal is a special kind of preparation of food/rules about food that some people who practice Islam follow. Many Muslim people may eat Halal meats, or may choose not to eat pork.

Check out the real-life inspiration for the Halal Hotdog book below:

 

Our read-aloud novel is a bit of a ‘historical’ fiction… the story is set at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020). Think back to what we were thinking and feeling back then. This story follows Knox, whose family moves from Hong Kong to American during the early stages of the pandemic. Knox has to deal with leaving his dad and dog behind in Hong Kong, worrying about his family’s money troubles, tackling his learning differences, finding his identity as a Chinese-American, and standing up against anti-Asian racism at his new school. On top of all of that, his older brother Bowen is always getting on Knox’s case.

This new book is from Kelly Yang, who wrote the Front Desk series (one of our favourites from last year)!

Some questions to consider at home:

1. If you could send a message to yourself in March 2020, what would you say?
2. Do you think that there will be lots of stories (and even textbooks) set during the pandemic in the future? Are we living during an important time in history?
3. Have you ever witnessed discrimination or prejudice?

If you want to watch Kelly Yang reading a chapter of her newest novel, watch the video below: