Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 4)

We had such a fun time at gymnastics yesterday! Students worked the whole time we were there and got in some great movement and exercise.

Tuesday was our amazing field trip to the Heights Garden, just a short walk away from the school. Anastasia and Nimira  organized this field trip and Katy also helped teach the students. Divisions 15 and 16 learned so much about plants, gardening, growing, and edible and medicinal herbs grown in a garden. We were adventurous and tried some new herbs: mint, lemon balm and fennel! The students also went on a scavenger hunt to find things around the garden. Then we learned about the life cycle of plants. After that, we painted pots (pictured above) and were given dirt and seeds to plant in the pot. Anastasia and Nimira also organized for the students to have hot chocolate and a sweet treat. The students loved the day so much! Thank you to Heather who helped us to get the kids safely to the garden. Please take a walk down to the garden and your child can share with you some of the amazing things they learned there and introduce you to the garden.

Big Ideas:

• Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment
• Objects and shapes have attributes that can be described, measured, and compared
• Designs grow out of natural curiosity

Curricular Competencies:

• Explain how participation in outdoor activities supports connections with the community and environment
• Engage in problem-solving experiences that are connected to place, story, cultural practices, and perspectives relevant to local First Peoples communities, the local community, and other cultures
• Demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world
• Experience and interpret the local environment
• Make simple predictions about familiar objects and events
• Consider some environmental consequences of their actions
• Compare observations with those of others
• Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving

Learning Involved:

• Identifying the life cycle of plants
• Relationships between people and the environment in different communities

First Peoples Principles of Learning:

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors
• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational

Core Competencies:

Thinking – Critical and Reflective Thinking

• Students think critically to develop ideas. They work with clear purpose and consider the potential uses of their work. They explore possibilities, develop and reflect on processes, monitor progress, and adjust procedures in light of criteria and feedback.

Communication – Collaboration

• Students combine their efforts with those of others to effectively accomplish learning and tasks. As members of a group, they appreciate interdependence and cooperation, commit to needed roles and responsibilities, and are conscientious about contributing.

Personal and Social – Social Awareness and Responsibility

• Students develop awareness of and take responsibility for their social, physical, and natural environments by working independently and collaboratively for the benefit of others, communities, and the environment. They are aware of the impact of their decisions, actions, and footprint.

Julia was so generous to share her butterflies she raised at home to allow us to set them free all together.

Here are the pictures from releasing the butterflies!

As the start to our Pride week, we participated in a school wide activity. We shared the story, 10,000 Dresses with our classes and after reading we had an excellent discussion. Then each of the students designed their own dresses. They were all so creative and different. Attached are pictures of the students’ creations and a link so that you can share the story at home.

Today was our colour day at school. We were a sea of colours in our room! We read the story called A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and discussed that love is love.  The students shared their ideas with love and openness. The read aloud for this book is linked below.

I hope you have all had the chance to see the felting project we did. It was such a fun process! We used felting wool to create a picture. All students had to think of an idea of what they wanted to design. They used the wool fibers to create the picture. We then put that into a bag with water and soap and began to agitate the bag so the wool so the fibers can interweave and lock into place (this took 20-30 minutes!!)

Below are the pictures of what some of the projects looked like before the water and soap step. I was not able to get all the pictures of the “before”.

I also added a picture of a book with a sunset in it as some students used pictures in books as their inspiration!

Have a great weekend everyone!

On Wednesday, Div. 15 and 16 celebrated Fancy Day with an afternoon tea party. Some students went all out and were very fancy! Students were encouraged to have a growth mindset and try a variety of teas offered. We tried gingerbread, apple cinnamon, camomile, iced and chai tea. Rahil’s mom, Lamia made two types of chai teas for our students to try, one with more cloves and spices. We also had cookies with our tea. As a group, we spoke about the type of manners we would use at a tea party and in fancy restaurants. Ask your child their favourite type of tea they tried.

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Yesterday was our field trip to Lynn Canyon Park and Ecology Centre, where we were learning about water everywhere. We discovered so many things about water, trees, insects, forests, habitats and the environment around us.  One group took a walk over the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge and into the forest. Ask your child to tell you about the Douglas Fir tree bark and cones. Our leader then took us along the Baden Powell Trail into the forest. This is where we turned over rocks and logs to find a variety of creatures and forest floor debris. We then went to Lynn Creek to find water insects. Ask your child to tell you about the Mayfly and the Caddisfly. We were taken back to the Ecology Centre to look under a microscope at all of the creatures we had found. The park is 15 minutes from Gilmore. Your children have learned so much about the forest and its creatures. Take a trip there soon, or over the summer and they can be your leaders. Don’t forget to take a small container with you, so that they can show you how to find the water insects. Even in the rain, this field trip was such an amazing learning experience. We hope you will go discover it with your family soon! Thank you to all the parents who drove and volunteered; we couldn’t have done it without you!

Big Ideas:

• Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment
• Water is essential to all living things and it cycles through the environment

First Peoples Principles of Learning:

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits and the ancestors
• Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions
• Learning recognizes the roles of Indigenous knowledge

Content:

• Demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world
• Observe objects and events in familiar contexts
• Experience and interpret the local environment
• Compare observations with predictions through discussion

Last week students had an opportunity to look through the egg candler. It looks like a microscope, but it is a big flashlight at the end so it helps us to see inside. We saw some veins and a black dot. Now they are getting bigger and we see more black.

Oh my goodness! The students had so much fun these last couple of weeks learning Capoeira and sining songs in Portuguese!

Here are some pictures from last week: