Good Morning Division 4, 

Wishing you a wonderful day! I look forward to talking to your families today and tomorrow. 

What is a “T” word that could go in today’s title? Add your ideas in the blog post comments!

Here are some activities for you today:

• Continue a project you already started!
• Explore Mystery Science: Why do we celebrate April Fool’s Day?
• Write your Gratitude Journal #2
• ADST – How can you build the tallest tower? (With parent-approved materials!)
• Daily physical activity challenge: how many jumping jacks can you do today? (You can add them up throughout the day!)

Dear Families, 

I look forward to connecting with you on Thursday or Friday. Please feel free to complete this form prior to our meeting, if you would like. This will also help let me know when would be best to call you. 

Talk to you soon,

Ms. Carley

Gratitude

Spring by S.E.

Good morning Division 4,

I wanted to start this morning with some gratitude. I am grateful for our amazing class community full of creative, thoughtful, and kind children and families.  I am so grateful to be connected to all of you as your classroom teacher. I am grateful for the photos and messages you have sent me. I am grateful for the conversations I have had with you this week, and the conversations we will continue to have. I am thankful for our opportunities to be safe and stay connected during this time. I am grateful for the memories of earlier this year in the classroom, and excited for all the new memories we are going to create next. I am thankful for having an opportunity to learn new things, and a family who encourages me when things are challenging. These are some of the things I am grateful for on this Wednesday morning. 

For today, I would love for you to take some time to create a gratitude journal entry – what are you grateful for? Who are you grateful for? While you are writing or drawing, I want you to notice how you feel. Perhaps you could even start each day this week with a gratitude entry.

Please remember that everything I post on the blog is an invitation to explore. Please take your time and do only what is a good fit for you and your family.

I hope you have a wonderful day,

Ms. Carley

Ideas 

Here are a few ideas to add to the others:

• Art & Writing
  • Join Mo Willems for Lunchtime doodles! In the episode #2 video, Mo talks about Piggie and Gerald (our favourite!!). At 12:55, he teaches us how to draw Gerald. Can you come up with an idea for a new Piggie and Gerald story? Can you come up with your own cartoon?
  • At 24:10  Mo shows us a letter doodle game! What letter doodle will you do?
• Daily Physical Activity
  • Today’s challenge is to practice three or more yoga poses. See how it feels to take a few yoga breaks today.

One more gratitude note… I am thankful for my sidekicks, Gaia and Nemo.

Good Morning, Division 4!

Welcome to our second day. I miss seeing all of your smiling faces in class!

As I continue to work with the other teachers, here are some more ideas for you to explore. You might already be working on other projects with your family, activities from yesterday, or you might want to explore the ideas from the Burnaby School District website. Some activities might even take several days! You can choose what you would like to put into your “shape of the day” – it will look different for everyone.

Take your time and have fun! You can even take a photo of your learning adventure and send it to me.

Ideas for Learning Activities 

• Explore Burnaby School District Learning Website
• Science
  • Here is a mystery science activity for you: How does hand sanitizer work? First watch the video (bacteria and virus images from a microscope are shown), then design your own “little alien robot” germ! Give it a name 🙂
• Math
  • How do you use math at home in your daily life? Think of as many ways as possible!
  • Map Your Home
    • Draw your home layout from a “bird’s-eye-view”
    • Include furniture (remember to draw it like you’re looking at from the ceiling)
    • Use estimation—for example, how much of that wall is taken up by that dresser? 1/2? ¼
    • How big is the kitchen compared to the living room?
• Reading 
  • Read, read, read!
  • Listen to a story read from an astronaut in space
• Writing
  • Word collectors: Keep collecting!
  • Can you use your words in a haiku poem (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables)?
  • Can you write a haiku about staying home? 
• Daily Physical Activity
  • Remember to take lots of physical activity breaks! 
  • Daily challenge: how many sit ups can you do today? (You can add them up throughout the day!)
• Art 
  • Can you use shadows to create art? (I will try to post a photo later of my shadow art)

Welcome to your first day back!

Today is going to feel quite different than our usual first day back from spring break. It is okay to feel happy, sad, worried, or any other feeling you might be having. You might even be feeling a mix of different emotions throughout the day. 

Families, here is a great resource for you to take a look at: https://www.openschool.bc.ca/keeplearning/

Students, as I meet (virtually) with other educators in Burnaby today, here are a few things to get started for your first day back. 

Talk with your family about your school day schedule:

• What time will you wake up each school day? 
• Can you choose a special “work space”?
• Which activities will you do today? 
• Will you have access to technology (ipad or laptop) at a certain time during the day for school work?

Activities 

Here are some activities you can choose to do today! These are just suggestions, not requirements. There are many ways we can learn at home!

• Science
  • Here is a mystery science activity for you: How is a Rainbow Made? First watch the video, then there is also an extension activity that you can try, if you’d like. 
• Math
  • Play some math games to practice your fluency of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts 
  • Grade 4’s can work on their multiplication/division booklets if they are not finished
• Reading 
  • Read a book! Or two! (I will be sending some online reading programs later this week as well).
  • Listen to a story from Audible (free collection available)
  • Check out our new blog posts from before spring break (below)
    
• Writing
  • Create a visual journal about spring break – pictures and words about what you did
  • Write and draw about your favourite things about school! You can also include some things you would like to do during our distance learning!
• Daily Physical Activity
  • Ideas: walking, hiking, yoga, dancing!
  • Remember to take lots of physical activity breaks throughout the day
• Art 
  • Spring is here! If you can, find your spring bud from the last week of school! See if you can find the exact one and draw it! How do you noticed it has changed?
  • Or, find something to draw outside your window that shows spring is here!
• Extensions
  • You could work on your extensions from AIP – body systems of your animal and humans: digestive, musculo-skeletal, respiratory, circulatory

Dear Students and Families of Division 4, 

I look forward to connecting with you over the next few days to share more about what school will look like during the coming weeks. At this time, we know we will not be gathering together in classrooms, and learning will look very different than we are all used to. Here is the most recent update from our district: Update to Families – March 27 2020

Wishing your families all the best during this challenging time.

Missing our lovely class community,

Ms. Carley 

Over the past few weeks, Div. 4 & 5 have been finding our voices when it comes to climate change and sustainability. 

After reading A Stone Sat Still, we wove our voices together to create metissage poems.

With a visit from the Burnaby School District Sustainability team, we gave a garden tour and discussed what a Climate Utopia would be for us. Then, we had representatives from our green team take part in the Burnaby School District Sustainability Expo to share our ideas.

This week, we were able to extend our voices even further, taking part in the Thought Exchange about what we value in sustainability around the district. Please feel encouraged to add your voice to the conversation and share your ideas for sustainability initiatives in the district.

During the week before spring break, Div. 4 was busy with STEAM Challenges (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). How can you create a hut to withstand a windstorm? How can you create a sturdy bridge to withstand weight and save you from crocodiles? 

What other STEAM challenges would you like to explore?

In Term 2, Div. 4 created forest landscapes inspired by the works and style of Emily Carr. We explored these questions throughout our inquiry: How do forests make you feel? What similarities do we see between Emily Carr and the Group of Seven? How can we examine art as primary sources? How can we understand the past through the lens of a historian? 

How can you extend your learning in the forests? 

On Burnaby mountain, we are connected to the top of the watershed. Earlier this week, we got to see the salmon eggs hatching in Div. 8. On Friday, Div. 4 explored the challenges of salmon as they move through their life cycle, moving through different water sources. What happened as different elements are introduced to their lives? How does a dam influence the salmon’s journey? How does climate change affect the water systems they need? How do we influence the environment around us? What do we need to remember? It is fascinating to see how our understanding of animals and ecosystems connecting to stewardship and climate change.