Dear families,

On Friday, we celebrated Grandparents Day by inviting them into our classroom to join in the fun. We started our morning with our usual Flex time where they got to enjoy various activities. Some unstructured activities included playing cards, reading, building using KEVA blocks, or showing off some of the work we are proud of on our iPads. Then we gathered in our Community Circle, as we do each day, to share a memory or what makes our grandparents special. After that, we had a movement break by doing 75 jumping jacks. It was great to see some grandparents join in our physical activity! Next, students interviewed their grandparents to learn more about them before they dove into an app called ChatterPix to shared their life tip: the one lesson you wish to share with our youth. This app allowed them to take a picture of an inanimate object (a puppet in this case) and draw a mouth so it looked like a speaking animal. We had an opportunity to share all of their work before grandparents left us. There were some great tips so I hope they will take some to heart! Students also had an opportunity for Ms. Lewis to take a special picture of grandparents with grandchildren. Soon, there will be a display of these images on the bulletin board across from the Library. Thank you to all of the grandparents who joined us! What a special event to celebrate a special bond. If you received an update on how their morning went with us, please feel free to post a comment on our blog. I would love to hear what they thought!

Last Thursday, Jocelyn, a special guest speaker from Vancity, visited to help us develop our financial literacy by teaching us about the history of money. She defined what money is, the evolution from barter and trade to modern currency, Canada’s different forms of currency, what money is made of and the features included to prevent counterfeiting, and some fun facts regarding Canadian currency. Jocelyn ended with a story called One Cent Two Cent Old Cent New Cent by Dr. Seuss. They each received a tin can to take home to save money.

For PE, we have been learning basketball skills. We started with ball handling skills to get to know the ball and the feeling of it in our hands. Then we learned how to dribble. Last class, we learned and practiced the different kinds of passing. I used to play basketball in high school so it’s been fun to practice my skills again. There is something to be said for muscle memory!

We have seen our little buddies more often lately because we have been creating samples of kind acts using a new app called Sock Puppets [FREE to purchase on an iPad]. They worked on their storyboards together and then recorded their projects. These will be showcased at our Pink Shirt Day assembly next Wednesday afternoon! I have so loved watching them be such patient leaders when working with their little buddy and I have enjoyed witnessing the fun they are having together.

On Monday, we welcome back Ms. Grewal, our student teacher. She will be with us for the next four weeks. During her absence, she has been attending classes at SFU where she has been learning and working hard on her lesson plans. She will begin to teach some lessons next week.

Things to look forward to next week:

• Mon. Feb. 24: A new student joins our class, Brentwood Park Talent Show, and Ms. Grewal returns
• Tues. Feb. 25: Ice skating at Burnaby Lake Arena – Thank you to our volunteer drivers!
• Wed. Feb. 26: Pink Shirt Day and assembly – Wear pink!
• Fri. Feb. 28: District Pro-D day – School not in session

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Things to return:

• For Mr. Maroney (Music) – recorder form
• Science World field trip form