Category: ADST

Dear families of Division 6,

The more I teach your children, the more I love and adore them! We had another great week together! Every morning after Flex time, I play a song to indicate that it’s time to clean up and come to our Community Circle. I was playing a song called Best Thing Ever and I dedicated it to them. Here’s the best line that reflects how I feel: There’s nothing better than feeling alright. Together. This is the best thing ever. We really do enjoy being together.

Click on image to watch the video update

We are writers.

This week, we continued to work on our paragraph writing. I have to say that how they responded to the writing lessons was so heartwarming! I asked them how many felt they wrote their best paragraphs ever and many proud hands went up! They followed a set of criteria as they wrote. Then used the simplified rubric to self-assess. Next, they were paired with a partner for peer assessments. Click here to see the rubric we used. Reflecting on our writing is an important piece of our learning. Reviewing a peer’s work teaches us different skills too!

I just launched an online course on Writing Strategies with the Teach Better Team last week so it’s exciting to share the same tried, tested, and true lessons I teach your children but to a wider audience!

Students worked hard on their spelling words. It’s rare I give spelling tests but students were having trouble with some basic homophones so I wanted them to spend some time learning them. After a pretest, some didn’t need practice so I gave them personal challenge words instead based on their own writing. They chose the number of spelling words they wanted. Yesterday, I gave 17 spelling tests at the same time! Personalized learning!

Click here to watch this video if your child is still having trouble with there, their, and they’re.

We reflect on our learning using FreshGrade.

It has been a little while since they last logged in to FreshGrade. To refresh your memory, this is their e-portfolio where they reflect on their learning. All students uploaded a sample of their paragraph writing and reflected on their development and should have added a recording of their reading as well along with a lot of their art! Here are the questions they are asked to respond to as part of their reflection:

• Explain what we did in this task.
• What are you proud of? What are your strengths?
  • I can…
  • I can…
• What would you do differently next time?
• What did you learn about yourself?

Each entry should answer the above. I will be adding you to their account so you can view their posts. This is another great way that we communicate student learning with you and complementary to the Learning Update that was sent home today. I told them that you have homework…sorry! I know they will really appreciate it if you log in (once I add your email to their account) and comment on their learning. Here are some guiding questions that may help you with writing your comments:

• I love how you…
• I appreciate how hard you worked on…
• I am proud of the way you…
• Tell me more about…

We are mathematicians.

Grade 5 students received their Fractions Test #2 back. The first test gives students a very clear picture of where they were at and the second test gives them an opportunity to show how they’ve learned it better. Even students who showed proficiency the first time did a much better job of explaining equivalent fractions the second time around so they even noticed an improvement! This is exactly why I love giving a re-test. Because math is so foundational, this is an important practice in assessment. I was so very impressed how so many of them have become proficient! Thank you so very much for your continued support at home.

This week, we learned about comparing and ordering fractions when the denominator is the same and when the numerator is the same. We also learned about mixed fractions. We will be learning about decimals next week so if you’d like to spend some time reviewing at home, they will be more prepared next week. Feel free to watch this video at home: Math Antics Decimals Place Value

All About Me Presentations

I wish you can be in the room when we work on our All About Me projects on PowerPoint. They have been working so hard and they are so engaged! They ask to work on it! And when they do that, you know they love to work on it! One student shared that he forgot all about his pain (from a fall) because he was having so much fun!

Another student said this year was the first year he used laptops, so I am so impressed with how quickly they learned how to navigate, learn all of the features, and be creative! Next week, we will begin presentations. Students should come prepared to present. Each slide should have minimal words with an engaging image(s). They should be able to share 3-5 sentences about each slide. Please ask your child to practice their presentation at home.

Learning Updates

Writing these felt like a gift. I tweeted it out too!

If you have any questions about the Learning Update for your child, please reach out. Remember, we work as partners in your child’s education. We highly recommend you sit down with your child to talk about all of their successes and discuss the goals they set for themselves. Give them a voice. Ask them how you can support them.

Reminders:

• Scholastic Book Fair – last day to purchase is Friday, November 26 online only. Thank you so much for your support!
• Please sign and return the progress report envelope on Monday. Thank you!
• Tuesday, November 30 – Hot lunch (Tentatsu)
• Friday, December 3 – Jingle Bell Walk food collection

My words alone cannot truly express how much joy it brings me to be your child’s teacher but you can’t quite see into my heart so I guess my words (and video) will have to do! Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us and for your continued support at home.

If you feel inclined, we’d love to hear from you after you read these blog posts. Please feel free to leave a comment or email us!

With a heart full of gratitude, Ms. Chan (and Mrs. Paulich)

Dear Division 6 families,

We had another fantastic week together! I feel that I sound like a broken record each week but your children continue to amaze me with how hard they work, how kind they are to each other, and how well they work together so I am thrilled to be a broken record week after week!

Personal Awareness
This past week, we continued to work on our “I am” statements. We pushed ourselves to look for more words we could use to describe our strengths. I discovered that when I did the same thing, half of my final list of 10 words came from diving in further the next day! I am always offering opportunities for them to push them into their stretch zone. This was the perfect real-life example! The list we came up with on Friday was in our comfort zone. The extended list we added on Monday was in our stretch zone. So many students found new words they added as their strengths on Monday just like I did! If we had stopped on Friday, they wouldn’t have grown their vocabulary of strengths or found words that better described themselves! Take a look at Nicholas’! On Friday, they typed up their “I am” poetry so we are now ready for the next part. Stay tuned! It’s NOT what they will expect!

We are scientists.
This week, we had an opportunity to form groups to review the three body systems we covered so far: circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems. Groups were given choice as to which one they wanted to create and present a skit. They had so much fun working together. So far, we had one group present: Olivia, Maya, Rachel, and Vienna had a clever and entertaining skit where they were in a restaurant ordering food. When the food arrived, they explained what happens and what would happen to the orange that was actually ingested by Maya!

We watched a very interesting video from Mystery Doug on Which animal has the biggest heart. Click here to view. The heart was gigantic!

We are mathematicians.
We continued to work on our addition videos. All students should have them completed by the end of this week and uploaded to their digital portfolios with their reflection. They reviewed subtraction with regrouping this week. Please feel free to check that your child understands how to subtract with regrouping. You can have fun challenging each other with big numbers!

We are readers.
We had a successful Book Club meeting with our group members. During the debriefing, we talked about what went well, what they found challenging, and what they would do differently. I am so looking forward to watching them grow in their conversations about what they read! How you can support at home: Have conversations about what your child reads. The connections they make, for example, are an important part to help them understand. Ask them about a favourite part or what they think will happen next and why. Ask them about a part in the story that surprised them, why, and how they might change that part of the story. Ask them about the characters and perhaps which character they align with. Lastly, model reading at home. Children who see their parents read are more likely to read as well.

Virtual Celebration of Learning
Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we were not able to watch the Celebration of Learning on Friday. It will be available for viewing on Tuesday, February 16. Look out for the email with the link. Our class will be presenting their One Word.

 Celebrating Friendships
Valentine’s day celebrations looked a little different this year. There was no food shared but they brought their own snacks. They had a wonderful afternoon playing and socializing with our cohort class, Division 5.

We talked about creating Valentine’s for each other digitally. Please enjoy the kind messages they sent to each other! Click on the image to view or click here.

My heart always feels so happy when I get to spend time with your children. The sense of family is strong and I feel so blessed every day to be their teacher. Thank you for your continued support at home. Report cards will be going home before spring break but at any time, if you wish to have an update, always feel free to reach out. I am grateful for our connection.

Our sincerest appreciation, Ms. Chan & Ms. Paulich

Dear Division 6 family,

Wow, how is it already February? Time flies when you’re having fun, right? January was a great month with great learning and February started off that way too! Thanks to Nicholas, this was his celebration!

One Word
As you know, on Fridays, it’s our celebration day… not that we don’t celebrate every day but we officially celebrate on Fridays. Many of our celebrations centered around a feeling of great satisfaction in completing our One Word canvases, recording their message in front of a green screen (What’s my One Word? Why did I choose this word? How will I live my One Word this year?), and putting it all together in short videos. Ms. Paulich and I are so very proud of how hard they worked from start to finish! Here was our process again:

• Listened to a storybook about One Word
• Brainstormed, searched for and chose One Word. Some chose more than one and that was okay! I love to offer choices to students!
• Complete some writing around our One Word. Some wrote a paragraph and some wrote a few paragraphs! Here, they took a deep dive into why they chose this word and how they will live their One Word this year. I liked how some students chose to turn their One Word into an acrostic so each letter represented something to do with their One Word to make more meaning for them.
• Planned out their canvas on paper. Drew and painted their One Word.
• Learned to summarize their paragraph into main points they wanted to express in their video in front of a green screen. They were so diligent in practicing over and over again.
• Learned so many things throughout the whole process! Had fun!

A special thank you goes out to Gabriella and Iman who became our student leaders as they supported others in teaching them how to create and edit videos! I couldn’t have finished it on time without them! I so appreciate you, Gabriella and Iman! And I so appreciate everyone for their hard work, determination, and respect. In a busy classroom, everyone was so cooperative. The girls would say, “Quiet on the set!” and then there was silence for their classmate to record their piece. I am so very proud of them all!

Virtual Celebration of Learning
I am so very excited that some of the videos will be submitted for our Gilmore Virtual Celebration of Learning (COLA) that will air on Friday, February 12. Viewing will be for a limited time only so look out for the email with the link! Unfortunately, I will not be able to include all of the videos because each class was given a time frame. Please understand that as much as you may wish to see your child in the COLA, some of your children made a request not to be included so I have respected their wishes. If you haven’t received it yet, I will send you an email so you can view your child’s One Word video or you can wait for their reflections in their digital portfolios. Enjoy!

Digital Portfolios
I hope you enjoyed reviewing your child’s learning in their Digital Portfolios last week! They will continue to add to it throughout the year. If you need the invite for FreshGrade again, please let me know. Thanks!

Math

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

– Albert Einstein

As mathematicians, we have been working on creating videos teaching others how to add with regrouping including videos. I love having students explain their understanding. This really helps me see if they understand it well enough. I love what I have seen so far!

Science
As scientists, we have continued to learn about our digestive system. Many were interested to see a real camera scope into our bodies starting from food entering our bodies through our mouths. Here are some videos if you would like to watch with your child at home:

TedEd How Digestive System Works

3D real life digestive system at work

Mr. Binoc Digestive system explained

Journey Inside Your Body

Reading
This week was an exciting week because we started our Book Club! Each student chose from a list of books. While they read, they are asked to record their connections, any questions, and/or effective word choice by the author. They will read and meet in groups to discuss. Next week, they will be introduced to some phrases to help make more meaningful conversations. Please take a look at the image and begin to use these statements in your conversations at home – whether you are discussing the book they are reading or current event issues or any conversations, the more they can practice using these at home, the better they will be at using the same language at school. Thanks for your support!

Understanding Self
I firmly believe that children need to know what their strengths are as part of their self-discovery and learning about their identity. Yesterday, they wrote a poem with a list of statements to describe their strengths. “I am…” We will continue to dive deeper into understanding themselves next week. Recently, I had to deal with some adversity but understanding myself, anchoring into knowing who I am, and knowing my strengths and core values really helped me through it. I also believe that children need to know what their strengths are because that is their foundation of who they are while seeing this as a starting place to build on those strengths too. I speak about this on a recent podcast that I had the great honour to be a guest on with Dr. Dan Kreiness – Leader of Learning, watch Episode 99 or listen.

Some upcoming dates:

• Friday, February 12 – Virtual Celebration of Learning
• Monday, February 15 – Family Day
• Wednesday, February 24 – Pink Shirt Day

Please read the letter from Ms. Perez that was sent home via email regarding bringing items for Valentine’s Day. Please do not bring any food items for your child to hand out. Thank you.

Celebrate Learning by Reading Blog Posts Together
If you aren’t in the habit to read these blog posts with your child, I highly recommend it because it is a great opportunity to further engage in your child’s learning. The discussion you have brings attention to the importance of their learning at school and how you value it. Ask your child what their highlight of the week was. Ask how they helped others. Ask what they are most proud of. This will give you a great segway to sharing how proud you are or how hard they are working and their accomplishments. Try to focus more on the process of learning rather than the final product and focus on how they feel about their growth and strengths rather than how it pleases you. This encourages intrinsic motivation (feeling proud of self) versus extrinsic motivation (praise).

Looking for Feedback
What have you enjoyed learning about through our blog posts? What would you like to see more of? What suggestions might you have to add more value to you reading it? We’d love to hear! Please send me an email or write a comment on this post. Thank you for your feedback!

I get so much pleasure from writing these weekly blog posts! It’s a great way for me to reflect on the great learning that we are doing as a class. Thank you for your continued support at home. Should you have any questions, please reach out. We are your partners in your child’s learning! We are happy to connect!

With much gratitude, Ms. Chan and Ms. Paulich

Dear families,

A lot has happened since the last time there was a post on our blog. I have surely missed providing you with an update on our learning. I want you to have a full sense of what we did for the last three weeks so rather than writing one long post, you will be receiving separate weekly posts to catch you up. Enjoy!

This past week, Ms. Grewal taught the class for two full days on Monday and Tuesday as part of her SFU Education program. She will spend one more week with us after spring break.

Mar. 9 – In the morning, we read the book The Most Magnificent Thing. Click on the link to have the story read to you. This story is about a girl who tries to build the most magnificent thing but experiences repeated failure until she quits but after a break, has a renewed sense of creativity and enthusiasm to continue. Ms. Grewal stopped at the part of the story where she quit so that students could write their own ending before the real ending of the story was revealed.

In the afternoon, the grade 3’s went to Kitchener for Primary Days of Music to present their two songs and sing along with other schools that learned the same songs. This tradition is a long-standing one in Burnaby and another testament to how our District honours the arts and the love of music.

While the grade 3’s were away, the grade 4’s read a story called I Am Not a Number. The author’s grandmother told her what it was like when she went to the residential school. She felt it was important to share what happened through this book. To learn more and listen to the author speak about why she wrote her grandmother’s story, click here (2:33 minutes).

Mar. 10 – We have Music with Mr. Maroney every Tuesday. For the next while, please have your child bring their recorders to school every Tuesday. If your child still does not have a recorder, please pay online for one.

We read a story called My Mouth is a Volcano. Click on the link to have the story read to you. This story is about a boy who has a habit of interrupting. The author teaches children a creative technique to hold onto thoughts to share at an appropriate time instead. Students were given the choice to write about their own experiences or to write a creative story of their own based on this story.

Mar. 11 – To interact further with the same book, My Mouth is a Volcano, students became screen writers and actors. Ms. Grewal selected students to work in groups to create a short skit that demonstrated a scenario where the main character’s mouth was like a volcano and how the issue was resolved. Students worked collaboratively in their groups sharing ideas, recording it on a storyboard, and then practicing their acting skills. I loved listening to their conversations as they worked together on a common goal. I also loved how the audience enjoyed each skit and how supportive they were. At the end, each person had to write their “I can” statements as they self-assessed their own teamwork skills. 

I was truly touched when I came into the room after lunch break. As I walked in to a full room of students, I heard, “Surprise! Happy birthday!” with a birthday banner, a message on the whiteboard, a table set up with my favourite fruit to share, two chopsticks and a blue paper ring to play table ringette, a crown to wear, thoughtful cards, and a wrapped gift. My heart was warmed and I felt loved. My birthday is over the break. This was the best birthday surprise ever!

In the afternoon, we spent some time reviewing our reading, writing, listening, and speaking goals by reflecting on how we were progressing, what we were proud of, what we still need to work on, and whether we were ready for a new goal. I was very impressed with how everyone so thoughtfully and honestly assessed their progress. They were so focussed on this writing as this was evidence of growth we wanted to share with you during our Student Led Conferences.

Mar. 12 – During the day, we were busy preparing for our Student Led Conferences. They thoroughly enjoyed pretending to be a parent as they practiced. I am so grateful to all of you who invested your time to celebrate your child’s learning. It was so heartwarming and endearing to watch your child share their learning and interact with you. I loved seeing the smiles, hearing the laughter, and watching you do your movement break together! Thank you for continuing to be a partner in your child’s education. [Deepest gratitude to Ana for creating our “Welcome to Student Led Conferences” signs. She came up with this idea on her own, created the beautiful signs under my nose, and posted them up! I didn’t even know who put up these lovely welcoming signs until I asked around. Thank you, Ana! Such a thoughtful gesture.]

Mar. 13 – We became potato farmers and potato scientists. First, we read through the list of instructions together which was sent to me in an email from Ms. Hickman. We had to use our critical thinking skills to figure out what steps to take because this was my first time planting potatoes. Just to be sure, we quickly found a short video on YouTube that solidified our understanding. Next, we took pictures of our potato seeds. Then, to capture our observations as scientists, we took notes on what we saw, what it looked like, describing it by colour, shape, size, and smell, for example. Students were given a choice in which app they preferred to use: Book Creator or Explain Everything. I was impressed with their proficiency in using their app of choice and how quickly they were able to record their observations. When I told them we were going to record our observations, they were so anxious and motivated to get started. It was just like a child who couldn’t wait to open their present. Off they went in using their creativity for their title pages and observations. I absolutely love how real their learning is and having the iPads are a great way for them to capture their ideas in photographs and words. While they were diligently working in the class, we took turns outside putting dirt into our pot and planting our seeds!

I hope you have had a good start to your spring break. As I shared with my students, I am looking forward to staying home and spending more time with my family. Enjoy your time as well. Stay healthy and safe! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, my door is open. Please feel free to reach out and contact me by email, in a note, in person, or call the school.

To keep updated, regularly check the Burnaby School District website at http://burnabyschools.ca. For the latest post about COVID-19 including a message from our Board Office and a number of links, click here. 

Sincerely, Ms. Chan

Looking for ways to keep your child occupied? Here are some suggestions:

• Go for a walk together rain or shine. Each day, find ten new things you haven’t ever noticed before in nature or take turns discovering. It may become more challenging the more walks you take together! Bring a little notebook along to record.
• Play Math games with cards to review facts to practice fluency:
  • Making tens – Each player has 5 cards. Goal is to have combinations that equal 10. For example, if you have a 6 in your hand, say, “Do you have a 4?” If not, “go fish.” Take a card.
  • Addition war – Divide deck in two for each player. Flip over one card. First person to say the sum gains the cards. Challenge: Each person flips over two cards at the same time to add!
  • Doubles war – Flip over one card at a time. First person to call out the double gains the cards. For example, turn over a 6. 6 doubled, call out 12!
  • Doubles +1 strategy – Flip over one card at a time. First person to call out the double plus one gains the cards. For example, flip over a 6. The question would be 6 + 7  = 13. (6 doubled plus one)
  • +2 strategy – Flip over two cards. First person to call out the next number counting by two’s gains the cards. The idea is that rather than calculating, the automatic response is to count up by two’s instead. Then practice subtracting by two’s for the -2 strategy.
  • +10 strategy – Flip over one or two cards. First person to call out +10 gains the cards. Then practice -10.
  • +9 strategy – Flip over any number from 1 to 10. Each number, add 9. If they can quickly add +10, then +9 is just one less. For example, flip a 6. Think 6 + 10 = 16 but one less = 15.
  • Addition of larger numbers – Flip two cards and another two cards as random numbers to add (practice using decomposing or compensation strategy or regrouping). For grade 3’s, they are expected to be able to add to 1000 (3 digit plus 3 digit numbers) and for grade 4’s to 10 000 (4 digit plus 4 digit numbers) so using cards, they can create random numbers to add together.
  • Alternative: Go to my Symbaloo weblinks page to practice these math fact fluency strategies. To access, look on the right-hand side under Links on this class blog. Click on Symbaloo and it can be found on the bottom row. I created flashcards using Quizlet.
• Read by taking turns or at the same time together. Children at any age still enjoy listening to an adult read and vice versa. Just a few days ago, my 18 year old son read aloud a short story to me. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
• Keep a journal of what you did each day over the break. Make it fun by asking your child to write and then you write your thoughts afterwards on the same page! We always focus on having an opening and closing sentence with details in the middle that include thoughts and feelings. Another idea is to draw a picture together of what you did like a shared visual journal. I would love to see your shared work!
• Continue writing their creative stories on Office 365, play Prodigy or Tynker. If you need login information again, please email me. We also have a district licence to an online program, called All the Right Type, to learn how to touch type. We will be starting the program as class but if you’d like your child to have a head start, please contact me and I will pass along the login information.

Unfortunately, TELUS World of Science has closed its doors at least until April 6 for a deep clean so our field trip will be cancelled.