Category: Class News

Dear Division 11 Families,

We hope you are enjoying the beautiful snow outside! My son was so excited that we built a family of snowmen even before breakfast. I can’t wait to hear about all the fun the students had in the snow.

Bowling

We had so much fun bowling on Tuesday! A huge thank you to our family volunteers for driving our students and supporting them during the field trip. Our students were so supportive of one another, cheering each other on. Even those who were brand new to bowling said they can’t wait to do it again!

Social Studies: Lunar New Year

We wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year and good luck in the Year of the Snake! In Social Studies, our students have been learning about New Year traditions around the world. On Wednesday, our students had the opportunity to learn more about Lunar New Year. They rotated through various stations, participating in fun activities such as using chopsticks to pick up small objects, learning to write Chinese characters, and playing a Korean game. Thank you to all our students for sharing their experiences and knowledge with us, and a special thank you to Mrs. W.R. for planning such a fun afternoon!

Math

Our students have been working on double-digit addition and subtraction. We’ve been focusing on understanding the concepts rather than just memorizing the algorithm. This week, they’ve been using counters to show subtraction with regrouping. I’ve attached a video that explains this process so you can support them at home as well. Developing a strong understanding of this concept is crucial, as it lays a solid foundation for future number concepts and helps them apply their knowledge to more complex math problems later on.

At the end of the week, we moved into 3-digit subtraction too and subtraction across zeros!

How to support at home: Practice subtraction with regrouping together. Ask your child to explain their understanding. In math, one of the curricular competencies is to:

• Communicate mathematical thinking in many ways
• Explain and justify mathematical ideas and decisions

Affirmations

We talk to ourselves. Learning to have positive self-talk is an important part of developing our core competencies of positive, personal self identity. This is especially important when we face challenges or when we are working through hard things in life.

An affirmation is similar to a pep talk you give to yourself. It’s a short, positive sentence that you say to yourself to help you feel more confident, strong, and happy. Saying affirmations can help us all believe in ourselves and remind us of our personal strengths, identity, core values, and what makes us who we are.

On Friday, we started writing our own affirmations on Word in Office 365. We also listened to this affirmations song by Snoop Dog. Our buddy class performed this song with actions at our  last assembly.

How to support at home: Talk to your child about how we can be a good friend to ourselves. There are things we would not say to a friend. We shouldn’t speak to ourselves like that either. Share about how you talk to yourself using positive and encouraging language. If you have affirmations you use often, share those with your child.

One thing Ms. Chan shares often is this: Learn to be your own biggest cheerleader. We have one important job in life. We need to take the best care of our own human: ourselves. Our mental and emotional health is key to taking good care of ourselves!

Thank you for your continued support. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend—wishing you a restful evening and a great start to the week ahead!

Gratefully,
Cailyn and Livia

Dear Division 11 Families,

Happy Monday! We hope you had a wonderful weekend enjoying the beautiful weather we’ve been having.

Our students did an AMAZING job presenting at the assembly on Friday. Despite having only their first rehearsal in class on Wednesday, they delivered their lines with confidence and poise. Many staff members stopped by our classroom at the end of the day to praise the incredible speakers in our class and admire the amazing artwork they created.

We are so proud to have had the opportunity to showcase the great learning happening in our class. The assembly presentation was entirely their work—from choosing their word for 2025 and brainstorming its significance and action steps to creating Basquiat-inspired artwork. They carefully researched and selected words and symbols to include in their art, and we couldn’t be prouder of their hard work.

If you couldn’t join us in person, we have a recording of the assembly. Please email us to request the link to the video.

Our students are also very excited about our bowling field trip tomorrow! Here are a few important details:

• Family Reading: We will host Family Reading in our classroom from 9:00–9:40. Please join us, even if you’re unable to come on the field trip. We’ll depart at 9:45.
• Footwear: Please ensure your child wears runners (no boots), as they will stay in their runners.
• Booster Seats: Please send your child with a booster seat if required. If you have a spare, we’d appreciate it if you could send it along, just in case.
• Snacks and Drinks: Students should bring their water bottles and a snack. Please do not send money, as they are not allowed to purchase food or use vending machines during the trip.

Feel free to email us if you have any questions about the field trip.

Thank you for your continued support!

Warm regards,
Cailyn and Livia

Dear Division 11 Families,

We hope you’ve been enjoying the beautiful sunny days we’ve had recently—it’s hard to believe we’ve had nearly a full week of sunshine!

This week (January 20–24), our school will be celebrating Literacy Week by exploring different types of literacy, such as media literacy and numeracy literacy. Students will learn how each type of literacy plays a crucial role in navigating the world, empowering individuals to communicate effectively, think critically, and engage with various aspects of life.

Family Reading Cancelled on Tuesday:
As part of Literacy Week, Family/Sibling Reading will take place in classrooms on Thursday from 9:00–9:30 a.m. Please join us on Thursday this week instead of our usual Tuesday session. Students are encouraged to bring their favorite book from home.

Art:
Our Jasper Johns-inspired 2025 art bulletin board is now up! We are so proud of the hard work and creativity the students have displayed.

Last week, the students learned about Jean-Michel Basquiat and have been busy creating drafts and sketches for their Basquiat-inspired “One Word” art. Basquiat often used text and symbols in his artwork. Please take some time to discuss with your child the words, phrases, and symbols they are planning to incorporate into their project. We will continue working on this exciting art piece in the coming week.

Writing:
To make their writing more interesting and engaging, the students have been exploring how to add dialogue to their stories. They investigated how dialogue is written in picture books and chapter books from our classroom library and then shared their discoveries as a group. The students have enjoyed applying this knowledge to their own writing and watching their stories come to life!

Math:
To improve their efficiency with addition and subtraction, students have been practicing doubles facts and doubles +1/-1 strategies. We will be learning strategies that our students can use for double digits addition and subtraction.

How to support at home: Ask your child about the doubles and doubles +1/-1 game we’ve been playing in class—they’d love to share!

Thank you so much for your continued support with their learning at home.

Upcoming events

• Friday, January 24 – Family movie night @ 6 PM
• January 20 to 24 – Literacy Week
• Tuesday, January 28 – Bowling at Rev’s

Gratefully,
Ms. Kim and Ms. Chan

Dear Division 11 Families, 

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and time spent with loved ones. We had an excellent first week back, and the students really enjoyed the performance at Michael J. Fox Theatre. We were in awe of the incredible talent displayed by the performers. A BIG thank you to our parent volunteers for driving the students and staying with us on such a cold and windy day. 

Here are some of the exciting learning activities our students explored this past week: 

One Word for 2025

Our students chose one word to focus on for this year. On Monday, they brought home a handout about their chosen word to discuss with their families. If you haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet, please ask them why they selected this word.

The students have written about their reasons for choosing their word and outlined some action steps they can take to achieve their goal.

You might also ask them if their word and plan align with the SMART goal framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). We will continue working with their “one word” next week. 

Art

This week, our students were introduced to the artist Jasper Johns and his piece titled “0 Through 9.” They were inspired by how he used everyday objects in his art to challenge viewers to see them in new ways. In celebration of the new year, the students used the numbers 2, 0, 2, and 5, layering them in the style of “0 Through 9” to create their own piece. 

Writing

We reviewed the writing goals we’ve been working on this year. The students practiced descriptive writing by reflecting on the highlight of their winter break, using their senses to vividly capture the experience. 

Social Studies

We learned about how New Year is celebrated around the world. Please chat with your child about whether they’ve noticed any similarities with other countries they’ve learned about, and please share with them any New Year traditions you know of. There are so many fun traditions, I really enjoyed researching and learning about them myself. As the Lunar New Year approaches, it would also be great to start discussions about how it’s celebrated worldwide. We will dive into this topic as we get closer to the date. 

Story writing

We read The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli. Feel free to watch it read to you with your child. I absolutely love this story. I use it when I do teacher presentations on the writing process. What I love about this story is the message. This story was to reinforce the idea that the stories we write come from our hearts. Students worked so hard on a heart map to show all the things that have a place in our hearts. They will use this as inspiration for when they write their stories.

Ways to support at home: Talk to your child about what they wrote on their heart maps. Discuss what you would write on yours.

Math

We practiced our next math fact fluency strategy: Learning combinations that make 10 and played Making 10s Go Fish. Here’s how to play at home:

• Making Tens GO Fish – The goal is to have combinations that equal 10. Take a regular deck of cards. Remove the Jack and King. The Queen represents zero because it looks like a zero. Combinations that make ten: 0+10, 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5.
  • Each player starts with 5 cards. If any of the cards they hold make a combination of 10, they can put the pair of cards down for all to see. For example, if you have a 3 and a 7, you can put the cards down because they equal 10.
  • Then just like how you would play Go Fish, the first player asks anyone playing for a matching card that equals 10. If they have a 6 in their hand, then say, “Do you have a 4?” If they have a 5 in their hand, then say, “Do you have a 5?” If not, “go fish” and take a card from the central deck.
• Math Tappers – Continue to have your child practice addition and subtraction facts so they can become more fluent with accuracy. If your child has an iPad at home, please download Math Tappers. It’s free! Have them practice different sums up to 20. For Making 10s, simply change the sum to 10. Make it fun! You take a turn to see how quickly and accurately you can complete the board and compare it with your child’s OR play together!

Report Cards

If you have not logged in to MyED BC to view your child’s report card, please let us know how we can support you. The last day to view the report card will be on January 31st so we always recommend that you download a PDF if you wish to keep a copy.

If you need your password reset, click here. It may take a few days for our office to reset it for you.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out as we are happy to discuss. Report card writing time is one of our favourite times of the year because it gives us an opportunity to deeply and intentionally think about each child as we celebrate their strengths, growth, and consider goals with clear next steps. When we look at what they have learned and accomplished collectively in 13 weeks, it’s incredible how much they have improved in so many areas…and this does not happen without your support at home.

We deeply appreciate you for your continued support.

We hope you had a wonderful weekend! We are looking forward to another fantastic and fun week together!

Gratefully, Ms. Kim and Ms. Chan

Upcoming events

• Friday, January 24 – Family movie night @ 6 PM
• January 20 to 24 – Literacy Week
• Tuesday, January 28 – Bowling at Rev’s