Category: We are creative thinkers.

Dear Division 11 Families,

Thank you so much for joining us on Wednesday, even on such short notice. From identifying problems and needs, planning and sketching, to creating their cardboard prototypes, our students worked incredibly hard. It was wonderful to see how proud they were to showcase their work, and we truly appreciate your presence and support. We also had two other classes visit, and it was heartwarming to see how engaged the audience was with our inventions.

In this project, we developed so many of our core competencies of critical thinking, reflective thinking, creativity, communication, and more! Well done, Division 11!

We Are Mathematicians

In math, we have been learning about 3D objects and their properties. Through hands-on activities, such as building with toothpicks and plasticine and using magnetic rods, students explored how to count faces, edges, and vertices. As we worked through these concepts, we discovered patterns. For example, with prisms, we learned that the number of edges can be found by multiplying the number of sides on the base by 3. A triangular prism has a base with 3 sides, so it has 9 edges (3 x 3). A hexagonal prism has 18 edges (3 x 6). In a short time, our students have done an amazing job learning the names and properties of various 3D objects! 

We Are Artists 

Tying into our lessons on geometry, students explored how to use shading techniques to make their drawings look three-dimensional and realistic. They each drew a cone, cube, cylinder, and sphere, then arranged them into a creative “impossible stack.” Shading was a new skill for many, but students rose to the challenge and were excited to see their drawings come to life! 

Important Updates 

Market Day – Monday:
Students from Divisions 1, 2, and 3 are excited to share their amazing handmade products, from jewelry to stuffed toys made from scratch. Prices vary, with most items around $5 and a maximum of $10. Please send your child with an appropriate amount of money they can manage independently. 

Construction Update:
Fences will be going up around the school, restricting access to the back door from the annex/big gym side of the school. Please help your child line up at our usual morning spot by walking around the school close to Kitchener Street. 

Body Science presentations on Tues, June 17:
Students in our class will have their presentation on Tuesday afternoon. The parent information session will be on Monday, June 16 at 6:30pm on Zoom. Please see the email from the office for the zoom link. 

Book Swap on Wed, June 18:
Students who brought in at least one book will go to choose new to them books on this day! Might not be too late to bring in books on Monday! In my previous schools when we did this, almost every child brought in a book to swap. They absolutely love this event and went home super excited to share their books with their families! 

Field Trip to McGill Library and Confederation park on Thur, June 19:
We are excited to join Ms. Forbes and Ms. Rinaldo’s classes this Thursday! Please review the notice by clicking here. Children are usually extra hungry during active field trips so please bring extra snacks. It might be easier for them to wear their bathing suits under their clothes too. 

Thank you, families, for your continued support at home. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. And to our amazing dads, happy Father’s Day on Sunday! 

Warm regards, 

Cailyn and Livia 

Dear families,

It’s hard to believe we are in our last week of May!

We are mathematicians.

Students are progressing well with our division concepts! We continued to deepen their understanding of division by sharing and division by grouping through creating their own word problems. Ms. Kim had them create their own word problems including the solution. They really enjoyed using their creativity in math!

On Thursday and Friday, we learned how to divide by repeated subtraction. They learned that this is the opposite of repeated addition for multiplication. Here, they subtract the divisor until they can’t anymore. Then they count the number of times they subtracted for the quotient. Many found this strategy of dividing straightforward to understand so they quickly showed proficiency. Click here to watch a short video for review.

Ways to support at home: Reinforcing concepts learned at school is a great way to solidify learning especially if you ask your child to teach you. The process of teaching involves higher level thinking (analysis and synthesis) than to just do questions you give them as practice. This further develops  their brain through active retrieval which strengthens neural pathways, improves communication skills, opportunities to monitor their own understanding, and increased confidence.

We are creative.

We read a story called A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larson. After the story, students were given the choice to write their own or to continue the story from the end of this story where the boy leaves on a rocket ship with an alien.

We practiced being creative by using squiggles to help us be more creative. Ms. Chan modelled some creative thinking strategies by creating her own story on the board. One tip: use the phrase “All of a sudden” or “suddenly”. This creates an unexpected turn in the story and increases your audience’s attention.

Another goal of this writing exercise was to develop our writing fluency. This is how quickly we can get our thoughts onto a page. They were challenged to write as quickly as they can. After a solid 20 minutes, we counted up our words. We saw so many really push themselves!

Unleashing Imagination: Why “What If…” Poems Matter!

Our classroom buzzed with imagination this week as students dove into writing their own “What If…” poems. It was more than just a writing exercise; it was a deliberate push to spark their incredible creativity.

You might think creativity is something you’re born with, but the truth is, creativity can absolutely be taught and developed! It’s one of our core competencies too! I was an Odyssey of the Mind coach for five years and saw our team grow immensely in their creative thinking and problem solving skills.

Creative thinking is a fundamental way of thinking and approaching challenges that empowers children to come up with diverse solutions and consider different perspectives. When we encourage this kind of imaginative thinking, we’re not just fostering artistic expression; we’re building essential skills that will serve them well in all aspects of life to think flexibly and inventively.

Ways to support at home: Have fun co-creating your own “What If…” poems! See how creative you can be with your child! Here’s a challenge: Write one with your child or as a family. Have your child bring your family poem to school to share next week! We would love to see your creativity run wild!

Learning about perspectives

We had a discussion about the picture on the left, exploring how both interpretations can be correct—even if they’re different. It’s all about point of view and understanding another person’s perspective.

We then read They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel, a book that beautifully illustrates how various animals perceive the same cat in very different ways. For example, the way a fox sees the cat is completely different from how a mouse sees it.

Inspired by the book, we created our own “cat perspective” art. Students illustrated the cat from two different viewpoints, thinking carefully about how perception can change based on who is looking.

Our students have been working very hard, and they’re excited to share their artwork with everyone soon!

We are athletes.

Tennis lessons continued last week. This week will be their final sessions.

Passion Projects

Students are moving along with their Passion Projects. We reviewed the single-point rubric that we will use to assess. Click on the image or click here to view the PDF.

They are learning to analyze and synthesize the information they find on websites and decide how to present these facts on their slides.

They are becoming more proficient with inserting images and text boxes.

We love how excited they get when we pull out the laptops! We enjoy seeing how hard they work on learning and developing their ideas in a digital form. Here are some of this important skills they are developing:

• reading, researching, and information gathering to develop curiosity and independently seeking knowledge (Core competency: Thinking skills)
• organization and planning – students must decide on the information they want to share (synthesize), what information goes together, and how to organize the information like one idea per slide for clarity
• communication skills – writing skills to paraphrase in their own words, making it easy to understand, and being concise by using bullet points
• digital literacy and technology skills – navigating between website and PowerPoint project, inserting text, adding images, and resizing fonts, for example.

Save the Dates

• Thur. May 29 at 1:30pm – Volunteer Tea in the gym
• Fri. May 30 at 2:00pm – Early dismissal
• Fri. May 30 at 2:00pm – $2 Ice cream sandwich and $1 freezie sale. Click here to learn more. Cash only in the undercover area where we usually line up.
• Mon. June 2 – All library books are due
• Fri. June 6 – Pro-D day; school not in session
• Wed. June 18 – Book swap
• Thur. June 19 at 9:15am (all day) – Burnaby Public Library visit & Confederation Park travelling by public transit.
• Wed. June 25 –Last full day of school
• Thur. June 26 – Early dismissal at 10am

Our hearts are full of appreciation for your continued support.

Gratefully, Ms. Kim and Ms. Chan

Dear Division 11 Families,

We hope you had a restful weekend.

The final theme of the Month of Love was “Love the Land.” During our community circle, students shared what they are grateful for about our land. They then created a fun writing piece, choosing symbols from nature and writing along the outline of each symbol. They were also challenged to complete various random acts of kindness for the land.

Math

We continued exploring different ways to show our learning, with a focus this week on the decomposing strategy. With this strategy, students break apart the numbers they are adding based on place value, then add or subtract each individual place to find the answer.

Below are videos if you’d like to learn more about this strategy. Please keep in mind that since our focus is on showing our thinking in different ways, your child’s approach may look a bit different from the methods shown in the videos!

Adding using decomposing strategy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdMEDX4ra4o

Subtracting using decomposing strategy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVbSJWO8ExI

Social Studies

This week, we explored two different agricultural innovations. First, we examined The Three Sisters, a Haudenosaunee farming method. It is called The Three Sisters because corn, beans, and squash support each other like family when planted together.

We also studied chinampas (floating gardens) used by the Ancient Aztecs. As a check-in activity, students created a Venn diagram to demonstrate their understanding of the four groups we have studied so far. They were able to choose two groups and make connections between them.

This week, we will be exploring architectural innovations. As always, please support your child at home by having conversations about what they learned and making connections to the topics discussed in class.

Typing

Last week, our students practiced to improve their efficiency when using laptops.

If they would like to continue practicing at home, please click on the link below!

https://kitchenerdiv11.edclub.com/

ADST: We Need Your Help!

Our students don’t know it yet, but we will be working on an exciting project during ADST (Applied Design, Skills, and Technology)! The building stage won’t start for another couple of weeks, but we need your help collecting recyclable materials that students can use for their projects.

Some examples include:

• Cardboard (boxes, cereal boxes, snack boxes)
• Egg cartons
• Toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls
• Packaging materials (bubble wrap)
• Plastic containers (including takeout food containers)

Additionally, we would love your help in collecting Styrofoam trays, plates, or takeout containers for an upcoming printmaking art project.

Thank you in advance for your support! We look forward to sharing more about these exciting projects soon.

We truly appreciate your continued support!

Warm regards,
Cailyn, Livia, and Jake

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