Category: We are critical thinkers.

Dear families,

Wow! What a show! We are Hip Hop stars! The kids have worked hard during their Hip Hop lessons with Flo Jo for the last two weeks, learning their dance moves and the routine. They enjoyed transforming their black shirts into skeletons! They had opportunities to watch themselves so they could self-reflect, receive feedback, and make changes to improve their personal performance. The Hip Hop Show is truly a memorable one year after year.

We have continued to learn about early contact between First Peoples and European peoples through visual imagery. Then students were split up into small groups to practice some perspective taking. Each table had a question about different stakeholders and how they may have felt during that time. For example, “Discuss how you think the families of the explorers/sailors felt before they embarked on a long voyage with the possibility of no return?” I am looking forward to further discussions and learning here.

In Math, the grade 3’s continued to learn about linear measurement (mm, cm, m, km) and measuring capacity (mL, L). Next is measuring mass. Please feel free to review these concepts at home to reinforce learning. The grade 4’s reviewed polygons before learning about measuring the perimeter of polygons. They quickly created a new book using the Book Creator app to capture their understanding. Those that completed their books uploaded it to OneDrive so feel free to ask your child to login to view.

In Science, we have continued to learn about landforms. They seemed to really enjoy learning about glaciers and icebergs this week. Some asked if we will continue to learn about more landforms because they are really enjoying it! They have become more confident using the Explain Everything app too. I just love their enthusiasm and have enjoyed learning alongside them as I am creating my very own landforms project on my iPad too; I have learned so much about these landforms that I never knew before! In particular, I love it when someone has researched and found a unique fact and shared it with the class as they look for answers to their own inquiry questions. They certainly are getting better at asking and recording questions on their “I wonder” slide.

In Art, Mr. Baumann has continued to do guided drawings. They have worked on drawing a dog. See some of our examples from Ana, Anna, Tyson, and Yoyo. I love how even though Mr. Baumann walks them through, they all look creatively different!

We have some exciting news to share. Next Monday, we have a student teacher from SFU that will be spending time with us. Her name is Ms. Grewal. The main purpose of the week is to observe, get to know the students, and to learn about the daily operations of the school beyond the classroom. After the week, Ms. Grewal will return to SFU for three weeks and then come back for another four weeks total before and after spring break. Please feel free to ask should you have any questions.

Brentwood Park’s Talent Show will be on February 24. Anyone interested needs to sign up for auditions. This is a great opportunity to showcase creativity! 

Sincerely, Ms. Chan

Dear families,

I apologize for no post last week so this post will cover the last two weeks. I was in a ringette tournament last weekend. My own team lost in the semi-finals and my daughter’s team, who I coach, won gold in their division! It was a very exciting fun-filled weekend.

We welcomed our two new students: Anna and Yoo Joon. I am happy to say that students have been very warm and welcoming.

We listened to a story about making New Year’s resolutions, Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution. Click on image to watch:

Rather than usual New Year’s resolutions, students chose #OneWord2020 and shared on @padlet. Then we dove into our “magnifying glass” writing to record details on why we chose our word, how we are going to remind ourselves, and to come up with strategies when we know we will be challenged. Check out our “one word” resolutions! 

For writing, we have listened to a number of stories about snow since we have seen a lot of it lately! Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright, Deep Snow and So Much Snow by Robert Munsch, The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett, and The First Sign of Snow (animated video). After listening to these stories, students were encouraged to use their creativity and were offered a choice in their writing. They could take any part of the story to change what happens next (almost like a build your own adventure) or they could write a continuation (like Part 2) of the story, or like The Three Snow Bears (which is a variation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears), they were given the option to write their own variation with different characters and different things these characters try before they fall asleep somewhere. I so enjoyed reading these stories because their creativity really shine through and I it makes me feel excited to see examples of how they are taking risks to incorporate new techniques in their writing! Click here to read stories written by Ana and Anna. Happy reading!

The class was introduced to a new app called Explain Everything. It’s one of the most downloaded educational apps and is similar to PowerPoint where they create slides, can add images, videos, audio, and record like an interactive whiteboard. Students are using this app to record their learning about landforms in Science. This unit is like a multi-mini inquiry project. First, we recorded what we think we know about mountains. Some students said they learned about landforms last year but when it was time to record what they think, they did not remember many facts. The next step was to be curious about mountains. Students were encouraged to record what they wonder about mountains. Then after some shared reading and a video, we recorded our new learning on a new Now I Know slide. Any questions that are not answered by our whole class learning then, students researched. This makes their learning personalized as they are able to make new discoveries based on their own curiosities. They have really enjoyed this kind of learning, finding images, and being able to show what they learned in this way! This past week, we learned about deserts. Next week, glaciers! Feel free to discuss what you wonder about glaciers. This thinking will help them with their work tomorrow.

We watched a short video on Wonderopolis on how mountains are formed. Click here to watch or click here for deserts.

In Math, the grade 3’s learned about linear measurement (mm, cm, dm, m, km) and practiced our measuring skills while the grade 4’s learned about regular and irregular polygons. As a class, we explored using our creativity and practiced the concept of symmetry and the line of symmetry. Then we examined how First People’s art often has symmetry and balance with various patterns.

As an introduction to early settlers in Canada, we borrowed Ms. Willis’ classroom and proceeded to use and take their things without the class knowing. (Well, actually, Ms. Willis did inform them we would be using their class for this purpose.) My goal was to help them experience something somewhat relatable so that they can empathize what it may have felt like for the First Peoples when the first settlers came to Canada. Looking forward to diving into further discussions and deeper thinking on this topic in Social Studies.

We watched a whole school performance, Hip Hop Hoop Dance. It is a story between two people from different cultures who teach each other about their people, culture, and dance as they develop a friendship. From Artstarts website:

Our collaborative Hip Hop Hoop Dance tells a story, exploring the topic of truth and reconciliation through the art of live theatre. It’s a sharing of cultures, both between the performer and with the audience. With both of us being people of colour, we realized we had both experienced aspects of colonization and assimilation. We quickly recognized the similarities between our respective cultures’ art forms, traditions and beliefs. We thought, we should celebrate this and build a performative piece that would recognize not only the celebration of similarities between cultures, but to celebrate the differences that are so unique. Terrance says, “… part of reconciliation is educating non-native people about Indigenous history. This show provides that information, to better understand the way of life of my people.”

Young People’s Concert on Monday, January 20: We will be leaving the classroom at 9:00 AM sharp to go to the bus. Please plan to arrive early! The bus will not wait for latecomers. This will be our final show in the Concert series.

Hip Hop: Students have been working hard to practice their dancing. It’s remarkable how quickly they learn. This year, students are to wear all black. If your child does not have a plain black top, feel free to take a shirt and flip it inside out or wear navy blue. Please feel free to bring in a black short or long sleeve shirt starting next Monday so we can add “bones” by using masking tape. The performance will be on Friday, January 24 in the afternoon. 

Family Literacy Day and Readathon on Monday, January 27:  Envelopes went home on Friday, January 17. They are due on Thursday, January 23rd. Regardless of whether you receive any pledges (collect money), your child is expected to return the envelope as this is their ticket in the gym door. This year, the school will be tallying fundraising pledges by division. The division with the most pledges will win a pizza party. Please have your child practice reading for up to 45 minutes so that they can read, uninterrupted for 45-60 minutes. They are to bring or have enough reading material for 45-60 minues and wear pyjamas and bring stuffies and a pillow if they wish. 

Save the date and time! Our time in the Family Literacy Day and Readathon in the gym will be at 1:00 to 2:00pm. Families, please join us in the gym during this time. Parents, siblings, and grandparents are welcome!

Ice skating: We still need parent drivers for skating, please. If you have already volunteered, thank you so much. You should find the Volunteer Driver Authorization form in your child’s planner. 

Dear Parents,

Your child brought home their report cards today. I thoroughly enjoyed my first time writing report cards like this as it is quite different at other schools because it included their own reflections on how they are doing in the areas of work habits and attitude, personal awareness and responsibility, and social awareness and responsibility. I also thought it was unique approach to write it directly to my students rather than traditionally, about them. It makes it much more of a personal document that focuses on their strengths and ending with next steps. Each of them had an opportunity to read over their report cards and sign them. You may be used to receiving an extra sheet called an Overview. This was a document that outlined what was covered over the course of the term. Since you have been informed frequently each week on our class blog, please refer to our past blog posts for this information and refer to our We Are Learners pages for the curricular competencies that were covered.

On Monday, I introduced the idea of having “focus students” as an opportunity for them to share something about themselves, a chance to formally speak to the class to develop their communication and presentation skills, and to have regularly scheduled individual teacher time. This is not to say that they do not receive teacher time during other days. Here is the schedule:

If your child’s day lands on a holiday or a Pro-D day, their turn will be the next day. For example, Eva and Kiana’s day is supposed to be tomorrow but instead, will be on Monday, November 25. Since we did not begin “Focus Students” until Tuesday, Ana and Alex will also be on Mon. Nov. 25. For our first time, students were asked to bring an artifact to share and talk about. They are to include details including thoughts and feelings. During their teacher time, we have reviewed their progress and set goals for their public speaking skills as well as how they are doing as a listener. I have also listened to them read and provided direct feedback including reading strategies that will help them progress, and we reviewed their goals in reading. As we move along, the focus each week may be different but every other week, your child will have an opportunity to speak in front of classmates. The feedback they receive will inform them of their strengths (so they maintain them) and their areas of opportunity (so they know what to work on to improve).

Also new on Monday, response journals were introduced. A response journal is a type of writing where students make connections to what they read (text to text, text to self, or text to world). Their sheet of paper is divided into half. On the left-side, they record a summary of “What happened” and on the right-side, they record “My thinking”. Here, they not only practice the important skill of summarization, they have an opportunity to respond to text as they are encouraged to question, analyze, relate, respond, and interpret to gain new understandings or at least that is where we are headed!

Starting on Tuesday, we saw our first sets of focus students come up to share. It is not easy to be one of the first but they presented very well. As an audience, we are working on the skill of listening by looking at the speaker, being engaged by absorbing their message in our hearts and minds, and responding by asking pertinent questions afterwards. I have enjoyed learning more about each student already and am looking forward to the rest!

We returned to our book The 7 Habits of Happy Kids to learn about two more concepts. As a review, here are the first three habits covered so far:

1. Be Proactive – Take initiative. You’re in charge!
2. Begin with the End in Mind – Focus on goals and have a plan!
3. Put First Things First – Work first, then play!
4. Think Win-Win – Everyone can win!
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood – Listen before you speak!

Click here to learn more about the 7 habits we will be learning about.

During our Reading time, students were introduced to a new app called Voice Record Pro [Free app to download]. It’s a basic app that allows them to record their voice. They practiced their reading and then recorded a reading sample and uploaded it to OneDrive. We will be looking for growth over time.

We have been working with Ms. Tas every Wednesday afternoon in our classroom. We noticed that some were overusing apostrophes or placing them incorrectly so based on the common errors we are seeing in student’s writing, we had a couple lessons on the proper use of quotation marks for contractions and possessive nouns. Again, based on the students’ inexperience with using quotation marks, our focus this time was on proper use of quotation marks – why we need them, where they go, and where we place commas and question marks within a quotation. Students were partnered up randomly and worked well with each other as they put the words together with punctuation to form a complete sentence. Once done, they rotated to a different station with a new sentence to put together. They loved the hands-on learning experience! They also enjoyed seeing their own names used in these sentences.

Students had an important lesson on digital citizenship today as we discussed the allure of the internet. Information can be at our fingertips within seconds but we need to learn to exercise our self-control, decision making, and critical thinking skills. With opportunities, these skills can be developed over time as they grow and learn to be discerning critical thinkers who make good decisions about what they search, how to decipher whether it is true, and what sites are trustworthy, for example. It is natural for children this age to be curious about many things. The internet offers many opportunities to learn. However, as much as there is good information, there is also negative, harmful, and false information available. Over time, they will learn that what we see on the internet is not all true. Ultimately, one of our goals is that their integrity will stand up so they will make good decisions about how they access and use the information available at their fingertips.

LOOKING AHEAD

Guest speaker: On Monday, we have arranged for a dental hygienist to come for a classroom visit to teach us about taking care of our teeth.

Thursday: Young People’s Concert & World Ringette Championship game. Thank you to the parents of Kyle, Max, Liliana, Lucas L., and Yunsoo for volunteering to drive! We appreciate you.

Yoga: Next Friday, November 29th, we will begin our first of three yoga sessions with Ms. Gomes. Please have your child wear comfortable clothes and to bring a water bottle. Thank you to Jillian, Brentwood Park PAC and executives in supporting the yoga program. The most important aspect of yoga for children and families are:

• self care
• mindful breathing
• body awareness
• positive thinking
• honour and respect for oneself, others and nature

School Blanket Drive at Brentwood Park: Please support. We are collecting gently used or new blankets or sleeping bags, warm clothing, coats, hats, gloves, scarves, new socks and underwear. Click here for more details.

Report card envelopes: Please sign and return your child’s report card envelope next Monday. Thank you.

Dear families,

Wednesday was World Kindness Day. We talked about the different ways we can choose to be kind – simple things like choosing to say hello with a smile or choosing to hold the door for someone or showing your appreciation to others. In a world where you can be anything, choose to be kind. Feel free to watch and listen to the story we enjoyed:

After the story, Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed, we were inspired to spread our kindness by writing appreciations for at least five people. Many wrote many more! When they were finished, they were like little elves delivering their kindness notes to people all over the school. Some wrote notes to their previous teachers, some to their siblings, big and little buddies, and some to Mr. M, our custodian. You should have seen the big smiles they had on their faces when they returned to the classroom! One student walked back in the door proclaiming, “I feel so happy!” It was a real life lesson to learn that when they spread kindness, they also gain happiness. I don’t think they realized how happy they were going to feel when they started writing these notes. Here are some of their reflections:

• Zia: It warmed my heart because Kiana made one for me and when I read it, it made me feel happy.
• Liliana: I feel so happy because when we went to the custodian to give him the letters, he felt appreciated and the smile on his face made me feel happier.
• Eva: I felt happy because when we went to Ms. Yap’s class, she was so happy and she gave us a hug and that made me feel happy.

THURSDAY: During our regular activity breaks, we have been doing various stationary exercises. To change things up today, I made exercise strips for students to choose a random exercise for the rest of the class to do. They got to choose how many we did too! They loved the choice and the challenge. Their jumping jacks definitely look way better than in the beginning of the year!

We continued to talk about kindness after we watched a video about how sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference in other people’s lives. Sometimes it is a small sacrifice and sometimes it’s a bigger one but it is a choice we make to be kind. The result? It’s varied but one common result is the happiness we gain as we discovered for ourselves or an unexpected effect because of our kindness. We spent some time writing about what kindness means to us. Click here to read reflections by Lauren, Jeyvion, and Yoyo.

FRIDAY: Students are really enjoying using O365 Word for their story writing. One student exclaimed today, “My writing keeps getting better and better!” They really enjoy reading the descriptive feedback on their writing. Students always working so hard during these writing blocks. Loving it!

The kids were introduced to an image that would help them share how they were feeling. This is called the Blob Tree. It was interesting to see who they chose and why to represent their feelings. Our class goal is for everyone to become more comfortable at speaking in front of the class. They each had their turn to go up and share their feelings. Next week, we will start our Focus Students rotation. Stay tuned to learn more!

For our kindness video today, click here.

We currently do not have enough volunteer drivers for our field trip to watch the World Ringette Championships on Thursday, November 28th. We plan to leave the school at around 12:10 pm. If you can help drive us to and from but not stay, we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sincerely, Ms. Chan