Category: We are scientists.

Dear families,

It was another week full of fun, joy, and meaningful learning!

We are writers.

This week, we worked very hard on opinion writing and worked with Ms. Wong-Reinhardt too.

We are passionate about learning!

To practice our non-fiction reading and writing, Passion Projects is a perfect exercise! We learned about the importance of using reputable resources. Ms. Chan taught them about the tree octopus. They all believed it was true because it looked like an informative website with detailed information, images, and various pages. Feel free to check it out: https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

We discussed the types of websites we would consider as reputable. For example, we would not use information from Wikipedia but we would use information from a site like National Geographic for Kids because it is a longstanding company with a good reputation for doing valid research and sharing it with the world.

In addition, we practiced so many critical thinking skills! (It’s one of our favourite core competencies we love having your child develop! We learned about plagiarism and how we cannot just copy and paste text into our PowerPoint presentations. Here are some of the higher level thinking skills we started using:

• evaluate which websites to use
• understand what we are researching and reading
• analyze to determine what information we want to include based on our inquiry questions
• decide which slide the information should be recorded
• change the words yet keep the facts and meaning (paraphrasing)

Students were instructed to add a Resources slide to record the websites they used to find their facts. They learned how to copy the web address and paste it into their last slide. (Triple click on the URL. Use shortcuts: Crtl+c to copy and then Crtl+v to paste.)

Working on our Passion Project helps us develop our core competencies of communication, reflective and creative thinking too!

Ways to support at home: It is like music to our ears to hear that many students are working on their Passion Projects at home!  It is important that they are the ones doing the learning and work. It is okay that you teach them PowerPoint skills, how to paraphrase, and help them read the information. Be the guide on the side and please refrain from doing anything FOR them. The more they do, the more they learn. It is still relatively early in teaching them all the skills they need to produce a good presentation. We are scaffolding their learning so the best way to help is to teach them the skills on a different topic, for example, so they are given the opportunity to practice critical thinking to APPLY their new learning to their own Passion Project. We appreciate you for supporting their learning!

We are mathematicians.

We continued with learning division. This week, we built on our understanding in representing division in multiple ways: sharing, grouping, and real life word problems.

Students had fun creating their own word problems. In order to do so, they needed to have a solid foundation of dividing by sharing and grouping. Here were some clear examples of proficiency that demonstrate their full understanding:

Ways to support at home: Have fun writing word problems together! Many found “division by sharing” word problems easier to create. However, there were only a few who truly understood how to write a real life word problem for “division by grouping” so if you can reinforce this at home, that would be greatly appreciated! If you need to review, look back at last week’s blog post or here is the link to the short video.

We are scientists.

Learning standard: observable changes in the local environment caused by erosion and deposition by wind, water, and ice

Students enjoyed the visible nature of discovering how erosion and deposition works. We blew the top of the sand hill and then slowly poured water on top of sand to demonstrate erosion and deposition. They watched the sand from the top of the hill be moved by wind and water to deposit the sand at the bottom of the hill.

Then we watched a short video to see cool examples around the world of how wind, water, and ice (through weathering) caused erosion and deposition (moved to a different location). Feel free to watch the video here to see examples. We learned from a song too! Watch it here.

Image by Laura Candler

We are athletes.

After two sessions of tennis with Marcus, they have demonstrated good perseverance, growth mindset, and skill development!

Sports Day

We enjoyed spending the morning together collaborating, cooperating, and competing in fun activities!

Save the Dates

• Thur. May 22 at 6:30pm – Kitchener Community Dinner; CLICK HERE to RSVP
• Fri. May 23 at 4:00pm – Karnival for Kids @ Burnaby North Secondary; CLICK HERE to learn more.
• Thur. May 29 at 1:30pm – Volunteer Tea; please RSVP asap
• Fri. May 30 at 2:00pm – Early dismissal
• Fri. June 6 – Pro-D day; school not in session
• Thur. June 19 at 9:15 (all day) – Burnaby Public Library visit & Confederation Park (Notice will be sent home next week. We will be travelling by public transit.)

Thank you so much for your continued support! We hope you are available to join us at the Community Dinner and Volunteer Tea! Everyone is welcome!

Gratefully, Ms. Kim and Ms. Chan

Dear families,

We are so proud of all the kids for their performance at our spring concert presentation of Let’s Eat! They did so well singing their two songs with all the actions: It’s Raining Tacos and My Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Bun. 

We hope you enjoyed the show!

Alliteration

After reading Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler, we talked about how author’s usually have a message they tell through their story.

Here’s a synopsis from Amazon: Meet a flamingo of a different stripe. When all-too-curious Sylvie learns that the reason she is pink is because of her diet, she decides to do a little experimenting! At first, Sylvie likes trying out different colors and patterns, but ultimately she learns the valuable lesson that sometimes it’s best to just be yourself.

In the story, some examples of alliteration was pointed out so after the story, we tried our hand at it. They were give some to try and then to come up with their own. Ziya and Juliette challenged themselves to come up with one for each letter of the alphabet!

We are mathematicians.

We solidified our understanding of division by sharing at the beginning of the week and then learned about division by grouping at the end of the week.

Ways to support at home: Watch this video to help you understand the difference. This wasn’t shown in class yet but feel free to use it as review. Take out some toys to practice. Ask your child to communicate the two different ways to show division: by sharing and grouping.

One of the ways we know makes an impact in how well children learn is through discovery play so they were given opportunities to make meaning and learn with partners so they can communicate their understanding.

We are scientists.

On Friday, we walked to Willingdon Park to release our beautiful butterflies. They loved how it landed on some of them – like Eloa’s wrist, and Alicia and Oliver’s shirt!

Passion Projects (ADST)

Students were excited to continue our projects. The next steps were to plan and use their critical thinking brains to come up with questions to research. Take a look at our planning sheet.

Passion Project Planning

Ways to support at home: Have a conversation with your child about what they are passionate about learning. See if they need support with coming up with questions that demonstrate deeper level thinking. Go to the public library to take out books on what they will be researching.

Here are some examples of the experts who will be teaching us what they learn: sea turtles, bunnies, hamsters, photography of dogs, Steph Curry, hedgehogs, cricket (sport), hedgehogs, sea lions, and marine invertebrates.

We are so excited to see them work hard on their projects!

Community Dinner

All families are invited to join us for our second Community Dinner this year! To learn more, click here to go to our school website. CLICK HERE to RSVP to let us know you will join us.

Volunteer Tea

Thank you for your continued support and time at home. You should have received a Volunteer Tea invitation already. This year we are recognizing all families for their support in their child’s learning on Thursday, May 29 in the afternoon (in the gym). We work as partners! Please return the card or click here to RSVP and join us.

Tennis Workshop

From May 12 to May 30, our students will be participating in a tennis program. Unfortunately, the form arrived late and wasn’t able to be sent home on Friday due to a busy afternoon. If you would like to complete this paperwork this weekend, please find the form attached below. We will also be sending home the paper copy of this form on Monday. We would greatly appreciate your support in returning the signed form before our gym class on Tuesday.

Tennis Permission Form – 2025

To all of our lovely mothers, we wish you a wonderful happy Mother’s Day this weekend!

As always, we are grateful for your time and effort at home,

Ms. Kim and Ms. Chan

Dear Division 11 Families,

We hope everyone is having a great week so far! Apologies for the late update on our learning. It’s been a fun and busy week filled with exciting experiences, including two workshops: a Coding Workshop on Wednesday and a Honeybee Workshop on Thursday.

We are Scientists

Honeybee Workshop

This week, we had the opportunity to learn about Honey Bees! Students learned about the different types of bees and their important roles within the hive. We rotated through different stations; searching for the queen bee, tasting various types of honey, participating in hands-on bee-themed activities, and even trying on real bee suits! It was a great experience that deepened our understanding of bees and the important role they play in our ecosystems.
 

Landforms

We also started a new unit on landforms. Students explored a variety of natural landforms found on Earth. In one of the activities students used loose parts to design and build landforms, developing both their creativity and understanding of physical geography.

We are Mathematicians

Our multiplication learning continued this week with a focus on using arrays and connecting them to real-life scenarios. Students explored how objects arranged in rows and columns can represent multiplication facts in a clear and visual way. Keep an eye out for real-life arrays at home!

We are Inventors
This week, students began brainstorming invention ideas to solve everyday problems they encounter. Over the next few weeks, students will move from planning to creating their own inventions, using a variety of materials to bring their designs to life. We’re excited to see their problem-solving and design thinking skills in action as they build their creations!

ADST (Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies)

Dear Division 11 Families,

We hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

We had an amazing time on our field trip to Britannia Mine Museum. Thank you again to our parent drivers for making this trip possible! We’ve created a folder with photos from the field trip, which will be shared with you via email soon.

Here’s a glimpse into the fun learning that has been happening in class over the past week:

Science


This week, our class went on an exciting field trip to Britannia Mine! We learned all about the history of mining and how it has impacted local communities over the years. Students got to wear hard hats and ride an underground train, giving them a real sense of what it was like to work in the mines. They also saw live demonstrations of old mining equipment, which brought the experience to life. Inside the museum, we explored interactive exhibits that showed how minerals are extracted and processed. One of the biggest highlights was gold panning—students had so much fun searching for minerals and were thrilled to take home their discoveries. We left with a deeper understanding of Earth science and the effects of human activity on our environment.

The Smart Cookie

Among the many books we read this week, we reflected on The Smart Cookie by Jory John. This heartwarming story explores themes of self-awareness, growth, and confidence. As a class, we discussed how being “smart”   can mean different things to different people, and that intelligence comes in many forms. Students shared what makes them feel smart and created “I am smart because…” statements to celebrate their personal strengths. This activity not only helped students recognize their own unique abilities but also strengthened our classroom community by highlighting the diverse ways we all shine as “smart cookies.”

Here’s a link to the book: The Smart Cookie.

Language Arts

In Language Arts, we focused on building the structure of our stories and learning key writing techniques. Students began typing their first drafts, organizing their ideas into clear sections and creating a solid layout to support the editing process. A big focus this week was writing strong introductions that hook the reader and draw them into the story. This stage of the writing process gave students the opportunity to strengthen their work before moving on to peer feedback and revisions.

Math


This week in Math, we began learning about multiplication! Students explored the concept as “repeated addition” and “equal groups of” through games, real-world examples, and hands-on activities. One of the highlights was a new game called Circles and Stars, which helped reinforce the idea of equal groups in a fun and visual way.

Feel free to try playing this game at home to support your child’s learning—we’ve included a link here to show how Circles and Stars is played.

Happening This Week:

• April 8th – Science Workshop
  This workshop will take place in our classroom from 9:00–10:00 a.m. Please help your child arrive on time so we can begin smoothly. For this activity, we are looking for 2L plastic bottles. If you have any at home, we would greatly appreciate you sending them in for us to use!
• April 9th – Honeybee Workshop
  This workshop will be held in the gym from 2:00–3:00 p.m. Students will be dismissed from the gym afterward. Thank you, families, for sending in your forms!

We are always so appreciative of your support. Have a relaxing evening!

Warm regards,
Jake, Cailyn, and Livia