Category: We are scientists.

During last Friday’s assembly, students had an opportunity to proudly showcase our process of inquiry on various sea creatures. It all began with asking questions and lots of them. Then with access to resources like books, websites, videos, and a visit to the Vancouver Aquarium, students researched information together with a partner. They took notes on paper and then organized them using Kidspiration:

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which helped them publish their writing:

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and eventually, supported their formal presentation. Here is one by Isla on Starfish (click on image):

Click on image to view Owen’s presentation.

Click on image to view Riley’s presentation.

Our little scientists’ inquiry on local sea creatures is well on its way! They have been enthusiastically and diligently researching websites on their animal. This week, we will be receiving a Virtual Reality kit which include Google glasses to virtually dive deep into the ocean to take a closer look! 

In support of our inquiry, Division 8 and 9 had an exciting field trip to the aquarium. We had some free exploration time on our own. Otherwise, we came together to watch the sea otter feeding, dolphin, and sea lion show. Our classroom workshop experience focussed on learning more about our local coast animals. Students had an opportunity to touch a jellyfish, sea cucumber, sea urchin, and try on a turtle’s shell to name a few things.

We are very grateful to parents who have volunteered to help drive and supervise students. 

Dear students,

What were your highlights of the trip? What was the most interesting fact you learned? Please feel free to write a comment on this post. Thank you!

Our grade 1 and 2 students have worked very hard on their re-creation of the water cycle with their partners and were really excited and engaged in their learning. With practice and repetition, they became more and more confident with their explanation of the water cycle and the moving of the sun, clouds, and precipitation at the same time. Not an easy task! We are very proud of how they improved in their communication skills as they worked as partners negotiating their shared vision while exercising their creative thinking and critical thinking skills in order to pull this off! 

Children have had opportunities to share “I can” statements before and after they worked on their shows again and again. Today, they worked on their final reflections. They really understand their strengths! Click here to read all of their “I can” statements.

Enjoy our Water Cycle shows that we made using Puppet Pals! Hint: Might want to pop some popcorn first. Sorry, videos do not play on iPhones or iPads but play fine on Androids and computers.

Tobee & JeanBenoit	Sasha & Charlotte	Farbod & Lucas	Isla & Dustin
Fisher & Myel	Jeffery & Ronan	Manoj & Priscilla	Leo & Riley
Avia & Sonia	Charlotte & Katherine	Gabby, Hanna & Kailan	Owen & Zachary
Olivya & Mehr	Enjoy!	Made with Puppet Pals

Dear students (and parents),

What do you think about your friend’s shows? Please feel free to offer two stars and a wish or write a comment about why you enjoyed working on this project. What are you most proud of? What appreciations might you have for your partner? If you were to do it again, what would you change? Thank you.

Thoroughly enjoy your spring break, everyone! Looking forward to seeing you on April 1st. We have had such a wonderful year so far with you and your child. Thank you for your continued support at home. We appreciate you!

Sincerely, Ms. Chan & Ms. Cowan

Cities in the Snow

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out our cities in the snow display in our hallway by the cloakroom area. Students used their creative minds to draw their buildings. We just love how each one of them are quite different as they made it their very own! 

Students recently made beautiful rainbows. They are hanging in our classroom and really brighten up the room! Feel free to come take a peek!

Mathematicians at Work

Both grades have been working hard while having fun as mathematicians. To find out more about what your child is learning about, please go to our We are Learners > Mathematicians page. Here is where you can find what your child is expected to know and some suggestions on how you can support learning at home. A deck of cards is really all you need to reinforce learning at home. A digital option that students have enjoyed is Math Tappers; it can be downloaded onto an iPad for free. Children can choose different sums to 20 and up to 100 to practice their addition fluency and accuracy. We are aiming for 100% accuracy and to improve on their timed score each time.

Scientists 

We have been learning a lot about water, the water cycle, sources, and conservation. To find out more about what your child learned in Term 2, please go to our We are Learners > Scientists page. Students have been really engaged in sharing their knowledge by recording their own re-creation of the water cycle using an app called Puppet Pals HD Director’s Pass. You can download Puppet Pals for free (limited characters and scenes). Students will be showing you their projects during our Family Read time tomorrow. Please join us to celebrate their hard work! Projects will be uploaded to our blog soon for everyone to enjoy.

Symbaloo

The other day, we introduced Symbaloo to the students. This is a visual bookmarking site where we have posted some fun websites to visit. To access, look to the right-hand sidebar under Links and click on Symbaloo. Some students really enjoyed Free Rice. There are online flashcards to practice sight words or Math fluency strategies. 

Primary Days of Music

Students sang beautifully today. Thank you to Mr. Douglas for teaching them such wonderful songs about diversity and taking care of our earth. 

Report Card Envelopes

A reminder to sign the report card envelope and return it to school as soon as possible. If it is not returned before spring break, may we suggest that you place the envelope inside your child’s planner; that way, the two will stay together. Thank you.

After Spring Break

We look forward to seeing your child back on April 1st refreshed and ready for an exciting week of Hip Hop dancing! Please dress appropriately each day for movement in the gym. There will be a whole school performance on Friday, April 5 in the afternoon.

If we don’t see you at the end of the day on Friday, we hope you all have a wonderful spring break! Keep up with your enjoyment of reading during the break!