Dear Div 6 family,

I really do see us as a family who comes together to not only spend time but to learn about each other and enjoy our company. Your child may have shared with you that one of our guinea pigs, Coconut, passed early Thursday morning. I thought it was going to be a difficult day at work because I was feeling so sad but as I shared with your children, I also knew I would be surrounded by people who make me feel happier. I knew being around your children would lift my spirits, that their smiles would bring a smile to my face, and their love and care would put a patch on my broken heart. They did just that. 🙂

As you know, every morning, we begin our days with our Community Circle time. We have Thankful Thursdays to remind us there are many things we can be thankful for. Everyone takes a turn to share something they are thankful for. I am a firm believer that gratitude leads to greater feelings of happiness so I see many things as gifts I am grateful for. Every day is a gift. Every interaction is a gift. Every child is a gift for me to teach and get to know better through every interaction. I shared how grateful I am because of how happy they make me feel every day. Thank you for having such wonderful children that bring me such true joy!

There were many lessons I hope your child took away from this: It is okay to not feel okay. Loss and sadness is a real feeling. Even as young children, they can provide valuable support to adults like their teacher, which helps them see their importance and how they can play a big role in caring and comforting others with their words and actions. I spoke about “today’s best” and how I may not be able to give them my usual “today’s best” but I will commit to giving them “today’s best”. It is unrealistic to believe that we can give 100% all of the time but if they can give the best they can at that moment, that is all we can ask for.

Friday and Hallowe’en
Friday was a fun day! Every Friday, we begin our day with Mrs. Pappapanagiotou for our Book Exchange. Feel free to pop that into your calendar so you can remind your child to return their books. When we returned to class, it was time for our Costume Parade. So many cool costumes! After that, we broke into groups for our Cup Challenge. Here, they were given 10 cups with 4 strings attached to an elastic band. They were asked not to use their hands and can only communicate through gestures and hand signals (no voices!). Their challenge was to work as a team to copy the structure on the board. They had so much fun and realized that they HAD to work as a team or the elastic would not stretch well enough to release the cup! In the afternoon, the entire school played BINGO with announcers calling the numbers of the PA. I wish you could see the excitement and smiles on their faces! So much fun!

Math
We learned about decimals this week. In grade 5, they need to know their decimal places up to the thousandths place. We added to our Place Value game boards and practiced understanding decimals with a partner. We watched a couple videos to augment my lessons: Khan Academy and Math Antics. Please feel free to watch it with your child to review at home. We will be starting addition soon so please have your child review their addition facts at home so they will become more fluent. If they have an iPad at home, you can download a free app called Math Tappers: Find Sums. It’s great!

Science
Students are on their way to diving further into their rock inquiry question. If your child has extra time at home, I encouraged them to work on their presentation.

As part of our Science curriculum, this Wednesday afternoon, we will have a virtual workshop with TJ from BC Sustainable Energy Association on Climate Change (over Zoom). Please click here to view the notice that provides more information about the 4-week home program.

As always, thank you so much for your continued support at home. We appreciate you! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

Gratefully, Ms. Chan & Ms. Paulich