Hi everyone! We are still waiting to reconnect to the internet from our school. I will try to update the Planner board, but consistency may be patchy still. Please make sure you are having a look at and signing your child’s planner daily. Remember to encourage them to take ownership over their planning habits, and feel free to ask them to elaborate on what they’ve written. We’re focusing on writing brief, yet clear, notes to guide us in looking ahead to important dates and tasks.
Category: Community
Hello! Welcome! Bienvenue!
This is the class website for Division 7 at Seaforth. Here you will find posts about what we are doing, helpful links, our “Planner Board,” and more!
Here are some reminders and information as we enter into our new school year.
Arriving and Leaving
Division 7 will be entering and exiting through our outside classroom door. (At the moment our door says “Room 14 Ms. Coutts & Ms. Gillingham,” but I’ll take that down by the end of the week.) If you need to pick up your child early or there is an appointment that will delay their arrival to school, please send me an email and/or call the office as a heads up, and sign in/out your child at the office.
Outdoor Recess/Lunch Times
Students will be eating their snack outside. They may be outside in a variety of weather, so encourage your child to become increasingly 
involved with planning for what they need for their time outside. Proper rain gear, and even a change of clothing, can make a big difference in comfort for the rest of the day!
Planners
Students will be bringing home a planner today. We will write in the planners each day, and the students should be taking the initiative to share their planner with you at home. They should be prepared to answer any questions you have about what they have written. We will be working on recording information clearly and concisely, ensuring we include enough detail to be understood. Your child will bring you a pen to sign their planner, and it is their responsibility to ensure their planner travels to and from school with them each day.
Please see our online “Planner Board” here.
School Supplies
We are hoping that all students have their supplies by the end of this week. Please find the grade 4/5 supplies list linked here. If possible, avoid sending “novelty” supplies, as these can become quite distracting (including mechanical pencils!); the simple/basic supplies are often the best. Tip: if you have a big box of fine liners, for example, it’s a good idea to only send a few to school and keep a stash at home (so they don’t all end up in the lost and found box).
Phones/Devices
We kindly ask that phones and devices are left at home if possible. If students do have phones at school, they must remain in a safe spot in their backpacks. If your child has a smart watch, please remind them to keep it on School Mode, and not to use it during school hours. If possible, please avoid calling or texting your child during class time; feel free to leave a message at the office, or send me an email, and we will ensure your child receives it.
Indoor Shoes
Students will be required to have appropriate non-marking footwear for the gym. If they have inside shoes you’d like to keep at school, please send them in a cloth bag that your child can hang on their hook. It would be wonderful if your child could change out of their boots on rainy/snowy days to help preserve our classroom space as well.
Schedule
We are still in the process of finalizing schedules for P.E., Music, Library, etc. Once these are in place, we will be able to fit all the other puzzle pieces together. I will post these out-of-classroom events under the Planner Board menu item on our homepage.
Additionally, as Head Teacher at Seaforth, my classroom time will be all day on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Ms. Gillingham will be the classroom teacher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays while I am working in the office.
More information will come along as needed once schedules and routines become established. Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions. We look forward to working with all our new Division 7 families.
With care,
Ms. Amanda Coutts
I just wanted to write a quick note to say goodbye and to express my appreciation for our Division 7 community.
We started our morning together in Community Circle. I shared two quotes, and then students took turns sharing their appreciations and their growth. The quotes were:
It truly warmed my heart to hear about what students appreciated about the community we’ve built together, and about the things they are proud of learning. Everyone was able to share something and be heard. I am grateful for my time with Division 7 this year. They were a wonderful group that I am thrilled to have spent my first year at Seaforth with. Your children are creative, helpful, kind, and funny. We have shared many laughs, a few tears, and lots of moments of learning. Our class is a truly special one that will remain with me as I continue on my teaching journey.
This time of year is full of change, excitement, and anticipation: summer plans, wonders about the next grade, and big changes like moving schools or homes. Our classroom time together stretched us academically and socially. Through the ups and downs of classroom experiences, I am often reminded of the First Peoples Principles of Learning:
– learning involves patience and time,
– learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions,
– learning supports the well-being of self, family, community, land,
– learning is embedded in history and story.
For all of us, child or adult, learning is an ongoing process of mistakes and patience that is not always smooth sailing. We have opportunities to develop perseverance and resilience as we weather storms big and small. So I encourage the students of Division 7 to move forward with courage, creativity, and kindness.
Warm wishes,
Amanda Coutts
Today we had a wonderful presentation from a maple syrup farmer who we call “The Maple Man!” We learned a lot about Québécois culture and heritage, and how maple sap is collected and processed to become delicious maple syrup! We got a taste of the very special treat, maple taffy (or tire d’érable en français!)
Carnaval is next week, so today we’ve started wearing the ceinture fléchée. The ceinture fléchée comes from the same roots of the Métis sash (sayncheur flayshii in Michif). In class we’ve been learning about Métis finger weaving, but we’ll take more about that in another post!
Seaforth will be celebrating Literacy Week, January 19th – 23rd!
Fun literacy-related activities are planned for each day, but there are a few days to note where you have to prepare a bit. Monday and Thursday have in-class/school-based activities. Friday we will also have the Maple Man here to kick off Carnaval! So many exciting things.
So here is the heads up for next week:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Knowledge in Your Pocket | Reading in the Dark | Dress as Your Favourite Character OR Read Your Shirt Day | ||
|
Find an interesting fact in a non-fiction book, write it on a slip of paper, and put it in your pocket. Throughout the day, someone might ask you for your fact!
|
Lights out! You may bring flashlights, blankets, etc to make forts for some cozy reading time.
|
Dress up as your favourite book character! Or if you’re not feeling very “costume-y,” you can put on a shirt that has words on it.
|
Last week, Division 7 went to Burnaby Lake. We went for a visit to get to know the animals and plants that we share this land with, and how they change over the seasons. Our purpose was to connect to place through observation. We saw and learned so much! Even for me–who grew up in this area and have spent a lot of time walking around, canoeing in, and visiting the ducks at Burnaby Lake–I learned so much during our visit!
Our park leaders led us through several different activities, and we stopped to observe surprise guests on our visit (a woodpecker, a muskrat, and a stinky mushroom!).
Stream Cologne
Did you know that the way salmon find their way back to their particular stream is by scent? They navigate back from the ocean with a kind of “magnet” in their heads, but they find their specific stream through the mixture of scents from that specific place. Students looked around the ground near the stream to collect bits of plants and soil to mush together to smell. We had a good time mixing our potions and comparing scents.
Observing Water Fowl
Students were given visual guides about the various winged wonders that alight on Burnaby Lake. We spent a long time playing a version of eye-spy with the birds. We learned that some of them stay year round, some are visitors from further north, and some will head south for even warmer weather. The wood ducks were a big hit! We also observed many gulls and crows feeding on the carcasses of salmon who have spawned and are now giving back to the waterways that once gave them life. We didn’t see any bears, who also feed on these fish, but we did note that there is no feeding birds seed right now since that will also attract bears as they prepare for the winter months.
Plant Identification
Students learned about some local plants and how to identify them. They played a running game where they got a card with clues about the plant, had to locate and tag the plant, and then race back to our leader for confirmation they identified the plant correctly and to get a new card. So fun! Check out the gallery for the different plants we identified. Some change through the seasons, but still have identifiable characteristics. Keep an eye out for these on your next walk!
Owls & Fungi
We had a very special experience to see and feel the silent wings and fierce talons that make owls efficient predators. It was interesting to compare and contrast how loud a goose feather is when flapped versus an owl wing. Geese don’t have to be stealthy, and they have waterproofing features on their feathers, but owls need to be silent to be effective birds of prey. Their talons are very sharp, too! I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of those razor sharp claws! We got to look at an owl skull, and we observed that the owl’s eyes sit in bony sockets to maintain their shape. Because of that, they cannot move their eyes, and that’s why their heads can rotate 270 degrees.
We also explored some of the fungi that grow out of logs, trees, and the ground. Because these structures are very delicate, we used small mirrors to observe the underside of mushroom caps. Seeing what kind of underside they had helped us identify what kind of fungus it was according to the identification sheet. We even saw that some fungi glow on the underside when a black light is shone on them. I wonder why they do that? What do you think?
Putting It All Together
Our guide brought out a big box with different bags in it. Each bag had a few items that connected with each other in some way that we’d talked about on our tour. As we observed and passed around the items, students inferred about what the connections could be. Sharing ideas helped spark thinking in others, and everyone could help build on the connections.
We had a really great afternoon exploring, observing, and learning more about the plants and animals with whom we share this land. I hope that students came away with increased understanding of the connectedness of this place, and compassion for all the living things here. Thank you very much to our parent volunteers for joining us, also.
Students work together to fold newspaper strips to weave together into “situpon mats.”
Have you ever built a LEGO set with a friend, solved a tricky puzzle as a team, or helped someone understand a math problem? That’s what working and learning together is all about, and it’s one of the most powerful ways to grow, have fun, and succeed! In our classroom, collaboration is more than just a helpful skill; it’s a key part of how students grow, succeed, and enjoy learning. When learners work together, they build not only knowledge but also important life skills like communication, empathy, and teamwork.
Exploring mathematical concepts: students discuss sorting attributes for 3- and 4-digit numbers, using strings for a Venn diagram
When we work together, we share ideas, help each other, and learn from one another. Everyone has different strengths: some people are great at writing, others at drawing, and some at solving problems. When we combine our talents, we can do incredible things. It’s also important that we learn to work with a variety of people in our classroom. While we won’t necessarily be “BFFs” with every person in our classroom, it’s important we take the time to get to know others and build bonds of trust and respect. Working together means listening, being kind, and respecting each other’s ideas. Even if we don’t always agree, we can learn to see things from different points of view. That’s how we grow as learners and as people.
Learning is often deeper and more meaningful when it happens through conversation. Students who explain their thinking to peers reinforce their own understanding, and those who listen gain new perspectives. This kind of shared learning helps build a classroom culture where curiosity and questions are welcomed.
All of these “soft skills” are more of what I would call foundational skills. In the BC curriculum, these are referred to as “Core Competencies,” which students self-assess for each term. You can read more about Core Competencies here.
Here are some tips for fostering communication, community, and curiosity at home:
1. Ask Open-Ended Questions
Instead of yes/no questions, try questions that invite children to explain their thinking and reflect on their learning.
- “What was something new you discovered today?”
- “Can you teach me how you did that?”
2. Encourage “Think Alouds”
When your child is working on homework or solving a problem, encourage them to talk through their thought process. This helps them organize their ideas and often leads to deeper understanding.
3. Celebrate Curiosity
If your child asks a question — even a tricky one — explore the answer together. Look things up, talk about possibilities, and show that asking questions is a great way to learn. Help them find the answers instead of just giving them the answers.
4. Share Your Own Thinking
Model how you solve problems or make decisions. For example, while cooking, you might say, “I’m doubling this recipe, so I need to figure out how much flour to use.” This shows that thinking and learning happen all the time.
5. Create Space for Discussion
Set aside time during meals or bedtime for relaxed conversations about the day. These moments are perfect for sharing ideas, asking questions, and connecting through learning.