“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning”  -Plato

This week we attended our first Young People’s Concert! It was fabulous. We were entertained by Leading Ladies Little Big Band . The focus of the performance was to introduce the students to each instrument through musical selections from jazz, swing, and popular classics. The 11-piece ensemble gave students an unforgettable taste of their musical possibilities. The hope is that the students are inspired to study music in Grade 7 and beyond. There were a lot of excited faces and grooving bodies so it looks like the performance was a success!

Your music teacher, Ms. Petrovska, sent us an overview of what you have been doing with her in class this term and boy are we impressed. She told us that, “as musicians you have been practicing the “Lemonade Blues” arrangement on Orff (barred instruments), congas and parts of the drum set (snare drum, hi hat and crash cymbal). Also, you learned and sang songs for the Remembrance Day assembly. Currently, you are preparing for your parts in the musical “I Need a Little Winter Vacation”. The preparation for the musical incorporates aspects of singing, choreography and drama (for some students). You sure have had a busy term with lots of amazing musical opportunities!

In Math, many of you are zooming your way through Xtra Math! Many of you are on subtraction already and some even multiplication. We sure are impressed! Unfortunately, some of you are still having trouble being consistent with your practice. We have asked you to try for 5 days a week as we see this as the best way to improve your fluency. If you have not been doing 5 days a week, maybe talk with your parents right now and decide the days and times you are going to practice. REMEMBER SMART GOALS, if you want to achieve it, you need it to have a plan with times and days in order to stay on track. This week, we were working on four digit addition and subtraction. When we stack the questions, it breaks the numbers down into single digit addition and subtraction so, if you think about it, your single digit adding and subtacting skill fluency  is definitely going to help you be more successful in the day to day work we do in math.  Coming soon, we will be working on multiplication and division so if you can get ahead on Xtra Math, it will help you with those lessons too.  We also began exploring measuring with METERS.  A meter is a much larger unit than mm and cm and is most useful when you are asked to measure the length of something bigger.  Next week we’ll start actually measuring with this unit.

This week we had our Social Studies assessment focusing on the Provincial Government. Through a “Jeopardy” style game, we did a “buddy study”/ open book practice round.  As a class we discussed and went over the answers and then the game was put on TEAMS to practice at home.  The results weren’t as strong as they should have been… especially given all the practice opportunities you were given.  We did have a chat about what YOUR responsibility is when it comes to preparing for tests and that most of the time, teachers will give you a “heads up” and that’s about it!

What do an Advent Calendar, Tannenbaum, and Saint Nicholas all have in common?  They are traditions that are part of Christmas in Germany!  This is our next mini-unit for the month of December as we finish off this term and gear up for all the Christmas festivities. Mrs. Davis was born in Germany and many of the things we learned about are based on what she experienced as she was growing up — and still incorporates into her traditions now.  Each of you went home with an Advent Calendar to start your own countdown to Christmas.  Don’t forget to open the first window of your calendar on Sunday, December 1st!

Our mini “tannenbaum” is looking super cute with the toque ornaments you created!  We spent a bit of time each day this week working on them and everyone has made at least one toque that is hanging on our tree.  If you haven’t yet made one, you can make one at home too!  We’ll be making some other decorations for our tree next week.

Blog reminder. Whenever possible, you should be answering in full sentences. You all need to practice your sentence structure, grammar and punctuation. Any response is an opportunity to get better at this skill so keep at it everyone!

Your blog response this week has to do with our Secret Santa plans.  We discussed the format that we want to do this year and the decision was made to have a specific person that we shop for.  The question that we need to narrow down is the dollar limit that we want to spend.  Talk to your parents and respond to the following questions:

Will you be able to participate if our Secret Santa gift exchange is on Dec. 19 or 20th? ( you are planning on being at school) 

Should our gift limit be $10 or $15 dollars? ( make sure your parents agree to this!) 

Will your parents be able to take you shopping for whoever you are a “Secret Santa” for? 

Have a wonderful weekend Division 7!

Mrs. Gil and Mrs. Davis

This week’s blog is going to start off with someone else’s voice for a change. Ms. Willis has provided us with a little overview of what you have been working on in your art classes with her. She wanted your parents to know just what you have been up to in there because the first term is almost over.  I know, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Time is moving at light speed it seem.  Here is what Ms. Willis wants your parents to know:

As artists we are learning to use the art studio and its materials in responsible and respectful ways. This term we have learned about the artists Sonia Delaunay and Tim Burton, and we created two pieces of art inspired by their styles. We are developing our artist mindset where risk taking, play, and experimentation are valued; and mistakes can lead us to something beautiful.

In our regular class time we worked hard this week. We have begun finishing up our paragraphs, three drafts altogether, and most of us are ready to publish. It will be exciting to get the paragraphs finished and be able to read one another’s work. Your paragraphs really came a long way. You were AMAZING peer editors and I saw many great additions and changes to your drafts as a result of working with a peer. Hopefully, this week we will finish our final versions with some illustrations and be able to share them with one another.

In Math we worked on estimating strategies as a large group and with partners. The week ended with you showing me what you could do ‘on your own’.  We were learning that:

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Mrs. Gil

We have reached the halfway point of the month and things continue to be bus and jam packed. This week was a short one due to Remembrance Day on Monday. Next week will also be short because there is a Professional Day on Friday, the 22nd.  We hope you are all taking advantage of those days away from school, enjoying some rest and family time. We also hope you are using some of your free time to keep working on Xtra Math and your home reading. It is exciting to see so many of you reaching and passing the 1000 minute milestone. There are only a few students left who are not on the reading chart yet.

We went to the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library on Friday. For 1/2 hour we had the place to ourselves and many of you came prepared. Books, posters, and pens went flying off the shelves. Some of you just did some browsing and found out some things you might like buy and how much you will need to bring with you next week if you choose to shop. Either way, the Book Fair will be open all next week at lunch and after school for your shopping if you would like!

In Science and Indigenous Education this week, we continued to explore how daylight savings time works as well as exploring seasons. We specifically looked at how each of the seasons can affect plants and animals. Next week, Ms. Cummings will be coming in and helping us learn more about Seasonal Rounds. The seasonal round, also known as the annual round, is a pattern of movement that Indigenous peoples followed each year to gather resources. We will be making examples of our own seasonal round artwork starting next week as well.

Our glass workshop went well on Tuesday. The ornaments you all made looked really great. I can’t wait to see them all finished and melted. Starting in a few weeks, we will begin working on some ornament crafts for Christmas. We will be making some on our own in class and, we will be working with our buddies to make ornaments as well. Please keep bringing in those toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls that will help with the projects. Also, yarn will be a part of each of the crafts so bring in your balls of yarn as soon as possible too!

In Math, we worked through some more mental math strategies in partners and large groups and then I asked you to show me your understanding independently. Many of you were able to demonstrate that you can use at least one mental math strategy to solve addition and subtraction problems while some of you can even use several different strategies. Way to go. We are going to be practicing estimating whole number addition and subtraction problems in the coming weeks. I am confident you all will find this pretty simple.

In Language Arts, we are working on completing sentences and creating basic paragraphs. We are going to be working through paragraphs from brainstorming, to draft, to final drafts. I will be editing your first drafts with you, then you will edit your second draft with a partner, and finally, the final draft will be the one you are assessed on. Hopefully, the more paragraphs we complete, the more confident you will become as writers.

Speaking of writing, it is almost time for us to write your progress reports. This week, we asked you to reflect on your learning and growth so far this year. It has been a really full term with lots of new routines and expectations. We like reading your reflections because know one knows you better than YOU! We use your reflections to help us make sure we write a report that really represents your progress. Sometimes, what we see is not what is the most important to you. By using some of your reflections in the report, we make sure your parents know EXACTLY how hard you have been working, what you are most proud of, and what you believe you need to work on most. We also let them know what we see in you, which is important as well, but together with your input, the progress reports really are a celebration of all you have accomplished so far this year.

We had some time with computers this week. You were able to practice typing and some of you also chose to play some math games.  Computers, however, are not all about games. A lot of information can be gathered and work can be done using computers as well. This week, we started looking at digital citizenship and how important it is to be safe and respectful online. Sometimes, people think they can hide behind the screen so they act differently than they would face to face. It is important to understand how to stay safe and kind in the digital world.

Your Blog Response Question for this week is about your life behind the screen. Answer the following questions. Please use full sentences, capitals, and periods to respond to each:

1. How much time do you spend on the computer each day?
2. What kinds of things do you do on the computer?
3. Do you have rules about computer use in your home? What are they?
4. What is one thing you learned about digital literacy in Friday’s lesson?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Mrs. Gil

We had a very stormy start to the week. On Monday, we were supposed to have an outdoor experience with a member of BC’s Sierra Club. We were going to be learning about our neighborhood’s ecological and cultural structure in the classroom and then we were going to head out to Beecher Creek to explore the environment first hand. Unfortunately, the wind and rain proved to be too much. Fortunately, we have re-scheduled the field trip for early in December. Let’s hope the weather cooperates with us then!

November is here and we have a lot going on. We created our November calendar and looked ahead at what is happening this month. Some highlights are:                    -bowling (happened on Wednesday)                                                                                 -Remembrance Day Assembly (Friday) and Remembrance Day                                  (no school on Monday)                                                                                                         -Glass Workshop Tuesday the 12th                                                                                     -Scholastic Book fair starting on the 15th                                                                         -Professional Day on November 22 (no school)                                                               -Young People’s Concert Wednesday the 27th

We wanted you to read this to your parents and pass on our apologies for all the extra costs we have been asking for in the last few months. The beginning of the school year is always difficult with all the up front costs for planners, Young People’s Concerts, etc. We realize that in this month alone, the extras of bowling, glass workshop and movie must seem like a lot. It was not our intention to throw so many costs at you all at once and we understand if you feel like its a lot. Going forward, we will be more mindful about spreading out the field trips and the costs that come with them. On a happier note, our wonderful Brentwood PAC has provided all the classes with some field trip funds which we will most definitely be applying to our next field trip and this will partially, or even fully, cover the costs for the students.

Bowling on Wednesday was a blast! The weather was perfect for our walk there and back. Our class was very well behaved and we had four wonderful parent volunteers joining us, keeping us safe all the way. It was such a joyful experience, watching all the students in Division 7, playing together, laughing and enjoying their time at the bowling lanes. We were sad a couple of students were unable to attend due to illness, we missed you! It was great to see all of you in a different setting. You were very encouraging to one another and there were too many spares and strikes to count! Well done, everyone.

In Math, we have started a new, XTRA math online program. The idea of the program is to have you work independently online for 10 minutes a day at home to practice basic math facts. These are just straight forward drills to help those of you who are still struggling with fact recall become quicker and more confident. This is really just like using flash cards. For those of you who are confident, you will quickly move through the program and once you are done, you no longer need to do the nightly practice. Everyone is working at their own pace. Our hope is that all of  you will make it through the entire program by years end, at the latest. At school, we are focusing on strategies and skills that take those basic facts and bring them to life with real world problems requiring deeper thinking and understanding. Knowing you basic facts will definitely help make our work at school a lot more manageable.

On Thursday this week, we began exploring measurement of length using mm.  For our purposes, millimeters is the smallest unit of measurement that we will be using.  We looked at the rulers that we have and discovered a variety of measurement systems on them.  Some have centimeters and millimeters ONLY, and others have INCHES as well.  In Canada, we use the metric system so “inches” are not what we will be using here at school.  Our rulers are 30 cm (300 mm) long.   You all had fun walking around the room and measuring a variety of items using mm.  Next week you’ll continue measuring items using different units.

In Writing, we have switched over our Brain Booster time to include some sentence practice. For the next little while, we will be working on reading, writing, and expanding our sentence writing abilities. We had our first trial run of this new structure this week and you all did great! We worked on making sure sentences contain all necessary parts. Our practice also included working on different types of sentences (exclamation, command, statement, and question) and combining sentences.

In Science this week, we talked about Daylight Savings Time. We learned a little about when this time changing started and why. We made some connections between what we know about the earth’s rotation around the sun, seasons, and daylight. It was very fun to do some research about daylight hours in different parts of the world. We made predictions about the hours of daylight in other places around the globe compared to us, here in Burnaby, right now. It was great to see you all applying your knowledge of the equator and the seasons to make your predictions. Our Indigenous support teacher, Ms. Cummings, came in and read us a story about “The Sisters”, which we know to be the “Lions”, the two mountains to the North of us that we can see right outside if we stand on the playground facing North. We heard about how they came to be named that through a Squamish Nation story she shared with us. For the next few Tuesdays, Ms. Cummings will be coming to our class and sharing oral stories and teachings that will help us make connections to our learnings about seasons and this land we are on right now.

Now that the Provincial Election results have been finalized, we asked: What does the Provincial government actually DO?  What are they in charge of and responsible for? Turns out the Provincial government has a LOT of responsibilities like Education, Transportation, Provincial Parks, Tourism, Real Estate, Health Care ( Hospitals, doctors, nurses), making  and enforcement of laws, and all of the natural resources (that are found in our Province. Whew! That’s a lot.  You all started a poster to represent some of these responsibilities.  Most of you have taken it home for homework.  Remember, it’s due next week on Thursday.

Thanks everyone for your hard work creating our Remembrance Day wreath and our hallway display.   We spent some time learning about why we wear a poppy and other important information about Remembrance Day.  We hope you are able to reflect a bit on Monday, November 11th about what this day off means and it’s importance to us living here in Canada.

Here is your BLOG response for this weekend:  Fill in the blanks:

The __________ is a symbol of ______. We wear it to _______ the _____ that fought and _____ in  wars for us.  _____ is a  ____ country because of what brave men and women did to ____ us.   

Word bank:   protect, safe, died, poppy, Canada, soldiers, peace, remember. 

PS:  Mrs. Davis is going to be away for the next 2 weeks. I am on a vacation with my family to Mexico.  I am only missing 3 days with you, but you won’t see me until Monday, November 25th.  Mrs. Gil will be covering Thursdays and Fridays until I come back.

Have a wonderful long weekend Division 7!

Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Gil