Welcome Back! We have a fresh start with April; roots and shoots is what we are talking about this month.

Students are growing both physically and academically while learning how plants grow.  We will be doing a deep dive into our classroom inquiry this term and connecting with nature.

Our greenhouse is set up in the classroom and Division 10 has already helped out in the Clinton Indigenous Garden by removing all of the leaf debris that was covering the soil over winter.  They filled 2 large compost bins.

They have also weeded their courtyard bin and planted lettuce.

Student Signs of Spring are up and directing Clinton students to put a spring in their step.  They used 2D shapes, road signs and spring things to create their bulletin board display.

We will work through the next month with nature walks, a focus on flowers and insects and a connection to 3D solids and animal structures.

Have a nice Spring weekend!

We had a great final week before the break.  Twins Day was one of the highlights with all of us seeing double and triple.  What wonderful team spirit we had.

It was also a pleasure to take some mindful moments to sketch some characters through the use of the narrative window of the Entry Point Approach.  We have some very talented artists in Room 15.

Our 2D shape experiences continued with making some Shape Cities.  Students used their rulers and tried to independently draw the variety of 2D shapes.  Some items in the classroom were used to create the really challenging shapes.

We finished off the week with considering Where In The World with our mapping, our Spring Break journeys and making a connection to our classroom poem, titled, “Geography.”  Ask students to recite that poem at home. 

Speaking of poetry, Spring poems are now up in the classroom window. Students shared all of the spring words they could come up with through a brainstorming activity.  They were then given choice as to how they wanted to put the words together to develop their poetic writing.

There are poems with imagery, poems with rhythm and rhyme, acrostic poems and single verse poems.  All pieces are really well done and a perfect way for students to share their talents as they move into the Spring season.  Hopefully, you will get a chance to read them over the Spring Break as they will continue to be displayed in the classroom window.

Just a quick reminder to sign the report card envelopes and return them.  Students should also continue to keep reading over the break and return the March Shamrock Reading Sheet on April 1.  Math Flights and Word Quiz will return the second week after the break.

Have a super special Spring Break and we will gather again at the end of March when we will fully be in the season of Spring!

As Term 2 comes to a close, we have not stopped working toward our curriculum goals.

We have experienced many aspects of ADST (Applied Design Skills and Technology) while working with Science and Math.  We have connected to 2D Shapes, creating our very own 2, 3 and 4 sided flat figures out of play-clay. 

Students also demonstrated much creativity with their Sink and Float Boat Builds, with much thought going into their designs.  Congratulations to Jordan who won the contest.  Nathan Leung and Eton also produced a boat build that held many marbles. 

Students also have been enjoying tennis lessons.  They have already participated in roller coaster, volcano, fishing net and hot potato activities with their racquets and larger soft tennis balls.

Division 10 also has some unique club activities going on.  We have the Cool Comic Club, the Fit Kids Club, the Chess Club, the Math Club and Lois and the Loom.

Also check out the Smart Cookie work in the classroom window. Division 10 students are all Smart Cookies.

Have another great weekend and remember to Spring Ahead one hour!

We have enjoyed a wonderful week of acceptance and diversity.  Students are very proud of the paper pink chains that they contributed to with all other students in the school.  The chain of kindness has created a mound of pink power in the library and will hang in the library to show and share that we are all connected and can be upstanders.

Division 10 presented the poem, Nice Words, at the February month-end assembly.  They dedicated the poem to Mr. Spink as he shared that it has been one of his favourite poems over the years.  The meaning of the words speak for themselves.

On Pink Shirt Day, students also worked together to do number sentences to the date by doing Math On A Roll.  This time, they got to work together and cooperate with numeracy using a BIG math roll.

Bucket filling is also happening in Room 15.  Students heard the story, “How Full Is Your Bucket” and now real buckets line the counter waiting for positive, appreciative, encouraging water drop comments to be placed in the tins.  Each one of the students knows that they have an imaginary bucket that needs filling on a regular basis.  When their bucket is empty, they also feel empty.  Hopefully, some bucket filling will happen at home too.

This week, students also had another digital literacy lesson that supported their understanding of their digital footprint.  Topics of discussion were related to Think Gloves when online.  THINK – Are your words,  “truthful, helpful, inspiring, necessary, kind?”  Students also connected to being a Clinton Star when online or playing video games because their digital footprint or technology tail can be full of positives if they are safe, respectful and responsible.

Our new poem for the next few weeks is called, “Geography.” Students are moving forward with looking at continents, oceans and eventually their own country of Canada.  Division 15 now has 17 poems tucked away in their hippocampus.  Perhaps, you could ask your child to recite a few of their favourite poems.

Mindfulness and stress relief have been part of our brainwork this term.  Division 15 has also been working toward healthy choices for their personal growth.  The 3B’s of brush, breath and bed have been a topic of conversation.

The Vancouver Warriors, professional lacrosse team, also encouraged students to take care of their health, participate in sport and do something they love.  The Warriors team also emphasized teamwork, work ethic, respect, integrity and character.  https://tickets.vancouverwarriors.com/

Some students will be bringing home a pamphlet with an opportunity to attend a Warriors game for half price. There are only 4 home games left so check them out.  They play at Roger’s Arena.

We look forward to the month of March and the coming of Spring.  Have a wonderful weekend.

There is a big game tonight.  The 4 Nations Hockey Final is between Team Canada and Team U.S.A.! Division 10 is ready to cheer on the Canadian Team during this hockey game that begins at 5 p.m.

This weekend is also the Rugby 7’s World Tournament in Vancouver where Team Canada, both Men’s and Women’s Teams, will be playing.

So many Team Canada cheers will be shared over the next few days!

Go Canada Go!

Happy Valentine’s Day!   We began our week of friendship joining together to create some visual art pieces with our frozen ice.  Here are some photos of our aesthetically pleasing ice works in the garden.

We continued our better, stronger together theme with working together on 100’s Day.  We certainly celebrated the number 100!  In fact, students were given a challenge to build, with a partner, a Lego creation using just 100 Lego pieces.  Check out the names of some of these amazing builds.

Our Valentine Friendship Day was met with much appreciation.  Students shared their cards and thanked one another.  They enjoyed special cupcakes decorated by Shalini and Driffin.  Clinton Star cookies and sweet treats were a pleasure to eat.

After our sharing of friendship greetings, we HAD A BALL.  We played for the rest of the afternoon using bouncy balls.  We were really on a roll.

During the week, students also completed their Winter Cinquains with a few of their finished products displayed in our classroom window.  They also were Word Collectors and found empowering, encouraging words to add to their pink shirts that also hang in the window.

We also know that Spring is in the air as one of spiderlings created a teeny, tiny web in our classroom.

Have a wonderful Family Day long weekend and we look forward to continuing the better, stronger together theme as we move toward Pink Shirt Day.

The beginnings of our ice sculpting and garden art experience.  What are the possibilities when we connect with NATURE during a Freezing February?  We will continue with our ice explorations next week.  Please remember to support your child with bringing a collection of 100 items for Tuesday and Valentine greetings for next Friday.  Have a Winter Weekend.

We have had such a bright and brilliant January with not only all of the sunshine but all of the presentations students have engaged in.  Division 10 was very proud to host the kick-off assembly for Literacy Week while also hosting, alongside our buddy class, the January Month End Assembly.

During Literacy Week, students shared bookmark illustrations for wordless books (Dean really appreciated the opportunity to sketch), we brought poems in our pocket, we returned our Family Literacy Trees to support the growth of our School Literacy Tree and we drew illustrations for “What A Wonderful World.”

We shone brightly on the ice rink when we went off to Rosemary Brown Recreation Center on a gorgeous, sunny day.  Thank you to our parent volunteers, the teachers, Mrs. Wilson and Ms. Toor for organizing this January event.

We celebrated the Year of the Snake by creating some bright lanterns and we shared the positive characteristics of being Roosters and Monkeys.  Abir returned to school after some time in India and he shared some photos and information about his travel experience.

With February Love in the air, we made some graffiti names that join us all together as Clinton Stars.

Our presentation of the Clinton Star rap at the assembly was a hit.  Veggie Thieves, presented by many of the Clinton Staff, was also a hit at the assembly.

We look forward to 100’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Family Day, Pink Shirt Day and maybe a SNOW DAY in February.  We have continued to experiment with stages of matter and we were able to freeze some more liquid to solid.  We will try again in February when temperatures will drop below zero again.

Despite the lack of snow, we have had some crisp, cold days which has given students an opportunity to explore some phases of matter.  For days, we had a science experiment sitting outside of the classroom with water (liquid) waiting to freeze into a solid.

After a few mornings with no success, students concluded that an exposed area, where there may be a wind chill and an area that would have a base that would hold the cold may be a better place to conduct the experiment.

Success! We got ice.  Our stages of matter went from liquid to a solid and then back to liquid once the sun had warmed up the area again. 

In keeping with the winter theme and Reading In The Dark for our literacy week, we talked about campfire stories and the fun of listening, speaking and reading when camping.  We then got out the S’mores maker and made some S’mores.  What fun.

A big event took place on Friday, when one of our spider egg sacs had many of the eggs hatch and produce tiny spider-lings.  Usually, spider-lings do not hatch until Spring but with the warm classroom temperatures the hatching happened early.

The students did an amazing job at the Kick Off Assembly for literacy week and will once again host an assembly on January 30, after lunch.  They have enjoyed Poetry Day, Reading In The Dark, Wear Your Words and the Reading Train. 

Please have fun on National Literacy Day, tomorrow, and return the Family Literacy Activity sheet on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest.

We look forward to ice skating, lunar new year (Year of the Snake) and the January assembly next week!

Enjoy your Winter Weekend.

Division 10 has started the new year off as busy bees taking on some leadership roles with the Literacy Week activities.

The class will be hosting the Literacy Week kick-off assembly on Monday, January 20, after recess. They will be sharing the land acknowledgement, welcoming everyone with a Happy New Year 12 months of the year and reciting 3 poems.  They will also be cheering for all the literacy week activities taking place.

For your calendars, please note that tomorrow, Friday, January 17, a Family Literacy Form will be coming home.  Engage in any of the activities listed on the back or create your own literacy experiences.  Every time you participate as a family in one of the activities, colour in a leaf bubble on the tree.  Once 5-8 leaf bubbles have been coloured in, return the filled in form to me.  You can also send a photo of your family participating in a literacy activity to Mr. Winterlik.

On Monday, we will have the kick off assembly.

On Tuesday, students are asked to bring a poem in their pocket for Poetry Day.  There will be a school-wide activity taking place that afternoon.

On Wednesday, students will participate in Reading In The Dark.  They are asked to bring books, a flashlight and stuffy (if they choose) for an afternoon of reading in the dark with their house team in the gym.

On Thursday, students are asked to Wear their Words.  They can wear clothing full of letters and appropriate words.  Cool facts and jokes will be shared over the P.A. that day.

On Friday, students will board the Reading Train at 2.oo p.m.  They are asked to bring a book for that reading journey.

Saturday, January 25 is Family Literacy Day in Canada.  Continue to participate in literacy activities and fill in your Family Literacy Forms.  The last day to return the form is Tuesday, January 28.

On Thursday, January 30, at 1:00, Division 10 and Division 6 will be hosting the January month-end assembly.  They will be working together as buddy classes to present a Clinton Star rap.  There will be a “What A Wonderful World” power point presentation followed by a Reader’s Theatre story acted out by Staff, if the Literacy Tree in the lower hallway fills up with leaves.  Each time a student returns a Family Literacy Form, a leaf is attached to the tree. (Thank you Mrs. Rempel, Sophia and Driffin for making the tree.)

There is so much excitement going on related to reading, writing, listening and speaking.  Division 10 is truly demonstrating their leadership skills this month.

At the end of the month, the class will also be going on a skating field trip.  It is a one-time event and will be a morning of smiles and fun.

I would also like to thank students and families for being understanding this month as I have had and will continue to have a few mornings/afternoons/days away from the classroom.  The students are in good hands with many teachers that they are familiar with such as Ms. Parmar, Ms. Girling, Ms. McCarthy and Ms. Stewart.  Day plans are always in place but these amazing visiting teachers have full access to the day, to work with the students as they please.

Some of the themes we are engaging in this month are: Winter, animal adaptations, hibernation, migration, non-fiction, wordless books, measurement of time, literacy and stages of matter when considering water.  We do hope some of the freezing temperatures give us an opportunity to freeze some water.

As part of our literacy explorations, we have continued to engage with our speaking and listening skills through Cafe Conversations.  Here are a few Starbuck moments in the classroom. 

You are more than welcome to attend the Kick Off Assembly in the gym after recess on Monday and join us for the month-end assembly on Thursday, January 29 at 1:00.

Happy New Year!