Ann Ford

Our resident artiste, Rowan, who created this art for our bulletin board. Thank you Rowan!

The One and Only Ivan is a children’s novel written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by Patricia Castelao. It is about a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage at a mall, and is written from Ivan’s point of view. In 2013 it was named the winner of the Newbery Medal. This true story explores the issue of animals in captivity, trained to please the human population. It is a story about friendships and compassion for animals.

As part of our studies for Earth Day, we focussed our lenses on this small South Pacific nation. Students watched a documentary, then brainstormed all the ways the indigenous peoples of this nation are trying to cope with the effects of climate change. It may be that this place could permanently be wiped off the earth’s map as tides rise and coral reefs (atolls) get eroded from pollution, mostly caused by the western countries. As this documentary explains, the people are one of the first “climate change refugees.” We are indeed all connected to this fragile earth. Our actions matter!

When you think of chocolate, you may have several treats in mind. But, where does chocolate come from? In this unit, we focus our attention on another part of the world – Ghana! We explore the country, why this country is the second largest producer of cocoa beans, Fairtrade, how cocoa beans are traded in world markets and finally how the beans are made into chocolate that we enjoy.

Students will “travel” virtually to this part of the world and learn all about chocolate and Fairtrade.

Thank you Miriam Tratt for recommending this great book!

Students in Div. 14 are now exploring reading , writing and presenting several types of poetry, such as Haiku and learning about the legendary Basho (1644-1694) who travelled in seventeenth century Japan, writing in his journals of his travels. The places he visited, the shrines, mountains and villages, can to this day be visited. Above, you can see Haikus that were created.

We will continue to explore other forms of poetry this term. In May, we hope to have a poetry cafe- more information to come!

Hi! My name is Mr. Hoffard. I am a student teacher from Simon Fraser University. I am extremely excited and thankful to be given the opportunity to teach with Mrs. Ford in Division 14 at Marlborough Elementary School. I will be in the classroom for four weeks, wrapping up the week after spring break. I will be teaching different lessons in math, science, and P.E. Although I am only here for a short time in the classroom, I have a lot to give to the students and myself have a lot learn from them. Feel free to reach out and ask me anything. I am looking forward to a great experience as part of the Division 14 community.

Thank you,

Garett Hoffard

We have been exploring these powerful books and personalities that have been instrumental in shaping black history. The true stories and journey’s outline the history and struggle throughout the days of slavery when HOPE was a seed waiting to be planted.

We listened to Martin Luther King’s speech, “I have a Dream” and discussed how the struggle for justice is still so real in many parts of the world.

Henry’s Freedom Box is also a true story of a slave who makes a harrowing journey in a wooden crate- and mails himself to freedom.

To note:

-In the 1800s, there were about 4 million slaves living in the United States

-60 000 to 100 000 slaves escape to freedom , travelling on what was called the Underground Railroad

-the Underground Railroad wasn’t a real railroad. It was all the secret ways slaves made their way from the South to the North

-When Henry Brown climbed into the Freedom Box, he hoped he’d be carried to a safe world. He travelled 350 miles fron Richmond, Virginia in  27 hours. His destination was Philadelphia. He carried a small tool which allowed him to make a tiny hole. He also had some biscuits which he ate.  (source: Ellen levine and Kadir Nelson)- authors of “Henry’s Freedom Box.’

Most students came in this morning wearing their pink shirts. We had a class discussion about what this means. We shared the story about how it started. We also taked about stereotypes. Students put their thoughts on sticky notes after sharing with their peers. At home (we are also doing this in class), please review what it means to be kind and how our actions and words matter and that pink shirt day is everyday. Thank you, Ann Ford.

Students in Division 14 made these clay pots. Today we applied the glaze, then back tothe kiln to set the colours.