Category: Science

October

October was filled with hands-on learning, creativity, and discovery in Kindergarten! We began the month by going on nature walks around our Parkcrest forest. As the season changed, we observed leaves transforming into beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. We collected and examined leaves closely, learning about their different parts, such as the stem, veins, and blade, and discussing how they help plants grow.

 

During our morning time, we enjoyed reading together and doing a variety of math and literacy stations that encouraged problem-solving, letter recognition, making patterns, counting, and collaboration.

 

We created self-portraits. Using mirrors, we carefully observed our features and drew pictures of ourselves. We also explored different ways to make our names using natural materials.

We celebrated Thanksgiving by reflecting on the people and things we are grateful for. As a class, we brainstormed what we are thankful for and discovered that many of us were grateful for our families, food, friends, and toys. During Story Workshop, we used loose parts to create stories showing how we spent Thanksgiving weekend with our families. We then orally shared our stories with our friends and teachers, helping to build our confidence as storytellers.

 

We met Big Buddies from Division 7. They joined us in our classroom for shared reading and together we celebrated Halloween by creating silly monsters.

 

We learned about the different parts of a pumpkin, including the stem, skin, flesh, pulp, seeds, and vines. We investigated a real pumpkin by estimating how many seeds were inside, counting the seeds, and measuring its height and circumference. We tasted both sweet and salty roasted pumpkin seeds and then graphed our results.

 

Exploring Force, Motion, and Financial Literacy

Our Kindergarten students had a wonderful time learning about force and motion through hands-on exploration. We brainstormed our ideas and visited different stations, including building ramps to test how fast cars could go, exploring friction with different materials, creating domino chains, using magnetic force to paint on paper plates, and designing marble runs. All the teamwork encouraged problem-solving as we explored how gravity and motion work together.

 

 

We also learned about financial literacy through dramatic play. Students ran an ice cream shop and played restaurant with Mrs. Steverding. A special highlight was enjoying the real waffles she made for us—they were so yummy!

 

All About Chicks!

Our kindergarten class had an exciting opportunity to learn about chicks through the Eggucation program.

 

 

Our three precious eggs came on April 22.  The students eagerly watched and waited as the eggs developed in the incubator.

 

 

 

Mango Love surprised us by hatching a week early!

 

 

When Sunflower and Cutie finally hatched, everyone was overjoyed with excitement!

 

 

It was a wonderful hands-on learning experience that filled our classroom with curiosity, love, and joy!

 

 

We wrote creative stories about chicks. We focused on including a beginning, middle, and end and adding details to make our stories exciting and interesting.

 

 

We learned about the life cycle of chicks, practiced careful observation, and showed kindness as we cared for our new feathered friends. Using the information we learned and our daily observations, we each wrote a non-fiction book about chicks. We were proud to share our learning with other classes during our Non-Fiction Showcase Day.

April-Blooming, Growing, Learning!

April was another joyful and busy month in our classroom!

We were so lucky to have the Burnaby North Leadership Team visit us. They spent time decorating beautiful Easter baskets with our kindergarten students, followed by a fun Easter egg hunt together. A big thank you as well to our wonderful PAC for organizing another exciting Easter egg hunt for the children—we truly appreciate your continued support!

In Art, our focus was all about flowers and spring. Inspired by Eric Carle, we painted giant colorful flowers. We also created blooming tissue paper flowers. We also made adorable chicks hatching from eggs, inspired by the chicks we’ve been learning about in class.

We participated in the Jump Rope for Heart event hosted by Division 4—thank you to everyone who supported this meaningful cause and donated to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Our students also worked with their Big Buddies to create welcome cards for next year’s kindergarten students. It’s hard to believe that our current kindergarteners will soon be moving on to Grade 1!

In PE, we learned how to play lacrosse. Students practiced important skills like cradling, scooping (ground ball pickup), passing, and shooting on goal. They picked up the game quickly and demonstrated wonderful sportsmanship during our games.

In Math, we explored measurement using non-standard units, comparing and measuring different objects in fun, hands-on ways. In Literacy, we are writing lots of creative ideas in our journals. We continue to build our vocabulary and learn new letter sounds and words to support our reading and writing skills. During Story Workshop, we wrote about spring using our five senses, and continued developing our storytelling skills by retelling stories with loose parts. We especially enjoyed retelling “Little Owl Lost” and “I Want My Hat Back.” Ask your child to retell these stories to you at home—they love sharing them!

All three of our chicks have now hatched! We are very excited to continue learning about and exploring our chicks together. Stay tuned for a future post to see our discoveries!

Celebrations & Community Spirit

The second term was filled with celebration and community spirit! From honouring our shared milestones to diving into new learning adventures, we’ve had plenty of reasons to cheer. We also made and displayed some fabulous artwork!

At the end of January, our school had a special visit from local British Columbia author and educator, Cathy Hussey. She brought her passion for storytelling and the natural world directly to our readers. Cathy’s work often reflects her deep connection to the Pacific Northwest and her background in working with young learners. Her book, Doug: The Story of a Tree, is a heartwarming tale designed for children (ages 6–8) that explores themes of growth, resilience, and the interconnectedness of nature.

 

We learned about ourselves and shared information about our families with our classmates. Our “I Am From” poems are simple, personal reflections that foster self-identity and creative expression. We love that they are original and list favourites or feelings about ourselves. At the Pink Shirt Day assembly, some of us read out our poems about why our families are special.

 

We celebrated Valentine’s Day, Lunar New Year, 100th Day, and learned about Anti-Bullying (Pink Shirt Day) and Black History Month. Please see our beautiful Valentine’s Day bags – we filled these with cards and messages for our friends. We made bracelets with special words and experimented with a variety of materials in Art. We also learned and talked about the Olympics in Italy!

 

During the 100th Day of School, we jumped 100 times (over the week). We imagined what it might look like in the future when we are 100 years old! We created necklaces with 100 beads/Cheerios. We continued to explore a variety of Math and Literacy activities. We can now count by 10s to 100, and we are reading so many new words!

 

We got to know our Div. 6 Big Buddies a little bit more and managed to do some fun activities with them!

 

The Planetarium visited our school Gym. Ocean Wise marine educators took us into the Sea Dome, a large black dome theatre, and we had a blast watching the big screen. We learned about sea animals and protecting our waterways. The educators brought some marine artifacts and we were able to touch things like shark jaws and sea turtle shells.

 

We ended this term with inviting our families to come into our classrooms for Student-led Conferences, and we were able to show our family members just a few of the things we learned in school.

 

What a fun Term 2 we had!  Please have a wonderful and enjoyable Spring Break!  See you back at school on Monday, March 30!

January Adventures  

Happy 2026, families! We had a wonderful month of learning, exploring, and settling back into our routines after the winter break. Here’s a peek at what we’ve been up to in January: 

 

In math we focused on naming, sorting, and finding shapes in our classroom and around the school. We also learned a brand‑new math game called “First to 10!” The students practiced counting, taking turns, and using good sportsmanship.  

In literacy, we continued strengthening our understanding of letters and sounds. We continued working with CVC (consonant‑vowel‑consonant) words, learning how to tap and blend sounds to read simple words. The students are becoming confident little readers—it’s exciting to see their skills grow! 

We are discovering how different animals hibernate, migrate, or adapt to the cold season. The children loved learning fun facts and sharing their own wonderings!  

 

We are continuing to practice retelling stories. We read the winter tale The Mitten. Ask your child to retell the story to you—see how many characters and events they remember! We also enjoyed the story Over and Under the Snow, which helped us connect to our winter animals unit. After reading, the children created and wrote their own “over and under” stories. Be sure to ask your child to share their story with you! 

 

This month we also celebrated Literacy Day with our school community. We attended a fun and energetic assembly, where each child brought a knowledge card to the gym. They had a special moment to share the fact on their card with a friend sitting nearby. Our class focused on animals that hibernate in the winter. After lunch, we had a lot of fun reading in the dark. It was a huge hit!  

 

We also had our first visit with our Big Buddies in Division 6, and the children were so excited to meet their older partners! They spent time getting to know each other and sharing stories together. We’re looking forward to more buddy time in the coming months!

 

We read the book One Word for Kids, which inspired us to think about a word that will help us be our best selves this year. We brainstormed words like kind, strong, fast, love, smile, sing, family. Each child chose a word that was meaningful to them, wrote it down, and created a bracelet to wear as a reminder.  

A December to Remember in Kindergarten

December may have been a short three weeks, but our kindergarten classroom was filled with big learning and even bigger fun! The children stayed busy with festive and creative activities, starting with cookie decorating and lots of arts and crafts that helped them practice fine motor skills while expressing their creativity. We also explored learning about leaves through art, connecting seasonal changes to hands-on creative projects.

 

We danced our way through the month by learning a hip hop–choreographed routine and proudly performing it, showing confidence and teamwork. Literacy came alive as students retold The Gingerbread Man, acting out the story and strengthening their comprehension skills. As a class, we also worked together on a Christmas puzzle, learning the importance of patience, cooperation, and helping one another.

 

One of the highlights was making Stone Soup with Ms. Steverding’s class. The children peeled, chopped, cooked, and then shared a meal together to celebrate teamwork and community. They also enjoyed open play time with friends, building social skills, imagination, and cooperation through play. We wrapped up the month with cozy moments like movie day, a special pancake breakfast and lots of open play. December was short but sweet, and full of memories we’ll carry into the new year!

 

We would like to wish all our families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thank you so much for your generous gifts and continued support—it truly means a lot!