Category: Social Studies

February

Division 12 had a busy month learning, playing and exploring! Here’s a little glimpse of what we did in February…

Reading in the Dark

 

Over and under the Snow- In Story Workshop, we created our own Over and Under the Snow stories.  Please ask your child to tell you their story.

 

We went on a nature walk to look for homes animals could hibernate in during the winter.

 

We made birdfeeders for animals that adapt to the weather in the winter.

 

We went to our forest to look for animal tracks.

 

Valentine’s Day Fun!

 

“I Am From”- we each wrote a poem about things, places and words that are important to us. Some of us shared our poem to the Parkcrest community at our Celebration of Learning assembly.

Vancouver Aquarium Field Trip

We had an exciting field trip to the Vancouver Aquarium! The weather was sunny and the air was cool and crisp. We saw many amazing sea animals, including sea otters, a 9 metre long Green Anaconda snake, stingrays, sharks, glowing jellyfish, and even Scuba Claus in the water!

Vancouver Aquarium

After the trip, we took a few days to discuss and reflect on our experiences. Students had opportunities to share some of their favorite memories. We drew pictures and wrote in our journals, and created a web of favorite moments. The web became our brainstorm for the upcoming school-wide write.

Here are a few favourite memories that came up during discussions:

“the sea otters playing with us and floating around”
“watching the seals eating”
“the little baby sharks”
“the jellyfish was glowing”
“some stingrays”
“I touch the starfish”
“a monkey in the rainforest”
“tiny poisonous frogs”
“a giant enormous snake”
“the hot chocolate smell from the Polar Express” (this was part of the 4D experience theatre!)
“the ride on the bus”
“Scuba Clause was in the water!”

When asked if the children would visit the aquarium again, they all said, “Yes!”

 

It was wonderful to see the children connect with marine life, and continue to develop a growing appreciation for animals and our environment. Please continue to ask your children questions about what they have discovered.

Finally, a huge shoutout to parents who joined us and helped to supervise the children – thank you!

Remembrance Day

In class we talked about the importance of Remembrance Day.
It is a day to honour soldiers, veterans and families who have
sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
Each class made a wreath for the wreath laying ceremony at the assembly.
We talk about why the poppy became a symbol for Remembrance Day and we made our own representations of poppies.  Here is an invitation to create poppies with loose parts:

We painted poppies on our hands

 

 

 

We also read “The Peace Book” by Todd Parr and talked about what gives us peace.

I feel peace when I am…

“loved”

“loved by my mom”

“with my brother”

“with my family”

“playing with my friends”

“playing with my mom”

“with my teachers”

“my dad carries me”

“getting hugs”

“nice”

“kind and sharing toys”

“with my cats”

“watching T.V.”

“with my hamster”

“at a park”

A Fa-BOO-lous Halloween

Division 12 had an eventful Halloween!  We had princesses, superheroes, video game characters, scary witches, vampires, black cats, a giraffe and even a Starbucks mocha frappuccino, enter our classroom!

 

We created some fabulous art, including these friendly zooming ghosts!

 

Every year, we look forward to the creative and humorous jack-o-lanterns that are created by students and their families. They were on display outside the front entrance of the school.  During our afternoon parade, we had a chance to walk by and view them.

 

We read a funny book called, Room on the Broom.  We then watched the Knowledge Kids’ movie with Ms. Gourlay’s class. We noticed and compared the similarities and differences between the book and the movie, and noticed many interesting elements that were added to the film-version.

The school-wide parade was fun and exciting! We ended in the gym for a dance and sing-a-long.  It was a fa-BOO-lous and spooky day with many treats!

 

Making connections; ask your child:

What was a favorite costume that you saw and liked?

What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

Welcome to Division 12!

We had a wonderful start to the school year!  September was full of school events. In our classroom, we read stories and played games. We are learning how to write our names “the kindergarten way,” starting with an upper case letter followed by lower case letters.  We are learning routines and school procedures, and most importantly, we are having fun!

Happy Lunar New Year

The children had a blast creating these lunar new year lanterns a few weeks ago. First, we colored the pictures with crayons. Then, we used watercolor paints to paint over the whole lantern. The crayons resisted the wax on the crayons and the colors “glowed” through the paint. You will see these on our windows!

 

For those who celebrate Lunar New Year,

恭喜发财  [Gōng xi fā cái / Kung hei fat choi]

새해 복 많이 받으십시오 [saehae bok mani badeusipsio]

Wishing you health, happiness and peace in the year of the rabbit!

Remembrance Day

In class we talked about the importance of Remembrance Day.  It is a day to honour soldiers, veterans and families who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.  Our school had an in-person assembly on Thursday. There were many thoughtful presentations and all the children were very respectful during the Remembrance Day assembly.  Division 11 recited the poem “Poppy Poppy” with Division 12 in front of the whole Parkcrest community.
Each class made a wreath for the wreath laying ceremony at the assembly.
We talk about why the poppy became a symbol for Remembrance Day and we made our own representations of poppies.  Here is an invitation to create poppies with loose parts:

We painted poppies on our hands

We also read “The Peace Book” by Todd Parr and talked about what peace means to us.