Category: Uncategorized

Dear Families,

It took awhile to get the blog going. Some of the problem was technical, some was about finding time.  Hopefully, in addition to current photos, I’ll be able to post some past photos as well. I’m always surprised to see how much the students have grown through the year.  I took pictures of all the tables of students, but they didn’t turn out.  They were dark and dingy.  If any of the parents who came along wish to send me some added photos, I will post some of those as well.

The first post are photos of our Bowling Field Trip to Rev’s.

What a grand science exploration!

The students were amazing and curious! But, we all

smell a bit like fish!

Today, Div. 7, released our salmon fry. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, and it was a delight to send off the fry we have been raising since early January. We have 3 lessons to go in this unit. Firstly, we will be talking about their life expectancy now that they’re in the wild.  Secondly, we will be writing the last chapter in their Diary of a Soon To Be Salmon novel, and in Science, I will be dissecting a salmon and doing a close external examination of this fish.  Your children have been wonderful stewards of our salmon babies.  They have followed all the rules and procedures for testing PH and ammonia levels in the tank as well as feeding on schedule and in the correct quantities.  See photos below.  A thank you to the parents who walked with us.

Have a safe, happy, and restful, Spring Break!

If you haven’t already, please bring back the yellow goal setting duotang.  April showers bring May flowers, so please also send your child back with their indoor shoes and some extra clothing in case of falls in the mud!

Mrs. Marto

As I understand it, the The Lunar New Year is a time for renewal and celebration, and I hope you find moments to share with loved ones, create beautiful memories, and embrace new opportunities in the months ahead.  May this year bring an abundance of joy, good health, prosperity, and togetherness to your homes.

This week, as we discussed topics for Remembrance Day, we have had quite a few serious conversations in Div. 7.  During all these conversations and our solemn assembly today, your children showed maturity and understanding.  They have been thoughtful and respectful throughout.  It has been a sombre pleasure to have shared our feelings on peace and sacrifice.   This past week, Div. 7’s students did a wonderful job of honouring those who gave their lives to serve our country.

Our Wreath

                                                                                                                       All of Our Divisions

Dear Families,

First, a belated Thanksgiving to you.  Using the wreath art project, the students were able to determine the things they were grateful for in their lives.

As well, the students have been working on their Fall pumpkins.  They enjoyed using oil pastels and working in such a large scale.  They worked hard to blend and shade their pumpkins in order to show shadow (see the green pumpkin stem) and light (see the yellow light-filled centre as it catches the light). A class characteristic is that we find joy, calm, and peace when we do art together.

Added to our pumpkin bulletin boards, are the large scale leaves that have been made in cooperation with our Buddy class, Div. 5.  The students worked together to fill each part of the leaf with something they had in common with each other.  The Fall leaves they created accentuated the pumpkin bulletin board in our lower hallway.

Going back to September, the students also completed their Best Selves, highlighting the characteristics they embody when they are being their “best selves”.  For this art project, the students were asked to embrace the perspective of a young child as they drew their self-portrait.  Below, you will find some examples of this project.

Most Marshmallows.  A wonderful book about our similarities with one another and our dreams for our future.  We used this assignment to jump ahead to the future and express, in art and writing, how we saw ourselves in our young adult future.

In Science,  we have been learning about fresh water.  We have made watersheds out of paper which we sprayed with water to see how rainwater naturally gathered:

And, we’ve been making predictions about fresh water availability, globally and locally.  We have used 100 blocks to represent all the water in the world and used these blocks to predict how much of the world’s water is salt vs. fresh (97% salt vs. 3% fresh).  We have also used the blocks to represent how much fresh water Canada has relative to the world.   In making these predictions using 100 blocks, the students have been introduced to the concept of percentage.

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We received 55 Chum salmon on Wednesday and Div. 9 was filled with excitement! Have a look at the video where you will see the salmon eggs being dropped into our tank.  We are carefully watching them and adding up “Accumulated Thermal Units” to track their development as they approach the next stage.

Behind the scenes, we are learning about habitats (streams and oceans), collecting data (accumulated thermal units), and learning about life cycles.  We are also continuing to build understanding of indigenous perspectives with regards to salmon and environmental stewardship.

To our families who are celebrating this week, Happy Diwali.  May the festival of lights brighten your life and bring you moments of joy!

Our wreath turned out beautifully.  The Core Competencies in the B.C. Curriculum highlight the importance of working together to achieve a common goal.  In making this wreath, we had to problem solve and get through small frustrations while showing our flexible thinking.  I wasn’t sure if the students realised how many obstacles we had overcome, as a group, to arrive at our finished wreath as not all students were aware of individual stumbling blocks.  To make this learning and our actions more evident, I decided to display many of our challenges in a way that we could see it from each other’s perspectives.  Ultimately, it was a teachable moment that helped us build our understanding of perseverance.  Congratulations to Div. 9!