How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

I know exactly how Winnie the Pooh feels. This has been a unique year but a truly special one. Division 7 came together to face every challenge that came our way. I am so grateful to have had a class that was willing to jump in with both feet to learn new things and find new ways of being with each other.

Although I was only at Cascade Heights for one year, I felt extraordinarily welcomed by the school community and am so grateful for my time here. It is a special place and I hope I will be back one day!

Today we watched a special video that I made to commemorate our wonderful year. I have posted a link to the video on our Microsoft Team so that the students can download the video as a memento.

Have a great summer and keep in touch!

As we gear up for the final full week of school, there are a few notices and reminders that I would like to put out there. This information will also be coming home in your child’s planner.

• On Monday, June 21st we will be walking to Central Park for an end-of-year field trip. We will be leaving right after recess and will not return until the end of the day. Students were asked to bring a lunch, water bottle, sun protection, good walking shoes, and a bathing suit/towel if they want to get wet in the sprinklers there. Monday is also National Indigenous Day and students are invited to wear orange to acknowledge this day.
• On Wednesday, June 23rd students should bring a bag to take home all belongings. This will include all of their supplies and work from the year.
• On Thursday, June 24th we will be having a mini sports day with Division 8 at Wesburn Park. Again, we will be leaving for the park right after recess so students will need to bring a lunch, water bottle, sun protection, and good shoes. COVID will not stop us from having a fun sports day together!
• On Friday, June 25th final reports will be sent home. Progress report envelopes DO NOT need to be signed and returned for the final term.
• Monday, June 28th will be our last full day of school.
• On Tuesday, June 29th students will only attend for one hour.

It is going to be an exciting and busy week as we mix in all of these activities with our final LiD presentations. I can hardly wait to see all of the hard work the students have done all year on this project!

Have a great weekend!

The school year may be winding down, but Division 7 has been as busy as ever!

Last week we finished our flower prints that were inspired by Canadian artist Jan Corcoran. To make this art we coloured with markers on sheets of plastic. Then we used a spray bottle to turn the marker ink into watercolours. As the colours started to blend with the water and each other, we pressed thick paper onto the plastic to make a watercolour print. After they dried, we added the details of the flowers with marker. It was challenging to adjust our flowers to match what the ink did on the paper.

In science, we learned about a new property of mixtures and solutions. We discovered that the amount of pH that a substance has determines whether it is an acid or base. If something has a pH of 0-6, it is an acid. If something has a pH of 8-14, it is a base. If something has a pH of 7, it is neutral. If a substance has a very low or very high pH, it can burn your skin and should be handled with caution. We used litmus paper to test the pH of different household subtances. We discovered that most of the substances were on the acidic side of the pH scale. Check out our results below:

Finally, it was with heavy hearts that Division 7 learned about the recent tragedy that occurred in BC. Residential schools were a horrific chapter of Canada’s story and they continue to have lasting effects on Indigenous communities today. If you have visited our classroom since last week you will have seen the window display that we made to honour the 215 children that were found at the site of the former Kamloops Residential School. The feather art that you see in the display was designed by Gitxsan artist, Michelle Stoney. The following is a quote from her:

• “…the feather represents so much to our culture. Maybe too much to even explain so I’ll just say what it means to me…To me it means strength and healing…we use it for smudging, and to me that represents cleansing. Inside the feather is the spirit of the 215 children. The face at the bottom…has long flowing hair that they were forced to cut. The hand at the top is also important. But really this can mean something to someone else. I don’t want to force people what to think. I just like it when people connect in their own way. I’d love to hear stories of what this means to you.” 

In Division 7, every child matters and we feel grateful that we have a classroom where we can feel happy, safe and included.

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I took a few photos today of Division 7 enjoying the beautiful weather. We played an energetic game of California Kickball during P.E. and when I was looking at the photos later, I was reflecting on how far we have come as a classroom community.

Sportsmanship is something we have been working on as a class throughout the year. We have had lots of conversations about how the games we play together are about having fun, supporting each other, and getting our bodies moving, NOT about winning. Today, I could really recognize the results of the hard work we have done as I saw students cheering on their teammates, letting go of the little things, and helping out those who were new to the game.

Way to go, Division 7!

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There was some serious critical thinking and collaboration going on in Division 7 today!

In science, we have been learning about solutions and mixtures. Mixing two substances together is a physical change. Even though the appearance may change, the two substances do not form a new substance and can be separated. Today we looked at methods of separating mixtures.

I gave each group of students three different mixtures:

• marbles and beads in two sizes
• sand and salt
• cornmeal and iron filings

and challenged them to try to figure out how to separate them using any combination of the following tools:

• a sieve
• a slotted spoon
• a coffee filter
• a magnet
• a funnel
• a cup of water
• a stir stick

It was interesting to observe the ideas each group came up with and how they worked together to revise their plan when something did not work out.

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Do you have any ideas? Ask your scientist what they tried. What worked? What didn’t?

Here are some photos of their success:

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We have continued our study of Canadian artists by looking at the work of Musqueam Coast Salish artist Susan Point. Much of Susan Point’s work is inspired by spindle whorls. A spindle whorl is a tool that Coast Salish women traditionally used to prepare wool for garments and blankets. It is a disk made of wood or other material with a rod in the middle so the disk can spin.

Susan Point uses the shape of a spindle whorl as inspiration and incorporates Coast Salish design elements to create contemporary art. You may have seen her art around Vancouver, including in the Vancouver International Airport where “Flight (Spindle Whorl)”, the largest spindle whorl in the world, is displayed on a stone waterfall.

For our own take on spindle whorl art, I asked the students to focus on using “repetition in the round”, a technique where one image or design is repeated in a circular shape. I also invited them to choose an element of nature that they connect with to inspire their art. Using Coast Salish design elements was optional.

We hope you enjoy our spindle whorl masterpieces!

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You may remember attending a student-led conference for your child in past years. The purpose of a student-led conference is to showcase a child’s accomplishments. It also allows each student to be accountable and to accept responsibility for reporting progress to parents. These conferences provide a meaningful opportunity for children to develop pride in their work, to become effective communicators and to develop leadership skills. Other important skills reinforced through this process are time management, organization, problem solving and decision making.

This year the student-led conferences will take place at home. Students have selected samples of their work to share with you and will bring them home on Friday, May 21st. They are being asked to bring a bag to school on Friday to help carry everything. Please make sure your child brings these items back to school on Tuesday May 25th unless otherwise noted in the conference agenda. Your role, as a parent, is to listen, ask questions, give positive feedback and encourage your child in this reflective process.

Thank you for enriching your child’s learning experience by sharing in the student led conference.

Our class is starting an exciting new program called “Classroom Book Clubs”. For the next few weeks, students will be reading books and discussing them in small groups. Each group has 4 to 6 students who selected the same book. Since this is something new, I wanted to share how this program works so that you can best support your child.

Each student has been given a copy of his or her book to read. I will provide 30 minutes of reading time each day, but if they do not complete their assigned reading they will need to take the book home to finish. The reading page assignments are created by the book club groups on a weekly basis and will be written on a bookmark for reference. In addition, students will have a short assignment such as writing a summary, creating discussion questions, or writing notes about parts they want to discuss. It will be important for each member of the group to complete the required reading and assignment each week so they can contribute to the discussion. It is also important that they do NOT read ahead of the assigned pages because this will spoil the discussion.

Ways you can help your child experience success with Classroom Book Clubs:

1. Set up a regular quiet reading time after school or before bed.
2. Check to make sure the weekly assignment has been completed (due each Friday)
3. Discuss the book with your child. Ask questions and show interest in what they are reading. You can even get your own copy and read along!
4. If you feel your child is having trouble understanding the book, take turns reading pages aloud and discussing the story.

I will be assessing Classroom Book Clubs based on completion of weekly assignments and participation during the meetings. Please contact me if you have any further questions. Students received their books today and we will have our first book club meeting next Friday! We are excited to have this chance to read books of our choice and talk about them with our peers!

Bonjour!

As we continue to learn French vocabulary for talking about families, we are starting to learn the difference between words we use for our immediate family and words we use for our extended family. I am asking the class to practice using the vocabulary we have learned by creating an informal family tree or family circles (see below for an example of each) and they may need your help! They will be bringing a sheet home today where they will have to plan out who they will include on their family tree or circle.

I have told the students that it is THEIR CHOICE who they will include in this assignment. As we move through this unit we have continued to have the important conversation that all families look different and that we cannot question who others choose to include in their family. I also understand that asking to do an extensive and accurate family tree would be an impossible task for those with large extended families. I have told the class that if they can try to get 10-20 names on their family tree or circle, that will be sufficient for them to practice their vocabulary.

I have also told the class that if they are more comfortable choosing a famous family (like the Adams family!) to represent with this assignment, that is okay too. This option may require a bit of research in order to include the required 10-20 names.

If you have any questions about this assignment, do not hesitate to reach out. I hope you can enjoy learning a little bit about your family (en francais!) together with your child.

A Family Tree

A Family Circle