Month: June 2021

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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