This week we are reading the short novel Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen. The story is about a family who is experiencing their first Thanksgiving in North America. It introduces the concept of immigration and reminds us that diversity is something to be celebrated. As the little girl in the story learns, “it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving!”

On Friday, we will celebrate finishing the book by making our own clothespin dolls, just like Molly is asked to do in the story. The students will make the clothespin doll to look like themselves so that we can celebrate the diversity in our own classroom. I will be providing the clothespins and materials but if your child would like to bring anything from home to add to their doll, they should bring it on Friday. Some ideas include: fabric scraps, yarn, or ribbon. They will only need a small amount of each materials because the clothespins are quite small (about 10cm).

Stay tuned to see our clothespin classroom!

With Thanksgiving coming up, Division 7 has been looking into how the holiday came to be and what looking at the world with a thankful heart can do!

We started by reading about the History of Canadian Thanksgiving. Many Canadians know the story of Thanksgiving in America, but although there are many similarities between the traditions in the two countries, the reason for the holiday is not the same at all! Ask your child to teach you how Thanksgiving started in Canada.

Then we read the book Thank You, World by Alice B McGinty. It showed us how to be thankful for the little things like the morning sunrise and soft breeze. The beautiful illustrations showed us how those little things might look in different countries around the world. After reading, each of us came up with our own thing (big or small!) that we are thankful for and used our ideas to create the thankful tree you see at the top of this post.

Part of our weekly routine is our Wednesday morning quote response. Each week we look at a new quote and discuss what it means. Then students are asked to respond to the quote in writing by answering questions like:

• Do you like this quote? Why or why not?
• I connect/do not connect to this quote because…
• When I read this quote, I feel…
• This quote reminds me of…

This week our quote is connected to our theme of a thankful heart:

The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.”

Talk with your child tonight about the quote and what they think it means.

I hope you can take some time this week and long weekend to think about what you are thankful for in your life!

I am happy to announce that this year our class will be participating in the Scholastic Reading Club program. Reading every day is the best way for children to become independent readers. It is recommended that students in Grade 4/5 read 20-30 minutes every day.

For those of you who are new to the program, it is a great way to discover new books for your family and get them at a very reasonable price. Each month a flyer is released with recommendations of books for every age group. If you purchase the books using our class code, then our classroom gets 20% of the cost of the order in rewards and you get free shipping on your order of $35 or more. The rewards earned can be put towards new books for our classroom library! Our classroom code is:

RC508458

If you have used this program in the past, you should know that there are changes this year. Your order will now ship directly to your home and you can order online whenever you want at scholastic.ca/clubshop. Instead of sending paper flyers home each month, I will be posting a link to the digital flyers.

I will be using the Scholastic Reading Club tab at the top of this page to post links to the digital monthly flyers. It is also where you can find our classroom code and the link to the online ordering page for reference.

I hope you enjoy using this program that can foster your child’s love of reading and benefit our classroom community at the same time. Here’s to a year of great reading!

Tomorrow we will be participating in our annual Terry Fox Run!

We have been learning about character traits in our class and have discussed some of the character traits of Terry Fox. We decided that Terry was:

• • • • • • • kind
            • brave
            • compassionate
            • confident
            • determined

We are honored to continue Terry’s legacy tomorrow by running to raise money for cancer research. If you would like to donate, you can do so online by clicking here.

Please make sure your child is coming to school tomorrow dressed for the weather and with proper running shoes.

Last week we discussed as a class how we want to feel and how we want to act when we are together. We agreed that it is important to all be on the same page when it comes to expectations in our classroom. The students worked in small groups to answer the following questions:

• How do you want to feel at school?
• What do you need to be able to learn successfully?
• What can you do to make sure you are ready to learn?
• What are some problems that you have had at school or in class in the past?
• How can you be a good classmate?

We then came together as a group and picked out similar words and ideas in our answers. Finally, we came up with a classroom contract that addressed all of our ideas. The contract is an agreement between all members of Division 7 to try our best to live up to the standards that are important to us. Each of us have signed the contract to show that we are in agreement. So, without further ado, here is Division 7’s classroom contract:

Our Classroom Contract

We, the members of Division 7, promise to work as a team. We will make sure everyone feels happy, safe, and included. We will do this by:

             1. Treating everyone with respect.
             2. Putting others before ourselves.
             3. Creating a safe learning environment.
             4. Being ready to learn and have fun!

By signing this contract we pledge to be our best selves.

Please talk to your child about what the classroom contract means to them and ask them why it is important to uphold!

Today Division 7 was introduced to Learning in Depth (or “LiD”) for the first time. There was much excitement in the air as they learned that this would be a year-long project where they would get to take the journey from learner to expert to teacher.

What is LiD?

LiD is a dynamic program where each student is assigned a topic that they will explore for the whole year. The idea is that they will have the freedom to explore their topic from any perspective they choose at a pace that suits them. By the end of the year they will have acquired knowledge in great depth and breadth, rather than “learning a little about a lot”. We will be working on our LiD projects on average of an hour each week throughout the year.

Why LiD?

Some of the potential benefits of the LiD program:

• generates a deep understanding of the nature of knowledge
• engages imaginations and emotions in learning
• builds confidence and pride in knowledge
• develops expertise in organizational and research skills

How Can You Get Involved?

Another wonderful result of LiD is that it encourages you to learn along with your child. Parents often enjoy seeing their child’s progress in self-directed learning. While the idea is not to allow your enthusiasm (and perhaps superior research skills) to take over the project, I hope you will find joy in supporting your child explore their topic at home. Your child will occasionally be bringing home tasks that encourage them to reach out to family members, friends, and the community to learn more about their topic.

Where to Start?

Your child brought home a large list of possible LiD topics today. It also shows the criteria for choosing a suitable LiD topic. Students were asked to think carefully about the list and discuss it at home. On Monday, they will be asked to choose their top five topic choices; I will then select a topic for each student based on their interests. Please talk with your child and help them choose some topics that will hold their interest for the year.

I hope you are excited to join us on our LiD journey this year!

Dear families of Division 7,

I am thrilled to welcome you to our classroom! I use this blog to keep our classroom community up to date on the exciting things we are learning and doing so please check back often or subscribe using the button on the right. If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year do not hesitate to contact me.

The start of this school year has been like no other. I appreciate the patience and flexibility of the students and parents as we learn new ways of doing things in order to stay safe at school. I am sure that there will be more challenges and changes coming our way but I am confident that Division 7 will be able to face them together.  Last week was our first full week together and as I got to know the students, I began to get quite excited about all of the opportunities for learning we will have this year.

Stay tuned!

~Ms. Rudolph