The Learners of Division 16

Encouragement Books

June 20, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

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Most of your children have received their Encouragement book following their presentations of their Star of the Week. We have two books to go! As a class, we consistently talk about our feelings and emotions during Community Circle and through our writing. In this activity, students are learning to write an encouragement letter to the Star of the Week. These letters include specific details about how each child feels about the Star of the Week, what types of things they like to do with them, and things they notice about the person. The brainstorming picture of your child is located at the front of their book. The growth in writing that we have seen this year has been phenomenal and has impressed us so much. The students have learned to give meaningful, thoughtful, detailed letters to their classmates, including a picture to go along with the letter. We hope that reading these books at home have brought your children a great deal of joy, as they have brought to us in reading them.

Big Idea: Everyone has a unique story to share

First Peoples Principles of Learning: Learning requires exploration of one’s identity

Curricular Competencies:

Communicate using sentences and most conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Plan and create a variety of communication forms for different purposes and audiences
Create texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community
Recognize the importance of positive relationships in their lives
Share ideas, information, personal feelings, and knowledge with others

Content:

metacognitive strategies and writing processes
letter formation, spelling and sentence structure

Core Competency: Personal and Social – Positive Personal and Cultural Identity

I have pride in who I am. I understand that I am a part of larger communities.

Gymnastics Field Trip

June 19, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

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Last week, we spent an amazing hour at the Queen’s Park Sportsplex for our gymnastics field trip. The students loved it and learned many new tricks and moves. This was a jam packed, highly active and incredibly fun outing for all of the students, from the beginners to the experts. We can’t wait to go back again next year!

Heights Garden Field Trip

June 13, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

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Tuesday was our amazing field trip to the Heights Garden, just a short walk away from the school. Anastasia and Nimira (Div. 15) organized this field trip and Katy also helped teach the students. Divisions 15 and 16 learned so much about plants, gardening, growing, and edible and medicinal herbs grown in a garden. We were adventurous and tried some new herbs: mint, lemon balm and fennel! The students also went on a scavenger hunt to find things around the garden. Then we learned about the life cycle of plants. After that, we painted pots (pictured above) and were given dirt and seeds to plant in the pot. Anastasia and Nimira also organized for the students to have hot chocolate and a sweet treat. The students loved the day so much! Thank you to Heather who helped us to get the kids safely to the garden. Please take a walk down to the garden and your child can share with you some of the amazing things they learned there and introduce you to the garden.

Big Ideas:

Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment
Objects and shapes have attributes that can be described, measured, and compared
Designs grow out of natural curiosity

Curricular Competencies:

Explain how participation in outdoor activities supports connections with the community and environment
Engage in problem-solving experiences that are connected to place, story, cultural practices, and perspectives relevant to local First Peoples communities, the local community, and other cultures
Demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world
Experience and interpret the local environment
Make simple predictions about familiar objects and events
Consider some environmental consequences of their actions
Compare observations with those of others
Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving

Learning Involved:

Identifying the life cycle of plants
Relationships between people and the environment in different communities

First Peoples Principles of Learning:

Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors
Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational

Core Competencies:

Thinking – Critical and Reflective Thinking

Students think critically to develop ideas. They work with clear purpose and consider the potential uses of their work. They explore possibilities, develop and reflect on processes, monitor progress, and adjust procedures in light of criteria and feedback.

Communication – Collaboration

Students combine their efforts with those of others to effectively accomplish learning and tasks. As members of a group, they appreciate interdependence and cooperation, commit to needed roles and responsibilities, and are conscientious about contributing.

Personal and Social – Social Awareness and Responsibility

Students develop awareness of and take responsibility for their social, physical, and natural environments by working independently and collaboratively for the benefit of others, communities, and the environment. They are aware of the impact of their decisions, actions, and footprint.

Pride Day and Read Aloud

June 11, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

Last week was our Pride Day at Gilmore. I am attaching a photo of the students dressed in a way that makes them feel most proud. The whole school joined together in a parade on the way to our Pride Assembly.

Here is a link to the story we shared. Watch it with your child and discuss it if you like.

Pride Week Read Alouds

June 4, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

As the start to our Pride week, we participated in a school wide activity. We shared the story, 10,000 Dresses with our classes and after reading we had an excellent discussion. Then each of the students designed their own dresses. They were all so creative and different. Attached are pictures of the students’ creations and a link so that you can share the story at home.

Today was our colour day at school. We were a sea of colours in our room! In the library, we shared the story called A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and discussed that love is love. The students shared their ideas with love and openness. The read aloud for this book is linked below.

Fancy Day and Afternoon Tea

May 28, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

On Wednesday, Div. 15 and 16 celebrated Fancy Day with an afternoon tea party. Some students went all out and were very fancy! Students were encouraged to have a growth mindset and try a variety of teas offered. We tried gingerbread, apple cinnamon, camomile, iced and chai tea. Rahil’s mom, Lamia made two types of chai teas for our students to try, one with more cloves and spices. We also had cookies with our tea. As a group, we spoke about the type of manners we would use at a tea party and in fancy restaurants. Ask your child their favourite type of tea they tried.

Goodbye Squeaks, Canuck and Lemon

May 24, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

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Last week we said goodbye to our beloved class ducks, Squeaks, Canuck the Duck and Lemon. They have grown so much, their behaviour has changed and we have all enjoyed having them in our room. Our classroom smelled like a farm for weeks! Ask your child all about these photos and what they learned from having the ducks to study. Ask them about the different personalities each duck exhibited. It was hard for us to let them go, but we are happy they are back on the farm now where they have a lot more natural space to run and be free.

Financial Literacy Workshop: Learning to Save with Henry

May 13, 2024 / shellardk / 0 Comments

In Math, we have been exploring, identifying and describing Canadian coins, as well as learning about the concepts of spending and saving. Today, we had a visit from Ms. Tuan from Vancity and further explored the concept of saving. She read us the story, “Start Saving, Henry!” by Nancy Carlson and engaged us in a meaningful conversation about setting goals and the importance of starting to save early on in our lives. We then created our own piggy banks so that each of us could start saving for things we really want and need. We can’t wait to start using them!

To be financially responsible, we must understand the concept of saving.

Curriculum Competencies:

Use reasoning to explore and make connections
Model mathematics in contextualized experiences
Visualize to explore mathematical concepts
Connect mathematical concepts to each other and to other areas and personal interests

Content:

Introduction to the concepts of spending and saving, integrating the concepts of wants and needs

First Peoples Principles of Learning: Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).

Core Competency: Personal Awareness and Responsibility

I can make choices that help me meet my wants and needs. I take responsibility for my actions.

Time with our ducks

May 10, 2024 / shellardk / 1 Comment

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Division 16 has been spending time with our ducks and we have been learning a lot about them. Each morning, we get into a circle, observe them, talk about them, pet them and enjoy them! We are watching them grow daily (boy are they growing!) and noticing the changes that occur every day. Ask your child what they have noticed. Ask your child if they got to pet all three ducks. Ask your child how the ducks feel about water. Ask your child what the ducks spent most of their time doing on Friday when we combined our Community Circle with our duck observation time. What an amazing learning experience this has been for all of us!