Dear Families of Div. 14,

This is our first blog post for our class. Some of our blog posts will contain the Curricular and Core Competencies that have been covered in the lessons. Other posts will simply be a sharing of photos from a particular event or activity. To see a picture closer up, simply click on the image and it can be made larger. We do our best to take photos of all of the children, but sometimes:

  • the photos are blurry
  • we only chose a few photos to share
  • we only have enough time to take a couple of shots (teaching is a very busy job and we often forget to take photos, as we are too busy teaching)

The blog is available for parents as a vehicle to start conversations with your children. It is a way for you to know what is happening at school and the learning that is taking place so that you can then say to your child:

  • Tell me about this lesson/story/activity.
  • What did you learn from this story? activity? event?
  • What was your favourite part of this lesson?
  • Tell me what you feel most proud of in your work?
  • What was challenging about this lesson for you?

We will often attach a video of a story we shared so that you can “read” it together at home. This should spark more conversation between you and your child. Positive comments can be left by families for our classroom blog. I have signed up all parents for the blog using the emails from MyEd. If someone from your family wants the blog, but I did not sign them up, please have them send me a request to subscribe to the blog. Alternatively, if you do not wish to receive the blog moving forward, please unsubscribe.

On Thursday, September 26th, our class was a big part of the Truth and Reconciliation assembly at Gilmore. We were so happy that many of our families were there to watch! Wearing our orange shirts, many students shared their learnings from the story You Hold Me Up. We also created art in groups of 3 that represented a line from Chief Dan George’s famous poem, My Heart Soars. The teachers created a slideshow using the art from Div. 13 and 14, accompanied by Chief Dan George’s poem being sung by a Toronto choir. Students volunteered to share the land acknowledgement or read the poem for the assembly. All of the students bravely and confidently spoke into the microphone and did a fantastic job! Well done Div. 13 and 14!

My Heart Soars 

The beauty of the trees,

the softness of the air,

the fragrance of the grass, speaks to me,

The summit of the mountains,

the thunder of the sky,

the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me.

The faintness of the stars,

the freshness of the morning,

the dewdrop on the flower, speaks to me.

The strength of the fire,

the taste of the salmon,

the trail of the sun,

and the life that never goes away,

they speak to me.

And my heart soars.

– Chief Dan George

Attached is a video of the story You Hold Me Up. Please share this story as a family and discuss the ways that your child is held up and holds others up.