The Learners of Division 13

Ms K Shellard and Ms A Clouston - Grade 2/3 Class

Category: Language Arts

Our Ducks: Jelly, Coffee and Pepper

May 6, 2026 / / 1 Comment

Dear Families of Div. 13:

The farmer delivered duck eggs to our classroom on March 31st and for three weeks we watched the embryos develop through the scope on our incubator (ask your child about what they saw). In our Egg Cycle booklet we have been watching how ducks develop over time inside their egg. We have been talking about what we notice in the scope and have been writing and drawing about our observations.

The first duck arrived at my house on the night of April 20th. The second duck arrived at some point in the early morning and was out of its shell when I woke up. The students were so excited to meet our 2 ducks when they got to school that morning. We then watched in anticipation for the third duck to arrive at school that day. It tried hard to break through it’s hard shell with its beak while the students were here, but it did not end up coming out until 4:00 that afternoon.

The next day we brainstormed ideas for what we should name the ducks. There were so many names! Once we narrowed it down to the 5 most voted for names for each duck, we then put each of those 5 names into a spinning wheel on the computer and the computer picked each winning name. Jelly is our yellow Welsh Harlequin, Coffee and Pepper are our two Khaki Campbells. Ask your child if they have a favourite duck.

Every couple of days we get to sit in a circle on the floor with our ducks in the middle. We observe them playing in water, eating, pooping and we get to pet them when they approach us. We are watching as they quickly grow and develop. We are comparing the two different types of ducks and observing them as they grow and change.

We have really enjoyed spending time with our ducks. We have also given the ducks their own little “pool” to swim in and did they ever have fun! They love to preen after they dunk their heads into the water. There is always quite the splash zone around the bucket once they are done! The ducks continue to grow and change a little each day. Your children are really enjoying learning about the ducks. Ask them their favourite part of getting to know the ducks.

Big Ideas:

  • Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment

Curriculum Competencies:

  • Observe objects and events in familiar contexts
  • Ask questions about familiar objects and events
  • Make simple predictions about familiar objects and events
  • Make and record observations
  • Transfer and apply learning to new situations
  • Sort and classify data and information using drawings and pictures

Content:

  • non-metamorphic life cycles of different organisms
  • similarities and differences between offspring and parent
  • compare observations with predictions through discussion
  • compare observations with those of others
  • communicate observations and ideas using oral or written language and drawing

Core Competency: Critical Thinking and Reflective Thinking

  • I can ask questions and consider options. I can use my observations, experience, and imagination to draw conclusions and make judgments.

First Peoples Principles of Learning: Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational.

Pink Shirt Day

March 5, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Last week Gilmore Community School learned about Pink Shirt Day.  Here is a picture of Division 13 in our sea of pink!

We read a book that focused on the concepts of love, being our true selves, tolerance and kindness. It was called They Are So Flamboyant by Michael Genhart.  I am attaching the link of the story (read by him!) if you would like to share it at home with your child. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Gilmore came together to celebrate Pink Shirt Day at our assembly. It was a very moving and heart felt assembly that showed what a loving and caring community Gilmore is! Ask your child what part of the assembly they enjoyed most.

I am also including the link for the true story about how Pink Shirt Day started in Nova Scotia.  Please feel free to share it as a family to increase understanding of what we have been learning about here at school. 

Big Ideas:

  • Healthy communities recognize and respect the diversity of individuals (Social Studies).

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

Curricular Competencies:

  • Explore personal experience, community, and culture through arts activities

Content:

  • Personal and collective responsibility associated with creating, experiencing, or sharing in a safe learning environment

Core Competency: Social Awareness and Responsibility

  • I can build relationships and be a thoughtful and supportive friend. I can identify ways my actions and the actions of others affect my community.

Encouragement Books

February 3, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Three weeks ago we started our class Encouragement Books.  Each child will have a week where we will be celebrating them!  I am including a photo of Asahi’s brainstorm, An’s front cover of her Encouragement Book and our sentence starters.

As a class, we consistently talk about our feelings and emotions during Community Circle and also include them in our writing.  In this Encouragement Book activity, students are learning to write an encouragement letter to each of their classmates. These letters will include specific details about how each child feels about this student, what types of things they like to do with them and things that they notice about the person.  Ms Clouston and I are very proud of all of the students’ growth in the area of writing. The students are writing beautiful and thoughtful letters to their classmates with specific details. Encourage your child to share their encouragement book with you when they bring it home in the coming months!      

Big Idea: Everyone has a unique story to share

First Peoples Principles of Learning:

  • Learning requires exploration of one’s identity
  • Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family and the community

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 (ie letters)
  • 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 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.

Core Competency: Personal and Social – Social Awareness and Responsibility

  • I support the development of welcoming and inclusive communities, where people feel safe and have a sense of belonging.

Literacy Week

February 3, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Last week Gilmore Community School celebrated Literacy Week!  We read some great books, participated in school wide activities such as Mad Libs, Clothing Scavenger Hunt and had Ms Pitt join our class as our Guest Reader on Friday. On Monday, the author Cathy Hussey spoke to all of the students about her book Doug: The Story of a Tree. In addition, every day at 9:00 there were trivia questions presented to the school and many prizes were awarded. It was a fantastic week for Gilmore! We hope you enjoyed doing the Literacy Week BINGO as a family!

Literary Non-fiction Writing

December 3, 2025 / / 0 Comments

For the past two months we have been going to the library every Tuesday to learn about Literary Non-fiction books with Ms Papapanagiotou. Over this time, we have read numerous literary Non-fiction books with titles such as: The Crayon Man: The Inspiring Illustrated Picture Book Biography of the Inventor of Crayola Crayons, by Natascha Biebow, Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla, by Katherine Applegate, Don’t Trust Fish, by Neil Sharpson, Mister Got to Go: The Cat the Wouldn’t Leave, by Lois Simmie, Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide, by Abi Cushman.  I have attached a book and some information about another book below, so that your child can teach you what Literary Non-fiction books are.

After learning all about Literary Non-fiction and the strategies the authors use that differentiate them from non-fiction books, students brainstormed four things they were “experts” at and some small details about these subjects. We then asked the students to choose the subject they knew the most about or that they thought would make the best Literary Non-fiction book. Three weeks ago, the students began writing their own stories. Rather than simply writing a fiction story, the students know that they have to include facts about their subject. Ask your child about what they are writing about and what strategies they are using to make this story an interesting and creative Literary Non-fiction book.    

Big Idea: Language and story can be a source of creativity and joy

First Peoples Principles of Learning:

  • Learning requires exploration of one’s identity

Curricular Competencies:

  • Plan and create a variety of communication forms for different purposes and audiences (ie Literary Non-fiction text)
  • Create texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community
  • Use sources of information and prior knowledge to make meaning
  • Share ideas, information, personal feelings and knowledge with others
  • Recognize the structure and elements of story
  • Communicate using sentences and most conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation

Content:

  • learn to use literary elements and devices
  • learn the writing process such as; revising, editing, considering audience

Core Competency: Creative Thinking

  • The capacity for creative thinking expands as individuals increase their range of ideas and concepts to recombine them into new ideas

Flamingos Are Pretty Funky

 

Calendar Routine and Math Learning

November 29, 2025 / / 1 Comment

As a class community, Division 13 has engaged in a daily Calendar routine for 57 days. Each child is responsible for being the leader of this learning activity after watching me, Myla and Sara lead the routine first for a few weeks. There are many Math concepts and life skills that are included as part of the daily calendar routine.  These activities help students practice every day and build their number sense. They apply the date and the daily number of days in school into different formats and math applications. We have also been learning to count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s to lead us to our 100th day of school, which will occur in February. In addition, we have been learning about the number of the day (today it is 57), place value – 55 = 5 tens and 7 ones, odd and even numbers, graphing using a weather, tooth and days in school graph, greater than/less than, learning numbers divisible by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s, learning addition, subtraction and multiplication.  We also use the number of the day to focus on that number and learn other math concepts about it. Also, the calendar routine provides opportunities for students to practice important skills such as self-regulation, oral language, presenting to their peers and leadership skills.

Big Idea:

  • Collaborative daily routine as a class community provides structure, enhances academic and social skills and increases a sense of belonging for each member of the community.

First Peoples Principles of Learning:

  • Leaning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational.

Learning Involved:

  • Strengthens overall number sense
  • Patterning, counting, tallying
  • Skip counting by 2s, 5s, 10s
  • Graphing the Weather, Days in School, and Teeth lost
  • Months of the year, Days of the week, Number of days
  • Concepts of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (past, present, future)
  • Promotes self-esteem by presenting what you are good at at the end of each Calendar routine
  • Provides students with opportunities to practice leadership and presentation/public speaking skills
  • Enhances self-regulation skills to be an attentive and involved listener when being an audience member and encourages students to be actively involved in their learning by participating

Daily Community Circle

November 27, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Every morning, we engage in “Community Circle” by coming together on our carpet in a circle. The purpose of this activity is; to enhance home-school connection on Mondays (weekend news), encourage story-telling, give opportunity for each member of our classroom community to share their feelings throughout the week, to make connections with each other and to share our weekend plans on Fridays.

The students use the Zones of Regulation when sharing their feelings. They also talk about things they are looking forward to during the day or after school. The person whose turn it is has the right to speak and all others listen actively, quietly and respectfully. Sharing these details help students to build their oral language skills, build their confidence to speak in a way that can be heard by others, share details about their lives and build connections with their peers and teachers. Ask your child what zone(s) they were in today.

Big Ideas (Career Education):

  • Effective collaboration relies on clear, respectful communication
  • Strong communities are the result of being connected to family and community and working together toward common goals

Language Arts:

  • Communicate using sentences
  • Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding

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 embedded in memory, history, and story
  • Learning involves patience and time
  • Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place)

Curricular Competencies:

  • Identify and appreciate their personal attributes, skills, interests, and accomplishments
  • Recognize the importance of positive relationships in their lives
  • Share ideas, information, personal feelings, and knowledge with others
  • Work respectfully and constructively with others to achieve common goals

Content:

  • Risk-taking – Speak in front of others
  • Cultural and social awareness – achieved by exploring self-identity and acknowledging cultural differences

Core Competencies – Communication:

  • In a safe and supported environment, I respond meaningfully to communication from peers and adults
  • I communicate confidently, using forms and strategies that show attention to my audience and purpose

Core Competencies – Personal and Social:

  • I am aware of different aspects of myself. I can identity people, places, and things that are important to me
  • In familiar settings, I can interact with others and my surroundings respectfully

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