In looking forward to National Indigenous People’s Day tomorrow, we had our final online Indigenous learning lesson on Wednesday. It was a celebration of all of our learning from the year and we played a Kahoot game with many other schools from Burnaby. Four grade 1-3 classes got together in Ms Pilgrim’s room and we played the game together online. And we won! Our group knew the most answers about Indigenous Peoples in Canada. A big thank you to Ms Paulich who has also helped our students learn so much about Canada’s Indigenous Peoples. It was an exciting result for us all!
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.
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.
Ms Ballarin’s, Ms Pilgrim’s and Div. 16 all joined together to sprinkle almost 500 messages of kindness to the entire school population and the staff. We all brainstormed kind messages we could write to our Gilmore Community. After that, we each received 7 pink stickie notes, and wrote an encouraging message on each. We then were divided into three groups and we went to different classes in the school. We “sprinkled” these messages to every person by handing them one of our encouraging notes. The classes were so excited and the smiles were contagious. Ask your child how it felt to bring a smile to so many Gilmore students on Valentine’s day.
Over the past two weeks we have been learning about the black artist from the USA named Alma Woodsey Thomas. We read two books about her and watched a video that described how she designed her art. Most of her art was based on what she saw in nature. The students chose what they wanted to represent in their art and then chose the colours that did this. For instance, some of them wanted to represent the sea, while others wanted to represent flowers. Ask your child what they were trying to convey in their art. Also, ask them about the famous place that one of Alma Thomas’ art was displayed.
Big Idea: Inquiry through the arts creates opportunities for risk taking
First Peoples Principles of Learning:
Learning takes patience and time (very true for this art project, as it took great focus and time)
Curricular Competencies:
Explore elements, processes, materials, technologies, tools, and techniques of the arts
Develop processes and technical skills in a variety of art forms to refine artistic abilities
Content:
elements of design: line, shape, texture, colour, form
principles of design: pattern, repetition, rhythm, contrast
Core Competency: Creative Thinking
Creative growth requires patience, readiness to take risks, and willingness to try new approaches
Learning involved:
Students learned the significance of designing their art and then carefully colouring each shape to make their design
We were excited to present our afternoon and evening performances of our Winter Concert called A Party in the Pear Tree. The students worked hard to learn their group songs, the two songs we performed with Ms Sokugawa’s class and all the actions. They did a beautiful job up on the stage for their performances and were all so enthusiastic! We hope you were all able to enjoy the show! Well done Div. 16!
Our last day of school was our annual pancake breakfast and pj day! We were in the first group that went down and I didn’t think they expected us to eat so many pancakes! Many of the kids had three or four pancakes and they were a great hit. We were all so comfortable in our pj’s and this was an awesome way to end the school year. Thank you to the many parents who volunteered to help during the breakfast. We really appreciate you!
This is Division 16 in our sea of orange to recognize Orange Shirt Day. I’m also including some pictures of our bulletin board that show some of the work we have done on Truth and Reconciliation this week. We have read books about Orange Shirt Day and stories that focus on Indigenous teachings. I have attached videos of When We Were Alone by David Robertson (whom we met on a Zoom presentation), and Phyllis’s Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad that you can read and discuss with your child at home. I’ve also included a link to look up Phyllis’s new book called Every Child Matters. We had some very thoughtful and engaging discussions about these stories in: the Library, with Ms Papapanagiotou, Ms Ballarin’s Div. 15’s class and in our own classroom. We drew and wrote about what we learned and what we were wondering about. Please speak to your child about their thinking. We hope that you found some time on Saturday to reflect and remember that every child matters in our country.
Curricular Competencies:
Social Studies:
Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions
Recognize the causes and consequences of events, decisions, or developments
Make value judgments about events, decisions, or actions and suggest lessons that can be learned
Language Arts:
Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding
Plan and create a variety of communication forms for different purposes and audiences
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
When We Were Alone Read aloud:
Phyllis’s Orange Shirt Read Aloud:
Information about Phyllis Webstad’s new book: Every Child Matters
