Category: ADST

Our Commitments to Truth and Reconciliation

To honor the memory of the children lost to the residential school system, students at Aubrey created an Origami Reconciliation Project inspired by the Japanese tradition of folding paper cranes. This artwork will serve as a symbol of our shared hopes for healing and reconciliation.

The mural’s background features black hearts, representing the profound truths and emotions we hold in remembrance of this painful history. At the center, a heart formed by orange ravens symbolizes hope and our commitment to building a better future. Each raven carries messages of healing and reconciliation, contributed by students from various divisions.

This mural stands as a powerful reminder of our dedication to truth, understanding, and justice. It calls upon our community to engage in meaningful dialogue and take action to support of ongoing reconciliation and healing.

We would also like to recognize the following students for their leadership efforts in assembling the final display: Rachel Mullin, Kaitlynn Leung, Sasha Sun, and Anna Wu.

Dear Parents,

We are thrilled to introduce an engaging cross-curricular project where our students will design and construct haunted houses in collaboration with our buddy class. This initiative will incorporate elements of writing, math, and art, allowing students to explore their creativity while enhancing their academic skills.

Materials Needed:
To participate, each student should bring a cube-style tissue box (Link to sample: https://www.staples.ca/products/971001-en-kleenex-professional-facial-tissue-cube-for-business-90-sheets) to school by Monday, October 21st. These boxes will be the base for their haunted houses. While students do not need to bring the tissues, they are welcome to contribute them if they wish!

Additionally, students are encouraged to bring in Halloween-themed decorations to embellish their houses. This is a wonderful chance for them to let their imaginations run wild!

Learning Outcomes:
– Writing: Students will adopt the role of “realtors” and craft persuasive paragraphs aimed at convincing potential buyers to invest in their haunted houses. Our focus will be on enriching their descriptions with advanced vocabulary, including triple scoop words, similes, and personification.
– Math: Students will engage in practical math skills by estimating the number of popsicle sticks required for their designs and calculating the area and perimeter of their house structures.
– Art: This project will also allow students to express their artistic flair through creative decoration choices and color schemes.

We are excited to see the creativity and effort that our students will put into this project! Thank you for your support in helping them gather the necessary materials.

Sincerely,

Crystal Smith
Classroom Teacher

In an effort to honor the memory of children lost to the residential school system, students at Aubrey will be participating in an Origami Reconciliation Project. This initiative will draw inspiration from the Japanese tradition of folding paper cranes to symbolize our collective hopes for healing and reconciliation.

The artwork will feature black hearts in the background, representing the profound truths and emotions we will carry regarding this painful history. Central to the piece will be orange ravens, shaped into a heart, symbolizing hope and our collective commitment to fostering a better future. Each raven will hold messages of hope for healing and reconciliation contributed by students from various divisions.

Once completed, this mural will be unveiled and displayed as a powerful reminder of our shared commitment to truth, understanding, and justice. It will serve as a call to action for our community to engage in ongoing dialogue and initiatives that support reconciliation and healing.

(The image above is our prototype. Photos are still to come of the completed project)

The Burnaby School District provides students with access to a variety of digital tools, which include technologies and information systems. These tools enhance learning and include: websites, programs to “chat” and message one another, discussion boards, video conferencing, email, secure virtual classrooms, and storage for your files.

Students – or in the case of younger children their parents or guardians – are asked to review and are expected to adhere to these guidelines.

Guidance about what to do and not to do

What to Do

• Do treat others fairly and with respect.
• Do use the devices owned by the Burnaby School District and the digital tools provided by the District for educational purposes.
• Do understand that you are responsible for your actions when using technology.
• Do keep your personal information private.
• Do respect the privacy of other students and adults.
• Do know there is never a 100% guarantee of privacy with any digital tool or platform, including: secure virtual classrooms, chats and messaging tools, discussion boards, video conferencing tools, email, file storage and public websites.
• Do report uncomfortable, unsafe, or inappropriate behaviour or messages to your teacher or principal.
• Do follow copyright laws.
• Do respect and acknowledge the ownership of others for their creative works.

What Not to Do

• Do not share your passwords.
• Do not use chat and messaging services provided by the District to connect with students and teachers outside of the online classroom environment.
• Do not falsify your identity or use someone else’s identity.
• Do not take pictures or videos of others and share them without their permission.
• Do not hurt or mistreat others by what you create or share.
• Do not harass, stalk, bully, threaten, insult, abuse, or attack others.
• Do not damage computer systems, networks, digital tools or content.
• Do not access secure information owned by others without their permission.
• Do not use information provided by others without their permission or use the work of others as your own.
• Do not use District or personally owned devices for commercial, illegal, or malicious purposes.
• Do not access and/or distribute pictures, video, audio or text containing inappropriate language or nudity.
• Do not meet with someone you met online without the consent of your parents or guardians.

GUIDELINES FOR VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS AND VIDEO CONFERENCING

Online classroom sessions include virtual classrooms, blogs, messaging, chats and video conferencing tools.

Etiquette

• Come prepared and be on time.
• Work in a room with no distractions. Turn off the TV, other computers, music or anything else that might distract you or your classmates.
• When you first enter the virtual meeting/classroom, please mute your mic and turn off your camera.
• If your teacher asks you to turn on your camera to participate in the discussion you may do so.
• Consider your background and any personal information you may be displaying like photographs or personal items.
• This is a school activity and you should be dressed appropriately.

Behaviour

• The same expectations present in the physical classroom are expected while video conferencing or participating in online classroom sessions.
• Questions and comments should be related to the class.
• Be a respectful listener while your teacher or another student is speaking.
• Do not be a distraction to others.
• Your teacher is the moderator and will guide participation in the activity.

Permission

• Do not use District online classroom sessions to initiate individual or group video conferences, chats or messages without yourteacher or permission from your parents or guardians.
• Do not record or capture any part of an online session. Your teacher may record a session or a lesson for future reference. Any recording will be done with student cameras off.

Finally … Be patient. Technology can be temperamental, so when glitches happen, take a breath and be understanding.

Students in Division 1, 2 and 3 at Aubrey Elementary have been learning about Ancient Civilizations and the use of soapstone. Soapstone is a soft metamorphic rock found over the globe that has been used through history by various groups to create art and tools.

Soapstone’s use dates back to antiquity: early Egyptians carved it into scarabs and seals; in China and India it was used for ornaments, implements and domestic utensils. It was similarly used at various times over the past 7,500 years by First Nations, Inuit and Norse in Canada to create qullic, and oil lamps.

Indigenous Artist Connect to Nature with Soapstone Carving

The Art of Soapstone Carving-A Tabeka Gem Documentary

Inuit Soapstone Carvings

This integrated unit involved:

ADST -prototyping, food safety, and making their pizza to show creativity, originality, and bold flavors.

Math-financial literacy (budgeting).

Health-Nutrition and menu/recipe planning and the exploration of healthy/unhealthy ingredients.

French-food vocabulary and how to order pizza in French.

Students really enjoyed planning for this activity and made some incredible pizzas. The whole school smelled amazing and the judges were left salivating over their final creations. Once the pizzas were judged, students got to enjoy their final creations. They all turned out great and there was very little if any remaining pizza. Well done Division 3!

Today students learned more about Diwali with their little buddies and created clay divas. Next week they will paint the divas once the clay air dries.

About Diwali:

https://youtu.be/LiVoXktqyIs?si=OgEuYndwNBNbFBr8

Recently in class students participated in a climate justice and climate change simulation.  In this simulation students learned about the consequences of climate change, the injustice, and effects of climate change often experienced by vulnerable populations around the world.
Students work in groups to build communities and attempt to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies while experiencing the impacts of climate change (droughts, tropical storms, rising sea levels, and other impacts of climate change).

Some of the takeaways were:

Climate change is affecting those who are often contributing the least. The people hit the hardest are those already living in poverty and at higher risk.

The simulation also highlighted the affects that climate change is going to have on people.

– Climate change is affecting our ability to grow food. Growing seasons are disrupted or shortened and storms, droughts, and floods all
affect harvest outcomes.

– Climate change is affecting where and how we live making people relocate and find new homes after generations of living in one area. It is also causing extreme storms, rising sea level, melting permafrost, etc.

-Climate change directly affects human health and safety and can lead to the spread of diseases (like malaria), heat waves, wild fires, air pollution.

This lesson is going to be one of many climate change lessons as we explore more sustainable ways of being and doing in our world in an attempt to protect the planet.

After Spring Break students will also be participating in Indigo’s Read for the Planet Program and as a classroom we will be exploring ways we can take action in our school and the broader community to combat climate change and keep our planet healthy for more years to come

Students are naturally curious about the world in which they live. They want to know more about their planet and are concerned with the challenges we face. Reading and learning together with your child is a safe and supportive way to develop awareness and ideas for ways to care for the planet. Reading about how to care for the planet can also help deepen connections to other people and the planet—connections critical for understanding the challenges and opportunities being faced in communities around our planet.

The attached resource was designed by the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in partnership with our curriculum partner, The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC2) as an extension of our school-based Read For The Planet learning modules. We know that schools are just one place students learn and that home is a critical space for expanding on and practicing what happens in the classroom. This guide provides parents and caregivers with book suggestions, worksheets, discussion prompts and a template for a home-based action project all to help you and your little changemaker to get inspired through reading and have fun while learning about the environment together.

http://This lesson will invite students to examine the qualities of people or actions intended to address climate change or other environmental issues. The focus will be on helping students explore and decide what actions they might take.

Lesson Retrieved From: http://www.mcic.ca/uploads/documents/Climate%20Justice-Final%20PDF%202022.pdf