Category: Language Arts

This past week, our students took on the challenge of designing more sustainable and inclusive communities. Using their knowledge of sustainability, accessibility, and urban planning, they created prototypes that reflect both environmental responsibility and the values of their user personas.

Through hands-on model-building, students explored solutions for:

Sustainable Housing: Energy-efficient homes using renewable materials and smart design.

Accessible Pathways: Safe, well-connected routes for people of all abilities.

Recreation Facilities: Green spaces that promote health, well-being, and biodiversity and energy efficient swimming pools.

Transit & EV Charging: Infrastructure that supports low-carbon transportation.

Retail & Food Systems: Locally sourced goods, food waste reduction initiatives, and integrated community food bank programs to ensure food security while minimizing environmental impact.

Community Spaces & Stewardship: Multi-use areas that reduce waste and promote circular economies, including makerspaces where residents can repair, repurpose, and sell upcycled products. These spaces also foster community engagement, allowing people to track and celebrate progress toward environmental goals.

Each project was guided by a unique user persona, encouraging students to think deeply about how design choices impact real people’s lives. Their creativity and problem-solving skills were on full display as they built models that prioritize environmental sustainability, inclusivity, and community needs.

Check out the incredible student work below!

Through this process, students gained hands-on experience in sustainable design thinking which is an important step in shaping the cities of tomorrow. What features would you love to see in a more sustainable and inclusive community? Let us know in the comments!

In our latest buddy session Rachel, Sasha, Cyrus, and Joe read-aloud, the inspiring book “I Have a Right to Save My Planet.” This engaging story empowered everyone to recognize their role in protecting the environment and highlighted the importance of sustainability, conservation, and community action.

Following the read-aloud, we transitioned into a fun Scrabble word play activity, where students formed words related to the themes of the book, such as “earth,” “reuse,” “green,” and “future.” This not only reinforced the vocabulary but also sparked lively discussions about environmental responsibility and how we can all contribute to a healthier planet.

This read-aloud and word play encouraged students to think critically about their impact on the world and inspired them to take action. Together, we are planting the seeds for a more sustainable future, one word and one action at a time!

Students had so much fun prototype narratives on Friday afternoon during our Serious Lego Play Workshop.

Poems will be uploaded to your child’s Spaces Account later this week for viewing.

This past week we have been learning about figurative language and poetic devices.  If you would like to have a closer look all poetry has been uploaded to our Spaces accounts.

Today for World Read Aloud Day we had a special presentation of It’s Tough to be Tiny by Author Kim Ryall Woolcock.

During our Zoom call with Ms. Woolcock she shared her book with us, which is all about the superpowers of some of the smallest creatures living on planet Earth. We were all surprised that sometimes authors need to do 10-20 edits before their work is published.  It’s not a short process and in some cases it can take a few years from the time you start writing to get your work published. She reminded students that writing is often a messy process at the start and it takes time and patience to create something great. These are all great tips that will help us as we begin our own narratives in the coming weeks.

Students have been learning about the mining process and about different types of mines.  Their work and models of open pit, placer, strip and underground mines along with their oversized visuals outlining the mining process and resources we mine for in Canada will be on display this week at the Vancouver Convention Centre for AME Roundup which is the premier gathering place for thousands of geoscientists, prospectors, financiers, investors, suppliers, governments and Indigenous partners to engage, share knowledge, and look at opportunities and challenges shaping the mining industry.

After reading “The Great Realization” by Tomos Robert the students create a similar poem on their own global issue. They worked in pairs to create a 6 stanza poem with A, A, B, B or A, B, A, B rhyming scheme.

Below are the poems they created.
Student Poems

Link to Read-Aloud: https://youtu.be/Nw5KQMXDiM4

Today, in class Ms. Knowlan our student teacher taught a lesson based on the book The Great Realization written by Tomos Roberts. The book is about the pandemic, times of crisis, and the many  global issues we are facing today. It also highlights how the pandemic has helped us open our eyes to some of  these global issues during the global pandemic.

A few questions we discussed as a class were:

What do you think the meaning of this poem is?

What are some things that resonated with you?

In the video how does the relationship between Roberts and his siblings influence his message, choice of words, delivery and impact?

Does Tomos Robert paint a positive or negative picture?

Do the illustrations from the book change your perception or understanding?

Why do you think the author chose the title “The Great Realization”?

What are some key issues he identifies?

How does he portray the world after lockdown?

What does he mean by “hindsight’s 2020”?

For the next lesson we will be partnered up and asked to write and illustrate our own poems on global issues affecting us today (poverty, pollution, climate change, inequality, technology consumption, war, natural disasters, over population, corruption, etc.).

Blogpost written by: A.W.

The Grinch was “Up to Snow Good” and arrested by Aubrey PD this week.  Check your child’s Blogfolio for their Breaking News reports.