Please use this link to access the election padlet: https://padlet.com/laralou/5onul6k6zvkgwx3
Our final term of the 2021-22 school year was very productive. Students consolidated their learning in the curricular areas and participated in several place-based learning activities. They planted a vegetable garden in the spring and many weeks later, harvested a crop of tender greens for a salad day celebration. They also built an Indigenous species garden in our outdoor learning space which first involved moving a huge pile of soil and bark mulch. They started to learn about the importance of cultivating and protecting native plants in sustainable ways. This knowledge was deepened during our recent trip to Central Park where students had the opportunity to taste salmon berries and search for native plants.
In science, students worked collaboratively in small groups to research and create PowerPoints on a variety of body systems. In math, students continued working with fractions and decimals and studied the attributes of polygons and 3D geometric shapes.
In language arts this term, students read a selection of novels in small groups and shared their understanding using reading strategies such as connecting, questioning, visualizing, inferring and transforming. They also continued the process of making their writing clear and interesting by writing and sharing imagination stories.
In PE, students performed different stands and balances on the gymnastics equipment. They also learned the key skills of Ultimate frisbee, such as backhand, forehand and catching, as well as the importance of, “spirit of the game”. They monitored their screen time and identified strategies to make sure they were on screens for a maximum of two hours a day.
In French, they learned how to express what they liked and didn’t like (J’aime…Je n’aime pas...) and the amount (beaucoup de, un peu de...) using pizza topping vocabulary.
They attended Music for eighty minutes a week with Mrs Nordstrand, focusing on the elements of music – tempo and playing the guitar. Students experienced Music through discussion, videos, movement, listening, playing and
singing. Studying the Guitar students have learned to strum and play different chords. They had to learn to have the correct formation but also have the correct tension in order for the strings ring.
In art, Ms. Mudry continued teaching a variety of media (chalk and oil pastel and watercolour) and students created pieces based on things they could observe in nature.
Finally, students used their block programming skills from earlier in the year to program a small, robotic sphero. Working with a partner, they were able to design a plan involving a theme and multiple destinations and program their robot to travel independently, following the plan.
Even with all the ups and downs of the pandemic, this was a wonderful year, full of rich learning experiences and personal development. I wish you all a safe and joyful summer vacation.
This term, students learned about basic structures and functions of the human body. They learned about the skeletal system, studying the main functions, joints, blood cell production and main sets of bones. Students also created group PowerPoints about bone health and safety.
Who decides what is historically significant? Students attempted to answer this question by examining the historical experiences of Chinese Canadians. They were able to use primary sources from the Royal British Columbia Museum to build an understanding and use criteria to determine historical significance. This experience contributed to a growing understanding of how Canada’s policies and treatment of minority peoples has resulted in both negative and positive legacies.
Students read historical fiction this term. The novels, White Jade Tiger and Blood and Iron reveal some of the circumstances and historical injustices faced by Chinese immigrants in British Columbia. Students participated in weekly discussion groups where they would ask questions, make connections, highlight literary passages and discuss rich vocabulary. Their culminating assignment was to prepare a one-pager showing their understanding of the connection between the novels’ story and themes.
The focus this term was non-fiction writing. Students developed several pieces of writing with the purpose of persuading their audience to agree with their opinion. They made their writing clear and interesting by using transition words and a specific persuasive vocabulary. They included interesting examples to support each reason in their argument and finally, practiced writing different types of, “hooks” to capture their audience’s attention. Enjoy reading some of their work in the student blogfolios.
Students made art this term inspired by phenomina in the natural world . Ms. Mudry challenged them to use recycled cardboard, scissors and hot glue, to create unique, six-sided snowflakes.
After discovering the science behind the mysterious aurora borealis, students created their own templates and used chalk pastels to represent the streaks of colour in the night sky.
Les sports d’hiver – Winter Sports
After learning vocabulary for a variety of winter activities and Olympic sports, students learned how to use the verb faire to turn nouns into verbs. For example, the noun, le hockey will become the verb, faire du hockey. Students also learned how to express their favourite winter activities using the expression, J’aime faire du/de la …
Students have been learning block coding using a course developed by code.org. Each lesson involves using a specific coding practice to solve a challenge. After learning to debug code, they created loops to make coding easier and more efficient.
The students in Division 3 attend Music for eighty minutes a week with Mrs. Nordstrand. In Term 2 we focused on two Elements of Music – Rhythm and Dynamics. Students experienced these concepts through discussion, videos, listening and responding to music, games and playing instruments.
Students explored the following terms for Dynamics (the volume of the sound): pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, crescendo and decrescendo. For Rhythm we continued to build on past skills using sixteenth (tica tica) sixteenth and eighth (tica ti, ti tica) eighth (ti ti) quarter (ta), rest and half note (ta ah).