Groundhog Day…the what and why?

Early or Late Spring?

Thousands of years ago when animalism and nature worship were prevalent, people in the part of Europe where Germany is today, believed that the badger had the power to predict the coming of spring. They watched the badger to know when to plant their crops.
This tradition was brought over to North America, predominantly to Pennsylvania in the United States, where it was the groundhog, not the badger, which made these “predictions”.
According to folklore, if the groundhog sees its shadow on February 2 it will return to its burrow, indicating that there will be six more weeks of winter. If it does not see its shadow, then spring is on the way.
The Groundhog Day concept first became popular in Canada in 1956 when Wiarton Willie became a household name for his early February weather predictions. Wiarton’s Groundhog Day festival grew as Willie’s fame increased. It became one of the largest winter festivals in Bruce County, Canada.
There are also other groundhogs in different parts of Canada. For example, Shubenacadie Sam is reportedly the first groundhog in the country to stick its head out on Groundhog Day. Other groundhogs include: Gary the Groundhog in Ontario, Brandon Bob in Manitoba and Balzac Billy in Alberta.

Kennedy, Ava and I will be watching what Shubenacadie Sam does in Halifax and we’re both hoping he doesn’t see his shadow and spring is on its way! We need some sun and warmer weather!

What do you think will happen?! Let me know in the comment section!

Groundhog Day!

Groundhog Day

FREE Hockey Tickets for Saturday night!

Hello Division 9 families! Nelson classes been given 6 tickets each to Saturday nights SFU hockey game. It is the Simon Fraser University Red Leafs versus the University of Victoria Vikes. It is at 7 PM at Bill Copeland Sports Centre in Burnaby.
Please send me a quick email at stephanie.watt@burnabyschools.ca with a “Yes!” and how many of the 6 you would be able to use. Depending on the results, I will give the tickets to 1 or 2 families and will let you know by noon on Thursday.
Thanks so much and good luck!
Ms Watt

Kylie is a STAR!

Click on the photo to learn more about our friend, Kylie!

THINK MATH ~ 13

Thank you to all the students who created questions to our Think Math answer this week:
The answer is 30 Chinese New Year dragons in all. chinese-dragon-source_qdj%20(1)
29 Chinese New Year dragons. 1 of them came but left for no reason but came back. How many now? ~ Adam
4 Chinese New Year dragons. 26 came out of the temple. How many in all? ~ Ben
29 Chinese New Year Dragons were outside talking about the Chinese New Year festival. 1 joined. How many now? ~ Charlie
5 dragons dancing on Nelson Avenue. 2 dragons went to go get a break. 5 dragons wanted to try. So they did. 10 dancing Masters were interested so they joined. 3 people fell down and got embarrassed so they ran away. 15 dragons dancing now. 8 dragons were forced to dance with them. 2 dragons ended their break. 7 joined for two minutes. Someone left. Two minutes is over. They left. 6 people got interested and joined. How many dragons dancing now? ~ Aurora & Crystal
90 Chinese New Year dragons. 60 got broken. Then 10 got broken but 10 kids helped to fix dragons. How many now ? ~ Ryan & Taiden
40 Chinese New Year dragons in Chinese New Year, but 10 are away. How many left? ~ Janelle & Faith
20 Chinese New Year dragons on Chinese New Year. 4 more dragons were built and then 4 more after. 2 more were built. How many in all? ~ Gunesh
40 Chinese new year dragons. 10 went away. How many now? ~ Briana & Andia
100 Chinese new year dragons. 2 got tired of flying. Then 6 got hit on the head. Then 2 dragons took 6 dragons to the hospital. 10 dragons went to Canada then 6 dragons went to Chinese school. 10 dragons went to the hot beach then 14 fell down. 14 dragons went to the pool. How many are left? ~ Justine & Genevique
35 Chinese new year dragons but five of them were hurt. How many left? ~ Kylie
40 dragons were playing. 2 farted and got embarrassed. 4 passed away. 4 got tired. How many left? ~ Bradley

IMG_5659Here’s this week’s answer! Good Luck Grade 3s! Remember there are as many different correct answers as there are students in our class! I can’t wait to share the answers next Monday!
groundhog-284

Literacy Week Events 2025

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Chinese New Year

Lunar New Year

Elijah is a STAR!

Click on the photo to learn more about our friend, Elijah!

THINK MATH ~ 13

Thank you to all the students who created questions to our Think Math answer this week:
The answer is 15 more cupcakes. 7007569
25 cupcakes. 5 got eaten. 4 got stolen. 1 got smashed into the wall. How many left? ~ Samyar
20 cupcakes on a plate. 3 got eaten by a monster and 2 more got eaten by a person. How many left? ~ Briana & Andia
20 cupcakes are on the table. When my family comes, 5 get eaten. How many left? ~ Janelle
5 cupcakes were on a plate. A kid took 1. After the mom placed 6 more on the plate. The mom put 5 more cupcakes on the plate again. How many in all? ~ Gunesh & Kylie
Sana baked 20 cupcakes. Faith gobbled 4 cupcakes. Then a mouse stole 1. How many left? ~ Faith & Sana
16 cupcakes were on a tray. 1 was eaten by a monster. How many left? ~ Charlie
30 cupcakes. 15 got eaten then 5 fell then 5 were baked. 3 farted and got embarrassed. 3 came back. How many cupcakes? ~ Taiden & Ryan
25 cupcakes. 5 got eaten. 10 overflowed. 5 got baked. How many? ~ Bradley
100 cupcakes in the store. Then the commander cupcake came in and ate 25 cupcakes. Then Dog Man ran into the store and wobbled the shelf and 60 cupcakes fell onto the floor. How many left? ~ Ben
Ms. Watt’s class has 15 cupcakes but Ms. Tsumori’s class has 30. How many more cupcakes does Ms. Tsumori’s class have? ~ Ms. Watt
Kennedy ate 1 cupcake but her dad ate 16. How many more did Kennedy’s dad eat? ~ Ms. Watt

IMG_5840Here’s this week’s answer! Good Luck Grade 3s! Remember there are as many different correct answers as there are students in our class! I can’t wait to share the answers next Monday!
chinese-dragon-source_qdj%20(1)

Justine is a STAR!

Click on the photo to learn more about our friend, Justine!