Div. 6 - Class Blog

It has been an eventful start to our year in Division 6. Here’s a small snapshot of what we’ve been exploring and learning so far this term.

In our writing we’ve been focusing on expanding our sentences using descriptive and figurative language. In reading we’ve started the novel, Song for a Whale written by Lynne Kelly. Students have been making predictions, connections and using text evidence to support their thinking.

This term in science we’re exploring the sun, moon and stars.

Students first explored the earth’s rotation and considered how fast the earth spins.

Next students discovered why our ancestors divided our day into hours and considered how they told time in the past. We made our own sun dials and we used flashlights to demonstrate how position of the light affects time shown on the clock.

We patiently waited for a sunny day to take our learning outside to test out if our sun dials actually worked. Students oriented their clocks to face North and checked the time with great success!

  

Div. 6 then learned about seasonal changes with the sun’s path and shadow length. Student’s played detective when looking at different photos finding clues to indicate what season they were taken in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally student’s explored the concept of the earth’s orbit when considering seasonal changes in constellations. We each made a Universe-in-a-box to visualize how each year the Earth completes an orbit around the sun and to explain why we can only see certain constellations depending on the time of year.

We will continue to learn more about the phases of the moon and effect on tides in the upcoming weeks culminating with our walking field trip to SFU. Students will have the opportunity to participate in an astronomy workshop and tour of the observatory.

Div.6 had a great time decorating our class for spooky season and enjoyed some fun Halloween games.  We were so fortunate to have a classmate share a presentation about Diwali and learn more about the Festival of Lights. Additionally we spent some time learning about Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos).

Div. 6 students also showed their creativity with self-portraits expressing their identities.

This week as we observe, learn and reflect on Indigenous Veteran’s Day and Remembrance Day, Div.6 students have shown great leadership in our school community by leading the collection of poppy donations from the other classes at UHE.

In the next few weeks students will be diving deeper into their first inquiry of the year, starting their Historical Inquiry Project (HIP).

We are excited to continue to share our learning with you all!

 

 

Hi Families and Students of Div.6

I am so excited to be a part of your learning journey this year! From time to time you’ll be able to find some updates about our learning or other important information on this blog.

Looking forward to our year together!

<3 Ms. Yee

Hello Students and Families of Div. 4!

I am so excited to welcome you all to Division 4 this year!

This week we focused on setting our expectations and building our classroom community. We worked in small groups to finish puzzles, highlighting how we collaborate and work with others.

Students helped create expectations for our classroom, sharing wonderful ideas how to make our class feel safe, supportive, and fun.

We read “The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors” and had some epic and energetic RPS battles. We reminded ourselves to quickly move on when we experience a loss and to continue to cheer and support our classmates.

Please check back frequently to see snapshots of our learning and important information or reminders.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and restful weekend!

<3 Ms. Yee

 

Term 2 has flown by in Division 4. We worked hard on developing our research skills in our Animal Inquiry Project. Students picked a local BC animal to discover more about. We practiced our skills of reading for information, summarizing and putting information in our own words. We then took our notes and are creating PowerPoint presentations all about our animals. In this project we centralized our learning around the animal’s senses, adaptations, needs and habitat and stewardship. Students then presented either their AIP or Passion Projects to their peers. We practiced giving compliments and constructive feedback!

We wrapped up reading Whale Child and thought about the important lessons we can pull from this story. Students picked a lesson from the novel and creatively represented it in posters, sculptures and infographics. We had a blast thinking about how we can best represent our learning while being environmentally conscious and creative. Check out our displays!

We got outside with Pablo and did some gardening and hung some of our pollinator shelters around the school.

This last week we talked about activities that support our physical and mental health. We discussed different strategies we can do to make ourselves feel good! Those ideas went into a Spring Break Bingo focused on activities that support both. Div. 4 make sure you share it with your family and try to complete some challenges!

I hope you all have a restful and lovely Spring Break!!

<3 Ms. Yee

Dear students and families of Div. 4,

What an exciting first term we have had in Div. 4!! Throughout the term we explored, inquired and persevered through many challenges!

Portfolios and Blogfolios

Divisions 4 and 5 have chosen to use Portfolios and Blogfolios as a means of communicating student learning with our families this term. On Monday, Dec. 13, your child brought home their Portfolio binder. Within this binder and on their blogfolio posts, you will find a variety of examples of reflections, assignments, and assessments. These examples provide a snapshot of your child’s learning at this particular time. Our hope is that you will take time to look through your child’s blogfolio and portfolio binder with them to discuss key learning moments from the term.

At the front of their portfolio binders, you will see a note from me with suggestions for things to consider when you are looking through the binder with your child as well as an invitation for you to write some feedback for your child to read afterwards.

Furthermore, you will also find a student self-assessment and term one reflection. Please note that you will receive your first formal report card in February. We look forward to hearing your thoughts about your child’s progress! Thank you for your continued support along your child’s learning journey!

Our Last Week in December

This week we got crafty and sticky as we utilized yarn and glue to make a winter craft. We made a mess, but we had a blast!!

On Tuesday, we had SNOW much fun playing outside!

Lastly I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for the incredibly sweet and thoughtful words, notes and gifts. I am very grateful to be a part of your families’ learning journey this year and this incredible UHE community!!

Wishing you all a winter break filled of relaxation and joy!!!

<3 Ms. Yee

 

 

Div.4 and Div.5 have been working continuously on their pollinator shelter learning. After building with Alex Mckillop, we are now presenting our pollinator shelters to our peers. We’ve been focusing on our oral language skills by paying attention to our volume, pacing, expression in our voice and including gestures to engage our audience. Our presenters have done a marvelous job of communicating their learning with Div.4 and Div.5, presenting to both classes! Audience members have been practicing their respectful listening and giving purposeful and constructive feedback. Check the bottom of this post to see some of our building pictures!

Our Book Club reading for this term has wrapped up and we are now focusing on the elements of a story and creating our own graphic novels. We’ve been viewing Pixar shorts focusing on the exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. On Monday we viewed For the Birds, and really enjoyed the falling action and resolution. Div.4 and Div.5 had the giggles today when looking at the plot of Lifted, what a conflict!!

Next week we’ll be bringing some of our learning home to share with our families. Learning will be shared in their binder portfolios and on their Blogfolios online.

Many families have had some trouble logging into their accounts. If your password is currently not working please try the following steps to reset.

• Click the teal “Log in” link on the right of this post
• Put in your email address and the password “parent2000”
• Press the blue “Log in” button
• Then click “Lost your password?”
• Enter your email address once again and click “Get New Password”
• You should then receive an email, letting you reset your password.

Families if you are unable to reset please email me at christine.yee@burnabyschools.ca and alternatively have your child log in to their account to view their reflections on their learning.  Logins can be found in their planners.

 

 

Hello Division 4 & Families

We’ve had a busy few weeks in Div.4 jam packed with learning.

We’ve been continuing in our research into pollinators. Students looked up specific shelters and their dimensions for their chosen pollinator. We’re so excited to start our building process with the support of Alex McKillop today and Friday. You can check out the links below to see some our research. Div.4, make sure you share your blog post about our inquiry process with your family!

• Birds
• Bats
• Bugs

As a class we’ve been reading a special book called Whale Child, written by Keith Egawa and Chenoa Egawa. It’s a story about the importance of caring for our world and the impact we’re having on our oceans and lands. In collaboration with Div. 5 we’re in the process of creating a bulletin board inspired by Whale Child and highlighting the importance of being green! Check out the beginnings of our board.

In Book Club we’ve been continuing reading our graphic novels. We’ve focused on ensuring that we’re using specific text evidence to support our thinking. In meetings we have been focusing on active listening to our group members and responding thoughtfully.

In writing we’re focusing on paragraphs. First we brainstormed all the elements we could think of that make a paragraph. Next we talked about our writing process, remembering the importance of brainstorming ideas and organizing our thoughts before we begin to write. After we finished our first draft we discussed how we edit our paragraphs and what tools we can use. Students then used their editing checklist to peer edit someone else’s writing. After receiving feedback, students are beginning to type up their good copies.

Yesterday we had the lovely Ms. Dodd in with us. We listened to a story about Thunderbird and coloured thunderbird poppies. The Thunderbird Poppy was created by Stuart Pagaduan, a Coast Salish artist from the Cowichan Nation to commemorate the contributions and service of over 12,000 indigenous soldiers, peacekeepers and veterans. We focused on using bold colours with some students choosing to play with warm or cool tones.

Things went by quickly with two early dismissals and a Pro D Day. Thank you Div. 4 families for joining me at the Parents as Partners Conferences this week! It was wonderful connecting with so many of you and discussing your child’s goals!

Div. 4 & 5 are very excited to start Book Club this term! We began with reading picture books focused around growth and activism in small groups. Students used their Say Something organizer to make predictions, connections, inferences and share their feelings or wonders about what they read. Once prepared, students then shared their thoughts around the text with their group members and focused on building on each other’s ideas.

         

We have extended our inquiry, thinking about who lives here on the mountain and why they are important to our community.  What would happen if they didn’t live here?  How are we interconnected, and what actions can we take to support pollinator populations that live here? Over the next few weeks, we will be continuing our research and using it to design and construct pollinator shelters.

Div.4 started their Blogfolios as a way to reflect and share their learning. Families, be on the lookout for a notice next week explaining how you can log in and see some of your child’s learning!

We finished our week by creating Halloween art! We look forward to wearing our costumes next Friday for the Halloween celebration.

 

 

 

 

Hello Division 4 students and families!

Welcome to our class blog! Throughout the year we’ll use this space to communicate and share our learning and any other important details.

Div. 4 started our year thinking about what words we wanted to guide us. We hope these words will remind and inspire us to be our best selves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve started our first Inquiry of the year focusing on place, needs and stewardship. Students in Div. 4 and Div.5 explored the forest and drew pictures of artifacts found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We thought about our individual needs as humans, plants and animals, needs that we have in common, and our interconnected relationships. Next Div.4 & Div. 5 continued in the Aspen forest making mindful observations using our sense of touch, smell, sight and hearing. We also observed how different needs were being met in the environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After reading What Matters we brainstormed different ways we could make a difference as stewards in our community. We’ll continue exploring how we can make an impact in our community and thinking about how we can help our local wildlife meet their needs.