This term we have started a science unit learning about plants. Through a variety of investigations we will learning about germination, plant needs and how to be a scientific observer. We started our learning using our senses to investigate leaves found around our school. It was a lovey way to take our learning outside.
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On the last day before Spring Break we headed to Cottonwood Park. There we meet up with Rhonda from the Squamish River and Watershed Society and some other wonderful people from the fish hatchery. We did some investigations with the stream and worked together to release some salmon fry. We hope that some of them make their way back here when they are older,
During Language Arts we worked on the skill of visualizing - the ability to make pictures in your mind when you read and the ability to create pictures in the mind of a reader through your word choice. We created pieces of writing about the weather using the skill of personification. We also created beautiful art pieces of the view from an eye.
Returning to school after Winter break gave us an opportunity to think about goal setting. We started a new year thinking about what we have achieved and what we would like to learn and work on. Students merged Art and Career Education to create goal setting posters to share their ideas.
I'm so glad that we are now all back together after the school start was delayed for the first week. Everyone worked hard this week to manage the snow and ice on the school grounds. Before we finished for winter break we had great fun building and decorating our own gingerbread (Graham cracker) houses. Students worked with perseverance and creativity to create wonderful creations. I hope they enjoyed eating them once they got home. This year is almost over and soon it will be 2022. We have already accomplished so much, learned many new things and had lots of fun together. In science we have been learning about biomes. We researched information, learned about paragraph writing and created our own books using "Book Creator" on the I-pad. The books are amazing and hanging in the hall for other students to read. In art we have been working with markers and water to create a water colour effect. We created amazing winter tree art. Using the tree art we made cards for adults in the community that may enjoy some words of cheer at this time of year.
Last week we focused on our learning and understanding about Remembrance Day. Mr. Grantham's class created an amazing movie for us to watch. It contained information, poetry, dance and a virtual ceremony. The main theme of the performance was "Home" and we were asked to think about what home means to us. In class we created a piece of work that combined our learning in Social Studies, Language Arts and Fine Arts. We created pieces of art work that were surrounded with a letter of thanks to the people who have and do serve to protect our country.
As a class we have been working on creating a "walking story". A walking story is a personal recount based on the writer's own personal experiences, memories, and feelings. To create walking stories we use the memory pocket in our brains. The class created writing that was inspired by "The Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald. They chose different parts of their bodies and described why they believe that is the best part of them. We focused on choosing interesting words, the correct use of punctuation, and capitalization. This year our buddy class is Mrs. Stroh's grade 1 and 2 class. Our focus is trees and we have been enjoying visiting the Fall Fair grounds but with the weather changing this week we enjoyed creating art with our little buddies. Our class led the way and were great teachers and leaders to their little buddies. The students used wax crayons to create fall trees. They understood the use of warm and cold colours in art.
This month we have spent time connecting with each and also with our little buddies. We are working with Mrs. Stroh's grade 1/2 class. We have connected twice and enjoyed spending time at the Brackendale Fall Fair grounds. Each buddy pair has chosen a tree and this week they chose a name for it. It was great to be out in the fresh air connecting with the land. We have continued our learning journey about residential schools and "Truth and Reconciliation". We read a book called "The Train" which told us the story of Ashley and her uncle. The uncle describes the many things that he lost when he went to residential school. Many students wore orange on September 29th in recognition of the negative impacts of residential schools on Indigenous families and communities. We created our own orange shirts with messages connected to our learning. I was very impressed with students' thoughtfulness around this topic and the empathy they all displayed. This week we discussed classroom expectations and decided what we wanted to "bee" this year as a class. We looked at positive behaviour choices that we want to make. The students thought carefully about what good citizens should be.
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February 2023
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