Welcome back to school, I am excited to be your child's teacher this year. We have had a great first full week together as a class and have begun to learn more about each other and make new connections. I know this year is going to be full of learning. Art - We created art work based on the story "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. We read the book in connection with International Dot Day (September 15th). The book shares the story of a girl who begins a journey of self-discovery after a teacher challenges her to “make her mark.” This book is a great reminder of the importance of having a growth mindset. Social Studies - As a class we have been building connections, sharing ideas and thoughts during circle and created a "Guess Who?" poster to learn more about each other. Language Arts - This week we have been working on our spelling program. We worked together to create words containing the chunk "at", for example, hat, splat, caterpillar. Students choose their own 10 words, practiced them at school, completed activities at home and then paired up to test each other on Friday. Everyone did a great job!
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During Social Studies this term we have been learning about Indigenous shelters used in different parts of Canada. Students had to find out where they are used, who they are used by, how they are built and what natural resources (plants and animals) could be found in the same area. We started this project with a visit from an architect called Cory Douglas. Cory Douglas was born in Vancouver and is a Squamish Nation member with Haida and Tsimshian ancestry. After conducting research the students created displays to share that they had learned. They all did a fantastic job.
Last term we learned about landforms and bodies of water. We linked our science lessons and language arts lessons together so that we could learn how to research and write non-fiction reports. As a class we learned about canyons, mountains, islands, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and several other landforms and bodies of water. We created non-fiction reports and short videos to share what we had learned. This topic also inspired our art focus. We looked at Ted Harrison as an artist who was inspired by his surrounds to create beautiful landscapes. We used his images as inspiration to create digital art pieces using the iPads and an app called Sketchers. Our inquiry project into identity has continued to grow as we look into our inner identity. We created masks decorated with images, decorations and objects to show our likes, passions and hobbies. Everyone showed great creativity, innovation and critical thinking while designing and creating their masks. This term we have been learning about how wind, water and ice can change the world we live on. We have enjoyed investigating the effects of weathering, erosion and deposition. We explored wind erosion, water erosion and deposition through several hands on investigations. We also completed a STEM challenge where we had to try and protect a sand castle from water erosion. The class enjoyed designing and creating their own water protection ideas.
Last week we all enjoyed participating in the Jess Dance hip hop workshop. A huge thank you goes out to our school PAC for supporting this opportunity. It was great to see students demonstrating a growth mindset by being optimistic and persistent in working through some tricky dance sequences. The end performance is going to be fantastic. The final result will be posted on our school website once the video is edited.
As part of an inquiry project about identity and the blanket of self, students worked on a series of social studies infused art lessons based on self portraits. Our lessons focused on identity, observation skills, race and beauty. The initial lesson ideas came from the website “Teaching Tolerance” and it is part of a series of lessons focused on teaching about race and ethnicity.
These art lessons were part of an inquiry unit focused on self identity, connected to our Language Arts writing focus about ourselves, and also connected to our Social Studies unit on the impact of colonization (the loss of identity). The students did a wonderful job and showed great empathy, patience and resilience. As a class we have been learning about and writing "Walking Stories". A walking story is based on personal memories and experiences. It is all about a person, place, or thing that the writer knows alot about. The topics children can write about when it comes to walking stories are endless - their memory pockets are jam-packed with stories about themselves, their family, friends, a special place, a favourite toy. We never run out of memory-pocket topics! While focusing on our writing we have been looking at strategies that can help us improve our writing. These strategies are grouped under 5 headings; Voice, Organization, Ideas, Conventions and Expanding Word Choice. As a class we have been reviewing our own writing, looking at the strategies, in order to set our own writing goals.
During the last few weeks we have been conducting science experiments to expand our understanding about matter. We have been learning about the scientific process. Each experiment has started with a question, we make a hypothesis and record the materials we will use. We plan out the experiment in steps and record what happens. Finally we record our conclusion in order to answer our original question.
Experiment 2) Is it a solid or a liquid? Our second experiment was to help us understand how molecules perform in different states of matter. We mixed together cornstarch (a solid) and water (a liquid). With the correct amount of each we were able to create a substance that had the properties of both states of matter. When we squeezed the substance it acted like a solid, when we stopped squeezing it went back to a liquid. Experiment 3) How can mixing these ingredients change the state of matter? Our third experiment was to help us learn how temperature and energy can change the state of matter. We mixed milk, cream, sugar and vanilla extract together in a small bag. We mixed ice and salt in a big bag. We placed the small bag inside the big bag and shook it. The salt lowered the ice's freezing point, and this mixture lowered the temperature of the cream mixture. We all enjoyed making our own homemade ice cream. This week we have begun our learning journey about residential schools and "Truth and Reconciliation". Many students wore orange on September 30th in recognition of students who attended residential schools and the negative impact 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.
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February 2023
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