Dear Division 2 families,
I hope you are all doing well. Below are a few highlights from this week.
But first, here are few reminders for next week:
I hope you are all doing well. Below are a few highlights from this week.
But first, here are few reminders for next week:
- Please see the schedule and details below regarding cooking a healthy meal at school.
- The Virtual BookFair is starting next Monday, November 9th (see flyers in agenda).
- Photo Retakes are next Tuesday, November 10.
- Art cards samples came home this week (if your child was able to submit their art card). This is an important fundraiser for our school. If you are interested in ordering art cards, the deadline is Monday November 16th.
- Next Wednesday, November 11, is Remembrance Day and school is not in session.
Verbathon Competition
Today, we had our first Verbathon competition. This activity is a fun and motivating way to practice French grammar, mainly verb conjugation. Students worked as a team to sort verbs in the chart according to the right conjugation, as fast as possible. I can see that some students need a bit more practice, so we will keep these verbs next week and only add one new verb. |
Class Elections
Following the provincial and US elections, students have been eager to form their own class government. They have opted to elect a president and vice-president and have formed political parties, discussed their platforms, and created posters to advertise their party. We will proceed with the vote next week.
Math
We have been working on fractions and percentages for a couple of weeks. I have given students the option to take a fraction package home (in English) for extra practice. If students were behind, I have asked them to take home their math duo-tang to catch-up over the weekend. We will wrap up with fractions next week (test coming up soon).
Students can practice on Prodigy over the weekend (it will ask them questions about equivalent fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers). Khan Academy is also a good option for practicing the concepts that we have been working on in class. The following unit on Adding and Subtracting fractions uses similar skills and includes tutorial videos that can be helpful if a student forgot how to do this.
Students can practice on Prodigy over the weekend (it will ask them questions about equivalent fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers). Khan Academy is also a good option for practicing the concepts that we have been working on in class. The following unit on Adding and Subtracting fractions uses similar skills and includes tutorial videos that can be helpful if a student forgot how to do this.
Health, Food Studies and Science
We are continuing to learn about nutrition and food. This week, we learned to use the Nutrition Facts label on packaged ingredients. We studied ingredient lists, learning various names that indicate the presence of sugar and sodium. We also looked at the Canadian Food Guide and learned how to create a healthy meal that contains a variety of nutrients. In parallel, we are looking at the carbon cycle and at how food production practices can either contribute to carbon emissions (plowing/tilling, animal feed lots) or carbon sequestration (regenerative agriculture practices).
Healthy Meal Project
To put our learning into practice, students have formed groups to plan and prepare a healthy meal, integrating fresh local produce from the school garden. Some of the ingredients that were produced at school include: parsnips, carrots, beets, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, onions, garlic, celery, fresh herbs, black beans, navy beans, kidney beans, kale and lettuce.
Meals need to have an emphasis on fresh/whole ingredients and include a good source of protein and healthy fats, as well as a variety of fruits and vegetables. They also need to limit the amount of sugar, trans fat and processed ingredients.
Geneviève, our educational assistant, will assist each team for an afternoon of food preparation over the next couple of weeks. Geneviève is also a trained chef and co-owner of a local company producing fresh pasta. She has offered to share with us some of her specialized kitchen equipment and expert cooking tips. She will also supply free local pasta from her company for students to use in their recipes if desired. Thank you Geneviève!
Meals need to have an emphasis on fresh/whole ingredients and include a good source of protein and healthy fats, as well as a variety of fruits and vegetables. They also need to limit the amount of sugar, trans fat and processed ingredients.
Geneviève, our educational assistant, will assist each team for an afternoon of food preparation over the next couple of weeks. Geneviève is also a trained chef and co-owner of a local company producing fresh pasta. She has offered to share with us some of her specialized kitchen equipment and expert cooking tips. She will also supply free local pasta from her company for students to use in their recipes if desired. Thank you Geneviève!
Schedule
Students have been provided with a wide list of ingredients that will be available for them to use for this activity. If they are choosing to add other ingredients, they will be responsible for bringing them to school. In order to avoid forgetting ingredients at home, I encourage them to bring all necessary ingredients ON THE PREVIOUS DAY if possible. We can use space in the refrigerator for perishable items. Here is the schedule that we agreed on:
Tuesday Nov. 10 Liam Cambria Lyla Blake *gluten-free | Wednesday Nov.11 Remembrance Day | Thursday Nov. 12 Max Tyeson Alec Tommy | Friday Nov.13 Fergal Haven Rodrigo Thom Ryder Ethan |
Monday Nov.16 Penny Monica | Tuesday Nov.17 Katie Brooklyn Abi Holleigh | Wednesday Nov.18 Sophia Sloane Evelyn Grace *gluten-free, vegetarian | Thursday Nov.19 Owen Garin Matthew *dairy free |
Health and Safety considerations
For this activity, students will learn to follow basic food-safe practices. Also, the following COVID-19 recommendations regarding Food Studies classes will be respected, including:
Regarding allergies, students are taking into consideration the food sensitivities and allergies within their group while planning their meal. Each group will prepare their meal on a different afternoon and everything will be cleaned to avoid cross-contamination between groups.
If you have any concern about your child participating in this activity or if you have suggestions to help ensure that your child's specific needs are taken into account, please contact me.
- Hand washing and sanitization of surfaces and tools/equipment will be emphasized;
- Students will wear masks while handling food as extra precaution;
- Students in each group will have a chance to eat the meal that they have prepared, but it will not be shared with other students.
Regarding allergies, students are taking into consideration the food sensitivities and allergies within their group while planning their meal. Each group will prepare their meal on a different afternoon and everything will be cleaned to avoid cross-contamination between groups.
If you have any concern about your child participating in this activity or if you have suggestions to help ensure that your child's specific needs are taken into account, please contact me.