Dear Division 3 families,
It has been a pleasure getting to know the students since the beginning of September. It's a very nice group of kids and we are having a lot of fun together! In this newsletter, I want to give you a quick update on what we have been working on so far, what we are currently doing, as well as what is coming in the next 2-3 weeks.
It has been a pleasure getting to know the students since the beginning of September. It's a very nice group of kids and we are having a lot of fun together! In this newsletter, I want to give you a quick update on what we have been working on so far, what we are currently doing, as well as what is coming in the next 2-3 weeks.
First Month Highlights
Art and Class Community: The first few weeks of school, we did some fun games and activities to get to know each other and worked on 3-D letter name tags and self-portraits.
Social Studies: With the federal elections, a lot of the learning was focused on Social Studies. We learned about government, democracy, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and about elections. We also spent a few days at the end of September to learn about residential schools and discuss Truth and Reconciliation. A local indigenous elder, Raymond Charlie, visited our school and told us stories of his time a the Penelakut Residential School.
English Literacy: For our English Novel Study, we read Ban this book, by Alan Watts. The book looked at the issue of book banning in schools in an engaging way for students. The last week of September is Banned Books Week, so students learned and reflected about the pros and cons of Book banning with a fun Escape Room activity and a short research project on a challenged book of their choice.
Social Studies: With the federal elections, a lot of the learning was focused on Social Studies. We learned about government, democracy, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and about elections. We also spent a few days at the end of September to learn about residential schools and discuss Truth and Reconciliation. A local indigenous elder, Raymond Charlie, visited our school and told us stories of his time a the Penelakut Residential School.
English Literacy: For our English Novel Study, we read Ban this book, by Alan Watts. The book looked at the issue of book banning in schools in an engaging way for students. The last week of September is Banned Books Week, so students learned and reflected about the pros and cons of Book banning with a fun Escape Room activity and a short research project on a challenged book of their choice.
Math: After assessing basic skills in a variety of topics and doing some math problems related to the federal elections, we began to work on basic operations with decimal numbers. Also, many students needed to improve their fluency for the basic multiplication and division facts (times tables) before moving on to multiplications and divisions with bigger numbers. We are practicing our multiplication facts (up to 12 X12) with dice games in class. I am also asking students who are still learning their times tables to please practice at home every day.
French: We are using a game called Verbathon to learn how to conjugate French verbs. For French vocabulary, we played word games with our Social Studies vocabulary words. A group of brave students also presented a fun Readers Theatre play of Le petit chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood). For French culture, we discovered the French singer-songwriter Soprano and practiced our own fitness choreography on his song Le Coach.
French: We are using a game called Verbathon to learn how to conjugate French verbs. For French vocabulary, we played word games with our Social Studies vocabulary words. A group of brave students also presented a fun Readers Theatre play of Le petit chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood). For French culture, we discovered the French singer-songwriter Soprano and practiced our own fitness choreography on his song Le Coach.
October
There is a lot happening in October! Currently, students are completing their Art Cards and working on a French writing project where they are imagining what it would be like to be stranded on a deserted island. Individually or in a small group, they have created maps of their imaginary islands and picked up to 5 items that they have on the island to help them survive in the wild. Using dictionaries (paper or online), they are researching the French vocabulary that they will need in order to talk about their island. Next week, each student will write a short piece about the story that they imagined.
We are also learning about gardening and nutrition. Last Friday, a group of students made a huge batch of kale chips while others harvested beans (for drying), onions and pumpkins from the school garden. This week, we processed a couple of pumpkins and learned about some essential nutrients that can be found in pumpkin seeds and flesh. We made roasted pumpkin seeds and we used our own homemade roasted pumpkin to try the following recipes of Pumpkin Chia pudding:
We are also learning about gardening and nutrition. Last Friday, a group of students made a huge batch of kale chips while others harvested beans (for drying), onions and pumpkins from the school garden. This week, we processed a couple of pumpkins and learned about some essential nutrients that can be found in pumpkin seeds and flesh. We made roasted pumpkin seeds and we used our own homemade roasted pumpkin to try the following recipes of Pumpkin Chia pudding:
- Pumpkin Pie Chia Pudding (with dairy)
- Pumpin Spice Latte Chia Pudding (with coconut milk).
Over the next few weeks, we will continue with a focus on the Health, PE and Food Studies (ADST-Applied Design, Skills and Technology) curriculum.
Also, the Grade 7 students will do the Foundational Skills Assessment (BC government standardized testing), which includes literacy and numeracy components. During this time, the Grade 6 students will do an English reading comprehension assessment (DART) and work on solving math word problems.
We are also looking forward to our Try-a-Trade workshop next week (Wednesday and Thursday) ! Please make note that next Friday October 22nd is a Pro-D and school won't be in session.
Also, the Grade 7 students will do the Foundational Skills Assessment (BC government standardized testing), which includes literacy and numeracy components. During this time, the Grade 6 students will do an English reading comprehension assessment (DART) and work on solving math word problems.
We are also looking forward to our Try-a-Trade workshop next week (Wednesday and Thursday) ! Please make note that next Friday October 22nd is a Pro-D and school won't be in session.
I wish you all a great weekend. Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time!
Sincerely,
Nathalie
Sincerely,
Nathalie
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