Week #24: Feb. 26th - Mar. 1st

Dear Families, 

This week, we experienced two inclement weather days in a row, wowza!  For me, Thursday's 'snow day' was quite treacherous getting to school, but I am delighted those that were in attendance got here safely and securely (I did too ;).

I hope your child was able to successfully access Google Classroom and work through posted tasks :)  Please note, the work directly relates to what we're doing in class and helps reinforce learned concepts.

Students who engage in asynchronous learning (working from home on school work) are demonstrating valuable learning skills such as responsibility, independent work, and initiative for their education beyond the classroom which is oh so appreciated!  

Please know, your child's hard work does not go unnoticed and contributes greatly towards his or her learning skills and work habits achievement which is located at the front page of the report card.  

As always, I am proud of my students efforts they put into their academics in and out of the classroom.  Keep it up boys and girls!

PINK SHIRT DAY:

Anti-Bullying Day is a day when people wear mainly a pink shirt to symbolize a stand against bullying, an idea that was originated in Canada.  It is celebrated on the last Wednesday of February in Canada.

Wednesday was #PinkShirtDay!  Staff & Students wore pink to show that together, we can encourage kindness, compassion, and spread positivity.

Earlier this week, were you able to discuss with your child why pink shirt day began?  If not, no worries, now's a great opportunity to do so as we discussed this thoroughly in class :)  

Here's a video below about The Story of Pink Shirt Day for you to watch together.

As many know, this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart.  As your child's teacher, I am doing my best at reinforcing the importance of creating, building upon, and maintaining happy hearts in and out of our classroom. 

Ask your child:  What kind things can you do to make the world a better place?

Our Community of Learners Agreements (which are posted at the front of the class) help guide us every day - Attentive Listening, Mutual Respect, NO PUT DOWNS, Right to Participate, Right to Pass.

We regularly refer to these agreements as a reminder for us all to treat our peers, friends, and family with kindness, dignity, and respect.  I feel this will help in creating a happy, safe, and caring world.

I believe in all my students and their abilities to reach out to do their part in making a positive difference for our today and tomorrows ... together we can help put an END TO BULLYING!

For each student, I provided The Pledge to End Bullying!

We talked about the importance of when we sign a contract, we are making A PROMISE to NOT break it.  

BY SIGNING THIS PLEDGE YOUR CHILD AGREES TO: 

• Treat others respectfully
• Try to include those who are left out
• Refuse to bully others
• Refuse to watch, laugh or join in when someone is being bullied  
• Tell an adult and ask for help
• Help others who are being bullied

I believe in ALL MY STUDENTS and have every confidence they will do their part in helping PUT AN END TO BULLYING (and/or unkind behaviour) when ever and where ever they see it!  

The kids do very well in class with me creating a culture and climate in our portable that is bully free, safe, welcoming, and loving :)

SUPPORTING THE CHILDREN:

The time's students need to be even more mindful of their OWN BEHAVIOURS especially when I'm not closely monitoring or present is at second lunch, the yard, bathrooms, changerooms, transitions in the hallways, and the bus. 

Unfortunately, there have been instances where student names have been brought to my attention due to rough play and/or unkind behaviour :(  

As an educator, I strongly believe in the power of providing my students with time, space, and energy to heal their behaviour(s) from a negative to a positive.  

I promise to continue to do my part in explicitly modelling, mentoring, and guiding my students to make the right choices and to BE KIND ALL THE TIME.   

Please reinforce the importance of INTEGRITY (We Can Always Be Trusted) with your child at home, it will be helpful.  Thank youuuu!  #wegotthis  

WRITING TASK:  ANTI-BULLYING ACTIVITY #1

Not only did we sign our very own Anti-Bully Pledges, we did another meaningful activity to help us be the best we can be to gain greater insight into finding ways to STAND UP and SUPPORT others who may be hurt or hurting mentally, emotionally, and/or physically.

Students worked in groups to come up with their own scenarios/behaviours that they have either experienced personally or seen at school.  We then wrote about 'what happened' on the top part of the page.

At the bottom, I asked groups to come up with constructive solutions to help solve the problem.  

I am so proud of students' thoughts, words, and actions to offer support to those in need :)  Below, I have shared some examples. 

Please discuss with your child, his or her groups scenario and their solutions that they came up with :)

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

READING:  ACCEPTANCE!  DIVERSITY!  INCLUSION!

As part of our learning and 'unlearning' for acceptance, diversity, and inclusion, I shared a book called 'The Princess Boy.'  

It is about unconditional love.  I have posted the digital copy of it below for you to watch and listen to as a family.

Dyson (the main character) loves the colour pink, and sparkly things.  Sometimes he wear dresses, and sometimes, he wears jeans.  He likes to wear his princess tiara, even when climbing trees.  He's a Princess Boy, and his family loves him exactly the way he is.  

See the video below to gain insight and appreciation for this young boy and a family who adores their son just the way he is. 

Meet the Princess Boy, Dyson Kilodavis :-)

This story is inspired by the author's son, and by her own struggles to initially understand her child.  This is one mother's story about unconditional love, and one remarkable family. 

This heart opening book is a call for tolerance and an END TO BULLYING and JUDGMENTS.  The world is a BETTER and BRIGHTER place when we accept everyone for who they are.

In order to help our world start and continue conversations about acceptance, WE HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE through our own INCLUSIVE thoughts, words, and actions.  

As a community, we can accept and support our children for whomever they are and however they wish to look.  To all the Princess Boys in the World:  YOU ARE LOVED. 

Enjoy the story below as a family.  Thank you Dyson for sharing your love for expressing yourself the way you are!  You are an inspiration to us all :-)  Be WHO YOU ARE.  

WRITING - ANTI-BULLYING ACTIVITY #2

After listening to the story, I had students complete the following activities (see images below).

Write a letter of encouragement to Dyson the Princess Boy. 

How will you make him feel accepted to be who he is?

As a school, like the school in ‘My Princess Boy,’ we want to ensure that we are creating a place where everyone feels happy and safe.

Write about how we can create a school where everyone feels safe to be who they are.

The goal of working on these writing pieces was for students to be able to express their empathy, compassion, and support.  

And, they did exactly this!  The children's messages are heartfelt and I look forward to sending these home when we are fully completed them for you to admire your child's work.

In life, we will face many different people and we may not always agree or connect with them, but it is my hope that from this week's Anti-Bullying activities, the children will continue to show compassion, tolerance, understanding, and help others who are faced with challenges simply because of who they are :)   

T.H.I.N.K. BEFORE YOU SPEAK LESSON:

Finally, I shared a lesson to help the children gain an awareness of the harmful effects of how deeply affected and hurt one can get when they are put down and/or bullied.  

I drew a heart on a piece of paper.  Next, we observed the 'Heart' and talked about how it may be feeling.  Many replied, “Happy, loved, respected, full.”  

Then, I crumpled up this piece of paper and placed it in front of the class and opened up the heart to see what it looked like, how may it be feeling now?  

Following this observation, we had a powerful discussion of how once you hurt someone's heart (feelings), you create "wrinkles or scars" that may remain with that person that are difficult to heal and bring back to its original "happy state." 

We have referred to the following acronym throughout the school year so your child will be familiar with this, so please ask:  What does T.H.I.N.K. stand for?  

Your child will most likely be able to say what the image below has displayed, if not, that's ok, you may discuss it now :)

We discussed the term "Bystander" and what it means.  A bystander(s) is a person or group of people who see bullying happening yet don't do anything to help.  

In other words, they witness the bullying and/or walk away which ultimately continues and promotes this unkind cycle.

We also talked about the importance of always putting our thoughts into our words, and more importantly into OUR ACTIONS.  After all, it is OUR actions which can ultimately help put a STOP TO BULLYING and/or unkind behaviours.

Our class is a community of loving learners and it is my hope we will continue to be so and encourage each other as well as other students in our school about the importance of NO PUT DOWNS.  Together, we CAN & WILL make a difference :)  

MATH:

This week, we have been working on our long division skills.  I know from experience as a youngster  that it can be a tricky concept. 

Success Criteria for Solving Math Problems (click to enlarge)

As a class, we're slowly, but surely getting the hang of it!  Your assistance in this is greatly appreciated as well!  

It's really helpful if we know our multiplication facts so I highly encourage your child to practice his or her 0x - 12x tables to help build their confidence.

The video below provides a tutorial for long division.  Watch it and then please give your child the questions provided to solve using long division and our handy saying:

Dogs (divide)

Munch (multiply)

Soggy (subtract)

Bones (bring down)

Ruff (remainder or repeat)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

BIOGRAPHY REPORT:

Students are hard at work on their chosen Biography Report on a Canadian Activist.  With the two inclement weather days we had this week, I do hope your child was able to utilize his or her time wisely for this project.

As you can see, the children who did attend school on the blustery snowy day are hard at work individually and/or in their group :)  Way to go boys and girls!

I have posted an updated Success Criteria (see photo below) for the report and presentation portion for this assignment on Google Classroom as well.    

Please ensure your child meets the deadline/fulfils the criteria provided and they will have met the expectations :-) 

The report is due next week Thurs. Mar. 7th.  

Biography Report Presentations

Wednesday March 6th	Thursday March 7th	Friday March 8th
Jonas, Finn, Ayden	Grace	Sophie
Mielle	Harlow & Margot	Benton
Malcolm	Hazel, Anna, Mae	Libby
	Molly	Elle
	Kieran, Michael, Kaleb	Lucy & Cara
	August	Kaelynn & Wyatt
	James, William, Kegan	Danika

ART:

Remember the windy, stormy, and grey day on Tuesday?  Well, with this it brought some fairly big emotions in several children in the class.  

I empathize with their feelings because it can be scary when unexpected lightening and darkness in the sky comes.

To help settle and regulate our emotions, we turned to our Indigenous Art Pieces and coloured mindfully as a class family.  It truly brought the peace and calm we needed to end our day.   

Please ask your child what Nibi & Aki mean and its importance to Mother Earth :)

These completed sheets will come home when we're done with them at school.  I think you'll be impressed with your child's colour choices and designs.

GRADE 8 BUSINESS FAIR:

Exciting event coming soon! This year, our Grade 8 "Kidpreneurs" Business Fair will be held Thursday March 28th, 2024. It will be spectacular!!

Businesses to Look Forward to are:

• It’s Goo Time

• SCENTsational

• Branch Buddies

• Wood It Be Possible?

• Basket Battles

• Sweet Shot

• JewelWreath

• Guess & Pie

• Dye N’ Dash

• Plinko Playhouse

• Rocky Critters

• Bingo

• Ducky Delights

Stay tuned for commercials, posters, and business broadcasts on the announcements starting next week! Thank you in advance for supporting our 8's in their entrepreneurial endeavours! 

CHESS CLUB:

Congratulations to Margot, Hazel, Jonas, and Ayden for qualifying to go to the chess tournament on Monday!  We are confident you all will represent our class family so well :)  Good luck and have fun!

Proud of YOU!

CHICKS:

Thank you to Connor Olsen (grade 8) and family for providing fertilized eggs for our school to experience chicks hatching.  

I taught Connor in grades 3 & 4 and I am so proud of his growth and development not only as a student, but more importantly as a person.  He is caring, compassionate, and connects with others respectfully.  

To this day, Connor and I hold a special bond and I am grateful for this.  Way to go Connor, you're making a difference by simply BEING YOU!

When the chicks visited our classroom earlier today, we linked it directly to our Social Emotional learning (SEL).  

(SEL) aims to help students better understand their thoughts and emotions, to become more self-aware, and to develop more empathy for others (people & animals) within their community and the world around them.  

Everyone demonstrated such empathy with the lil' wee babies (chicks) by being calm, quiet, and inquisitive.  We enjoyed having the chicks visit us!  Check us out below :)

MINDFULNESS:

My Shadow is Pink is about a young boy, born with a pink shadow that loves princesses, dresses & "things not for boys."

This animated short film shares the daring to be DIFFERENT, and having the COURAGE to be true to yourself.

It beautifully portrays the story of love and self-acceptance that touches on the subjects of gender identity, equality and diversity. 

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Cara for this week's mindset message!  It's so very true!  

It takes effort, patience, and time to get through any adversity.  Remember, never give up and look for the glimmers (hope) where ever you go :)

"Even in the darkest of storms, there is always light, and in that light ... is love." - Cara

From my heart to yours - Meegwich,

Ms. Gill