The May calendar has been built and hung. Beautifully done Holly, Tessa, Bennu, Sophie, and Kate! This month we have a couple field trips. One more trip to the VAG, and a trip to Gladstone Secondary for the dance show. Here's a brief rundown of what to expect in the classroom for this month: Theme- we are wrapping up Student Vote and moving into a Food Science Unit with a focus on food gardening. Students will get to dig their hands into the soil, grow food, learn scientific diagramming skills, engage in food experiments, learn about the important interdependent relationships between plants/earth/humans/insects, and much more. Math- our math groups will be continuing into the month of May. My class will be transitioning from multiplication to fractions within the next week. Writer's Workshop- Within the next week division 10/11 will begin Lit. Circles. This has been a popular activity in the past and we are looking forward to getting it going once more. I will post more on this soon. Kid Blogs- we will continue our Kid Blogs until the end of the year. At this time the posts are only open for the teachers to view/comment. Students are working toward meeting blogging criteria and learning respectful commenting. Soon we will open them up for classmates to view/comment. If your child would like to make posts from home, this is always welcome! P.E.- division 10 took a vote to establish what our next unit would be. California Kickball won in a landslide victory. We've already had one game, and it was a big hit! We will plan to play outside as often as possible- so please send sunscreen and appropriate shoes. (Tues. & Thurs.) Art- art will be woven into our Food Science unit through the gardening journals and various other related art activities. French- in May we will move on from numbers and start learning some food vocabulary, and a food related project is in the works. More on this to come.
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Hello families!
Wednesday, May 17th is our final field trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Please note that we will require parent volunteers for driving and supervision during this field trip. A notice will be sent home with students next week. Please complete and return to me by Fri. May 12th. Thank-you! Here's a little bit about the exhibition that we will be attending: Pacific Crossings: Hong Kong Artists in Vancouver As written on the V.A.G. website: Pacific Crossings examines different generations and artistic practices of those who immigrated to Vancouver from Hong Kong during the1960s through the late 1990s. Students will explore various visual languages from Hong Kong’s modern and contemporary art beginnings including contemporary ink painting, abstract figurative and landscape painting, etching and performance. They will also examine the influence that a new environment has had on the immigrant artists’ practices. Participating artists include David Lam, Carrie Koo (Koo Mei), Paul Chui and Josh Hon. While renowned in Hong Kong, many of these artists remain today under-recognized in the visual arts community of Greater Vancouver. On this beautifully warm and sunny day-before-Earth-Day, divisions 10 and 11 came together to celebrate by getting out into nature. For French the students learned some nature vocabulary, partnered up and put it to work while on a nature scavenger hunt. During Art Class we introduced the concept of ephemeral nature art, and together the students headed to Sunnyside Park to design and create art for others to discover and enjoy. If you're interested in learning more about nature art, you may like to start by looking at Andy Goldsworthy' s work: Happy Earth Day Weekend!
As part of Student Vote the class is exploring different types of government and their differing leadership strategies. Each tribe (table group) discussed what it might be like to utilize the leadership strategies of a dictatorship, democracy, or consensus model when making decisions. In one case they imagined themselves as a babysitter working on getting children to bed, in another scenario they imagined themselves deciding on school party plans with a large group of peers. And there were many more scenarios beyond these. In each case tribes discussed which type of government would be the most effective. It was very interesting to hear everyone's ideas and differing perspectives!
HOMEWORK (Gr. 3/4/5): In addition to this exercise, students have been asked to discuss with their families which countries currently utilize: democracy, monarchy, constitutional monarchy, dictatorship, and a republic model of governing. Students have been asked to make these notes on their worksheets, and bring back for discussion. Due: Tues, April 18th. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOMEWORK (Gr. 5): Each grade 5 student has picked one type of government to research. Their research is to be organized on a poster that they will present to the grade 3's and 4's. All criteria for this project has been provided to the students in a handout. Due: Thurs, April 20th. Our field trip was a big hit, the class really enjoyed the stop motion film making and the films were inspirational- offering a little something for everyone. Throughout the screening students were literally on the edges of their seats with interest. A big thank-you to all family drivers and supervision volunteers! Your time and efforts are greatly appreciated. Reel Focus – The Art and Science of Image Making Over five weekdays, elementary school students from across Metro Vancouver attend a 75-minute hands-on film making workshop accompanied by a 75-minute program of short films at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre (RHCC). It was great to see you all. Thank-you for your thoughtful comments- the class will enjoy reading these for sure. For me, witnessing the joy and pride each child exuded during their conferences was remarkable.
I hope you enjoyed the evening! Parent Drivers
Please meet at the Red Courtyard in front of the school at 9:10. We will need to arrive at the Yaletown Roundhouse by 9:40 and will be returning back to school by 2:00. Pickup from the Roundhouse will be at 1:10, if you are staying, parking is available underneath for $3.25 per hour. http://www.easypark.ca/find-parking/locations-and-lot-information/lot-details/roundhouse-community-centre During the first week of March Charles Dickens Elementary learned how to Square Dance! Our class and Peggy's class got together for three blocks of Square Dance instruction. Students learned about the history of the dance, and even got to try out some of the musical instruments. On Friday all intermediate classes, teachers, and some families took part in one gigantic square dance- it sure was a lot of fun! Thank-you to Paul Silvera and his fiddle and banjo band "Professor Banjo". professorbanjo.com On February 16th all Dickens intermediate students viewed a dramatization of a criminal trial performed by The People's Law School. Justice Theatre is a troupe of professional actors who aim to raise awareness and stimulate discussion of legal matters impacting youth. As part of the experience 12 students from various grades were chosen to be jury members. One jury member was chosen from Div.10- well done, you made a great member of the jury! http://www.publiclegaled.bc.ca/services/justice-theatre/
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Important Dates
June 15th
Marimba Concert June 21st Trout Lake Picnic June 23rd Gr.3's from Annex June 26th Camp Read June 28th Year-end Field Trip- Watermania June 29th Last Day of School Assembly WelcomeMy name is Sara, and I'm excited to be the Division 10 teacher of a grade 3/4/5 learning community at Dickens this year! Here's a little bit about me- I'm Mom to an 8 year old boy, an educator, artist, vegetable gardener, yoga enthusiast, foodie, cook, pet chicken keeper, nature lover, hiker, and in my "past life" an interior architectural designer. Archives
June 2017
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