Week of April 15 - April 19

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Our class performed Hip Hop this Monday. All their hard work paid off and they did an amazing job. The Grade 5's started on their unit project for math, making bridges. We also continued working on our newspaper articles in writing. We looked at other parts of newspapers like advertisements and comics as well. We have started to put our newspapers together. I think they turn out great!

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Week of April 8 - April 12

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We had an eventful week this week. We created Thunderbird Art inspired by the indigenous artist, Norval Morrisseau. He uses bright colours and shapes in his artwork. For our Social Studies unit, we created advertisements of different natural resources. Each student studied a certain resource and created a visual to represent it. We also started writing our articles which we will put into class newspapers. We continued to practice our Hip Hop dances. We had a dress rehearsal on Friday. 

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Week of April 2 - April 5

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This has been our first week back since Spring Break. We had a lovely week with great weather. The sun has been coming out more and we are excited to play outside. This week we started learning Hip-Hop dance and we will have a performance coming up soon! We also started a new unit in Social Studies learning about Natural Resources of Canada. For writing, we started looking at newspapers and non-fiction text. Our class hopes to create it's own newspaper.

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Week of March 11 - March 15

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Last week of classes before Spring Break. This week we wrapped up our poetry unit by creating poems about things we are passionate about. I was very impressed at all the descriptive language in Division 8's poetry! We also had a lot of fun activities this week such as Easter egg hunts and a swimming field trip. Lastly, we had 4 of our students give a presentation about the BCSPCA during the Celebration of Learning Assembly. Spring break, here we come!

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Week of March 4 - March 8

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Only 2 more weeks of school left before Spring Break! Although Spring break is around the corner, the weather is very chilly. It even snowed this week! We had lots of activities this week. In PE we continued our basketball unit. We played basketball games together with Ms. Wilk's class. In buddies, we helped the Grade 2's make Easter Egg baskets. This week we presented our Science PowerPoints about endangered animals. Our students learned how to use PowerPoint, did research, and presented in front of the class. They did a great job. Lastly, we started to decorate our classroom door as one of the Banned Books from the novel we have been studying, Ban this Book. What a great week!

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Week of February 26 - March 1

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We had a lot of activities this past month. We went to Young People's Concert and listened to a rap group. We tried a new style of art by using ink rollers and painting terracotta warriors. We worked on our Science projects about endangered animals. We played basketball in PE. We read with our buddies. We had a busy month!

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Week of January 29-February 2

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We had art this week. We focused on a famous Japanese artist named Hokusai. We painted "The Great Wave" using water colours. In the back of the paintings, you can see Mount Fuji which is firm and steady as the waves crash and splash around it. We also have been working on our immigration project. We interviewed our families and friends and learned about how they came to Canada. We learned about some of the push and pull factors for them. It is important to learn from the past so we can have a good future. We had a great week!

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Week of January 22-January26

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What an interesting month we've had so far. We've had two snow days already! Last week we were able to take Wednesday and Thursday off because it was snowing and the road conditions were not good. This week we had time to catch up on our writing and other activities that we had missed last week. It has been a bit hectic around here. I'm glad that it stopped snowing, but now it has rained a lot. Please make sure to remember to bring an extra pair of clothes and especially extra pairs of socks as the rain continues to downpour. We're off to an interesting start in 2024!

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Week of December 18-December 22

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The last week of school has arrived! We have so many exciting events this week such as our pancake breakfast/ pyjama day, art with buddies, secret santa, movie day, gingerbread men, and our annual school-wide sing-a-long. We have had a great year so far and we have already accomplished so much. I hope that everyone has a safe and restful holiday break. See you all in the new year!

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Week of December 11-December 15

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This is a busy week ahead of us. We are doing lots of Christmas activities this week since it is our last full week of class! We are learning to sew for ADST. We are sewing and decorating stockings. This helps work on a life skill that uses fine motor skills and creativity. For writing, we are becoming elves! We are applying for jobs in the North Pole. We are going through the process of filling out an application form, writing a cover letter, writing a resume, and asking for a reference letter from an adult. For our Grade 5 Math project, we are creating board games that include multiplication and division questions. Next week, we will have a chance to play these board games. We are also researching how different countries around the world celebrate Christmas. Christmas is just around the corner. 

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Week of December 4-December 8

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We had a full week this week. In buddies, we made candy cane reindeer. We helped our little buddies wrap string around a candy cane and decorate it with eyes and a nose to look like a reindeer. In PE we continued our hockey unit. We played 4 corner hockey and used the stick handling that we've been practicing. In Science we did a gallery walk of our human body systems diagrams and looked at what other people made. We worked on the school-wide write. We wrote a paragraph on how to plan a gathering, inspired by the totem pole at the front of the school. Lastly, we decorated our room with LED lights and a Merry Christmas banner. We submitted a picture of this to BC Hydro and we hope to win a pizza party for the LED there be lights contest!

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Week of November 27-December 1

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This week on Monday we went to the Michael J. Fox Theatre to watch our first Young People's Concert. We watched Kutapira perform music using various percussion instruments. They moved their hands swiftly and intricately to make wonderful rhythms. It was a great concert. For Science, we started to create life sized diagrams of the different human body systems. We have labelled them with the different organs. For ADST, we tested out our balloon cars and raced them. A lot of the successfully moved. Although not all of them moved, each group was able to create a finished product. What a great week!

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Week of November 20-23

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We have another short week this week. Friday is a Pro-D Day. We had an assembly on Wednesday called Art Starts. We also started a Show What You Know as a culmination for our Science Human Body Systems unit. We learned about 6 different body systems. We learned a lot of fun facts and watched videos about live organs like your lungs. The most exciting thing that we did this week was watch the movie, Wonder. After reading the novel by J.R. Palacio, we were able to see the characters come to life. We talked about the Plot Mountain and the Theme of the novel. 

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Week of November 14-17

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We had a short week this week. Monday was a holiday for Remembrance Day. This week we continued to work on our balloon powered cars for A.D.S.T. For writing, we are working on compare and contrast paragraphs. For math, Grade 5's started Unit 3 which is all about multiplication and division. In Science, we continued learning about the different body systems. This week we learned more about the respiratory system. In PE, we continued our unit in volleyball. Finally, for French we created number collages using numbered items found in magazines. There are only 5 more weeks of school left until winter break. Can you believe it?

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Week of November 6-10

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This week we made Agamographs. Agamographs are images that change depending on which angle you look at them. Our Agamographs were Remembrance Day themed. They have soldiers, poppies, and Canadian flags. In class, we talked about how lucky we are to be living in a country were we can attend school safely and were there is no war. On Friday we have an assembly to remember those who fought for our freedom. Remembrance Day is an important day to reflect on the past so that we can improve our futures.

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Week of October 24-27

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We had our first full week at school after having three short weeks. It went by fast. We started our Science Unit about human body systems. We learned about how blood travels through your body through the circulatory system. We learned about key organs like the heart and lungs which are an important part of your circulatory system. We also created some wacky cubism portraits inspired by the work of Pablo Picasso. Cubism takes different angles and puts them together in one image. We also met our buddies this week. Our class teams up with Ms. Hasebe's Grade 2 class throughout the year. We get a chance to be leaders and help the younger students do various activities. What a fun week we had!

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Week of October 16-19

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Wow! Three short weeks in a row. We had another short week this week because there is a Pro-D Day on Friday. This week we had a Social Studies Test as we wrapped up our unit on Indigenous cultures. This week for writing, we worked on writing letters. We tried to think about a problem in our communities and schools. For homework, students have to write a letter to a newspaper editor on how the problem could be solved. Ms. Doyle helped us create some spooky art for our classroom. We made ghosts and pumpkins and our classroom is now Halloween ready.

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Week of October 10-13

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We had another short week this week. Monday was the thanksgiving holiday. The weather has been a bit rainy but we've had some great days of warm sunshine. This week we continued reading our novel study book, Wonder. We wrote our own stories about someone waking up on another planet. We continued working on our ADST and Social Studies projects. We have library every Friday so please remember to bring your library books on Friday mornings. It is already half way through October. Halloween is soon approaching!

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Week of October 3-6

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We had a fun short week this week. We are researching different Indigenous groups and making posters for Social Studies. We tried making water colour paint from berries. For writing, we are working on adding more ideas to our stories by expanding details. We continued working on our ADST mazes. We also learned the numbers in French from 1-30. We watched a silly worm video to help us learn the numbers. We played some games in PE with hoola hoops. It was also picture day on Friday. Division 8 learned so much this week!

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Week of September 25-29

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This week, we have an assembly about Orange Shirt Day. We wear orange shirts to remember and honour those children who were sent to Residential Schools. In class, we decorated paper shirts by colouring them and writing positive notes on them like, every child matters. On Monday, there is no school as it is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I hope that everyone can have a peaceful and reflective weekend.

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Week of September 18-21

 

This week we started working on writing. We are focusing on narrowing down our ideas and using capitals for Proper Nouns. We also separated by Grade groups and started math. Grade 5's are working on number patterns. We are reading the novel, Wonder together in class. It is a wonderfully written novel about an extraordinary boy who goes through middle school trying to figure out friendships and fitting in. There are so many exciting things to learn.

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Week of September 11-15

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Welcome to your new classroom! This week we started to ease into our new classes. I am so excited to start learning new things and meeting new people. My hope for this year is that we can create a positive learning environment where we respect each other and have lots of fun. If you have any questions or concerns during the school year, please feel free to email me at my school email rachel.barrera@burnabyschools.ca. Have a great weekend!