Questions Answered

With Saleema Noon coming to speak with classes this week, we have started our Sexual Health unit.  We have set our class discussion ground rules, talked about the appropriate words to use, and about the exciting things that being an adult brings.  In this initial discussion, kids had lots of interesting questions and expressed mixed feelings about puberty.  We've asked the students to share these feelings with someone at home, so that parents can help shoulder some of the anxiety that kids feel around this topic.  We encourage parents to attend the Saleema Noon parent talk on Tuesday night as well. 


In Language Arts, the biographies are almost finished.  Students spent an hour today editing their first draft for sentence structure and transitions.  That second draft will need to be at school on Wednesday, where we will have peer editors take a second look.  Finally on Thursday, students will spend the afternoon revising their conclusions.  The final copy and bibliography will be due on Monday, Feb 1st. 


Next Wednesday is Global Play Day.  Kids should start thinking of what they should bring with them to play with.  We also have skating times booked throughout February.  The permission form will go home in this week's Friday Folder. 


Hope you all have a great week!


Mrs. Soper & Miss Kelly

Congratulations to this year's Genworth Canada Meaning of Home Contest

We are very proud to have this year's winner of the Genworth Canada Meaning of Home Contest in support of Habitat for Humanity!  Congratulations Jessica for this amazing piece of writing:

The Way Home 

I stare out the car. Raindrops race each other down the window in the back seat. I  see people’s homes. Condos, apartments, town homes, duplexes and houses. All very different, but in a way they are similar. Me and my family, driving down the cold streets of Vancouver, together. We are on our way home.

Home. A place where everyone is on your team. Home is a place where you can escape from the cold, cruel glares from the outside world. A place for the good times and the bad. A place to love and to be loved. A place of comfort and warmth, friends and family. Home is a place where you don't have to worry about people judging you for who you’re not. At home you can be yourself. That is what home means to me. I look up. The car has stopped in front of our house. We all climb out of the black minivan and race to the front door. I giggle as we rush to avoid the large raindrops. My dad throws me the keys and I unlock the house. We all smile as we peel off our wet jackets.  My parents tell my brother and I to go get ready for bed. I brush my teeth, get changed and slide into bed. My mom and dad walk slowly up the stairs. They come into my room and stand over my bed. 

“We love you,” they say simultaneously.

“I love you too,” I whisper back. And I know deep down in my heart that nothing can tear us apart from this place. I know that I will never forget the way home.

As the kids continue to work on their biographies, there are a couple of important dates this week. First, Grade 7s have their Mesopotamia group projects due on Wednesday.  On Thursday, the Grade 7s will be attending a basketball game at Hamber.  The permission slips went home today.  Please note, that students can be dismissed from Hamber if you would like.  On Friday, the students will have a science test closing our unit on Ecosystems.  Tomorrow's science class will be used as a study block.

We're Rolling!

It's only the second week into 2016 and things are rolling!  We have plenty of things happening in Division 2.  On Tuesday this week, we have a speaker from Pride Speak coming in to speak with all the Gr. 6/7s.  Also in Health and Career, we will begin our unit on Sexual Health, beginning with puberty.

In LA, students are organising their notes and starting to write their biographies.  If you haven't already checked it out, please ask to see your child's essay plan and notes.

In Social Studies, the Grade 7 students are working on their contribution to a Mesopotamia project. They have 2 more in-class work periods before it's due next Tuesday the 19th.

The Grade 7 students will also be given their application for their home high schools this week. Hamber's went home on Monday and Tupper will be coming to speak with them on Thursday.  ALL STUDENTS MUST REGISTER FOR THEIR HOME SCHOOL even if they have no intention of going there.  It's important that they have somewhere to go to school if all else fails.  Those registrations are due to the high school at the end of January.  Cross boundary applications are welcome the beginning of February until mid February.  Check the high school's website for the exact dates.

Grade 7 students were also sent home a letter regarding the Foundational Skills Assessment Tests that will be held later this month.  Please review both letters and return the form to class as soon as possible if you plan on excusing your child from writing.

Finally, Division 2 has signed up to participate in Global School Play Day on February 3rd.  It's a day for students to flex their creative muscles and develop life skills in a totally unstructured way.  The day is totally technology-free, but students are encouraged to bring toys, games, magazines, arts and crafts, anything that will engage them and encourage them to engage with others.  It will be a challenge for some kids, but a benefit to all!

Mrs. Soper & Miss Kelly

It's a New Year!

Welcome back!  We hope everyone had a relaxing break and is ready to rock term 2!  We are kicking things off with Literature Circles.   Both Miss Kelly and Mrs. Soper adore Lit Circles and are passionate about children's literature.  Both teachers spent their break reading some new additions to our selection this year and were wowed.  This year, we are doing something even more fun than in the past.  We are going to do Gr. 6/7 wide Lit Circles.  On Wednesday, Miss Kelly will introduce all 100 Gr. 6/7 students to the possible book choices.  At the end of the day she will ask for your top picks, and then we will work to get everyone into groups of kids who are interested in the same novels.  It's going to be a challenge, but there are so many great books to choose from this year, everyone will be sure to find one they love!  I've attached a link to some book trailers that can give you some background info on some of the books.  3 of the newer books, No Time to Say Goodbye about experiences of young people in Pacific Northwest residential schools, Walking Home about two orphaned refugees in Africa, and Shadow on the Mountain about the Nazi occupation of Norway, and our oldest book Ice Drift  about two siblings lost in the Arctic are not available, but are amazing books just the same.

Book Trailers


Mrs. Soper and Miss Kelly would also like to thank you for your generosity before the break!  We received so many thoughtful and yummy gifts. Thank you for thinking of us!

Miss Kelly & Mrs. Soper