Apologies for the time between posts. It’s been a busy period with parent/teachers, finishing up FSA’s and more. Even now, I am busy in Victoria, leading the Grade 4 Numeracy team on the 2024-2025 FSA!

It was so wonderful seeing all of you that came out for the parent/teacher interviews. If you were not able to make it out, please feel free to stop by the classroom and chat with Mrs. Willms or myself. We always love chatting about our wonderful students and sharing ways we can work together to support your child.

Our FSA’s went well and they are finally done! Students worked hard and did very well considering all the sickness going through the class. It took awhile to get everyone caught up and completed. While the students may not find the FSA to be the highlight of their school career, they provide good insights to us on student growth and how we can best implement the curriculum concepts and objectives.

Here are some things coming up:

• Jersey Day: This Wednesday is Jersey day. Students can wear their favorite sports jersey or other apparel with causal pants. I wish I was there so I could wear my Oilers jersey! Go Oilers! If students do not wish to wear sports apparel, they can wear their usual uniforms.
• PD Day Friday: This Friday, teachers are so excited to have a visit from Tom Schimmer, who is a trusted expert in assessment. He is a very popular speaker on effective assessment practices and we are very fortunate to have him come to our school. We have also invited other schools in the area to join. Fortunately, he had time in his busy touring schedule to come out and speak to us. He is also a BC native which makes his thoughts on assessment very relevant for us.
• Curriculum Notes: We are finishing up our latest writing piece on “The Best Part of Me”. When I get back, I will be finishing up the photography part and combining photos of the students with their writing. They have also been working hard to add similes to their writing. In Math, we are finishing up our Place Value unit with a test tomorrow. Students went through a review today. On Wednesday, we will be starting our addition and subtraction to 10 000 unit which will take us through December.
• Cardboard: In our unit on Energy, students are modeling concepts in energy with roller coasters. It’s been a lot of fun as students have built tunnels and hills to show how energy works in the real world. Looking ahead, I am looking for very large pieces of cardboard to use in our final project – cardboard pieces about the size of the boxes used for appliances like fridges. I would need about 6 or 7 sides of cardboard about that size. If anyone has pieces that size or knows someone with a lead on that, please let me know.
• Memory Verse: Our memory verse this week is from Luke 2: 7 ~

and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them

• Music of the Week: I can’t speak to what the music is this week but since I missed blogging last week, I’m going to highlight last weeks. We have been focusing on Christmas music since a) we don’t have much time until Christmas arrives and b) I have a lot of Christmas music. Last week’s is one of my go to’s when I need calm relaxing Christmas music that doesn’t irritate me. David Ian is a jazz arranger who leads a jazz trio consisting of piano, bass and drums. I don’t know what other work he does as I haven’t seen his name anywhere else but he has a lovely set of albums with beautiful arrangements of Christmas music.