Culture Fair

WOW!!!! Our Culture Fair on Friday was an amazing success and I could not have been more proud of all of our students!!!

They all did a phenomenal job at representing their country and sharing a variety of different cultures, including food, entertainment, beautiful displays, authentic artifacts and most of all, their knowledge with the visitors, who came to the library to check out these wonderful student projects. These kids really pulled it off big time and it was particularly great to see everyone engaged, even those students who are normally standing at the side lines:) A special thank you to Anguli and Brianna for performing an authentic Punjabi dance; to all of the parents, who came by and helped preparing the delicious ethnic foods; to Mrs Denton, Ms Walker and Ms Alton for visiting with their students; to Ms Byrne for her support and interest and to many other staff members, who came to celebrate our students' learning on this afternoon. Here are some of my favourite shots of this wonderful event. Division 1, YOU ROCK!!

Camp Thunderbird

We were so lucky and picked the sunniest day of the week to go to Camp Thunderbird yesterday! I think it is save to say that everyone enjoyed themselves and it was great to see so many smiling faces and interact with the students in a more relaxed environment. We arrived at Camp just after 9 am and were greeted by our Camp leaders, who engaged us all by playing a few fun teambuilding games.

Afterwards we split up into our smaller activity groups and half of us went canoeing while the other half went to do archery and orienteering. WOW! Canoeing was an alltime favourite and it was just great to be on the water and enjoying a bit of sunshine. Even Matilda jumped into the boat and tried to paw paddle:)

Archery was also great fun and it was good to learn a new skill, although it was much more difficult than it looked! Everyone was a great sport and I was so very proud of our students, who represented our school community very well.

Thank you Grade 6's for a great day in the woods!!! YOU ROCK!!!

Now it is time to buckle up one more time. Tomorrow, on Friday, there will be a math quiz on Probability and then in the afternoon we are looking forward to the Culture Fair. Our students have worked very hard throughout the last weeks to showcase a number of different countries. The display boards look fabulous and there will be some food samples as well as entertainment. We hope that parents and friends will be able to drop in between 1 and 2 pm tomorrow and celebrate our students' learning in our library.

Speaking of celebrating..., please keep your eyes open for an invitation, which will be sent home next week, to our Farewell Celebration on June 26.

It's Crunch Time!

Last week, we sent our second term report cards home and now is the time to fasten your seat belts and get ready for the final stretch before the summer and ... middle school! I am proud of Division 1 students as they keep focused and some students have indeed FINALLY turned a corner and are putting their best foot (or feet!) forward as they seem to realize that with middle school life will also become a bit more serious and students are expected to become more responsible and self directed in their learning.

A couple of weeks ago, we all enjoyed a semi-sunny afternoon as we were participating in the school-wide J.ump Rope for Hearts. Thanks so much, Ms. Hesse for organizing this event and mentoring our students. You and your jumping friends raised almost $1700 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Awesome work! We are proud of you!

Our students also showed some great school spirit on Wacky Hair and Funky Hat Day. Here are some of my favourites:

In Math, we have started a unit on Data Analysis and Probability, a series of fun lessons, to ease our way into the end of the year. In Language, students are writing essays about their Cultural Identity, which also ties into our Social Studies theme. Speaking of which, this week, students will receive the outline for their culture project, which they will be working on in groups of 3-4 students. The displays will be showcased at a "Culture Fair" at the end of May or beginning of June, and we hope that families can come by during class time to celebrate our learning. More information about this will be sent home at the end of the month.

The Purdy's chocolate sales continue to go amazing. All of the grade 6 students are working hard together as a team to sell chocolate bars to their friends, families and neighbours, and I am so proud of them as they really pulled it off... and will have raised enough money to pay for their trip to Camp Thunderbird in June.

Our DARE Program has come to an end and we are preparing for our DARE Graduation Ceremony next Thursday. During the ceremony, we will hear a number of students making short presentations and Division 1 and Division 2 will be singing a song "I WILL DARE". We hope to see many parents, families and friends for this event. Also, students are reminded to bring in their baby/toddler photo. I will create a display in the foyer, as well as a short slideshow, which will be shown during our Farewell Celebration on June 26! Buckle up and enjoy the final stretch! :)

Happy Spring

This year has gone by so fast and it is hard to believe that it is already April and we have only a little more than two more months until summer holidays! A lot has happened throughout the last month and I am very proud of our students' growth and learning, as well as their positive attitudes and enthusiasm, despite some challenges along the way, such as the withdrawal of extracurricular activities as part of the teachers' job action. As a teacher, I wish there was another (and perhaps better) way to voice our concerns, which would have less of an impact on students.

As you can see from these beautiful flower pictures above (painted by Amy and Tyson), we have explored the world of watercolour in Art and the students created some gorgeous pieces, inspired by the American artist Georgia O'Keeffe, which can be admired on our bulletin board outside of our classroom.

It was great to see all of the students so enthusiastic and creatively engaged, and I am looking forward to experiment with other mediums, such as charcoal and print making in the weeks to follow. This term, we will also focus our learning in Fine Arts on drama, and we are always excited about Monday afternoon theatre games.
In Math, we continue working with fractions, decimals and percent. Students should expect a Math quiz at the end of next week! In Language Arts and Social Studies, students have completed a biography on a hero, who changed the world. I was impressed with most of the writing and our students' progress with regards to research skills and critical thinking. In Science, students have worked in small groups on completing a model of an Extreme Enviornment of their choice.

The results are impressive:

Volcano

Polar Region

Deep Ocean

Desert

Outer Space

This week, students will make 15 minute presentations on the extreme environment they researched. This will be another great opportunity for students to show their learning and further develop their presentation skills:)
Parents and guardians, please mark your calendars: Our DARE Graduation Assembly is scheduled for Thursday, May 17th at 1 pm. More information and an invitation will be sent home by the RCMP Corp. Scott Hilderley next week.
Last but not least, we have said farewell to our wonderful student and friend Cristelle, who is moving to Alberta. We wish Cristelle all the best on her new adventure and thank her for all of the memories we share. Cristelle, you really are a ROCK STAR and we will miss you!

Time flies...

Time flies and it is hard to believe that we are already enjoying spring break and getting ready for the final stretch to finish Grade 6 with a bang and prepare for the transition to middle school. Due to the teachers' contract dispute, this year has been challenging for us as teachers as well as students and families, and I have been trying to answer some of your questions in my most recent email newsletters, which I have also published on this website under Grade 6 News. I will continue to update you through email newsletters and if you have not received any emails from me, please be sure to send your email address to kvanderleeden@sd62.bc.ca and I will add you to the distribution list. My greatest concern at this point is fundraising. All Grade 6 students are booked to enjoy a full day of adventure and activity at Camp Thunderbird in June and this event will cost approximately $50.00 per student. Hopefully, parents and students will be able to fundraise for this event and to cover other costs (i.e. t-shirts, cake, food) associated with the farewell celebrations for our grade 6 students.

On a more positive note, our students have enjoyed two Spirit Days at Ruth King this month. First, we stood up against bullying on Pink Day and took the opportunity during our classroom meetings on Wednesday to discuss how put downs and bullying affect kids. Students recognized how important, but also difficult it can sometimes be to stand up for the victims and report the bullies. We will continue to talk about these issues and focus more on cyber bullying and the dangers of social media such as Facebook. Corporal Scott Hilderley from the RCMP, who is teaching our grade 6 students the DARE program on Tuesday afternoons, will also focus some of his lessons on these important issues.

Last week it was Jersey Day at Ruth King and it was great to see so many dedicated sports fans in their favorite team's jersey! Keep up the good spirit everyone!

Imagine!

These past few weeks have been very busy and Division 1 students have embraced a number of wonderful learning experiences, some of us have been part of our school's basketball teams, and all of us continued to learn, grow and have fun together!

Last week, our students impressed me with their group presentations about several global development agencies.

Three of our students prepared a very insightful and creative presentation to promote "Buy Nothing Day" at Ruth King. The group's enthusiasm and leadership were wonderful and a great example of cross curricular learning that ignites passion and purpose!

In Science, we have started a great unit about Extreme Environments and there is a quiz scheduled for next Tuesday. Our weekly spelling test as well as a math test is going to be on Thursday. Please note that Friday, February 17th, is a ProD Day!

In Math, we have started a new unit on measurement, beginning with area and perimeter of rectangular prisms and conversion of most commonly used metric units. Parents are encouraged to support learning at home through discussion about measurements, such as distances and metric units in recipes (i.e. How many kg is 2300 g?).

In Language Arts, we improve our students' writing skills through the development of word choice and ideas.

Our students are working with thought provoking images, connecting these with powerful language, and are creating beautiful Imagine Books. If you get a chance, please stop by the school and check out our bulletin outside the classoom, which features a book that was created by all of our students. I know I have said this before, but I will say it again: All of my students are POETS!!!

Let it snow!

Last week, we visited once again our Little Buddies, Ms. Walker's Grade 1 class, had hot chocolate and created some very beautiful snowflakes for our windows. Only four days later, the (real) snow came finally to transform our world into a Winter Wonderland and we all enjoyed a Snow Day on Wednesday! Speaking of fun, it was great to see so many boys and girls at Ruth King getting into the spirit and taking part in Pajama Day.

Our next Spirit Day is fast approaching and we are looking forward to our students dressing up as Story Book Characters this coming Friday, January 27.
Basketball season is on its way, and Mr. Craig, who is coaching the boys, and myself and Ms Walker, who are coaching the girls, are very proud of our students progress and their enthusiasm for the game. Thank you so much to Nate & Nate, two Grade 7 students from Spencer, who help us with the coaching on Friday afternoons:)
Of course, we all know that school is not just fun and the Division 1 students are aware that there is also work to be done, and that it is particularly important at this time of year to keep up the momentum, to continue to develop good work habits in order to receive positive results at the end of the year. Time is going by quickly and it is hard to believe, but our first transition meeting at Spencer Middle School is already scheduled for Wednesday, February 22!
In Math, we have started a new unit on TRANSFORMATIONS and we will be focusing particularly on translations, rotations and reflections. There are many good sites on the internet that contain games and practice activities, two of them can be found at Math is Fun and this web-based activity. The next Math quiz is scheduled for Friday, January 27.
In Language Arts we are working on word choice and ideas to improve our writing. We are looking at the Imagine picture books

and will be creating our own poetic picture books by developing a more powerful and descriptive language, explore our imagination, and communicate ideas. Before the winter break, our students created some amazing poems. We displayed them in the gold frames on our hallway bulletin board and inside the classroom. Come on by, and be dazzled by our students' powerful creative writing!!!
In Social Studies, we continue to learn about global poverty and how it relates to poverty in Canada. We have learned about the United Nations and will start a group project this week. Finally!
In Science, we will be starting a unit on Extreme Environment and I hope to be able to set up a field trip to the Centre of the Universe in early March. As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school, either by phone or via email.

Happy New Year

The holiday season went by in a flash, it seems, and we are already back in learning mode for a week, looking forward to many more fun times and learning adventures in 2012! Happy New Year to all of you!
I just noticed that I haven't blogged in a while... must have been all that excitement and the busy times of Christmas that kept me away from my computer.... Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of the highlights of December. Together with many Ruth King families we all enjoyed the Winter Concert and I was particularly proud of a Division 1 impromptu performance of our German Christmas carol "Kling Gloeckchen Klingelingeling". Well done everyone!

Our students took great care and pride in decorating our classroom and give our learning environment a "festive touch". Of course, we are very fortunate to have Isaac in our class, who shared with us his family traditions and customs around Hanukkah. Thank you so much for your presentation to the class, for helping us widen our horizon, and for the delicous Latkes you served to the class!

Our class enjoyed a number of activities with our Little Buddies throughout the first half of this school year. One of our favorite ones was Decorating Gingerbread Men with our little Grade 1 buddies. We all had so much fun and I was very impressed with Division 1 students, who demonstrated very responsible and safe behaviour! Jake is proud of his Gingerbread Smurf!

Not only did our class enjoy two visits to Belmont Secondary School in December, where we played basketball and volleyball with our BIG Buddies, we also went skating together with Mr Craig's Division 2. We had a lot of fun on and off the ice and it was great to see so many smiling faces:)

Finally, we all celebrated on the last day before the Winter Holidays! We sang Christmas carols, listened to stories, and exchanged presents. There was a lot of kindness and joy in our classroom and I am grateful for the gifts of the past and excited about the possibilities of the future. I wish all thirty of my students and their families a very happy and joyful 2012!
Keep learning, keep wondering, but most importantly...keep smiling!