February 23rd - 26th

Looking back on learning.......

This week, our entire school community came together for a special whole-school assembly to celebrate Jump Rope for Heart. It was incredible to see students and staff united in support of such a meaningful initiative. Jump Rope for Heart not only encourages students to stay active and build healthy habits, but it also helps raise awareness and funds for important heart and brain research.

During February, students learned about the importance of taking care of their hearts through regular physical activity, healthy eating, and making positive lifestyle choices. We also discussed the critical importance of recognizing the signs of a stroke. Even at a young age, it is empowering for children to know that strokes can happen suddenly and that acting quickly can save a life.

Students were introduced to the acronym F.A.S.T.:

• F – Face: Is the face drooping?

• A – Arms: Can the person raise both arms?

• S – Speech: Is speech slurred or strange?

• T – Time: Time to call 9-1-1 right away.

By learning these signs, our students are gaining valuable knowledge that could help them respond in an emergency situation. We are so proud of how our school came together to support heart and brain health while building awareness, compassion, and community spirit.

Phonics:

Students learned about the long oo and short oo vowel sounds. We explored how the oo pattern can make different sounds, like in moon (long oo) and book (short oo). Students practiced this skill through word mapping activities, building word chains to notice sound changes, and reading decodable texts to apply their learning in context.

We also introduced the Heart Words floor, door, and poor. Although these words all have double oo, they make a different sound than we would expect. Students learned to “heart” the tricky part of these words to help them remember them.

Pink Shirt Day:

In class, we read One Light, a beautiful story about a little girl who spreads light and, with it, joy throughout her community. The story sparked meaningful conversations about how one small act of kindness can grow and positively impact many people. We connected this message to Pink Shirt Day and talked about how we can each “be the light” by showing and modelling acts of kindness every day.

Students reflected thoughtfully on what kindness looks like, feels like, and sounds like around us. They shared that kindness can look like including others in play, helping a friend, or offering a smile. It can feel warm, safe, and comforting. It can sound like encouraging words, compliments, and respectful language.

 

Science:

Students continued their investigation of light and took a closer look at how shadows are made. We learned that shadows form when an object blocks light and that shadows can change in size and direction depending on where the sun (or light source) is positioned. Students explored this concept hands-on by using small animal figures in the classroom to create and observe different shadows.

We also learned the meanings of transparent, translucent, and opaque. Students tested and sorted a variety of materials to determine whether light could pass through them fully, partially, or not at all. 

Math:

Students started a new unit on fractions! To start, we explored what a fraction is and used the specific terminology of a whole and a part to describe how fractions represent pieces of a whole. Students also learned about the numerator (the number of parts we have) and the denominator (the total number of equal parts).

We practiced these concepts in hands-on and fun ways: students played a fraction match-up game, created their own pizza and wrote the toppings as fractions, shaded images to represent a given fraction, and wrote fractions to match shaded parts of pictures.