Blog

We did it! It was an awesome first week of learning, getting motivated and becoming more organized together in 2026! Here are some highlights…

In Science class, we have been learning about the life cycle of plants through our wheatgrass growing experiments.

Congratulations to everyone for growing so much in this unit! (This is a great foundation for our upcoming studies on biomes, and as well there are many related wheat/seed/bread/yeast Bible connections.)

In Language Arts, we are continuing to learn about the parts of speech and have started a new novel study on the Trumpet of the Swan. We are reading the book, while listening to the audiobook read aloud, pausing after each chapter to debrief language and meaning, analyze character, and consider historical notes and science connections. Today students did preliminary swan sketches in preparation for a future “swan watercolour project.”

As well, students are really improving their understanding of parts of speech and having giggles along the way by doing Mad Libs.

In Social Studies, Crew, and Bible, students have been discussing human rights and moments in history where love and justice were needed most. Together, we are creating an encouraging class video that teaches Christ’s example of welcoming, honouring, and standing up for others in a context of anti-racism.

We discussed the ideas and some context for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech and learned about the story of Viola Desmond, a Canadian woman who took a stand against racial segregation in 1946.

Our next Social Studies unit dives into the story of what factors led to British Columbia joining confederation in 1871.

In Physical and Health Education, we have wrapped up our units on basketball and curling and are learning to practice safe calisthenics exercises and self-monitoring rates of exertion.

We’ve been keeping core skills in our rotations, but adding new bodyweight exercises and inviting students to personalize their own sequence of activities appropriate to their skills, fitness levels and goals.

Each student has been invited to show leadership in the gym by choosing an exercise to learn and lead. Coming up, we will be going skating on Feb. 2nd. Thank you for sending in those permission forms and $2 for renting skates if needed.

As a part of Career Ed., students were invited to apply and then informally interview for various class jobs to help our classroom run smoothly and stay beautiful. We connected to Colossians 3:23 and Jesus’ parable of the talents (bags of gold), thinking deeply about how we are invited to share our gifts purposefully and strategically—and with care.

It has been heartwarming to see everyone so excited to carry out their work—I am astonished at the generosity and care our students show!

Reminder:
We will have a quiz on Monday on multiplying 1-digit by up to 3-digit numbers (e.g. 4 x 654). Students will be challenged to show their ability to apply both the traditional method and box method. They will also show their understand through a math meeting with me using the play money and some other manipulatives.

*Scroll down to previous blog posts to see the multiplication tutorial videos if needed.

Students have the option to use their multiplication charts for this quiz—and doing so does not impact their score.

Try this…

If I have the amount of money shown, how much do I have altogether, and how can I share it equally between three people?

2 x $100 = $200

2 x $50 = $100

2 x $20 = $40

1 x $10 = $10

4 toonies = $8.00

4 loonies = $4.00

2 quarters = $0.50

2 dimes = $0.20

1 nickel = $0.05

Welcome back, 4A families!

Please note:

Parent-Teacher Meetings will take place…

January 22nd: 3:30–5:30 p.m.

January 23rd: 9:00–11:45 a.m.

*Booking will open on January 14th at 9:00 a.m. and close on January 20th at 3:00 p.m.

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We had a great, productive first day back in class to begin the new year.

During Crew time, students shared highlights from their winter vacation and then began thinking about goal setting. We introduced the idea of students each creating a SMART goal to focus on for the next few weeks, months, or the remainder of the school year.

In Language Arts, we did a deep dive into parts of speech and made the learning fun and applied by working with Mad Libs. Students enjoyed using their grammatical knowledge creatively while reinforcing key concepts.

In Math, we reviewed the multiplication unit we focused on before the break. Our goal is for students to feel prepared and confident writing a quiz on 1-digit by up to 3-digit multiplication next Monday. Students have been taught both the traditional method and the box method. Tutorial videos for both methods are linked below. Please check in with your child to see how they are feeling about these strategies so they are ready to progress to our next math topics.

We will do a multiplication quiz next Monday on questions such at 46×4 and 789×6. (Students are able to use a multiplication chart to support their recall of math facts. Please ask your child to show you the neat 9 times table finger trick they learned!) 

Students also spent time working on their Personal Interest Projects and learning codes.

I also shared some happy bunny news: Bachelor Bob has been successfully bonded with his two younger friends, Rose and Tulip! All the bunnies had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to visiting us in the classroom again soon—possibly as early as next week.

We’ve also had new lockers installed, which will help us stay organized. This is a reminder to please ensure your child brings their gym strip and indoor gym shoes so they are ready to participate in gym class tomorrow.

Finally, please check with your child to see if they still have an agenda. We no longer have extras available from the school, but you may wish to purchase one from a dollar store or Staples, or help your child create a simple alternative. Keeping an agenda is an important part of developing personal responsibility and communicating with families.

Thank you for your continued support. We’re off to a great start this year!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

It has been such a joy getting to know you all in Term 1.

Today we had a special movie premiere in class with popcorn as we enjoyed watching our class Nativity production together.

This film began simply as an experiment to see if we could make some costumes and green-screen work, and characters were chosen at random, but the little screen test footage with was cobbled together with iMovie and turned into something very special—but yes, probably 11 hours of editing. Hahahah. Whew! So, we will have to aim for shorter, pre-planned productions in the future. Yet, simplicity is so wonderful too!

Looking ahead to Term 2, every student is invited to dramatize scenes from the Bible and will be supported to do so. Here is one of our lovely examples of a solo production of Mary’s Prayer…

I wish you all a wonderful, restful break, and thank you so much for your kind words, cards, and gifts. The 4A class and families have been such a blessing to me. We truly have the most wonderful students and families.

Hello, 4A families!

Please enjoy our gallery of an incredibly special collection of artworks. The students in our class worked with so much creativity and heart to apply their understanding of the nativity story in making their own nativity scenes.

My heart just bursts to see these—every creation is a marvel!

They are lovely to behold and show creative problem solving, while symbolizing and celebrating this sacred story of the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Congratulations, everyone!

Your creative work is truly inspiring!

Hello, 4A families!

This is the last week before the holiday—and so much learning and excitement continues!

In Bible, we have been studying the Nativity story in the books of Luke and Matthew: please see the previous blog post (scroll down) for details on our approach.

We have been working on a dramatization of the story as well, using costumes, puppets and green screen technology. (I am working on using iMovie on my phone for editing and I import AI backgrounds made with Sora and ChatGPT).

This is a hugely time consuming editing project since we are starting the story with Zechariah and Elizabeth and trying to work in meaningful parts for every student—so thank you for your patience if the final movie isn’t ready until closer to Christmas—but I will email the link when it’s ready!) Above are some screenshots.

Reminders:

Tomorrow (Tuesday, December 16) is the Relove Market. Students are asked to bring a donation item. In exchange, they’ll be able to shop for one or two second-hand items as gifts for someone in their family. Please also send an extra reusable bag so they have something to carry their gifts home.
Gifts will be wrapped at school. Also, on
Wed, Dec. 17 we have Whoville Day at our school. So please come dressed as your favourite “Who”character from The Grinch.

In Language Arts, we are wrapping up our /k/ spelling unit tomorrow with a writing activity and self-quiz.

In Math, we are learning to multiply 1-digit by up to 4-digit numbers using both the traditional method and the box method. Scroll down to the previous blog post for the tutorial video.

In Science, we are learning about what plants need to grow and studying the lifecycle of wheat. We are growing wheatgrass in class and main connections to wheat in the Bible. For example…

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” — John 12:24 (NIV)

Hello, 4A families!

Congratulations to everyone for their hard work in making our Christmas concert a great success!

This month we have been reading the Nativity story from the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke, comparing what each book tells us about Jesus’ birth. Part of learning the story for our class has been going line by line in both Matthew and Luke to see what is really there…

We are seeing how Matthew highlights prophecy and lineage, while Luke draws us into the shepherds’ story and the wonder of the angelic announcement. Together, these two voices give us a richer picture—and they have sparked meaningful conversations and our own dramatizations in class.

Meanwhile, our room has is transforming into a creative workshop as students work on their Learning Coats, dive deeper into their Personal Interest Projects, and build their own Nativity scenes using found, recycled, and natural materials.

These nativity scene projects are due next Tuesday, Dec. 16, but students are welcome to bring them earlier if finished, or to bring materials to school if they’d like to keep working during class. Creating them entirely at home is perfectly fine too. *Remember, this should be a joyful, creative and low stress project that doesn’t require any new materials to be purchased. We have already seen wonderful scenes made entirely out of paper and cardboard.

In Math, we’ve been building confidence with the box method for multiplying a one-digit number by a number up to three digits—breaking big ideas into manageable parts.

In Art, the students have now finished their “Natural Textures” project, which helped them to explore new pencil drawing techniques.

And in Language Arts, we continue our work on storytelling and building vocabulary with a word study on spelling patterns that make the hard /k/sound.

As always, thank you for your support at home. Advent is such a special season of learning, worship, and wonder, and your children bring joy into everything we do.

Hello, 4A families!

Here are some tutorial videos I made to help students review their recent math learning. I hope this helps.

In Math for the rest of December, we are going to focus on doing multi-digit multiplication using both the traditional method and the box method. A solid understanding of place value and addition skills are needed for both.

There are several ways to make the hard /k/ sound in English including c, k, ck, ke, qu, ch.

Hello, 4A families!

We are in the middle of a deep dive into the book of Jonah. This book is a prophetic narrative, with satire, irony, and exaggeration.

For homework, students have been asked to present a faithful RETELLING of the story of Jonah to a family member.

How Did We Study this Story?

A goal in our class is to focus first on the Biblical text, in our case that’s the students’ NIV translations.

We go line by line.

We look up word definitions and discuss cultural/historical context.

The book of Jonah isn’t just about a big fish—it’s about God’s huge, surprising mercy.

After reading the Bible, later we explore some of the wonderfully creative retellings of Jonah’s story—while staying alert to what they have left out. (The students especially love watching the Lego Bible stories!)

Some children’s Bible versions of Jonah may be…

MOSTLY “FISH FOCUSED”: Making the story only about the excitement of big fish and treating the fish as the main character, misses out on the central point of God’s mercy.

OVERSIMPLIFIED: Teaching “obey right away or else!” misses the depth of Jonah’s journey through running, resisting, arguing, and sulking and God’s patience along the way.

SHORTENED: Ending the story when Jonah gets spit out and “saved”, leaves out the whole part about his continued reluctance and God’s compassion.

VILLAINIZING: Portraying Nineveh’s people as cartoon villains (especially without acknowledging their repentance), forgets they were people in a violent empire that God cared about and wanted to see change. The people of Nineveh model immediate full repentance when confronted—something Jonah could learn from.

GLOSSING OVER: Saying Jonah finally understood and was happy in the end of the story is not faithful to the original Bible text, which leaves actually leaves the reader with more questions and a thought provoking cliff hanger.

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.

And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

And the fact that end has no closure and no response from Jonah, lets God’s compassionate question hang in the air for us as readers to consider and apply to our own lives.

The book of Jonah is another way God shows…

He is who He says He is: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger.

Hello, 4A families!

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Here are a some dates to mark on your calendars for December:
– Dec. 9th – Christmas concert evening and matinee performances. Tickets can be purchased here.
– Dec. 17th – Whoville Day
– Dec 19th – Festive Sweater Day (last day before Christmas break; dismissal at 11:25)

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BUNNY NEWS! What does our class pet do when he is not teaching in the 4A class? Follow along on Bachelor Bob’s amazing time travelling adventures with this link to his new Instagram account, “Bachelor Bob, the Time Travelling Bunny”: https://www.instagram.com/bachelorbobtimetravellingbunny?igsh=MW55cnpzczBhbWVyeQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Lately in Math, we have been learning how to round numbers to the nearest tens place and hundreds place. We have added a “Rounding Numbers” Math Centre into rotation for extra practice.

As homework, each day students are asked to (1.) bring home their completed math work, (2.) briefly show and explain it to a family member, and (3.) finish any incomplete work they may have missed during class time.

If your child is struggling with rounding, you might share with him or her some YouTube math tutorials such as the ones below or go over the worksheets together.

Here is a copy of the extra practice sheets students will be using this week with answer keys. (You do NOT need to print or use these at home, since we are covering and marking them in class; however, this is here for your reference.)

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In Science class we have been learning this term about scientific questions, planning and structuring lab reports, safety and ethics in scientific inquiry, and how animals such as bunnies sense and respond to their environments. Today also learned about three mains states of matter: solids, liquids and gases.

We even enjoyed an exuberant states of matter game in the gym during which students ran around like particles who work together to demonstrate sudden changes of state.

Science Enrichment: A 4th State of Matter

Some students dove in to challenge themselves by learning about a 4th state of matter: plasma!

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Memory Verse Strategy

“…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”

– Isaiah 40:31

This term in Bible class, students have been learning more about what the Bible says and how to study it closely and meaningfully.

Our goals in memorizing Scripture are to help students grow closer to God’s Word, understand it more deeply, and empower students with transferable skills they can use for the rest of their lives as they read and interpret the Bible.

To support this, today we practiced a step-by-step strategy using Isaiah 40:31. Here is the process we followed:

1. Break the verse into meaningful chunks

We divide the verse into shorter lines so students can focus on one thought at a time.

2. Identify key words

Students highlight or underline the most important words in each line and discuss why those words matter.

3. Explore different translations

We look up how these key words are translated in different Bible versions. (e.g. We compared the NIV and ESV today). Students discovered that slight differences in translations’ wording can enhance and help reveal deeper meaning. (In the students’ NIV version it says “hope in the Lord,” while in the ESV version it says “wait for the Lord,” which means that one translation seems to emphasize trusting confidently in God’s goodness and promises, while the other seems to emphasize being patient and trusting God’s timing. Students are encouraged to think, pray, and check with their families to round out their understanding of each memory verse.)

4. Draw or symbolize each line in a Scripture Map

Students create simple illustrations or symbols for each line of the verse. This becomes part of a “Scripture map,” which helps them build a visual memory of the passage.

5. Build memory with both auditory and kinesthetic connections

Students create hand or body actions for each part of the verse. Both speaking a verse aloud while acting it out helps anchor the words in mind and body.