Robin Hood, book making, and more fun with our buddies

What a day!  First we went to Robin Hood at Carousel Theatre on Granville Island which was fantastic, and then we were able to share our books with our grade one buddies.  Also mysteriously Santa had left a bunch of packages in our room for them and they had some  for us.  Our buddies were thrilled with their bells and they also loved your books that you had made.  Gagan was also happy because she had wanted a bell as well and now she has one.  She also nicely gave her buddy her beautiful book.  Your books are gorgeous and I hope that you will make lots more! 

buddies etc.

I am a little behind on my blog. It's been busy!  We had the bake sale for UNICEF.  We have sold lots of journals for the Nepal Library Foundation and are still having our raffle for one and selling lots of raffle tickets.  You did amazing War and Peace Newspapers!  You were awesome performers of the poem, Voices, at the Remembrance Day assembly.  We had a great time at Orpheum at the Vancouver Symphony performance and Thursday, we are off to Robin Hood!  And of course I had to do report cards!  Oh and I forgot all those food items you have collected for the food bank.  Remind me to take a picture!

Right now we are making picture books!  We had so much fun with our buddies last week.  You guys are born teachers!  Here are a few pictures of you and your buddies! 

what's up with Division Two

Now I know I promised to put a few things on this blog!  First of all here is the link to UNICEF to the grade six students who are having a bake sale to benefit UNICEF.  We are also going to sell paperblank journals to help the Nepal Library Association.  This group provides libraries and internet connections in one of the world's countries with the lowest literacy rates.  The grade sixes are also doing research into what services our community provides to help children meet their needs.  We feel very fortunate that organizations such as Sunset Community Centre and the YWCA bring programs right to our school. 

The grade seven's have been learning about life in high school with presentations about JO's mini-school and tomorrow about Ideal School at Churchill.  

We have done some fun things in the last while, visiting the downtown library, performing at the Remembrance Day ceremony, and doing a workshop on digital photography for two Monday mornings.  Apparently our slide shows that were finished are already up so if you remember our code you can have a look at Code Canada.  I am having trouble doing so right now. 

Here we are at the library in the photograph!  Remind me to take my camera to the symphony!

War and Peace

  Next week we will observe Remembrance Day and I always like my class to learn a bit about why we observe this day.  The closest I think I have actually felt to war was on September 11, 2001 when there were terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.  In North America we have been very lucky and this was the closest terror had come in my life time to me even though it was still far away.  It was such a sad day and many lives were lost.  That day has had many effects.  It is one reason we have so much security now when we fly. I am including a video link for you here.
   Four years ago I went to London on July 7, 2005.  I took a train from the airport to Paddington Station and then I was going to take the subway to Waterloo Station where I was leaving to go to France the next day.  When I got to the Bakerloo line the trains had stopped.  Later I found out that there were several trains and a bus that were bombed.  If I had been just a few minutes earlier I could have been a bomb victim as the next station to Paddington going to Waterloo was bombed probably just as I walked into Paddington.
  It was one of the strangest days of my life as we really didn't know what was going on.  I understood a bit  how people in New York must have felt on September 11.  People in London were amazing partly because they are more used to terrorist bombings (though not to that extent of that day) as well as having been directly affected by bombing in the Second World War.  Again I felt how lucky we are in Canada.
  But many of you have parents who have experienced war and have come to Canada seeking peace.  I think it's very important that we learn and think about war and peace. Check out the link for Remembrance Day for some good ideas of what we can do.  Another great link on Peace is this one.

Saying good-bye to Hannah

It's always sad when someone has to move and we felt sad to see Hannah go on Friday.  Hannah moved to Vancouver from the Philippines this summer but she really got involved at Trudeau, even joining the soccer team.  We were really proud of Hannah when she took part in a skit in front of the whole school at Olympic Torch Relay Assembly.  We really hope she likes her new school in New Westminster.  It is not easy changing schools but Hannah has a great attitude and we know she will do well.
Earlier Katherine moved to Moberly School.  We had hoped she might be able to stay but her family decided it was better to go nearer to where they now lived. 

Science links

I just found a useful website for you grade seven scientists which goes with our text.  I even found a tree identification guide.  How useful is that?  Here is the link for grade six scientists.  If you look a bit you can even find quizzes to practice.  Wonder what that interesting creature is at the beginning of the article.  Can you identify this tree which is outside the front of the school?

Trudeau's Torch Relay etc.

Well I thought our torch relay was really impressive!  I was really proud of our performers at the assembly.  All the teachers were commenting on how well you did plus I knew that all the rest of you could have done a great job as well if you had had the opportunity. That was an amazing banner that Aghilon and Patricia made, and our flag bearers did a great job representing Quebec.  Rajan did an excellent job of lighting the cauldron.  All in our I loved our event!

Congrats to our Students' Council executive.  I think the class did a good job of choosing.  And I am really impressed with our junior boys soccer team, four members from our class, who are now the city champions!  I think this is the first time a Trudeau team has been the city champions so that is really impressive!

I think we have had a really good week!  Well done!

Olympic Torch Relay

As you know the Olympic Torch Relay is currently taking place in Greece  but on October 30-this Friday, it starts its journey in Victoria after having been flown from Greece.   If you go to this website 
you can follow its journey across Canada, find some of the stories of the torchbearers.  For instance, I learned that in the Victoria area it will be carried by bicyclists and rowers.  Victoria is popular with cyclists and the 2008 Gold medal winning  mens' rowing team will be the torchbearers as they row across Elk Lake, a popular spot for rowers to train.  Great information and video on the Olympic torch lighting in Greece and the relay there is provided by CBC.  Here you can find out exactly how far north, south, east and west the torch will travel in Canada! 
Here's an article about the one of the Greek torchbearers.  If you want to follow the torch across Canada here's a link.
I wonder who our torchbearer will be in the Trudeau relay on Wednesday.  Will we get our banner made?  Stay tuned for more answers!

Lighting the Olympic Torch

Wow!  They just lit the Olympic torch in Olympia.  You can watch the lighting of the Olympic torch here now. This is exactly what we read about yesterday.  I didn't realize that they usually don't use the ancient temple for the lighting for the winter games but due to a fire it's being used for ours.  Note the torchbearer is wearing those mittens!  I hear they are selling rapidly.  Anyway to read more go to the The Vancouver Sun.

Division Two is going to the Writers' Festival...

Just thought I would do a quick blog about the Writers' Festival.  Thursday we will be going to Granville Island to the International Writers' Festival.  We will be seeing Tim Wynne Jones and Gordon Korman which is why there are links to these writers' websites.  I hope we have a great time.  I am looking forward to taking you to one of my favorite places, Granville Island. 

The Olympic Torch Relay

I am a bit behind on my blogging. That must be because I have too much marking to do. I am wondering who is going to find out when the Olympic torch is going to reach Canada. Well check out this link and you will find the answer to the Olympic question of the week!

At the left you can see the new silver medal that Para-Olympics athletes will receive.  I wouldn't mind one of those.  How are they different than past Olympic medals?  Read this article to find out! 

One of the things that we are all going to be thinking about now and the months that follow is whether the Olympics are good or bad for Vancouver.  To host the Olympics is very expensive.  Is this the best use of money?? What do you think?

Me to We

I am jealous of several of our students who were able to attend the big me to we rally today. I am looking forward to hearing all about it! Here's the link to see a little bit of what they experienced!

Monday...

Things I need to do today-take more pictures of Division Two. I can't believe we have only been in our new class for two weeks! We seem to have covered lots of territory. The grade sevens are starting their first research project about the day they were born. What was happening? In the meantime the Grade Sixes are going to start work on the United Nations rights. I love grade six social studies and I am sure I will grow to love grade seven social studies as well. The other excitement today is that we will have a new room arrangement. Wonder how that will go? I read lots of books this weekend. One was called Taken by Norah McClintock. If you like mysteries you will like this one.

Our New Blog

On Monday, Division Two finally moved to their new classroom. The year started well with a P.E. period right away and an afternoon visit from author Peter Kujawinski and his wife, musician and songwriter, Nancy. It was a magical afternoon as we learned more about Dormia which Ms. Kezar is reading aloud to the class. Once you have gmail accounts you will be able to post comments about the visit or the book, Dormia!