Lochside Division 16

Welcome to our class website!

This site is meant to serve as a window into our classroom as well as provide students with resources and supplementary learning materials.   

The Extra Resources page contains many wonderful resource links available through both the Saanich school district or government of BC websites.

Please use this website along with classroom emails to stay informed during the school year!

October 30

We've had a great week filled with some exciting applied skills activities! The first of these was a roller coaster STEM challenge. Students were placed in groups of three or four and given eight sheets of paper, one metre of tape, and a table tennis ball. Their challenge was to create a roller coaster that was both creative and functional! Students drew their designs on paper but made modifications throughout the building process. It was great to see students collaborating and problem solving during this fun activity!

Students also had the opportunity to explore two different technology activities. The first was with Ozobots. These great little devices are designed to follow a track, read codes, and respond accordingly. Students created Trick-or-Treat routes for their bots to follow! The second was an introduction to Minecraft Education. We used the app to create a Halloween-inspired village. It was a great opportunity for some students to share their expertise while giving others the chance to try something new. Students also learned that when our Wi-Fi can't handle a whole class of users, we have to be flexible and adapt! :)

In other news, the class has been working on sentences in literacy. After working through concepts like subjects, predicates, and verbs, we've moved on to expanding sentences. Students are learning to expand their ideas by answering questions like who, what, when, where, why, and how, and then choosing the detail or two that sounds best. Reminding your child to always start with a capital letter and end with the correct punctuation would be a great way to support our work on this unit.

Some other highlights of the week include:

• Finishing up our Zentangle pumpkin art

• Grade 4 FSA assessments

• Buddy flashlight reading

• Grade 4 place value quiz

• Halloween costume parade

Please remember that next week we have our early dismissal days and parent-teacher conferences. I'm looking forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress.

Thank you, have a great weekend, and Happy Halloween!

October 16

Students enjoyed a short but jam-packed week!

We continued our Social Studies unit on government with several engaging lessons. To begin, students brainstormed current issues in BC through a whiteboard activity and considered which issues mattered most to them. Topics such as the environment, housing, and hospitals sparked some thoughtful discussions. Students then had fun creating a fictional political party, complete with a party leader and platform!

Next, we participated in the Student Vote for municipal government. Thank you to everyone who helped their child think through the choices on the planning sheet that went home. If you weren't able to get to it or found yourself overwhelmed by the MANY options, don't worry! This activity is simply an opportunity to practise the democratic process.

Our final government lesson took place today in the Learning Commons. Students participated in a slideshow and class discussion about the upcoming provincial election before exploring Google Classroom, where they were introduced to links for provincial party leaders and local candidates. Our next step will be to research these options further in class and consider which candidates and parties best align with their views. Thankfully, the provincial election offers a much more manageable number of choices than the municipal election!

Some other highlights of the week included:

• Literacy: Working on identifying sentence fragments and run-on sentences.

• Buddies: Creating nature-inspired art name tags beyond the fence with their younger buddies.

• Grade 4 Math: Exploring expanded form and comparing numbers.

• Pumpkin Art: Creating a seasonal art project that should be posted on our class website next week.

• Spy Ball: Playing this fun gym game! Ask your child to explain how it works.

• Our first trail walk: Exploring beautiful Outerbridge Park! Before setting off, we discussed road safety, community etiquette, and some of the goals of our trail walks.

Have a great weekend!

October 9

What a week we had!  Our field trip to the fire hall went very well.  Students worked their way through various stations including: electrical safety, fire extinguisher usage, and even using the fire hose!  My personal favourite was a tour of the fire trucks and fire suits.  I hope you've discussed some of this at home and have talked about your fire safety plan.

Todays field trip was also outstanding!  Our tour guide, Richard, kept the entire group engaged and was very knowledgeable about parliamentary history in BC.  The students even got to tour of the legislative chamber.  This is usually closed to the public so it was a great opportunity!  Some other highlights of the tour were the beautifully painted dome, carved canoe, and many other historical artifacts.  Students also enjoyed the scavenger hunt on the grounds!  Please ask your child about their field trip highlights.

Some other highlights of the week include:

*Continuing on with our writing unit with a focus on sentences.  Students have learned to identify subjects, predicates, and verbs as well as the difference between fragments and run-on sentences.

*Buddies!  Students had their first buddy session this week.  They worked on Venn diagrams to find out about each other.

*Soccer in gym.  We have started small sided games!

*Government in social studies.  Students have learned about the three levels of governments as well as had a discussion about political parties.  **Your child is bringing home a planning sheet for the upcoming municipal election.  Students will be participating in a student vote to practice and think more deeply about the democratic process!  Please help them have a look at this over the weekend.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and I look forward to seeing students back on Tuesday next week!

October 5

We have a very busy week with TWO field trips this week!  First up is our trip to the fire hall tomorrow.  Please ensure your child gets to school on time as we will start loading busses early.  On Friday, we have our trip to the parliament buildings.  I'm looking forward to tying this in with our current unit on government as well as the upcoming elections!

Some other highlights from last week include:

*Learning about the three levels of government as well as the main responsibilities of each.  

*Orange Shirt Day and related activities.

*The Terry Fox Run

There were some heavy themes last week and I appreciate any conversations you may have had at home around them.

September 18

We’ve spent these first weeks getting to know one another, establishing classroom routines, beginning new units of learning, and taking part in some fun STEM challenges!

Students also completed a survey to help us get a sense of how everyone is feeling about the new school year. The survey included questions such as, “What is your favourite subject?” and “How do you do your best work?” Check out the pictures on our class website to see some of the results!

In literacy, we’ve started a reading comprehension unit focused on reading strategies. Our first area of focus is making connections. We’ve also started our home-school journals, The Book of Thoughts. These will be coming home today for you to look at and respond to. Please take a moment to read the inside cover of the journal, as it contains some important information about the activity.

We’ve also started a new read-aloud, The Lost Library. Read-aloud time takes place throughout the week and is shared with Mr. O’Connor’s class.

Some other highlights from the week include:

• Starting our soccer unit in gym. So far, we’ve been working on ball control and passing.

• Lego Art: Students are creating Lego versions of themselves to display in the classroom.

• Starting our government unit in social studies. So far, we’ve been discussing the difference between rules and laws.

• Figure Me Out math activity.

• Library orientation, including a fun game of Kahoot!

• And so much more!

It’s been great getting to know our new families and welcoming back those of you who were with us last year. If you haven’t had a chance to swing by the classroom yet, please do!

I’m also looking forward to seeing families at our Meet the Teacher Open House on Thursday, September 24, from 5:00–5:30 p.m.