September 2022

September 9th, 2022

Welcome back to school! It feel great starting a new school year at Bala Avenue Community School. This week students in all grades had the opportunity to participate in a variety of Lego challenges. During their first visit, students were asked to either create the first letter of their names or something that started with the first letter of their name. It was great to see the creativity that students brought to our STEM classroom.

For their second challenge, in collaboration with their group, students were tasked with creating the tallest free-standing structure possible. It was great to see how students were thinking about solving this task and many realized that they needed a strong and stable base in order for their structure to stand on their own. We learned about working together as a team and it was really great to see that although the challenge was the same, every group built a different structure.

Virtual students had the opportunity to participate in a scavenger hunt. After finding a variety of materials, they were tasked with using those items to build something that would be useful for humans. Minds were going and students created devices, buildings, chairs, musical instruments and more. In French, we're learning how to pronounce letters in French and our numbers up to 10.

Next week, we will be moving in to Design Thinking and helping students to consider ways of using this repeatable process as means of solving big problems that exist in the world. Stay tuned!

September 16th, 2022

Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students had the change to work on using their imaginations this week. After reading If I Built a House and If I Build a School by Chris Van Dusen, students were asked to create their own home or school and to describe which interesting features they would include and why. Imaginations were running wild and there we so many creative ideas that were shared. Next week, students will have the opportunity to learn more about how to design their very own home for a pet.

This week, students in Grades 2 to 5 had the opportunity to learn about Design Thinking and how designers solve problems for people. We also learned that we can't always solve problems on our own through our cup stacking challenge. It was a tough one! Using only string and an elastic band, students were tasked with creating the tallest tower in their groups.

Students had the opportunity to also take some time to consider problems happening in the world around us. They sorted their ideas on our idea board and next week, students will be taking some time to pick a problem that they want to work towards solving.

Virtual French students continued to practice learning letter sounds in French and we moved on to counting up to thirty. Students are encouraged to continue to practice at home using the links in the Google Classroom. We also continued working on our visual dictionaries which will help to support us as we learn new vocabulary this year.

September 23rd, 2022

Another great week has passed and we've certainly accomplished quite a bit.

The Kindergarten and Grade 1/2 classes were surprised this week with an envelope and a big problem to solve. Envelopes were dropped off with tiny animals inside. An envelope is no habitat for an animal so we're learning about our animals and what they need to survive. We learned that animals need: food, water, air and shelter. We started some research on our specific animals and have made some amazing drawings. Our build starts next week.

The Grade 2/3s, virtual class, and 4/5s were hard at work continuing our Design Thinking projects. Many have told the story of their problem through answering the 5Ws and How. With some research, students added to their knowledge and many have a complete picture of the problem that they are looking to solve. Next week we will be working to create User Personas and starting Ideation.

In French this week, students started working on their bioglyps which are a visual representation of themselves using symbols that allow peers to get to know them a little better. By doing this, we are also learning more vocabulary about the parts of the body, specifically the face.

Next Friday is Truth and Reconciliation Day and Orange Shirt Day. Staff and students are encouraged to wear orange as a way to honour the thousands of children who did not return home from residential schools, survivors, and their families.

September 30th, 2022

Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. We had the opportunity to further our learning through a powerful presentation shared by Ms. Mutter and took the time to reflect on the impact of the residential school system on generations of Indigenous Peoples. While today is the day we recognize, the work towards reconciliation must continue tomorrow and all the days ahead.

This week was a busy one in our STEM room. The Kindergarten and Grade 1/2 students were hard at work creating the backgrounds for their animal habitats. They also had the chance to use linking discs to see if they might be able to create their animal's habitats. The students were really creative with their ideas and next week we start building some of the features we will add to our backgrounds.

The Grade 2/3s, 3/4s, and 4/5s were hard at work on creating User Personas for their Design Thinking Projects. Next week we move into the part I love most about Design - Ideation! We will be coming up with new and innovative ways of solving our problem for our user. Stay tuned!

In French, we continued with our Bioglyphs and next week we will begin a short piece of writing about ourselves, following a model. We will also be trying to guess who's who as we read through them and learn a bit more about each other.

We've wrapped up the first month of school already! Next week is October and we have our Curriculum night on October 6th from 6 pm to 7 pm. Please join us in person for some Lego fun in room 210. Also, students are reminded that there is no school on Friday, October 7th and that Monday, October 10th is the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Interested in finding out what else is on at Bala? Visit our What's on at Bala page.

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