Mrs. Erickson’s Grade 4/5 Class

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had a good weekend! Although I am technically starting my leave this week, I wanted to post a week at a glance until the new teacher taking over is settled in. This week we will have the same teacher who covered in our class while I was sick last week. Being that I wasn’t able to come in on my last week, I will for sure be popping by this week to say my goodbyes! 💕

Here’s a look at our week:

Monday:
Intermediate assembly
New spelling words
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym

Tuesday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Final Environmental Education Zoom with North Cowichan

Wednesday:
Little buddies
Starting our video project based on the zooms we’ve been having with North Cowichan.

Thursday:
Library Day
Gym
Hot lunch orders are due today

Friday:
Spelling Test
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Upcoming dates:
📌April 11th: Pro-D Day
📌April 14th: 1hr early dismissal
📌April 15th: Good Friday (no school)
📌April 18th: Easter Monday (no school)

I hope everyone had a great spring break!
Here is a look at our upcoming week:

Monday:
New spelling words
Starting a unit in financial literacy
Fine arts with Mr. Poole
Gym

Tuesday:
Fine arts with Mr. Poole
Environmental Education Zoom with North Cowichan

Wednesday:
Finishing up our instructional writing books
Little buddies

Thursday:
Library day
Gym
Environmental Education Zoom with North Cowichan

Friday:
Spelling test
Fine arts with Mr. Poole
Mrs. Erickson’s last day

*A math learning snapshot will be coming home this week😊

Upcoming dates:
📌April 11th: Pro-D Day
📌April 14th: Early Dismissal
📌April 15th: Good Friday- No school
📌April 18th: Easter Monday- No school

Science snapshots went home today, make sure to check them out 🙂
I wish you all a happy and safe spring break ☀️

Good Morning Everyone!

I have just sent out an email regarding a classroom update, so check your inboxes! 🙂

Rainbow club is hosting a bake sale to support the SPCA. Thank you to all the students who are donating the baked goods!
Each item is .25 and will be sold this Thursday March 10 at lunch eating.

Here’s a look at our last week before Spring Break! Hopefully the sunshine continues on 😊☀️

Monday:
New Spelling words
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym
Fry Bread Presentation with special guests

Tuesday:
Story Telling and Bone Game presentation with special guests
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Wednesday:
Continuing to work on our “How To” Books to wrap up our learning of instructional writing.
Quiz on fractions/decimals

Thursday:
Library Day
Gym

Friday:
Last Day before Spring Break
Spelling Test
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Upcoming Dates:
📌Monday, March 28th- School back in session

Here’s a look at this week:

Monday:
New spelling words
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym- continue our unit on soccer

Tuesday:
It’s March already! ☘️
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Continuing our unit on non-fiction writing

Wednesday:
Wrapping up our science research projects

Thursday:
Library day
Gym- continue our unit on soccer

Friday:
Spelling Test
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Upcoming Dates:
📌March 10: Hot Lunch
📌March 11: Bottle Drive for new playground
📌March 12-27: Spring Break

Pink Shirt Day today! 💕

Happy Family Day everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend 🙂
Here’s a look at the week:

Tuesday:
New Spelling words
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Wednesday:
Pink Shirt Day! Wear pink to support 🙂

Thursday:
Library Day
Gym- continuing a unit on soccer

Friday:
Spelling Test
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Science Presentations will continue to take place this week as the students are wrapping up their work. So far 3 groups have presented and did great jobs! Ask your child all about their project and see if they can tell you some fun facts about their body system!

Upcoming Dates:
📌March 10th- Hot Lunch Day
📌March 11th- Last day before spring break
📌March 11th- Bottle Drive for new playground

When it’s a beautiful day, we take reading outside! ☀️

Happy Sunday!

Here’s a look at this week:

Monday:
New spelling words
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym
Valentine’s Day celebration

Tuesday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Continuing our science research projects- groups are getting close to being ready for presentations!

Wednesday:
Choir is starting back up

Thursday:
Library Day
Spelling Tests
Gym

Friday:
Pro-D Day- No school for students!

Upcoming dates:
📌Feb. 21- Family Day, No school!
📌Feb. 23- Pink Shirt Day!

Report cards went home today! Please return the envelope so they can be reused 🙂
Also, a class list went home today for those of you who are interested in doing up little Valentine’s Day treats/cards. There is no obligation to bring anything in, but that if you do please make sure to include everyone ❤️

Have a great evening!

I hope you all had a good weekend! Here’s a look at the upcoming week:

Monday:
New spelling words
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym

Tuesday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Wednesday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Thursday:
Library Day
Gym

Friday:
Spelling Test
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Bottle Drive for the new playground!

Report Cards will be coming home this week as well as a class list for those interested in bringing valentines cards next week 🙂

Upcoming Dates:
📌Feb. 18: Pro-D Day, No school for students
📌Feb. 21: Family Day, No School
📌Feb. 23: Pink Shirt Day

Our class is taking part in Global School Play Day! Students are welcome to bring board games to class tomorrow to share and play together! 🙂

Drinkwater Elementary is signed up to participate in Global School Play Day! We are joining over 1 million children in over 75 nations take part in this day. Please - join us in a day of play tomorrow February 2, 2022
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
-Plato

Can you believe February is already here!?
Here’s a look at this week:

Monday:
New spelling words
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym- Volleyball

Tuesday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Wednesday:
Groundhog Day! Any predictions?

Thursday:
Library Day
Gym- Volleyball

Friday:
Spelling Test
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Upcoming dates:
📌Feb.11: Bottle Drive continues! (Every other Friday)
📌Feb. 18: Pro-Day- No school for students
📌Feb. 21: Family Day- No School

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out 🙂

Behold, the final masterpieces!
“A Winter Night” 🎨

Just a reminder - Wednesday January 26,2022 is early dismissal. Pickup will be at 12:15 pm. See you all then.

Happy Sunday!

Here’s a look at this week:

Monday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
PE- Volleyball

Tuesday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Wednesday:
2 hr early dismissal: 12:15

Thursday:
Library Day
PE- Volleyball

Friday:
Spelling Test
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Bottle Drive for playground fundraiser

If your child is staying home from school, if you are able to please send me a quick email to let me know, that would be greatly appreciated 🙂

I hope you all had a good weekend!
Here’s a look at this week:

Monday:
New spelling words
Gym
Fine arts with Mr. Poole

Tuesday:
Introduce the research project on body systems. Students will choose their system to study.
Fine arts with Mr. Poole

Wednesday:
Finish our art projects
Métis with Mrs. Chow

Thursday:
Library Day
Gym

Friday:
Spelling Tests
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
We are collecting bottles to raise money for a new playground (this will happen every Friday)

Upcoming Dates To Note & Friendly Reminders:
📌January 26th- 2 hr early dismissal
📌Please remember to send your child to school with a mask and to be doing the daily health checks.

Today we started a winter scene art project. Here are some pictures of the artists at work! Stay tuned for the finished products 🙂

Today we started our unit on the human body. The activity was for students to work as a group to draw and label everything they could think of that might be on or in a body.
I encouraged students to work together and not be afraid to make mistakes. This was a way to see what they already know and areas they may be unsure of. After the groups were done drawing, everyone walked around the room to see the body diagrams. They compared theirs to the rest and had questions starting to form.
As a class we took time to write down the questions we had. As we work through the unit, the students will see if they can find answers to these questions.

Tomorrow we will start by briefly exploring the different systems in our body. Eventually students will get to pick a body system of their choice to explore and research.

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday 🥰

Here is a look at this week:

Monday:
📌New Spelling words coming home (tests will be on Fridays)
📌Staring a new unit in math- fractions
📌Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
📌Gym

Tuesday:
📌Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
📌Starting a unit/project on the human body

Wednesday:

Thursday:
📌Library
📌Gym

Friday:
📌Spelling Test
📌Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

⭐️ Reminders:

-Please send your child to school with a mask (possibly an extra mask or two in case one gets wet).
-Please let me know if your child is absent due to illness. You can do so by email, call or text. [email protected]

Please know, we are all in this together and I am here to support where I can. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns!💕 I look forward to seeing all the kids tomorrow! 🙂

It’s a snow day! ❄️ Have fun and be safe 🙂

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Due to the inclement weather today, all schools have been closed. We will continue to monitor the situation as the day unfolds and keep you apprised.

Stay safe and enjoy the day!

With some inclement weather in the forecast over the next few days, we wanted to remind you about the district policies around school closures:

SCHOOL CLOSURES
The closure of schools in the district may occur when we are experiencing severe winter weather conditions, or when it is simply unsafe to ask parents and staff to report to school due to hazardous road conditions. Again, we will determine by 5:45 a.m. whether or not to close schools in the district after assessing the situation with staff.
WHERE TO FIND BUS ROUTE AND SCHOOL CANCELLATION NOTIFICATIONS
Any notice of official closings due to weather will be posted to the Facebook and Twitter accounts.
We will notify local radio and TV media outlets prior to 6 a.m. with information regarding bus or route cancellations and school closures. News announcements usually begin after 6 a.m. They will not be notified about individual route changes due to conditions of specific roads.
The following local radio stations will be contacted about inclement weather notifications:
The Q! (100.3 FM)
The Zone (91.3 FM)
CBC (90.5 FM)
JUICE-FM (89.7 FM)
CFAX (1070 AM)
The following TV stations will also be contacted:
CTV Vancouver Island
Global BC
CHEK News
The school district website (www.sd79.bc.ca) will also be updated with a banner informing of any closures.

In all of these cases, the safety of students will be the first priority. Parents are equally encouraged to keep safety in mind when determining whether to take your child(ren) to school in the event the district is open during winter weather conditions. It is your prerogative to keep them home if you feel it is the safest choice.

Here is an update as of yesterday from our superintendent.

Over the winter break, jurisdictions around the world have seen a sudden change in the COVID-19 pandemic with the discovery and prevalence of the Omicron variant. This discovery, and the rapid spread of this variant, is again an impetus for the educational system in BC to respond.

On December 29th, the Ministry of Education and Dr. Bonnie Henry announced a staggered start to school after the winter break. This staggered start means that schools will be open and staffed on Tuesday, January 4th to welcome the children of essential health care workers and any student who requires additional supports. On Monday, January 10th all learners are expected to be in attendance.

This additional four-day week will give schools the opportunity to implement the new enhanced Health and Safety Guidelines as well as time to coordinate the continuity of learning plans for in-class instruction. In addition, it will allow staff time to create optimal learning opportunities in alignment with the new Health and Safety Guidelines.

Over the last year we have invested in upgrades to our ventilation at our schools, we have created a culture of mask wearing, and we have increased the availability of washing stations and hand sanitizers. These measures will continue in the coming months, but none are as crucial as ensuring your child(ren) performs the Daily Health Check .

The above measures work well to protect others if COVID is in a school, but the best way to protect yourself is to ensure that you receive your COVID-19 vaccination. With vaccination now open for 5-11 year-olds, we encourage you to register your child for their vaccine. For those of you who have already taken this important next step, thank you for supporting this highly successful intervention.

To support face-to-face learning of students of essential health care workers and those that require additional supports, we will not be able to provide additional classes or online learning options to the students who will be back in class on January 10th.

If you are wondering if you are an essential health care worker, or have questions about your school’s specific supports, please reach out to your school principal. For those students who will be off for next week, we look forward to seeing you on the 10th.

Lastly, but importantly, busing will be available for students starting on Tuesday, January 4th. If you have any questions, please contact Transportation, they will be sure to assist you with any questions.

Huy tseep q’u (thank you all) for your patience and understanding as we collectively work though this sudden change in our year.

- Robyn Gray, Superintendent

This has been a long overdue post. To start our compassion project we first looked at ourselves and our identity. We did several activities around this concept, one of them being “The Best Part of Me”. Students chose a part of their body that they felt was their best and gave reasoning as to why. This activity was inspired by the book “The Best Part of Me” By Wendy Ewald.
After they were done their write up, students chose a pose for the picture that they felt best represented their best part. These are now hanging above our whiteboard as reminders of some of the many great qualities we have!

We had a great time building and decorating our gingerbread houses today! Even though the houses experienced some “earthquakes” the kids never let it get them down! They just got more creative in their building 💪🏻
Thank you everyone for the contributions to make today happen 🙂 🍭 🍬

Check your child’s backpack- reading snapshots went home today 🙂

We’ve been learning about the fur trade over the last few weeks. As a wrap up project of our learning, students created their own trading post on Minecraft. Before building, they had to decide on a location in Canada as to where it would be best to build, based on criteria we learned for successful trading posts. In Minecraft they then had to choose the correct biome to build in, based on the location they chose. This action had students starting to rethink their chosen location for a better one.
Each student had to include specific things when building their trading post, such as a store for trading, a place to sleep, a garden, a place to keep your animals, and something in the trading post that will keep people warm.
These are only some of the pictures. Ask your child about their trading post when they get home!🙂

We had a Santa, some reindeer, and elves! Loving the Christmas spirit!!
Don’t forget, tomorrow is wear any Christmas clothes you have! I like to think, the more the better 🙂 🎄

It’s officially the last week before winter break… can you believe it!?!
Here’s a look at this week:

Monday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym
Dress like a Christmas character (Santa, reindeer, elf, etc.) 🎅🏻 🦌
Picture Retake Day

Tuesday:
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Superhero Project Presentation Day
Wear any and all Christmas clothing you have!

Wednesday:
Zoom call with a local non-profit organization
Wrapping up our Fur Trade Project
Wear Christmas socks 🧦 🎄

Thursday:
Last day to bring in food donations!
Library Day
Gym
Gingerbread House Making Day!
Wear your Christmas hats/headbands!

Friday:
PJ Day!
Christmas Movie Day
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Last Day before break

A Couple Reminders:
❄️ Please remember to send your child with a bag of candy and a toonie for gingerbread making. Please have those in by Tuesday 🙂
❄️The class that collects the most donations (non-perishable foods) wins a pizza party!
❄️Cold weather is in the forecast. Please send your child to school with warm clothing and an extra pair of clothes (for those muddy/puddle accidents).

Purdy's chocolate orders will be ready for pick up on Monday December 13th at the end of the day. Chocolates will not be sent home with children.

Happy Sunday Everyone! We might have some snow on the way tonight ❄️
Here’s a look at this week:

Monday:
Wear Red/White/Green Day!
Zoom with the Cowichan Green Community
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole
Gym

Tuesday:
Christmas Bling Day!
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Wednesday:
Grinch Day! Wear anything “Grinchy”
Continuing our Fur Trade Unit- developing our trading post projects!

Thursday:
An Ode to Mr. Poole- Plaid Day! (Wear plaid)
Library Day
Gym

Friday:
Ugly Sweater Day!
Fine Arts with Mr. Poole

Upcoming Dates:
📌Dec. 16th: Gingerbread House Making- notice to come home this week regarding this!
📌Dec. 17th: Last Day before Winter Break & PJ Day!

With snow in the forecast for this weekend we wanted to remind everyone about our inclement weather protocol (below). Please have a read so you know when to expect information (if needed).

****

With the winter season fast approaching, it is important to remind you about the school district’s procedures regarding inclement weather. There may be times when bus routes will not be operating as usual, or where schools in the district are closed. This letter outlines how these decisions are made, and identifies where you can find this information in the event of severe winter weather.

BUS CANCELLATIONS

The most likely reason for cancellation of bus service will be for severe winter weather conditions, in which case one or more bus routes in the district may be cancelled. We will determine by 5:45 a.m. whether or not to cancel one or more bus routes, after consultation with transportation staff who carefully assess local road conditions after severe weather warnings.

It is very important that you take note of what route(s) your child(ren) ride on.

WHEN BUSES ARE OPERATING DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER

When road conditions are poor, some of the less maintained and more dangerous roads (i.e. winding, steep) may be determined unsafe to drive. We recommend that parents/ guardians on these roads make a plan now with the Transportation Manager (250-748-1066 ext. 275) for a safer pick-up and drop-off location.

If buses are running more than fifteen minutes late, drivers will radio in to notify the transportation department. The transportation department will advise the Principals and Vice-Principals of the affected schools.

You can also sign up to get transportation department updates regarding route cancellations, changes, or delays on Twitter ().

SCHOOL CLOSURES

The closure of schools in the district may occur when we are experiencing severe winter weather conditions, or when it is simply unsafe to ask parents and staff to report to school due to hazardous road conditions. Again, we will determine by 5:45 a.m. whether or not to close schools in the district after assessing the situation with staff.

WHERE TO FIND BUS ROUTE AND SCHOOL CANCELLATION NOTIFICATIONS

Any notice of official closings due to weather will be posted to the Facebook and Twitter accounts.

We will notify local radio and TV media outlets prior to 6 a.m. with information regarding bus or route cancellations and school closures. News announcements usually begin after 6 a.m. They will not be notified about individual route changes due to conditions of specific roads.

The following local radio stations will be contacted about inclement weather notifications:

The Q! (100.3 FM)
The Zone (91.3 FM)
CBC (90.5 FM)
JUICE-FM (89.7 FM)
CFAX (1070 AM)

The following TV stations will also be contacted:

CTV Vancouver Island
Global BC
CHEK News

The school district website (www.sd79.bc.ca) will also be updated with a banner informing of any closures.

Finally, you can follow the transportation department on Twitter () for updates regarding bus cancellations or route changes.

In all of these cases, the safety of students will be the first priority. Parents are equally encouraged to keep safety in mind when determining whether to take your child(ren) to school in the event the district is open during winter weather conditions. It is your prerogative to keep them home if you feel it is the safest choice.

Let’s break out the festive wear!! 🥰🤩

Don't forget to come and check out the Craft fair at Drinkwater Elementary from 10:00 - 4:00 pm.

Our class, along with other intermediate classes, have been working on a compassion project. Over the past couple of months we have been learning about our own identities as well as those of others. We have started to move towards learning about what a community is and learning about some local ones. We are taking all of this learning and seeing how it connects to having compassion and showing kindness.
We have just started a research project today where students have chosen a famous person who has made a difference in the world. They will present their findings to the class through book creator.
Today we also had the opportunity to join a zoom call with a community member who works at the Warmland Shelter in Duncan. She explained how the shelter supports our community and students had the chance to ask questions. As a class, we brainstormed ways we can make a difference. The students came up with ideas such as donating money, food, toiletries, and warm clothes, giving our time by volunteering, and spreading kindness with smiles, waves and hellos.

Stay tuned for pictures of their research project presentations 🙂

Angel trees are up at Drinkwater Elementary. We have three trees (one in the front of the school, one in the intermediate POD, and one in the neighbourhood centre) Are you able to help a family this year? If so, you can grab a tag off of the tree, shop, and return the gift unwrapped to put under the tree.