Div. 35 Teaches Our Little Buddies to be "Techies"

Recently, Div. 35 has begun to work with our little buddy classes on the computer. We have been teaching Mrs. Fitkall's Grade 1 and 2 class and Mrs. Funk's Grade 2 class how to navigate the internet to search for information and use this information to complete class activities. We are all impressed by how well the little buddies can use the computer. Obviously, they are future 'cyberstudents' in the making.

Of course, what would a "end of the day Friday" buddy class be without Mr. Mac and Mrs. Funk putting forth their best smiles for the camera.

We enjoy working with our little buddies on the computer, and hope to get more opportunities to do so in the third term. Now, if only Mrs. Fitkall and Mrs. Funk would stop canceling buddy time!

Riddle of the Week

Here is the riddle of the week. Post your answers by Thursday night and we will see who is correct on Friday. Thanks Matthew for sending the riddle. 

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt.

Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.

It lies behind stars and under hills.

And empty holes it fills.

It comes first and follows after.

Ends life, kills laughter.

What is it?

Div. 35 Goes Skating

On Friday, our class went skating at Planet Ice, along with our grade 2 buddy class. Mr. MacQuarrie and Ms. Wilson chose not to skate this time, as neither of them wanted to break anything so close to Spring Break. 

Some of us skated with our little buddies, though many of the grade 2s are better skaters than us. Everyone skated hard, even Mackenzie, once she stopped using the skating support to help her stay up. 

Everyone had a great time on this field trip, including Mrs. Funk and our little buddies.

Anti-Bullying Day

Today our class of 55 wore our custom made pink tye-die shirts to show our support to stop bullying. Mrs. Mjanes said that our class was a “sea of pink” when she walked in. It was a very cool way to support Anti-Bullying Day. In class this week, we examined some of the reasons behind bullying and what we can do to stop it. The consensus  in our class is that bullying is something that everyone can stop, and it needs to be addressed 365 days a year. We have thought of ways that we can commit to living a ‘bully-free’ life. What will you do to commit to a ‘bully-free’ life?

Div. 35 Tie Dyes to Stop Bullying

It’s so much fun, and looks so cool when your done it. I’m talking about dying, tie dying of course! On Wednesday we all brought white t-shirts to school to dye our shirts white and pink for Anti-Bullying day on February 23. We all started by going outside and dunking our shirts in a big buck full of REALLY cold water! The we got into our “Tie Dye Buddies” and one person held one end and one person twisted and put a whole bunch of rubber bands around it. We had high school kids at school to help too because they had an “I Day”. Clair, Jack’s older sister, and Kelsey, both former Yennadon students, were here. Between the freezing water and the cold air after only five minutes our hands were frozen. It was just a little cold! Later, when we were about fifteen minutes in, the teachers brought in the dye. Ms.Wilson was going all in with her hands and Mr.Mac was making people put them in and he took a paint brush and was moving the shirts around with the end of the paint brush. I think he was too worried about his shirt getting pink! If only he was wearing his yellow and black shirt (AKA the “Bee Shirt”) I think Ms.Wilson might have “accidentally” pushed him in! Next we took off all the rubber bands and hung them to dry on the string Mr. Mac hung. Then the bell rang and we all went home. That was an awesome activity that I have never done before! I hope to do it again next year. :)
By Sheridan 

Chinese New Year

We all know that once a year there is a new year but one other new year celebration also takes place. I am talking about the Chinese New Year, with events and activities all around Vancouver celebrating the year of the rabbit. According to the Chinese zodiac the year of the rabbit will calm down after the ferocious year of the tiger, and all of those born in the year of the rabbit (grade sixes) will have good luck and good fortune for all of 2011. One of the many activities in Vancouver were the fireworks that take place in the beginning and the end of Chinese New Year. The activities that have been taking place include the Chinese New Year parade that was on February 6 and the Lunar Fest, which is taking place from February 3-13. The Lunar Fest has many dazzling fish lit with lights to make it look like you are underwater. There is also instructions on how to make your own rabbit lantern to celebrate the year of the rabbit. For extra good luck this year, go to Chinatown and get red Chinese money envelopes containing Chinese money. Gung Hay Fat Choy (Happy Chinese New Year)


By Natasha

Riddle of the Week

A very lonely women decided to get a parrot to keep her company. She went to a pet store and found a parrot that she liked, she asked the shopkeeper, "Does this parrot speak?"
"This parrot will repeat every word it hears, I guarantee it," The shopkeeper replied. The woman bought the parrot. Three weeks later, the woman still couldn't get the parrot to say a single word. She returned to the store asking for a refund, but the owner still held his guarantee.
The shopkeeper spoke the truth. How is this possible?


Post your answers by Thursday night, the correct answer will win a prize. 

Winter Activities

    The fields are frozen, the roads are icy but that does not stop Division 35 from being active! Starting last week, every Friday afternoon for a month we are bused out to different locations in Maple Ridge or Coquitlam. It was our choice regarding where we went and what we would do there. The activities we could choose from included curling, swimming, bowling, rock climbing and gymnastics. I chose curling because it is something I have never tried and it is a Canadian sport. I have learned “curling talk” such as what is a rock and what is a T line. I have also learned that curlers actually are sweeping the ice so it is clean and smooth allowing the rock to glide further towards its target. We get to wear these funny rubber covers on the bottom of our shoes. They prevent us from slipping. It seems so boring when you watch curling on TV but it is actually quite fun when you experience it yourself. I look forward to learning and practicing more.
By Cassidy

Div. 35 Goes Bowling

On December 17, 2010, our class went  bowling! It was at Rev’s Bowling Alley.  Wow was it ever fun! We began our trip in cars. I was in a car with Shelby and Emma and it was supposed to have Mackenzie but she was too sick. Anyway, once we arrived at the alley, we had to get our shoes, personally I think we drove the shoe lady a little insane because lots of us couldn’t make up our minds about what size shoe we wore. Well, as soon as we got into our teams, the pressure was on! Once the music started I think Aiden got a little too involved! However, it looked like lots of people were really enjoying the music! All of the teams had their weakest and strongest players. In one team’s case, the player wasn’t weak at bowling but just too weak to keep holding onto her bowling ball (Abby). Everybody was concentrating so hard, except for those who preferred to dance,  and if the music wasn’t going, I bet you could drop a pin and hear it. After the bowling was finished, we all headed back to class, and Mr. Mac added up the scores. Of course, his team won! GO LANE 3! He saved all the bad players on his team, (Emma, Shelby and Hannah,) by scoring a whopping 197! That team will be getting a lame prize, (a half-eaten chocolate bar) when we all come back from Winter Vacation or at least they should!

Driftwood Santas

Ho Ho Ho Santa’s coming to town in Division 35. A few days ago Mrs. Lobel taught us how to make Driftwood Santas for Christmas. It was a simple and quick thing to do and probably a great gift for Christmas. To make your own Driftwood Santa there are just a few steps to follow. Step one is to find an unusual piece of wood and paint the whole thing red, for Santa’s jacket. The next step is Santa’s face -  paint a tan coloured circle in the middle of the piece of the wood. Then grab some white paint and use it for a beard that would go around the face as well for the trim of the hat. Now to add the finishing touches; paint a black strip across the bottom of the piece of wood, this will be the belt. Paint a gold square in the middle of the belt to represent the belt buckle. I bet now you’re thinking "what about the eyes?" Just paint two little vertical strips in the middle of the face. For the next step you need a glue gun so you can glue a nose just below the eyes and a mustache below the nose. You can use a wooden button painted white for the nose and white foam board for the mustache. So get everything you need to make your own Driftwood Santa and try it. I hope you will have as much fun as I did making it. Merry Christmas!
By Cassidy

Battery Recyling Public Service Announcement

The students in Div. 35 have been experimenting with a new application called Glogster.

Some examples are provided below.

Glog 1

Glog 2

Glog 3

Glog 4

Glog 5

Stave Falls Field Trip

Stave Falls Field Trip Recount 

The Stave Falls field trip last Friday was interesting and helped me understand more about electricity and hydroelectric dams. The field trip first started with a short movie about the water cycle and how water is turned into electricity. We were than split into 2 groups grade six’ and sevens. The small groups allowed the tour guides to talk and answer our questions more easily. The grade six tour guides name was Janice, she was very friendly and knew a lot about Stave Falls’ past and how the dam works. She encouraged us to look at many different displays. One of the displays contained possessions and information about the man who created the dam, his name was Mr. Milner. It was cool because Milner was our tour guides great grandpa. The next activity turned out to be the highlight of my day. There was a whole area of interactive displays for us to try. Some of the things the displays demonstrated were that gas and water could be turned into electricity and another is if you take one big step near a fallen power pole you would get shocked. At the end of the activity we were shown a very unique demonstration on how electricity is formed it is called the Tesla coil. 

All the grade six’ then followed Janice to the generator hall where we found a huge bridge crane, turbines and generators. She explained how generators, turbines and bridge cranes worked. 

Janice also gave us a quick history lesson about the actual building of the dam. The builders of the dam had to live in tiny cottages at a nearby town called Stave Falls so they could be right by the place they worked. We made our way outside and Janice pointed out that the big brown tubes are called penstocks. It was neat to see an actual penstock instead of seeing it drawn on a diagram. This field trip was my first trip to the Stave Falls Power House and with so much to look at and learn I would definitely make a return trip. 

By Cassidy 

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!!!

On Friday our class didn’t have a Halloween party like some of the other classes, in my mind we did something much better. No work!! Well actually we carved pumpkins, which is awesome too, and so technically we did no work. We all were told to bring in a pumpkin and a scooper. There is something I bet you a teacher has never said to you before. Then we drew on the face or design we wanted to carve, and took it outside, where the teachers carved out our top, and we started to de-gunk our soon to be jack-o-lanterns.

Once we had done that it was time to start carving out the front. There were sad faces, happy faces, mad faces, and a whole bunch of other faces. 

Once everyone had finished carving, we all took our pumpkins over to the fence and had a group photo. Mackenzie must not have liked her pumpkin, because she threw her lid at someone….Alright, no she didn’t, it fell off, right after she was saying how funny it would be if you dropped your pumpkin on someone in the front row! It was a great school moment.

By Jamie

We Must Run

Today I am going to write about the running we are doing in class. Mr. Mac said we are going to try to do a run every week. This includes the 12-minute run, the running club circuit and running down to the park. For the first time this week, we ran down to the Maple Ridge Park and ran back.

Some of us really like doing these runs. I do think doing these runs is really good for all of us, because they are building our endurance, which is what we need. But if only it could be the 6-minute run!

By Makenna

An Interview with Mr. Dumas

Today is Monday October 25th and today in the band program I managed to get an interview with our teacher Mr. Ed Dumas, this is what we found out.
1.Did you always want to be a band teacher?  Yes, since grade 9.


2.What schools did you go to as a child? Kindergarten: none, Grades 1-4: Northern Alberta, Grades 4-7: Glenwood Elementary, Grades 8-10: Westview Junior Secondary, Grades 11-12: Maple Ridge Secondary.


3.Were you good at music as a child?  Yes and no, I always understood music well, but I needed to overcome some physical challenges while playing trumpet.


4.How many schools do you work at? I have worked at almost every school in the district at one time or another.


5.How many kids are in the band program?  There are currently over 200 kids at 12 schools.


6.What do you do during the summer when students aren't at school?  I mostly REST, plus I do the Haney Music Camp and on holidays I go camping.


7.What is your favorite part of about teaching music?  I enjoy hearing the great improvements that students make.


8.What activities do you enjoy other than music?  I like curling, gardening and golf.


9.What instruments do you play?  My main instrument is trumpet. I can play most band instruments at least a little bit.


10.Should band teachers play many instruments?  Yes they should. Band teachers need to learn what is common between the instruments, which means they should have some experience on many instruments.


11.Are you planning on continuing to teach band for many more years?  YES I would also like to teach band teachers how to do this job.


12.I know you used to teach high school band, do you find elementary school band harder or easier to teach than high school band?  I think it is different. I used to teach more than just music at high school. Elementary school band is more focused on just band, but the students need more direct help.


13.How long have you been teaching band?  This year is my 25th year!


By Matthew  

There was this one time in band class....

Today is Wednesday Oct.20, 2010 and this is the first post about the grade 6 and 7 band program that happens every Monday at 1:45 and Wednesday at 9:15 and lasts for 45 minutes on both days. In band today we had a substitute teacher today instead of our usual teacher Mr. Dumas. Today we started out playing "Go Tell Aunt Rhodie" and we kept playing through the last two rests of the song. Aside from that we started to get better at playing “Cambridge Overture” although some of us got kind of lost halfway through, the TOC said that the trumpets were a little quiet which isn't good because trumpets are quite loud. After we played “Cambridge Overture” a few times we went on to playing “Name Those Tunes” which was a lot better because we have been playing that song longer then “Cambridge Overture”. We played “Name Those Tunes” for the rest of the class time. After that we packed up and headed back to our classes for recess. 

By Matthew A. 

First Cyberday of the Year

Here are some different perspectives on our first Cyberday of the year.

Perspective 1:

After taking a walk in the forest and eating a bowl of kibble, I was ready for my first Cyberday! I have to admit I was a little worried about how things were going to go, especially since I had to work in the same house as Hannah. Elluminate went great! I could hear everything and thought it was neat to see the math lesson on the SmartBoard. I liked being able to choose the order I was going to do my work. I worked hard all day and I even had time for a bit of a nap and a game of chase your tail. I can't wait until next week!

By Buddy Dhag (Exchange Student)

Perspective 2:

My first Cyberday was today, and it was great! I loved working from home but still being able to chat with my classmates. First thing this morning I was really nervous. I kept wondering about what could go wrong because Mr. MacQuarrie said something normally goes wrong but not to panic, but that still made me worried. I kept thinking knowing my luck something will happen! Either I would forget something at school or something would go wrong with my laptop. I loved Elluminate although I couldn’t always hear Mr. Mac (due to some technical difficulties at school) but I never missed anything that was said.  

First thing in the morning, I decided to look through my planner and see what I had to do today. I had grabbed my reading book from school in the morning (which I had forgotten) and I still had 15 minutes until Elluminate started so I worked on that. I had not done any work the night before because I wanted to see how long it would take me. Then Elluminate started so I listened to that. After that, I first worked on my math. Secondly, I did my HACE Cyberbullying web.  Thirdly, I worked on my science. I liked that I did not have to work to anyone else’s speed but my own and that I could do whatever work I wanted whenever. During lunch and recess I stayed inside beating my dad on the Wii Mario Kart racing game (we are tied 1-1). It was fun to work at home but also a little weird!

By Emma

Perspective 3:

Today was my first Cyberday and it was so much fun! It’s so cool just waking up, and not getting changed. You don’t even have to eat breakfast early, you just get your laptop and start working. It is so much fun! I get my work done faster to, because I can type way faster than I get write!

When I woke up I actually got changed because I had to go out with my mom to the hospital. She said we’ll be back by 8:30 but we got home at 8:35 right when Elluminate started. At the hospital my eyes were on the clock the whole time. We just made it time, and right before it started I logged in.

I decided to do the work in the order I wrote them down in my planner. That way I can just go down the list checking them off as I do them. Last night I did my math, then my first subject today was the reading activity about the person we have to do timelines and notes about. It was the second category of questions. My Canadian athlete is Chantal Petitclerc, she’s a wheelchair racer in the Paralympics. Secondly I did the bubbl.us activity. I read the article, and then put down thirteen bubbles not realizing I was supposed to do ten. I did that really quickly, and it was really fun. After that I did the Science, questions 1-4. The questions weren't challenging because it was just a review. And last I did this, my First Day Of Cyberschool writing activity on Yoodle. Overall, my first day of Cyberschool was really exciting and seemed to go really fast.

By Michael J.

Perspective 4:

Cybering is different for everyone. Some people do math in their pajamas's, some do science on their couch and me? I do it in my desk, at school! In the morning I came to school and got ready for Elluminate. Wireless was a little wacked but everyone was able to do their work at school. I did this last year, so I pretty much know the routine and I know sometimes there can be a few glitches at the beginning. We had to go through the order on the board but after I finished math, I was going through the work in my own way. First I did math, then reading, HACE, science and finally writing. I sat in the great hall with my friend Sarah and we worked on our laptops. I really like working at school on Cyberdays because I can work through my assignments at my pace. I can get my work done with no distractions and I can put good effort into it. I wish I could Cyber at home but my parents work so I can't. Today was a good day for me and I finished all my work just before the bell!

By Jolana

Creative Kaos Comes to Our Class

This week Shari Pratt, a local artist, came into our class. She owns Creative Kaos, which is an art school for kids and adults.This was an in class field trip. We were going to paint wild poppies. It was not an easy project. There were lots of steps and we certainly did not have a lot of time. All the hard work was definitely worth it. The finished pieces look amazing! It made everyone look like an artist.

Each picture had its own unique looks and features. To do this the class had to be split up. The grade sevens went first, and then after recess, we switched and it was the grade sixes turn. To paint the wild poppies, we had to first draw them out. When they were approved by the teachers that they were the right size, we outlined them in black sharpie. The next task was to paint the sky. They looked so cool because every level of the painting got lighter and lighter. Finally we got to paint our Wild Poppies! I would say that was the trickiest part of the project. All the poppies were fairly small and it was hard to get the detail and colour just right. In the end I think it all turned out great! Everyone was pleased with their art, and we all really enjoyed ourselves. I hope we will get another opportunity like this one before the end of the year! 
By Abby

Grouse Mountain Field Trip

On Friday, our eight o’clock am departure, led to a long trek up the side of the Grouse Mountain, also know as the Grouse Grind! As my class of 54 departed the classroom, everybody was excited. After the tiring hour and a half car ride to the North Vancouver's Grouse Grind, we headed over to the starting point of our two hour hike. Several students and Mr. Braun took less then one hour to reach the summit. The hike was pretty tiring for almost everyone, simply because the trail was in poor condition from the recent rain. Everybody enjoyed themselves and felt a sense of accomplishment with the exception being Ms. Wilson who sadly took the gondola up. Apparently she did have a doctors note excusing her!

Once we reached the top of our challenging hike our activities began. After the groups were made, certain activities were assigned for each group. One group headed over to the wind turbine, and was amazed at just about everything. From the glass floors to the massive propellers! Another group started at the  bear enclosure for two orphaned grizzly cubs. A third group went to the power point video on sustainability. All but one of the groups got to see a video on the two bears Kula and Grinder that provided interesting information about the research being conducted on the bears at Grouse.         

We all really enjoyed this trip from beginning to end. There were some funny and interesting parts about the whole trip. I think the coolest part was having the class's picture in the Times newspaper.  I hope as a grade six student that in my grade seven year we could do this again. It was a great experience!

Hannah

Conquering the Grind!

A New Beginning!

This is my second year in Division 35 and I am so glad that I am! I loved being in this class last year and when I heard that I would be in 35 again I was glad. When we where switching classes I was nervous. I didn’t know whose class I would be in because I am not in Cyberschool. I really loved this class last year because of a bunch of things, including the awesome field trips, all the fun work we did and of course my teachers!

I think it is a great idea to combine 2 classes together. When ever my friends ask me “How many kids are in your class?” I say, “54 why?” They are always surprised how many kids are in one classroom. I like the idea how we opened the wall so we can have one room for our desks and the other for us to work with buddies and friends. I love how on Cyberdays we get to sit at our laptops and work on our own pace. There is even some fun stuff happening on Cyberdays! Once we snuck into Mr. Bondi’s office when he was doing the announcements and we starting singing O’ Canada!

This year I want to do lots of field trips just like last year! The field trips I want to do again this year are: Swimming, West Coast Express/Science World, Bowling, Dragon Boating, Curling, and the best one of them all was Skating at the Richmond Oval, which was so awesome! This year I really would like to go to camp for 3 days because I have never gone to camp before.

I am so glad I am in this class and I hope this year will be more exciting than last year.... and that will be hard to beat!  By Jolana