Due to the Gr.5 Swim lessons and Gr. field trip, this week’s outdoor days are a bit different! I am away Tuesday and Thursday but have experienced teachers stepping in for me.

Monday – meet at the picnic shelter for City Park beside Al Alderson pool.

Tuesday – Drop off and Pick up at FLE. Students will walk to Brae Island for the day.

Wednesday – FLE. Fun lunch.

Thursday – FLE

Friday – FLE. Community People and Places Walk.

We were lucky last week to get to see cute and threatened Western Painted Turtles, as well as taste homemade sourdough and visit the library. Be sure to return the FVRL library book to an FVRL location, not the school!

In case you’re interested, the turtles are nesting now at Aldergrove Regional Park, in the bowl area. Apparently, they come out of the pond to lay eggs in the sand around dusk.

The week ahead: May 19-22

• Tuesday – at the new park location. Meet at the picnic shelter building.
• Wednesday – at FLE. Early dismissal at 11:35. Students won’t be eating lunch at school. Welcome to K event. No library this week but please return ALL home reading books.
• Thursday – at FLE. Hawk Virtue Assembly – Patience.
• Friday – at FLE.
• *Note next Monday, we are at City Park, Langley City to accommodate the Gr.5 swim program. (Ks are not using the pool.)

There’s been some passionate play around slugs at the park! It’s great to see the teamwork and love of slimy creatures. Students are excited to be able to write more using their knowledge of letter sounds. Nature perfume-making was a fun way to get to know more about plants.

The week ahead: May 11-15

• Monday – at the park. We’ll learn about forces that act on objects in motion, and go on a story walk to see how capacity can be used to measure for a recipe.
• Tuesday – at the park. Teddy Bear picnic day. Students will learn about Bear Witness Day (Jordon’s Principle) and use our teddy bears for measurement activities as well as a snuggle and snack partner. Western Painted Turtle biologist Andrea Gielens with Wildlife Preservation Canada will visit us to talk about her career and of course, turtles!! Hopefully, she’ll bring along a special guest!
• Wednesday – at FLE. Treat day. Bring back library and home reading books. Career talk with Mrs. Epp.
• Thursday – at FLE. Walking field trip to Fort Langley Library at Salishan Place 10:00-11:30.
• Friday – No school for students. Professional Development Day.

The big excitement last week was all about caterpillars! There seems to have a big population boom this year! Our terrarium tank is now housing at least 7. We’ll see if any turn into cocoons this week! I’m using the student’s interest to spur learning about metamorphosis and patience, our HAWK virtue this month. As we get closer to summer break and birthday season for many, patience is harder to come by!

Students re-created the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in playdough.

The week ahead: May 4-8

• Monday/Tuesday – at the park.
• Wednesday – at FLE. Send back library and home reading books, and FVRL library card application forms. I absolutely must submit these on Wednesday for the cards to be ready for our field trip on May 14.
• Thursday – at FLE. FLE Movie Night (optional).
• Friday – at FLE. Community Walk or Gardening.

So far, I only have heard from 1 parent about career sharing. It would be great to have a few more volunteers!

Parents! If you have a career you are excited to talk about, please contact me to set up a date and time to come to share about it with the class.

The week ahead: April 7 – May 1

• Monday – at the park. We’ll make art using natural colours and materials.
• Tuesday – at the park. Spring word walk.
• Wednesday – at FLE. Library and book return. Fun lunch. Please return the library card form this week so I can submit them in time.
• Thursday – at FLE.
• Friday – at FLE. Walk.

Learning and playing outdoors with friends makes for joyful kids! We were lucky to get to meet Kung Jaadee at Salishan Place theatre. Her story I am Connected sparked some great conversation back in class. This week, we’ll spend an extra day outside, which is perfect for Earth Day week!

The week ahead: April 20-24

• Monday – at the park. Wonderful Worms will be our learning theme today.
• Tuesday – at the park. Owl pellet dissection with Gr. 2 buddies. Thanks to Jack and family for collecting all the owl pellets!
• Wednesday – Earth Day at Kwantlen Cultural Centre. Drop off and Pick up at Brae Island Regional Park (regular location). We’ll walk 1.5 km each way so please pack a lighter backpack. At the Centre, Sesmalot has organized learning stations with local environmental groups. If anyone arrives late, you can drive there.
• Thursday – At FLE. PAC Treat Day. Let’s see if our garden has sprouted any seeds!
• Friday – At FLE. Extra outside time – walk or gardening.

Great costume day! We were excited to find frog eggs and tadpoles at the park. Making craters like on the moon was interesting.

The week ahead: April 13-17

• Monday – at the park. Regular K classes are joining us for a froggy field day.
• Tuesday – at the school. Walk to Salishan place for a presentation with author Kung Jaadee.
• Wednesday – at FLE. Library book exchange.
• Thursday – at FLE. Used book fair – If you would like your child to be able to buy a book, please send a few dollars. Our visit is at 12:30-12:45pm. I would appreciate a parent helper or two if anyone is available.
• Friday – at FLE. Hawk virtue assembly. Gardening on school grounds.

We are starting at a new park tomorrow. Many of us will need an earlier start to the day to get through the traffic on the way. It’s all worth it once we get there as this park offers so much biodiversity to explore!

There is a Special Weather Statement for winds in the Fraser Valley tonight and Tuesday morning. LEAP policy is to stay at school if winds are over 30km/hr since branches could fall on us. LEAP teachers will be in communication tonight and early in the morning to see if the wind actually manifests. Please keep an eye on your email before leaving home tomorrow morning. We’ll only email if there is a change of location to learn at FLE instead.

The week ahead: April 7-10

• Tuesday – at the new park (meet at the picnic shelter) unless winds cause a venue change. Either way, we’ll be trying to create craters like on the moon using meteors (rocks) and imagining what a trip to the moon would be like.
• Wednesday – At FLE. Library book exchange. Bring “Let’s Read!” booklets. Fun lunch.
• Thursday – At FLE. Spring flower art.
• Friday – At FLE. Community walk or gardening outdoors. If anyone has vegetable seeds or bedding plants they would like to donate, we would appreciate them! Things that ripen early like radishes, snap peas, lettuce, kale and things that ripen in September like sunflowers, tomatoes, squash are best.

The week ahead:

• Monday – drop off at FLE, pick up at the park (see map emailed)
• Tuesday – drop off at the park, pick up at FLE.
• Wednesday – Field Trip to Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery for Learn to Fish Program. Dress for the weather!
• Thursday  – at FLE.
• Friday – No school for Good Friday. Happy Easter!

A very Canadian trio of activities will happen this week. We’ll be snowshoeing Monday, playing floor hockey Tuesday through Friday, and planting potatoes, too. That will take us into Spring Break!

The week ahead: March 9-13

• Monday – snowshoeing at Mt. Seymour. Bus loads at 8:30AM.
• Tuesday – at FLE. Principal’s Cup Floor Hockey at 1:15.
• Wednesday – at FLE. Book Fair. No library book exchange this week, but books can still be returned. Floor Hockey at 12:10. Fun lunch pizza.
• Thursday – at FLE. Floor Hockey at 8:30. Potato planting.
• Friday – at FLE. Floor Hockey @ 10:20. Hall Xmas Decorating Challenge Reward – Free Pizza lunch!

Happy Spring Break! See you at Fort Langley Elem. on March 30 prepared for a walk.

If you are looking for a fun, free nature activity, please join me and the YWES (Yorkson Watershed Enhancement Society) on Sunday, March 29 at 11:00AM to release 50,000 chum fry into Yorkson Creek by the bucketful. It’s a very kid-friendly (albeit muddy) activity that takes about an hour. No registration needed. Location: Derby Hills Park 98 Ave at 20500 block.