The Grade 1 and 2s researched some Winter Olympic sports. Using the information they found out, they designed an event for the sport. The unusual part was the athletes. The athletes were potatoes! The Grade 1 and 2s invited us to bring our potatoes to the Potato Olympics. It was a huge hit!
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Valentine's Day was also the 100th Day of School. Staff decided to dress up as an older version of themselves to surprise the students. The Senior Kindergartens were greeted in the morning by an odd-looking Ms. Brown, walking with a cane, who claimed to be "Mr. Lister". They were looks of confusion and repeated statements, "You're Ms. Brown!" There were also detectives in the group. "I can see brown hair!" (The white wig didn't quite fit Ms. Brown.) A couple of students wanted to pull off the fake moustache. Ms. Brown was glad to have a height advantage. On the announcements that morning, Mrs. Williams stated that there were some older people in the building who might need to take a nap at some point. "Mr. Lister" rested "his" head on "his" cane and started snoring. A student crept up to try to pull off the moustache! "Mr. Lister" woke up just in time while the rest of the class giggled. It didn't take long for the too big, fake moustache to fall off all on its own. Later, the students used an app, Old Age Booth, to see an older version of themselves. After taking some initial pictures to figure out how the program worked, many students got creative. They put on 'reading' glasses, changed the shape of their faces and included other objects and poses. Sadly, some of their most creative photos were not saved but there were lots of laughs, enthusiasm and, most importantly, collaboration. Students made Valentine's Cards for someone special in their lives. They included a heart-filled picture of themselves. Near the end of the day, we had a Valentine's Day Snack that included cookies brought by Alexander, heart-shaped Jello jigglers and a "love" potion made with heart-shaped ice cubes. We watched a Valentine's Day movie and looked at all the wonderful Valentine's Day cards given by students. They loved looking at the cards they had received. Students also had a chance to buy books at the Used Book Sale. There were happy shoppers!
To help fill out information sheets to include in the Time Capsule, the Grade 4/5 class came to interview the Senior Kindergartens. Each Kindergarten student had one or two buddies ask them questions and record the information. The Grade 4/5s were fantastic at engaging the Kindergarten students and put a lot of effort into writing down the responses. Afterwards, the Grade 4/5s read to their buddies. It was great to see them interacting so well together.
At the beginning of January, there was an envelope addressed to our class. We opened it with glee. The students listened eagerly to the message contained in the surprise letter. It was from a school in Winnipeg. They told us about what they are learning and some of the activities they do. We decided we should write them back. To do so, we looked at the structure of their letter and tried to make sure we had similar aspects. We answered their questions and asked a few of our own. As a class, we went on a hunt to find large chart paper to write on. One student went by himself to the office to ask for an envelope. After we addressed the envelope, we realized we needed a stamp. Off the class went to the office! Noah was our spokesperson and he asked Mrs. Williams for a stamp. She willingly gave us one that Noah put on the envelope. We hope to get a reply!
We are fortunate to have a Roots of Empathy baby coming to visit our classroom this school year. She is an adorable little one! The class sat around the edge of a blanket that the baby was allowed to move on. Mrs. Masson teaches Roots of Empathy and engaged the baby's mom to tell us all about her daughter. Students were encouraged by Mrs. Masson to make observations about the baby and information about what she could do was recorded. Students were very respectful of the baby and watched her every move. For more information on the Roots of Empathy Program, please see www.rootsofempathy.org//
We read "Snowmen at Christmas" by Caralyn Buehner. It is a story about snowmen coming to life at night. While reading, we discussed the sorts of activities the snowmen did to celebrate Christmas. The book is also full of rhymes so we listened for them. Afterwards, we used our imaginations to become snowmen. They acted out the activities students suggested the snowmen could do to celebrate. Then, they drew a picture showing what they would chose to do if they were a snowman who came to life at night.
What might be better than pretending to be snowmen? Building one that you can eat! During our Christmas Concert, a special visitor arrived. There was lots of excitement! Everyone paused to look. Then they gathered around Santa Claus. Students wanted to show him pictures they had coloured. They eagerly listened and talked with him. If it was up to the students he would have stayed the whole night. Thanks for visiting our school!
In the fall, each student adopted a tree on the playground. We took a photo and the students sketched pictures of their tree. After the snow fell, we looked at our adopted tree again. Students talked about how the trees had changed and how they remained the same.
A presenter from Oak Hammock Marsh came to teach us about the plants that grow in a marsh. We looked at seed pods, pollen and a nest.
Together we brainstormed the parts of a tree, focusing on using trunk, branches, roots, and leaves. Materials were available for students to use to create their own tree. Ideas were shared about which materials would be good to use for the different parts of a tree. Here we are being creative:
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Heather BrownI teach Senior Kindergarten at Oak Lake Community School. Archives
March 2018
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