Orange Shirt Day

Today we celebrated Orange Shirt Day. We watched the following video (also been sent via email yesterday)

Some of the students came in with background knowledge of what Orange Shirt Day represents, others were curious why we were wearing orange today. The message we wanted to give was that EVERY CHILD MATTERS. Your child may want to talk more about the meaning of Orange Shirt Day and Phyllis' story at home.

Have a great weekend,
Danielle

#Free-ishChoiceFridayMath

Today we did a free-ish choice in Math! One of the activities that students were doing last Friday was combining their love for the classic hangman game and Math. We got a few demonstrations of how students were using Math as part of hangman and also came up with a few other variations to try out. The choice was this...which Math hangman game will you play with a partner?
Here are a few examples:

Hangman: Math Edition!

It was great to see/hear the students thinking of new ideas, trying them out, adjusting what wasn't working the way they wanted, sharing ideas with friends and using Math language to explain their thinking. This might be something you want to try out at home!

Until next time,
Danielle

Terry Fox Run

Today we did the Terry Fox run at school. We watched a few videos, read about Terry and had a conversation about him being a hero (in Canada and around the world). Even though Terry is gone, his efforts are still making a difference today! I really wanted the students to push themselves and run as much as possible, thinking about how Terry never gave up...even when it would have been easier to quit. It always feels so powerful when an entire school runs together in support of this important cause. It was special to run with, run past, get passed by all my kiddos...great job everyone!
Thank you to everyone who was able to send in a donation for the Terry Fox Foundation. It is greatly appreciated :)

This Heritage Minute of The Marathon of Hope reminds us that we can all make a difference. Terry Fox will live as inspiration to all who hear his message.

Writer's Festival Field Trip @MTYP

We had an exciting morning...it was our first field trip of the year! The 3/4 team went to see author Kevin Sylvester at MTYP as part of the Winnipeg International Writer's Festival! We were not sure what to expect of this festival. I think many students were thinking that it might be "boring". However, I think those opinions had changed by the time we left! Kevin was engaging and funny. He kept the students' attention and inspired many to want to write and draw more!

Here are some pictures of our day!

The stage!

Meet...Kevin Sylvester!

These are the books he has written!

There was a draw for a book...and we won. Helen went to pick up our winnings ...

AND get our books autographed!

Not only is Kevin an author! He is also an illustrator!! He went through a 'cartoon clinic' with us and this was his message: use basic shapes in your drawings, never erase, turn "mistakes" into something 'cool' by adding lines and darkening other lines to make them stand out. We are going to work on this because we don't need to make our art "perfect"-that doesn't exist! He wants us to stay loose with the marker/pencil, etc. and 'go with the flow'!

We've read The Super Duper Monster Viewer in class, and might want to look into the Neil Flambe series!

Thanks for being good listeners on the field tip...I'm glad you had fun!

Until next time,

Danielle

Friday Already?!

What a week!
We were super busy this week and next week is already shaping up to be super busy as well! You know what they say...time flies when you are having fun :)
*I have added some reminders to the bottom of the page that I hope you find helpful!

Here is a photo of our "Zoom" art bulletin board I was talking about in yesterday's post. We are calling this Zoom because we zoomed into our favourite part of our own work...then zoomed out to create the same look on a larger scale!

 

Thank you to the 3 students who have their work on display in the class. Sorry we couldn't fit all of them in the hall, but it is also nice to be able to see some of our work anytime we want!

FYI...

-Field Trip note went home today. Please sign and return ASAP (thank you in advance)

-Please help your child to remember to being his or her reading log (purple folder) each day

-Terry Fox note also went home today

Have a great weekend!!!

Until next time...

Danielle

Meet the Teacher!

Today was Meet the Teacher at school! It was great to meet so many parents as well as be reintroduced to many again! I'm trying my best to remember everyone...thanks for your patience:)

We really wanted to show our families some of the great stuff we've been working on since school started, so today we focused on finishing up a few projects and tidying up for our special company.

Families have been given information on our blog...please feel free to make comments on the posts. During our morning meeting we will look at the blog fairly regularly! Also-the students will eventually be the ones making the posts!

Working on letters to our families!

Ready to be read and taken home!

A Snicker of Art-named after the book we are reading called A Snicker of Magic!
What an amazing collaboration! Everyone did awesome work!

The final step! We used a zoomed in picture (which was actually the favourite piece of the student's own puzzle piece) and turned that into a large representation! If you get a chance check out the bulletin board in the hall (by the Music room) called "Zoom".
*Not all of our work could fit on the board so we have 3 displayed in the classroom :)
 I will try to remember to take a picture of the bulletin board and post it tomorrow!

 Thanks again for coming tonight. No worries if you couldn't make it...come and chat anytime!
Until next time!
Danielle

Zentangles!

After talking about different types of lines during our Community Art Project, we have decided to continue with the theme of lines to create some Zentangles! These are images that you can create by making structured patterns. Many people find this relaxing and enjoyable...and the results are really quite stunning. The Zentagles we are creating had the following criteria: make your art 'personal' (designs, patterns, lines that feel like you!), take your time and create something you are proud of because we will use it for the cover of our learning logs, and have fun!

Here is what we have been working on so far!

Can't wait to see the finished products!