This month we started our new read aloud book: “Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher.¨ It’s about a kid who was running away from a girl, and found a magic shop. He was given an egg that was glowing different colours. He didn’t believe it at first, but it just so happened to be a dragon egg. So he has to learn how to raise a dragon baby, and the dragon keeps getting him into trouble! We think that the dragon is going to get really big and break their house. Jeremy might have to set the dragon free.

We are also learning about legends and writing our own. We have been reading some legends like “Cat and Rat” a Chinese zodiac legend by Ed Young and “Rainbow Crow”.

Passion Project Share Fair

Passion Project Sharing night was fun! There was snacks and drinks. Lots of people came both nights. All of the students did very well at presenting. Some people even brought models and examples of their topic. Nolan from Rm 27 even brought in his gecko Enigma!

Overall, we learned new ways to do a presentation, and we all had a really good time.

Grade 4 Swimming

This year the grade 4´s 1st swimming class was lots of fun! We used flutter boards and something happened, so we got to watch the lifeguards in action! We went to the lap pool and did activities and we were at swimming from 1:00-3:00pm. On our 2nd day of swimming, when we arrived at Pan Am Pool, we did the same but sadly we didn’t go to the Lap Pool. We practiced some diving and somersaults.

First Outdoor Learning Session

We got to go outside last week. We got to play Oh Deer, it was so much fun and the best part was we got to make a fort, and it was made out of tarps, sticks and bungee cords. We can’t wait until it warms up so we can go out again.

Science Rules!

In Science we started Chemistry, Mrs. Toulman showed us a video about what Chemistry is. Ms. Jessica from U of M’s W.I.S.E. program (Woman in Science and Engineering) came to our class and taught us about chemical reactions, we had a ziplock and we mixed two substances together inside the ziplocks and it expanded a lot – it almost exploded! We also made bouncy balls and molded it by rolling it around our hand, it didn’t work for some of us and made slime instead. We had lot of fun making it.  Some of us made different colored bouncy balls and slime. We could choose clear, red, or green, those were the colours they had.

The Arts

In Arts this month we made our own replica of a Ted Harrison painting. Our paintings were a picture of some outdoor scenes with lots of colors. We painted it with hot and cold colours to represent the snow and sky. Then we outlined it with sharpie.

In dance we have learned a dance with some easy steps and hard dance moves. In dance we also did a crazy workout to get ready to dance. We all appreciate our dance teacher and she does a great job! We also have a dance club which is really exciting because they get to enter competitions and get to do a lot of cool stunts.

This term in Genius Hour I chose to make a computer game. During the process of making this game I had some complications, for example I was starting from scratch with little to no knowledge about how to make a game or coding in general. I had to do a lot of researching and I had to decide what type of game I would make. Once everything was done and completed it was fulfilling knowing that I had successfully made my game. All in all it was a very fun experience and I would recommend it as long as that person picks something they are passionate about.

By: Shayne

I chose watercolor painting for my Genius Hour because it would give me more time to practice and have time to learn more about water and what tips and tricks I would  inherit through trial and error. Genius Hour was peaceful, giving me time to do what I loved during school hours. Genius hour is something that all depends on your choice of topic. You have to pick a topic or goal that you’re really interested in, so you enjoy it as much as did. It gives you a chance to learn something or act on something you are really passionate about.

By: Maddy

January 30, 2019

Dear Earl Grey Families and Friends,

Do you eat junk food?  Do you think junk food should be allowed at school?  We don’t!  Let us tell you why we feel this way.

One reason is that junk food has a lot of sugar in it.  Sugar gives you energy but your body uses it very quickly.  It does not give you the healthy energy you need to be a learner at school.

Another reason is that too much sugar is not good for your teeth.  You might get a cavity and have to go to the dentist to get your tooth fixed.  A drill in your mouth can be scary.  OUCH!

One more reason to leave junk food at home is some foods contain allergens.  For example, some chocolate products contain nuts.  If you bring it to school, you could accidentally make someone sick.

In closing, these are the reasons why we feel that junk food should not be allowed at Earl Grey School.  We hope that you will consider sending healthier foods after reading this letter.

Sincerely,

Room 22

Room 21 is hard at work creating an expert book with information on their community. We have been busy planning and writing our ideas to create fabulous books that will show all our knowledge. The next step is to bring in science and build our communities using different types of materials.

Stay tuned for these amazing projects.

Room 16 read the article, “An ode to Wolseley by Alison Hanks” which appeared in the Leaf Newspaper, November 2018.   We used this article to find examples of how the reader caught our attention with a bold beginning and wrapped it up with a good ending, descriptive language, rich words, how the author expanded ideas and provided many examples and reasons for why she celebrated her neighbourhood.    We read another article from the Metro paper about the Westwood neighbourhood and compared both articles. Together we wrote a shared piece of writing about the Earl Grey neighbourhood.  We reread this many times and revised it each time until we were happy with the final piece. 

________________________

Want to know how to pick out a good neighbourhood?  Well its got to have friendly people sharing sidewalks, good schools, parks, businesses, accessible transportation and wildlife.   The Earl Grey Community has it all!

There’s a high chance that you’ll see excited children walking to school bursting with conversations.  Listen closely and you might hear children jabbering about their latest activities, playdates or upcoming weekend adventures.  Our neighbourhood is full of friendly people ready to give you a smile as you pass them on the sidewalk.   People are quick to help other people shovel snow and rake leaves.  It’s a place where people look out for each other.    It’s a community of many talents.

This community is culturally diverse with people from all over who speak different languages.    People from many different countries all over the world have chosen to live in this area and proudly call it home.  We know this because refugees and new immigrants in our country find homes to live in and go to school.  This is a multiage active neighbourhood with young and old people and everybody in between.

Don’t have a car?  Take a walk down any street, like Corydon for example, one of the main streets in this community, and you will see a variety of people walking, biking, scooting on scooters, driving or standing at bus stops waiting to catch a bus.  This area affords its residents with many different transportation options.    It’s not uncommon to see parents pulling children on wagons or sleds in the winter.

Squirrels roam free.  There is a high possibility you’ll see them skittering from tree branch to tree branch darting from yard to yard. You might see an occasional rabbit.  Cats prowl around too until their owners bring them in. Many pet owners can be seen on sidewalks walking their dogs.  On rare occasions you might see a cat being walked on a leash.  More often though you might see a cat resting on your porch.

Another attractive feature of this community is the trendy cafes, coffee shops, bakeries, ice cream shops, grocery stores, convenient stores, flower shops, libraries and bookstores, gas stations, antique stores, barber shops, salons, hardware stores, and clothing boutiques.  We are within a short distance to large department stores and a shopping mall.

Are you tired of cooking and eating the same food all day everyday?  Then come to the Earl Grey neighbourhood where you can enjoy different types of ethnic cuisine.  There are lots of restaurants to choose from with a variety of culturally different food choices.   Feeling like Chinese food or Italian, Greek, Japanese, American, Indian or Canadian?  It’s not uncommon to see people lounging on patios in the summer sipping a cold drink. There are many fast food choices too.  Everything is close by and accessible.

Houses in this neighbourhood range in age from more than 100 years old to newly built or renovated.  Each house has a story to tell.  Some houses were lived in by young men and women who went off to fight in World War 1.   These old houses are different colours and shapes with unique doors, fences, porches, verandas and back lanes.   The houses are big and small to accommodate different sized families.  There are many different choices including houses to own or rent.  There are 2 and 3 storied houses, apartment buildings, bungalows, duplexes suiting everyone’s needs.

Dotting every boulevard there are rows of large trees.  Some of these trees are quite old and have been standing longer than the homeowners.   The canopy of trees provide shade in the summer and are homes to many animals.   Some children find it fun to climb the trees or rest underneath a tall one to read a good book.

Last but not least at the corner of Cockburn and Fleet Street is our historical school, Earl Grey which has been standing since it was erected in 1914.  It opened its doors to students in 1915 and was the first Junior High School in Western Canada.  This school has three stories along with an attic which was once lived in by a caretaker who kept the school heated throughout the night.   Today the attic sits empty.  Many students, some of which are famous, have passed through the halls of Earl Grey School.

There are many different programs for students at Earl Grey School.  Within our school there is also a daycare, a Montessori program and a Community Centre next door.

Join us in our neighbourhood and experience for yourself what a wonderful community this is in the heart of Winnipeg.

January is the start of our basketball season; unfortunately, there was not enough interest from the girls to field a team but the boys have been practicing and are raring to go!  Students in grades six through eight are eligible to play on our extra-curricular teams.  A schedule has already been emailed to players.  We practice primarily on Tuesdays after school and play on Wednesdays.  The first game of the season was January 9^th and it will wrap up at the end of February.

During the month of January, badminton is the sport being introduced in physical education classes (with necessary adaptations for the younger grades of course!)

I would like to remind parents and students that proper clothing and footwear are necessary for safe participation in all physical education activities.

If you would like to talk to me about anything regarding your child’s physical education experience, please phone me at the school or send me an email!

Mr. Armstrong

In November we did coding! It was really fun! The Code Mobile came to Earl Grey.  They go all around Manitoba and talk to kids about coding.  We followed the teacher’s coding examples to create our own games.  We got to choose our own character, background, and even put music in our game.  It was so cool! We learned that coding has to be very specific in order for the computer to do its job.  We learned so much about coding and had a great time doing it.  

We spent a week creating models of the digestive system.  We made them using recyclables like milk cartons and tubes.  We went through a testing phase.  It was pretty cool.  Some of us had to make improvements because it didn’t work.  It helped us learn more about the digestive system.  

We have started working on our speaking skills by participating in T.U.S. C. (Totally Unique Speaking Club).  You can choose a variety of choices.  For example, there is a class clown role where you tell jokes and riddles.   Another example of a T.U.S.C. role is to ask an expert.  You would ask an expert about a topic and show your audience how to do it.  You can present in front of the class or tape yourself at home.  With T.US.C. youhave to find a fun way to present your information! 

During arts and culture with Madame Bento-Teves we have been drawing portraits of characters that have a connection with Salvador Dali.  In our portraits we had to include a clock like Dali.  The clock had to be melting and dripping in some sort of way. We had to use water colour pencil for the picture and your picture frame had to be full.  We watched videos that taught us how to use the water colour pencils properly.  That is what we did for arts and culture.   

We are almost ready to show our passion projects to our families, which we started in September.  We picked something we were passionate about and wanted to learn more about.  We work really hard every Day 4.  We meet in the library with Room 27 and Room 28.  Most of us are done finding our information.  Now we are finding a way to present it.  We are showing our passion projects to our families in January.

Thank you for reading Room 26’s November news! We are looking forward to many more exciting learning adventures in December.