Happy Weekend Everyone!!!
I hope you all had a lovely and productive week…I know we sure did!!
Here is a little recap of what happened this week at school!
-We were Makers!!! Global Maker Day was a total success! Thanks to Murray, Anna (our student teacher) and Tamara for helping us out. We can do so much more with some extra hands! The kids came up with some awesome ideas, designs and creations. They also worked through the 4Cs: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity!! We LOVE the 4Cs in Room 123…but check out this sketchnote by Sylvia Duckworth that I found on Twitter!
It adds Character Education and Citizenship which I think are super important skills to teach and learn 🙂
Anyway…the afternoon was amazing and we are amazing Makers!!!
This is a glimpse of what the library looks like when 48 kids show up ready to create!
-What is a Maker?! We brainstormed many ideas of what it means to be a Maker and who makers are in our society. The class had so many fantastic ideas. We started making connections between these Makers and how one may rely on another. We stopped after a 40 minute discussion but I think we could have gone on for hours!
It turns out that many students are creating and making at home. We’d love for them to share programs/resource ideas kids are using at home, as well as the creations they think are worth sharing to the class. This week we had a student share a video he created at home…and the class was super pumped about it. It is so inspiring and motivating for the kids to learn from each other from these types of opportunities.
-Take Me Outside!: We spent our extra time outside just before the snow came! Phew!!! It was great to be outside with our friends from 122. We did a BINGO/Scavenger hunt with a partner from 122. The kids worked cooperatively and had lots of fun. We spent even more time outside reading to our buddies. There are so many benefits from learning outdoors. I hope we are ALL motivated to go out even as the weather changes!
-Mindfulness Update: This week we focussed on breathing. We learned the 1:1 style of breathing. This is where you breathe in for the same amount of time as you breathe out! Try counting to 4 on an inhalation and back from 4 on the exhalation. You can lay in Savasana (legs wide, arms wide with palms faced up or hands gently on your belly, eyes closed if that feels comfortable for you) and breathe to relax. You can trying breathing in and out to a count of 5 or even 6 if you’d like. After only a few minutes you’ll feel calm and relaxed. You might even feel ready to face something you’re worried about, less anxious or upset or even ready for sleep. The response from the kids was very positive!!! Give this tool a try at home! I’ve included a link on tips for doing Savasana with kids if you are finding that the above suggestion for Savasana isn’t working for your child. You also might want to check out this beautiful Yoga story called I Am Yoga
-Remembrance Day: Thanks to Angela for coming in and helping us create our Remembrance Day piece for the upcoming Remembrance Day assembly. I love that we were able to represent something so meaningful to us. Each student has cut out their handprint on a magazine picture that represents Peace to them. The hands are surrounding a Poppy. The Poppy represents Peace and the hands represent that we are united. This “Peace piece” will be on display at our assembly on November 10
-Belong-A-Thon: Today (Friday) was the big day! The prizes were revealed and a few of our classmates won prizes (congratulations to you!). None of us won any of the family prizes and our class wasn’t in the top 3 BUT we tried our best and I’m proud of us for raising over $800 as a class and $9 700+ as a school! Way to go Montrosians!!!! #BAM
News: Ms V has let us know some amazing news this week…our 3/4 choir is doing a special job at an upcoming school division production of The Lion King . More details to follow!!
Ask Me…: This week’s question says “Ask me about “Maker Monday” We didn’t get to the “Making” that represents our learning from the Rocks and Minerals books we read last week. From our experience at Global Maker Day we learned that it is helpful to really work through a plan to help us be prepared for making. So…we spent Thursday planning and now we are ready to make on Monday instead! Your child should share the following details with you: who they are working with, what their plan is and what they need to complete this task. Talking about how the 4Cs can impact their experience would be also be helpful. Write and or draw something on the Ask Me page so I know you have had a conversation at home! On that note…if anyone would like to help out on Monday please send me an email! We could use some extra hands from 11:15-12:00 or 2:30-3:30!!
Whats happening next week?!
-Maker Monday: See ☝️for details! I can’t wait to see these plans spring into action! I’ll be out and about picking up the required supplies BUT there is a group who is needing toilet paper or paper towel rolls! If you have an empty roll on the weekend please send it in with your child for Monday!!
-It’s Hallowe’en on Tuesday!!!!!!…
Thanks so much for offering to bring in supplies for our party! Within a few hours I had enough volunteers to bring in everything we have asked for! We are keeping it simple with snacks this year. Thank you in advance for keeping to our snack “menu”!
The Plan: Morning as usual except music will most likely be changed to the morning. We still have Yoga with Murray. Afternoon will start off with a “Costume Catwalk” where we can show each other our costumes! Then have a bit of a dance party with some of our favourite Hallowe’en tunes! After that we will have a variety of activities for students to choose from (between 122, 123 and 126). Some activities will include: pumpkin carving, physical games, board games and art. Please feel free to bring in a board game if you’d like! You are welcome to spend the afternoon with us if you’d like…just let me know!
Community Walk: On Wednesday we are going to go on a community walk with our buddies. We will walk to the Waverly underpass project to see the progress and help our buddies to write about the changes they have noticed since they were last there! We will leave around 2 and return within an hour! Please dress for the weather!!
Fitzgerald-Trouts!!: I’m pretty sure we will finish the book this upcoming week! We have about 90 pages left!! I love the conversations we have before, during and after we read. The students are learning about CAFE (comprehension, accuracy, fluency and expression) as we read together. Questions for students…How do you think the book will end? Where are they going to find that boat?! Will Johnny Trout turn out to be a criminal too? What kind of trouble are the Fitzgerald-Trout children going to get into? Could Leaf actually be an alien or a goddess?!!
The suspense!!!! ahhhh!
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. Feel free to post a comment for us to read. I’m always happy to hear from you!!!
P.S. I’ll leave you with this…a photo montage of trying to put a ‘costume’ on Hudson! She is supposed to be the grandmother/wolf from Little Red Riding Hood! She wasn’t a fan!
Until next time!
Danielle
