Author Archives: montgomeryc

Hamlet Performances

Thank you so much to our fabulous videographer, Mr. Sheldon Wong, for providing us with a video memory of our Hamlet production.  Below are the links to Vimeo, where I have posted the videos of one of our first rehearsals on the stage, the dress rehearsal and our evening performance on June 4, 2015.  All videos are password protected, you will need to ask someone in our class to let you in.

Enjoy!

Hamlet Evening Performance

Hamlet Dress Rehearsal

Hamlet First Rehearsal

Hamlet 2015

Oh horrible, oh horrible, most horrible!

Sword fighting!

Betrayal!

Murder!

Hamlet’s father is dead.  A suspicious ghost is rumoured to be lingering in Denmark. The noble prince Hamlet discovers the ghost is his father, who died not because of age or sickness, but because of an evil, murderous, and greedy traitor. A horrifying drink and a terrifying sword fight await Hamlet. To kill or not to kill! These may be the questions:

Who will make it out alive?

Will Hamlet avenge the spirit of his father?

Will Hamlet find the true murderer and get his revenge, or will he die trying?

So be warned that this is a brave, funny, and daring story, but also a sad and heart-breaking one too. Please turn off your cell phones and enjoy William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, creatively modified by Brendan P. Kelso.

To watch or not to watch, will be your choice!

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CAST

HAMLET- Ari – Son to the dead King Hamlet, nephew to Claudius, the thinker, or “over” thinker (he’s complicated)

CLAUDIUS- Nick – The big, bad new King of Denmark.

GERTRUDE- Vanessa – Queen, Hamlet’s mom, married to his dad & then to his uncle (It’s complicated)

POLONIUS- Iva – A lord (bad guy too!)

OPHELIA- Melissa – Polonius’ daughter, thinks Hamlet is cute!

LAERTES- Jason  – Polonius’ sword-fighting son, thinks Hamlet is rotten!

ROSENCRANTZ- Charles – Crazy guy #1

GUILDENSTERN- Daniel S. –Crazy guy #2

HORATIO- Ashvin – Hamlet’s closest friend.

MARCELLUS- Natasha – Hamlet’s friend

BARNADO- Solara – Hamlet’s friend

GHOST- Jethro – A ghost, duh!

OSRIC- Bradley – A young dude

PLAYER 1- Rakiia – An actor

PLAYER 2- Eunyoung  – Another actor

GRAVE DIGGERSJerry, Riku (afternoon performance), Yanis (evening performance) – Diggers for dead people

FORTINBRAS- Milica – Prince of Norway

SAILOR- Yanis – A sailor (duh!)

CREW

LIGHTS AND CURTAIN – Ize and David

COSTUMES – Tina and Rachelle

PROPS – Kent and Daniel C.

DIRECTED BY – Chloe and Ansley

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR – Maggie

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Division 3 would like to thank:

Mr. Clett for all his help locating and setting up props on stage. He also helped to keep us loaded with cardboard too.

Ms. Escueta and Ms. Lee for allowing us access to the music room to practice.

Mr. MacRitchie for being our wonderful audio technical advisor.

Mr. Sheldon Wong for his star videography.

All the teachers and students of Chaffey-Burke Elementary who gave up their PE blocks so we could have more time to practice on-stage.

William Shakespeare for writing such a cool tragedy.
Brendan P. Kelso for adapting such a cool tragedy into a way cool comedy.

Final Foodie Friday

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We had our final Foodie Friday on May 15th.  As a class we followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe for a “Squashed Sandwich” and had lots of fun in groups making it.  The link to the lesson, and more recipes, is at

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day

We also enjoyed a Fruit Crisp for dessert, courtesy of Chefs Melissa, Eunyoung and Jerry.  They got to pick a variety of different fruit and berries for it, and Mrs. Woff provided a lovely treat with some vanilla ice cream to go with it. Recipe is below.

Thanks to everyone for their participation during this program, we will see if we can continue it next year!

Cinnamon Fruit Crisp

Ingredients:

– 6 cups of fruit – a variety is always nice. We used apples, raspberries and peaches.

– 1 cup oats

– 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

– 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

– 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

– 1 tsp cinnamon

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1) Wash and slice the fruit, spreading it out in an 8 inch square baking dish.

2) Combine the remaining ingredients, mixing until crumbly.

3) Sprinkle the crumbly mixture over the fruit.

4) Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

From: The Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook

Penultimate Foodie Friday

Yet again we had a sweet treat from our Foodie Friday chefs!  This weeks delicacy was a fruit kebab dipped in chocolate sauce.  Yum!  Many thanks again to our Foodie Friday masters: Chef Jethro, Chef Jerry and Chef Ashvin.  Leave a comment to let me know if you have tried any of these recipes at home!

Fruit Sticks with Chocolate

Ingredients:

1/2 cantaloupe melon (seeds scooped out)

1 small pineapple (we used pineapple that had already been peeled and sliced from the grocery store)

3 kiwi fruits (peeled)

18 strawberries

Chocolate Orange Dip

3/4 cup milk

3 1/2 oz (100g) milk or plain chocolate broken into tiny pieces

zest of one orange (grated)

1) Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the grated orange zest.  Bring to the milk to a boil.  Carefully, remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate.

2) Gently stir the milk until the chocolate has melted.  Pour the sauce into a bowl and leave it to cool slightly while you prepare the fruit sticks.

3) Halve the melon and scoop out the flesh in balls with a melon baller or spoon.

4) Peel and cut the pineapple into bite sized chunks.

3) Peel the kiwi fruit holding the fruit upright and slicing downwards away from you to remove the skin.  Cut into chunks.

4) Thread some pineapple, a melon ball, a strawberry,and a chunk of kiwi onto a skewer.  Repeat for all 18 sticks and serve with chocolate dip.

Enjoy!

From: Kids’ Fun & Healthy Cookbook by Nicola Graimes (2007) p. 96-97

Foodie Friday the third

We had a nice change from our sweet treats this past Friday.  Chefs Rachelle, Jerry and Milica wowed everyone with some savoury sticky chicken drumsticks. It took a little longer to marinate and then cook the chicken, but the results were fantastic and well appreciated by all.  A tough act to follow!

Sticky Chicken Drumsticks (for 2 to 4 people)

Ingredients:

4 chicken drumsticks

pepper

Marinade ingredients:

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp honey

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

To make the marinade:

1) Put the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and honey in a bowl.

2) Remove the papery skin from the clove of garlic and put it in a garlic press.  Squeeze the garlic through the press into the bowl with the other ingredients.  If you do not have a garlic press you can chop the clove of garlic into tiny pieces and put it into the bowl.

3) Peel a piece of fresh ginger and grate it on a fine grater.  It is easier if you freeze the ginger first.  Watch your fingers!

To put it all together:

1) Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Slash the drumsticks with a sharp knife and season with fresh ground pepper.  Put the drumsticks in an oven-safe baking dish, then pour over the marinade so it coast the chicken.  Put the chicken in the fridge for 20 minutes to let the marinade soak into the meat.

3) Bake the drumsticks in the marinade for 45 minutes or until cooked through, turning and basting them with any extra marinade every 10 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

From: You Can Cook by Annabel Karmel (2010) p. 54-55

Foodie Friday 2

 

Yet again, our Foodie Friday was a success!  Thank you to Chefs Solara, Iva and Jerry for another tasty treat. Check out the photos of our cooking adventures from our first two Foodie Fridays.

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Little Fruit Tarts

Ingredients:

– 1/2 cup mascarpone Cheese

– 1/2 cup heavy cream or crème fraiche

– 1 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar

– 2 to 3 drops vanilla extract

– 8 oz (250 g) fresh fruit ( we used pear, mango, blueberries and raspberries)

* tart shells

Method:

1) Bake shells for 15 – 18 minutes until golden brown, or follow the directions.

2) Let the shells cool for 20 minutes.

3) Whisk together the mascarpone, cream or crème fraiche, sugar and vanilla until slightly thickened.

4) Spoon the filling into the tart shells until they are about half full.  Top with a variety of different fresh fruit.

5) Serve and enjoy!

Recipe from: “You Can Cook” by Annabel Karmel (2010) p. 112-113

*We cheated and bought some :). The original recipe includes how to make the pastry too.

Cute Gophers

I like gophers.  Even though I have a picture of a meerkat (according to our resident expert, Daniel S.)  instead of a gopher, I think it is really cute.  I am going to publish it anyway.gophers-533610_640

Foodie Fridays!

Back… by popular demand….

Well, actually this is the first time we have done something like this in Division 3.  Most Fridays between now and the end of the school year, grade six students will be participating in a shopping and cooking program to support one of our classmates in his learning goals.  We all get to enjoy the fruits of their labours however!  This past Friday we enjoyed some “Easy Berry Ice-Cream”, although as Chef Natasha mentioned, it was more like a mousse than real ice-cream.  Very tasty nonetheless, and many thanks to our Chefs Maggie, Rakiia, Jerry and Natasha for a sweet treat!  Our next week’s chefs, Iva, Jerry and Solara, have a tough act to follow. 🙂

Here is the recipe in case you would like to try it at home.

Easy Berry Ice-Cream

Ingredients:

1 lb (450g) strawberries

8 oz (250g) raspberries

8 oz (250g) blackberries

1 cup superfine sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream (I believe we used whipping cream)

1 to 3 Tbsp confectioners sugar

Method:

1) Wash the fruit, picking out any bits of stalk and hull (take off the green bits) the strawberries.

2) Put fruit and sugar in a pan, cover and cook slowly for 5-10 minutes.

3) When the berries let out their juice, turn up th ehead and simmer for 5 minutes.

4) Let the fruit cool, then blend it until it’s smooth.

5) Pour the blended fruit through a strainer to remove the seeds.

6) Pour the strained fruit into ice-cube trays and freeze until solid (we used a baking dish instead).

7) Put the cream in a bowl and whip it until it forms soft peaks.

8) Let the frozen berries thaw for about 5 minutes, then roughly chop them in a food processor.  Add the cream.

9) Whiz to combine everything.  Add confectioner’s sugar to taste.  Serve now (it will be very soft) or freeze for up to an hour before serving.  Enjoy!

Recipe from: You Can Cook by Annabel Karmel (2010)

Giants Game Extravaganza!

 

On February 18, 2015, students in Division 3 saw the culmination of all their hard work and leadership at Chaffey-Burke Elementary in the Acceptance event at the Giants’ hockey game.  Nearly all intermediate students at Chaffey-Burke participated in this event, over 200 kids!  Everyone was on their best behaviour and danced the “Happy” dance perfectly.

This event is a yearly occurrence whereby students from all over the Lower Mainland come together to spread the message of Acceptance. It has its roots in the courage of two grade 12 students in Nova Scotia who got their whole school to wear pink to support a student who was bullied and called homophobic names for wearing a pink shirt to school.  The intent has spread to encourage students put a stop to all kinds of bullying and to live the message of Acceptance of all.

Division 3 took on a major role in ensuring all students in the entire school learned the choreography to the song “Happy” by Pharrell.  Students taught small groups in one or two classes at a time and quickly learned how best to communicate and support the younger students in their learning.  This was a wonderful opportunity for our grade six and seven students to demonstrate and practice their developing leadership skills and to give back to the school community.  Everyone stepped up to the challenge and made Ms. Montgomery proud! Please look under “Bookmarks” for links to the two videos of the dance.

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