Based on the most recent news from the past weekend’s tragedy of the findings at the residential school in Kamloops, BC, we had a meaningful and insightful conversation discussing part of our country’s history. Many of us recognized the significance of residential schools and the impact that it had upon Indigenous culture, communities and families. Although the history surrounding residential schools is difficult to think about and hear, we discussed the importance of not shying away from something that makes us sad, as this is part of Canada’s story and it is a truth that needs to be discussed and reflected upon. Ask your inquisitive citizen about the three stories that were read, Not My Girl, When We Were Alone, and When I was Eight, what did we take away from these stories? What were the teachings of these books? In conjunction to the stories, students selected an illustration that they connected to. We took on the perspective of a young Indigenous child, at the age of 8, which is the age of many in our classroom, and reflected upon how we think many students would have felt. For example, in Indigenous culture, long hair represented strength and pride. Once children arrived to at the residential schools, many children had their hair cut off. Furthermore, children were forbidden to speak their native language and were forced to learn and only speak English. As students took upon their new perspective, they shared their thoughts and feelings on what many children may have experienced emotional.

                           

In two of the written pieces above, you can see the students’ reflection on the negative impact that residential schools had. For example, one student reflected upon what it may feel like if they were forced to learn English and forbidden to speak their native language,  “I would be heartbroken if my language was taken away from me. It is a sign that I am proud of my culture! It would make me feel so distant from my family. It would be like I wasn’t me anymore, and I love myself so it would break my heart!” Another student reflected upon what it may have felt like having their long hair cut off, “I do not like it if my hair was cut short. I would feel mad and sad.”

How would you feel forgetting your spoken language that you speak with your family? If reunited with your loved ones, how would it feel to no longer be able to communicate with your family? How would it feel to no longer recognize or enjoy the food you once loved, your once favourite foods are now unrecognizable and no longer enjoyable? Would you feel like a stranger? Would you feel disconnected and an outsider? Could you ever feel whole as a family again? 

Below is a link to one of the Indigenous picture books that we read that highlighted a little girl’s experience at a residential school, and the grit and determination that she had within herself to persevere and rely upon her inner strength to make it through such a difficult time in her life.

Here is another link to an Indigenous story that we listened to. How did you feel after hearing this story. What is a take away that you have from this book?

As Artists this week we combined our artistic and written skills to reflect upon our DNA. As Scientists, many of us recognized the word DNA, as the tiny molecules that make each of us unique individuals. This week I put a spin on DNA and had us reflect on our DNA as our own and unique Dreams, Needs + Abilities. Dreams are important to have, they are goals that we can set for ourselves, we can have both short-term and long-term dreams in our life. As we reflected upon our needs, we thought about something that we need in our lives (we discussed the importance for our needs for survival, but what is something else you may need to feel safe, to feel loved, to get through each day?). Our abilities reflect what we are capable of doing. Seen below was our first step, painting our backgrounds for our portraits. Keep reading and you will find some examples of our finished product that we completed by the end of the week. I hope you and your families continue to discuss your DNAs – what are your dreams, needs and abilities. For example, I dream of one day travelling to Greece and exploring the world with my children. I need a goodnight hug and bedtime story with my son before he goes to bed each night. I have the ability to take risks and try hard things, like going skydiving!

In Science we continue to investigate the states of Matter through exploratory experiments. On Thursday, we were introduced to the following ingredients:

1/2 cup of milk

1tsp of vanilla

1tb of sugar

1 small zip lock bag

1 large galloon zip lock bag

4 cups of ice cubes

The ingredients were mixed together in a small ziplock bag. This small ziplock bag was then placed in a larger ziplock bag that contained 4 cups of ice cubes and 1/2 cup of salt. We wrapped the bag of ice in a tea towel to protect our hands from the cold while we took turns shaking the bag vigorously.

Ask your young scientist what occurred next. At the start of our exploratory lab our small ziplock bag continued a liquid – it had a fixed volume, but not a fixed shape. After 6 minutes, we unwrapped the ice cube bag to discover that our liquid had turned into…  ICE CREAM! As seen in the photos below we were THRILLED with the results. Why and how did our liquid change states of matter into a solid? What are characteristics of a solid that lead us to this conclusion?

Our hallway now has a splash of colour with our story map kites. Our story maps served as our graphic organizer where we collected our brainstormed ideas for our original story. This includes identifying our characters, setting, problem and solution. Once our story map kites were complete we moved onto our stories, from there we moved onto the editing stage. Seen below you can find our editing checklist that all our authors referred to in order to ensure that their finished writing displayed their best efforts.

3, 2, 1 EDIT IT! 

• Fix 3 spelling words
• Replace 2 words to become triple scoop words
• Upper case letters to start each sentence
• Period at the end of each sentence
• Rewrite 1 sentence to become even better!

In P.E. we have begun another unit, BADMINTON! The students were thrilled with the new skills that they were learning and it took a lot of persuasion on my end for us to exit the gym as they were all having such a great time!

 

Have a restful + beautiful ‘long’ weekend. Enjoy your Monday off! I will see everyone bright + early Tuesday morning.

Take care ~ Mrs.Ralph