This week we read The Sun and the Moon by Celestine Aleck. This Indigenous story highlighted the relationship between the sun and the moon and how the stars, sunrise, sunset and solar eclipse were created. There were great questions and wonders that stemmed from this book. Our curiosity led us to discuss what is an eclipse? how often do they occur? when is the next one? To our astonishment we discovered that the next annular solar eclipse is actually happening THIS Thursday! Your curious and eager scientist is very much interested in witnessing the solar eclipse and is determined to get up no matter what time to observe it. Unfortunate news is that it does not appear that the annular solar eclipse will be visible for us on the West Coast this Thursday, however that is GOOD news for you parents as you won’t be up at the crack of dawn!

https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/eclipses/solar-eclipses.asp

After we discussed the different eclipses, we then wondered when the next TOTAL eclipse will occur. Get ready to mark your calendars, the next total eclipse will be… April 8, 2024!!

The Sun and the Moon inspired us to explore the world of poetry. As we played with language we gained awareness for how language works. We attempted to do a black out poetry activity were the students selected an illustration and page from the storybook and explored the various words. The goal was not to select entire sentences, but rather highlight and select key words, string them together with other words to generate a short poem. Students immediately saw the challenge in this activity, it certainly required risk takers and a lot of brain power. Here are some samples below.

From there, we began exploring other forms of poetry. A big hit in the classroom was the creation of Rebus Poems. Rebus poems incorporate the use of drawings and illustrations to convey meaning. Again, as we explored and played with language and different forms of communication, we were able to show an appreciation towards different forms of communication and how one can express themselves. Stay tuned for next week to see what other types of poems we will be discovering and creating.

After exploring the framework of a Rebus Poem, we took a look at Lune Poems. A lune poem consists of exactly 11 words and 3 lines. The first line must consist of 3 words, followed by 5 words and the last line ending again in 3 words. This immediately posed a challenge for the students as they wanted, and or felt that it was needed that they HAD to include one more word here or there. Unfortunately, students were not permitted to do that as it would then not be a Lune Poem. Students were then encouraged to re-read their poem and play around with different configurations with their words to ensure that they were following the poem’s framework structure. After a gradual release of I do, We do, YOU do, the students gained confidence and immediately the poems were flying off the pages. Here are some examples below.

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to participate in a Zoom Arts Umbrella Workshop. This workshop/presentation focused on interactive movements and the expression of drama. We learned a fun new game called Evolution, it is adapted from the original game, Rock, Paper, Scissors. Ask your child about the rules and how to play! (hint: an amoeba, insect, snake, bird, monkey). Have fun playing!

ADST: Applied Designs, Skills + Technology

This week in ADST we are attempting to tackle a new challenge. In groups, we are given exactly 20 raw spaghetti noodles, 1 wingspan worth of tape and 1 large marshmallow. These will be the only materials given, teams must use their tape wisely and sparely as that is the only tape that will be given. Teams must also treat their materials properly and carefully, if you are rough and break your spaghetti noodles you will not be getting them replaced, teams will have to be creative to incorporate the broken noodles. Creating a free-standing structure poses challenges as it must stand without any support, that means no taping to the wall and or taping to the ground. Lastly, the marshmallow must balance on TOP of the structure. Let the fun + challenge BEGIN!

Our objective is to design and construct the tallest free standing structure that can balance the marshmallow on top! Students were immediately keen to get started. However, during our first attempt students quickly realized how easily the tape can become tangled and get stuck to itself if you are not careful. Secondly, teams were quick to discover how delicate and brittle the spaghetti noodles are and that they can break incredibly easily (as you can imagine, this can cause frustration amongst many). Lastly, as tempting as it is to eat (and smell) the marshmallow, you must refrain from eating it. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the marshmallow must be on top of the structure. Some teams attempted to place the marshmallow in the middle of the structure, if doing so the height of the structure will be measured up to where the marshmallow is and not to the height of the highest spaghetti noodle. Since this is a learning experience and we can build upon our ideas and those ideas of others, as well as draw upon our prior knowledge and experiences, we will attempt this challenge again later again this week (on Friday!).

Our second attempt of the free standing spaghetti tower took place on Friday, check out our successes below! We relied upon both our creative and critical thinking to persevere during this challenging activity.

We are thoroughly enjoying the game of trivia in Social Studies. We were grouped into teams, and when it was each team’s turn they got to select a category and different level of question (i.e., 50, 100, 200, 300 and 400). Students were 110% engaged, eager, competitive and overall INVESTED in their learning. Our Government trivia game was such a hit that there were multiple requests to play again. Looks like Mrs. Ralph has more homework to do tonight and create more trivia questions pertaining to our Government unit.

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

~ Mrs. Ralph