Today we had a wonderful presentation from a maple syrup farmer who we call “The Maple Man!” We learned a lot about Québécois culture and heritage, and how maple sap is collected and processed to become delicious maple syrup! We got a taste of the very special treat, maple taffy (or tire d’érable en français!)
Carnaval is next week, so today we’ve started wearing the ceinture fléchée. The ceinture fléchée comes from the same roots of the Métis sash (sayncheur flayshii in Michif). In class we’ve been learning about Métis finger weaving, but we’ll take more about that in another post!
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Seaforth will be celebrating Literacy Week, January 19th – 23rd!
Term 1 is always a time of transition and new experiences as we come together as a new class. During this term, we review and learn new expectations and routines and meet new people. It takes time to get to know our new class identity as we have students coming from different classes (and even other schools) in order to compose our new group. Especially for our grade 4 classmates, Term 1 is a very new experience as this is their first time in an intermediate classroom—curriculum changes, more students in our shared space, and increasing independence and expectations. During this Term, all students take time to adjust to these changes. Also, students are working with a variety of staff: Ms. Coutts (new to Seaforth), Ms. Vankadari (also new to Seaforth, and co-teacher while Ms. Coutts does Head Teacher duties), Mr. Brockerville teaches Physical and Health Education, Mr. Clift teaches Music, and the students also see Ms. Bogunovic (also new to Seaforth) for Library. We also share our classroom with Ms. Bola, our Educational Assistant. It’s a busy time with many different people!
variety of people help us when conflict arises. We are learning to use our planners for our own reference to help us plan for and track due dates and events. Students are learning to receive feedback from peers and teachers, and to integrate it into their next assignments. I would say the “training wheels” are certainly still on, but we are also pushing students to stretch themselves and their burgeoning independence. When I have a room of 30ish students, we have a group plan where students are supported with routines and structures and are expected to leverage those tools with increasing independence, and make choices that contribute to their own learning.
Hour of Code takes place during Computer Science Education Week, which is this week!
Last week, Division 7 went to Burnaby Lake. We went for a visit to get to know the animals and plants that we share this land with, and how they change over the seasons. Our purpose was to connect to place through observation. We saw and learned so much! Even for me–who grew up in this area and have spent a lot of time walking around, canoeing in, and visiting the ducks at Burnaby Lake–I learned so much during our visit!
Did you know that the way salmon find their way back to their particular stream is by scent? They navigate back from the ocean with a kind of “magnet” in their heads, but they find their specific stream through the mixture of scents from that specific place. Students looked around the ground near the stream to collect bits of plants and soil to mush together to smell. We had a good time mixing our potions and comparing scents.
Students were given visual guides about the various winged wonders that alight on Burnaby Lake. We spent a long time playing a version of eye-spy with the birds. We learned that some of them stay year round, some are visitors from further north, and some will head south for even warmer weather. The wood ducks were a big hit! We also observed many gulls and crows feeding on the carcasses of salmon who have spawned and are now giving back to the waterways that once gave them life. We didn’t see any bears, who also feed on these fish, but we did note that there is no feeding birds seed right now since that will also attract bears as they prepare for the winter months.
Students learned about some local plants and how to identify them. They played a running game where they got a card with clues about the plant, had to locate and tag the plant, and then race back to our leader for confirmation they identified the plant correctly and to get a new card. So fun! Check out the gallery for the different plants we identified. Some change through the seasons, but still have identifiable characteristics. Keep an eye out for these on your next walk!
We had a very special experience to see and feel the silent wings and fierce talons that make owls efficient predators. It was interesting to compare and contrast how loud a goose feather is when flapped versus an owl wing. Geese don’t have to be stealthy, and they have waterproofing features on their feathers, but owls need to be silent to be effective birds of prey. Their talons are very sharp, too! I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of those razor sharp claws! We got to look at an owl skull, and we observed that the owl’s eyes sit in bony sockets to maintain their shape. Because of that, they cannot move their eyes, and that’s why their heads can rotate 270 degrees.
Last week Division 7 embarked on a journey in ADST (Applied Design Skills and Technology) to design a first-class paper airplane. Ms. Rudolph, in the library, guided students in a lesson about the four forces of flight: drag, lift, gravity, and thrust.
Students explored different designs through the links:
