Role Playing…

puppets In drama this week we have begun to use puppets to role play problem solving situations.  We have focussed on problems that happen outside at recess and lunch so far.

Some of the problems we have practiced solving include:

  1. asking someone to share equipment or take turns (the swings)
  2. what to do if you see someone bullying a friend (calling someone names)
  3. how and when to ask a teacher for help
  4. what to do if someone takes something from you that you had or were playing with (trick you to get off the swing)
  5. how to tell your friends ‘no’ when they want you to break the rules with them (going behind the school for K’s)

What are the learning outcomes we are working on?

DRAMA:

  • work in role to imagine and play characters from stories or real life events
  • explore situations in role, including who, what, where, and with whom

HEALTH & CAREER:

  • list situations where common interpersonal conflicts can arise (e.g., sharing, teasing, pushing, choosing an activity, taking turns, lining up)
  • identify one or more possible solutions to specific interpersonal problems (e.g., taking turns, taking a break, communicating clearly about needs and wants, going to an adult or third party for help)
  • describe which solution they think works the best for them in a specific situation, and explain why

We will continue to work on solving problems in drama!  Ask us how we are doing…

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Where In The World? Hawaii

In case your child hasn’t told you…we have flown to Hawaii in class!!  We have been learning about all things Hawaiian!

  • We’ve learned some Hawaiian words for different body parts:

mouth: waha     eye: maka

teeth: niho        nose: ihu

As well as learning that their alphabet has only 17 letters instead of 26 like ours does.  (A, B, D, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, T, U, V, W)

  • We’ve read some books about volcanoes and made a web full of facts about volcanoes including some new vocabulary we have learned…

             lava, crater, eruption, & dormant to name a few…

  • Today we started learning a little bit (emphasis on little bit) of Hula dancing during our gym time…We’re using the songs Tiny Bubbles and Pearly Shells and it’s lots of fun!
  • We have also started an ocean animal research project.  So far, we have ‘webbed’ (graphic organizer) all the information we already knew and could find in the books from the library about our five animals…Thanks to Mrs. Safarik’s class for helping us with the writing!
  1. Sea Turtle
  2. Octopus
  3. Dolphin
  4. Shark
  5. Sea Star

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Tomorrow we will choose which animal we want to report on.  We look forward to recording the information we have learned into an animal report…watch for it…coming home before the break!

We love science!!!

OK happy face_full

 

 

 

 

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Geometry

We have begun a new unit in math: Geometry.  Today in our math journals we experimented with pattern blocks to see how many different ways we could fill a hexagon.

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Here are a few samples of finished work from Leah and Beau:

hexagon

We are learning to be great problem solvers, and how to record our findings so others can learn from us!

 

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Lego Math

As promised…here is the Lego math game we played today…Enjoy!!!

Lego Game

Here are some samples from today…

Lego People

i love math face

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Invitations to Play…

What are Invitations to Play?

This term is used a lot by Early Childhood Educators and is deeply rooted in the Reggio philosophy of allowing children to direct their own play by offering open-ended, meaningful resources to explore.

It simply describes a little set up of play materials for your child to come and discover and play with in any way that they choose. It can be as simple as setting out the tea set and play food on a little table with napkins, bringing out the building blocks and setting them on the grass or presenting the child with an unusual object for investigation.

These  are pictures of some of the Invitations to Play that I have set up for our students during Games & Choices time. In providing these opportunities, my hope is to inspire the students to play and create in new and different ways with materials they have seen before.

These invitations will occur throughout the year…here are a few examples…

  • Some branches from the yard…and clip boards (anything with clip boards is super fun!)
  • An old tablecloth and napkins (with toilet rolls for napkin holders!) is the backdrop for a birthday party…
  • a train set with some shiny rocks…

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Take a moment and try one at home…happy learning!

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Games & Choices

A large part of each day is devoted to free choice activities also known as “Games & Choices”.   Of course, this is the favourite time of day for a lot of students.

Each student chooses a project to work on each day, sometimes with a friend, sometimes with a group and sometimes alone.  Some of these projects last a day…some require a longer commitment. We sometimes even save projects to work on days later (for example–writing a story).

Here are some of the wonderful projects your children have been working on…

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Emily Carr Art

We have been exploring the work of Emily Carr.  Our focus has been on her work of trees.  We have learned a little bit about her biography, and been lucky enough to see a lot of her really wonderful work through a link at the Vancouver Art Gallery. (Thanks to the P.A.C. for the new flat screen televisions!)

As we viewed her work, we talked about her use of colour and line.  The following day, we made some art work in her style.  We used oil pastels on black 0077653000000-st-03-daler-rowney-oil-pastelsconstruction paper.  If you would like to see our work, stop by outside the classroom to check out the board in person…until then, you can look at these images…

 

 

Amazing Artists in Division 9

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The Observation Of Trees

Earlier this week we took advantage of the sunny day to spend some time outside.  Our mission was to observe the trees and sketch them (just like old time scientists!).  We have started a Nature Journal that we will continue to add to throughout the seasons.

As an Education Through The Arts school we try to incorporate activities that develop skills across several curricular areas.

What are the learning outcomes we were working on in our Nature Journal this week?

SCIENCE

  • communicate their observations, experiences, and thinking in a variety of ways (e.g., verbally, pictorially, graphically) (Gr. 1)
  • with teacher support, clearly organize and record observations using graphs, pictures, symbols, and/or words (Gr. 1)
  • illustrate and record changes that occur throughout the seasons (e.g., flowers blooming, snow melting, leaves falling, lakes freezing) (Gr. 1)
  • use the five senses to make observations (K)
  • draw features of items observed (e.g., two different plants growing in the schoolyard) (K)
  • illustrate local plants and animals in a variety of ways (e.g., painting, collages, sculptures) (K)

VISUAL ARTS

  • create images in response to something they observed and experienced (Gr. 1)
  • create images in response to something they observed (e.g., touching a leaf, watching a soccer game) (K)
  • create images featuring line (e.g., straight, wavy, curvy, thick, thin) (Gr. 1 & K)

Here are some photos of us hard at work:

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Witch’s Brew

We have been working on a new song/dance in drama for Halloween.  It’s called “Witch’s Brew”.  

We are learning to:

  • move safely in both personal space and general space during dance activities
  • participate actively in dance activities (e.g., following known routines without direction)
  • use movement elements and their bodies to explore representation of action  (drama)
  • find and stay in their own personal space (e.g., the “space bubble” that a person occupies) throughout drama explorations
  • perform a variety of movements individually and in groups  (drama)

 Check it out and dance together at home!

 witch-cauldron215b15d1

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Belcarra Trip

We all had an awesome time at Belcarra Regional Park on Tuesday!  Thanks so much to everyone who helped to prepare the Go Grant that paid for the trip!  We loved spending time with our big buddies (Thanks Division 1!) throughout the day.

The scavenger hunt was super fun…we’re working on a chart to record our scientific observations right now!  Come by and see it outside the classroom–it should be finished in a few more days!

Solving the mystery was also a lot of fun…we learned so much about the animals that make their homes in the park.  Thanks again to our big buddies for reading all the clues for us!!!

You may have noticed some leaves that came home with your child (from the ground)…we’ve been using them to produce some AWESOME art!  Thanks to everyone who saved them and brought them in to class.  We finished the art today, and will be displaying it at the McGill Branch of the Burnaby Public Library.  (We were asked by Kathryn to produce something to display in the children’s section on our field trip there)  Here’s a few samples of what we made–be sure to ask your child how they did it…

Thanks to all the parents who supported our trip by spending the day with us in the park–we couldn’t do it without you!

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