Would You Rather…

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Ms. Fischer

This week we are concentrating on ‘opinion’ writing. We were inspired by the story “Would You Rather” by John Burningham. You can listen to the story here. (Love that accent!) When we talk about our opinion we give a reason why we think that way. This is great practice for oral and written language! It is also a way to build skills in our PERSONAL AWARENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY Core Competency.

“I can advocate for myself and my ideas.”

Example: Cupcakes or cookies?

“I like cupcakes because of the icing.”

Your assignment this week is to discuss some ‘would you rather scenarios’. You can practice writing your opinion as well if you like…

**A neat trick for remembering how to spell because: Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants (thanks Francesco!)

Can’t think of any ‘would you rather’ ideas? Check out this list…

Categories: Core Competencies, Writing | Leave a comment

Skip Counting

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Ms. Fischer

Hello All! Welcome back after our wonderful two week break. I hope you are all rested up and ready for a new year of learning experiences together!!

Yesterday during our Outdoor School Math–we were practicing skip counting by 2’s. We read a story called

The Big Fat Hen…(it’s a version of 1-2 Buckle my Shoe)

Then we practiced skip counting as we climbed the stairs to the upper field…saying the ‘odd’ numbers in our head and the ‘even’ numbers out loud. Our focus was on counting to 20–but of course we talked about the pattern that numbers have…

Here is a 100 chart for reference…

Here is a cute video to count along with…

Your assignment this week is to find things at your home that you can practice skip counting by 2’s.

Some ideas include:

stairs
kitchen utensils (they can even help set the table…)😉
socks (Oooh–helping with the laundry…)
LEGO pieces
leaves or sticks
cars on your street

Count on!!

Categories: Math, Nature School | Leave a comment

Holiday Story Time

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

Your assignment this week is to spend some time together reading a story….Maybe you have a holiday favourite???

If you want a read aloud–Here’s The Night Before Christmas…

Or How the Grinch Stole Christmas…

Or maybe you have another favourite??? Christmas, Hanukkah, or Diwali–Whatever your celebration…

Enjoy reading together this holiday season…

See you in 2021!!

Categories: Reading, Special Events | Leave a comment

Holiday Fun

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

With the holidays fast approaching–and time rushing by, I wanted to give you a task this week that wouldn’t require a lot of work on your part…

So here’s a classic holiday song to share together…can you get creative and come up with some dance moves????

‘Rock Around Your Christmas Tree’

Categories: Arts, Core Competencies | Leave a comment

Bird Watching

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

Yesterday for nature school we went bird watching…

But you can’t really bird watch without some binoculars–so we each made a pair during art class.

Our Materials:

2 toilet paper rolls
tape & white glue
coloured paper scraps & stickers
markers
string
hole punch

We were so happy to finally have a day without rain. We brought along our clipboards and pencils and off we went. On our bird walk, we kept a ‘tally’ of the different birds we saw…using this bird tally count sheet.

We had a few books along to help us figure out unknown birds:

This week’s assignment: Take look in your backyard (or on a walk) and see how many birds you can find. Can you use tally marks to keep track?

“1, 2, 3, 4, number 5 shuts the door.

6, 7, 8, 9, number 10 draws the line.”

Categories: Math, Nature School, Science | Leave a comment

Owl Walk

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

Last week we went on a walk through our city neighbourhood with Division 7. We walked down Albert Street, turned onto Willingdon and walked up the street…we didn’t even mind the rain. What a busy street!

We found some amazing sculptures of Owls! Have you seen them??? WOW!!

Here are some photos of our trip.

Your assignment this week is to go on a walk with your family.

You might want to try Willingdon to see the Owls, or just walk closer to your home. Can you find some ‘Art’ in our community?

What do you notice about the Art?

Categories: Arts Integration, Nature School | 1 Comment

Dice & Drawing

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

We have been working with Dominoes and dice in math. The ability to recognize the ‘dots’ on dominoes or dice is an important math skill (subitizing).

What does subitize mean?

“To subitize is to identify the number of things in a set simply by quickly looking at them—not by counting them one by one.”

This week I have an artistic assignment for you! Get out a single die, a piece of paper and something to draw with (we use Sharpies in class) and you are ready!! On the ‘Resources’ page you can find a number of Dice Drawing Challenges.

Wild Flowers
Crazy Critter
Angry Bird Pigs
Create a Creature
Draw a Cupcake

Choose one, roll and draw a masterpiece!!

I’d love to see what you come up with…Can you think of other ways to practice subitizing?

Categories: Arts, Arts Integration, Math | Leave a comment

Story Drama

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

We have been doing ‘Story Drama‘ the past few weeks. Essentially, we have taken stories, and acted them out. Our first story was an Inuit tale called “Hide and Sneak” by Michael Kusugak (a Canadian author from Northern Ontario). We acted out his story with Division 7 out in the Gold Forest. It was fun to be all the different animals in the story! Using the huge outdoor space, we jumped like the fish, hid like the children, and used an Inukshuk to find our way back home…it was so much fun!!

The following week, we did “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt” in the drama room. It was fun to make up actions for each of the places we ‘visited’. And of course, the best part if when we had to run all the way home and remember what we had done! We all had so many ideas for making up our own ‘hunt’ that we’re going to try some this week.

Your assignment this week is a choice:

Make up your own hunt–choose something you want to find and then act out the story of finding it–then having to run back home! Can you remember all the places you visited on the way? OR
Choose one of your own favourite story books, and act it out. I think “Green Eggs and Ham” might be fun to try…

I can’t wait to hear about which adventures you’ve gone on…feel free to send me any photos you take during your adventure.😉

Categories: Arts, Arts Integration, Reading | Leave a comment

Picasso

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

We have been learning about Pablo Picasso the last few weeks. We know he was born in Spain–and has the longest name ever!!!!

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso

We have been very interested in trying his ‘mixed up’ faces. The Frankensteins we made were amazing…and so we tried creating a ‘self portrait’ as well. You can check these out on our classroom window. We love being able to create our own face using whatever weird and interesting shapes we want!

Your assignment this week is to teach your parents how to make a Picasso inspired face.

Happy creating!

Categories: Arts | Leave a comment

Yoga

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Ms. Fischer

Each Tuesday and Thursday we do Yoga after recess. It is a time to calm our bodies, and enjoy some stretching. We listen to music, move through a number of poses and end with a short relaxing time.

During our relaxing time we have a guided visualization of a trip on a cloud to our “special place”. Is it a beach? A field of flowers? Under a tree by a stream? On top of a mountain?

Once there we focus on stillness with our bodies, and relax all our muscles.

You assignment this week is to find the Yoga tab on our website and try some of the Yoga poses.

Don’t forget to enjoy some relaxing time at the end.

😉 Namaste!

Categories: Core Competencies, Physical Health | Leave a comment