Category: Diversity

Happy Lunar New Year

The children had a blast creating these lunar new year lanterns a few weeks ago. First, we colored the pictures with crayons. Then, we used watercolor paints to paint over the whole lantern. The crayons resisted the wax on the crayons and the colors “glowed” through the paint. You will see these on our windows!

 

For those who celebrate Lunar New Year,

恭喜发财  [Gōng xi fā cái / Kung hei fat choi]

새해 복 많이 받으십시오 [saehae bok mani badeusipsio]

Wishing you health, happiness and peace in the year of the rabbit!

The Ocean Wise Sea Dome Experience

On Wednesday, we had some wonderful visitors from Ocean Wise*. The guides brought a Sea Dome, an inflatable six-metre dome that projects a 360-degree cinematic video! We watched a short video on climate change and looked at animals in the ocean. We were able to view tropical reefs, sea ice in the Arctic, and many amazing animals up-close! We saw an octopus, a sea turtle, a whale, a shark, jellyfish and more.

After the sea dome experience, students were guided through two other stations, looking at artifacts and images. Our guide showed us turtles and coral reefs from around the world. Then, we looked at a huge Arctic floor map. Our guide talked about the loss of sea ice and its impact on the animals (e.g. Polar bears, seals) that lived there. We even saw and touched a 9 foot narwhal tooth!

Ocean Wise is a non-profit organization which aims to protect and restore our world’s oceans. Thanks to Ms. Sue for organizing this.

Ask your child, what was their favorite part of the presentation?

 

Halloween

Halloween Art

our painted jack-o-lanterns

 

We had a fun day celebrating Halloween! In class, we created a Halloween class book (with photos of us in our costumes), played some Halloween Math dice games, drew a spooky picture, and measured ourselves with the pumpkin ruler! In the afternoon, we did a Halloween dance and participated in the school-wide costume parade, where we made a super long train and walked through the school. We also looked at all the amazing jack-o-lanterns created by students and their families! The sun made it out just in time for our afternoon parade.

 

We had many fa-BOO-lous visitors in our classroom that day! We had princesses, unicorns, witches, black cats, a police officer, a fireman, many superheroes, a Hello Kitty, some EXPO whiteboard markers, and even a Hot Dog visit our classroom… But where were the teachers and the students?

Boo! Happy Halloween!

 

Be You!

Inspired by Peter Reynolds’ book, Be You!, we celebrated the importance of being unique and true to yourself. In our class discussion, there were some statements that stood out more than others. Many students liked, “Be your own thinker!” “Be okay reaching out for help,” is one that many of us adults have a hard time with. We also really liked, “Be connected,” and “Be kind,” and some students thought they were good statements in a pandemic.

We shared the connections we made to some of these statements.

“I felt brave when I jumped off a diving board into a pool.”

“I was being curious when I went for a nature walk.”

“My mom was patient when she was waiting a looooong time for me.”

hallway bulletin board
Our hallway bulletin board

Please login to your child’s blogfolio to view their response to this book. Students were asked to choose a statement that stood out for them.

School-wide Write: What is your Superpower?

For our school-wide write, we read a picture book called, What is your Superpower? by Aviaq Johnston.  In this story, a girl named Nalvana discovers that anyone can have superpowers. She has friends with super speed, friends with super strength, and friends who can do all sorts of amazing things. Nalvana discovers that she herself has a unique superpower that is even more powerful than strength and speed. Please ask your child to tell you more about this story.

The story is set in Nunavut and is written by a Canadian Inuk author. There is a glossary provided, as there are Inuktitut words that are included in the text of the story.

 

For the write, students were asked to respond to the question: “What is your superpower?”  They were asked to draw a picture, adding colors and including as many details as possible. Kindergarten students are not expected to write in complete sentences. They may write using “kid-writing” (e.g. invented spelling), writing any phonetic sounds or words related to their picture. Some may write random letters that represent sounds or words that are mispelled.

 

Your child’s writing sample has been uploaded to their blogfolio. Over the next week, I will also leave a comment on the post, highlighting what I have noticed about their writing and giving them a suggestion on how to improve their writing.