We have been measuring some fun things around our classroom and outside in nature! We have been exploring different size units. We used paper clips, erasers, marker lids, crayons, and Lego to measure smaller items such as school supplies and leaves. We used markers, plastic sticks, and even clipboards to measure larger/longer/wider/taller items! Grade one students are learning how to use a ruler with standard units (e.g., centimetres).
Below was a fun lesson where we measured how tall one of our classmates is. We chose many different units!
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Connection: Ask your child to show you some of their measurement skills. What are some things around the house that you can measure together? What unit would you use to measure those items?
We had a fun literacy week! Our new principal, Ms. Ashton, read us a story, teachers changed classrooms to read their favourite children’s book, we read in the dark with flashlights and we had a book cover parade! A very special guest also read us a story. Mr. Lee surprised all the kids with a pre-recorded video of him reading a story to the whole school!
Hope everyone enjoyed Literacy Week! Thank you parents for participating in the Family Bingo!
Our Fall inquiry started with many wonders. We wonder:
“Why do they (leaves) change from green?”
“Do leaves change every season?”
“Why do the leaves fall down?”
“Why do the leaves change colour?”
“How does it get colder?”
“Why are the leaves red?”
On our nature walk we explored around Parkcrest Park and looked for different kinds of leaves. We sorted them into Fall colours (brown, yellow, red, orange) and green and then tried rubbing leaves on paper to see if they leave a colour. We were pretty amazed to see nature colours on our paper!
“I found red leaves!”
“Green can go here.”
We worked as a team and sorted leaves into different sizes- small, medium, big, biggest.
As scientists, we investigated why leaves change colours in the fall. First, we made some guesses.
“The weather is cold.”
“We have less sun.”
“It rains a lot.”
Then, we sorted the fall leaves by colour, ripped the leaves into bits and covered it with rubbing alcohol. We put coffee filters into the leaf and rubbing alcohol mixture and allowed it to sit long enough to absorb the liquid. As the liquid travels up the coffee filter it separates all the colors that were inside the leaf.
We learned that during fall, the days get shorter so the leaves don’t get enough sunlight and the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the green fades away, we begin to see yellow, orange, red and/or brown colours. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along!
Symmetrical drawings of our leaves
Parts of a Leaf
Our Leaf People
The Leaf Man goes where the wind blows…
Eden
Karis
Khushi
Greyson
Jack and Arydan
olivianne and Ena
George
Brooklyn, Myles, Chloe
Aubree
Kaede and Melody
Yeona and Hera
Anna and Harper
Felipe
Our Leaf People flew to a lot of places and saw many things. Some flew to a pumpkin patch, some went to a forest, one went to a big city, a couple went to a farm and a few flew home. Please ask your child to tell you their Leaf Man story 🙂
In class we talked about the importance of Remembrance Day. It is a day to honour soldiers, veterans and families who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Our school had an in-person assembly on Thursday. There were many thoughtful presentations and all the children were very respectful during the Remembrance Day assembly. Division 11 recited the poem “Poppy Poppy” with Division 12 in front of the whole Parkcrest community.
Each class made a wreath for the wreath laying ceremony at the assembly.
We talk about why the poppy became a symbol for Remembrance Day and we made our own representations of poppies. Here is an invitation to create poppies with loose parts:
We painted poppies on our hands
We also read “The Peace Book” by Todd Parr and talked about what peace means to us.
Story workshop allows learners to explore, create and connect their ideas through play. A variety of materials like loose parts, paint, playdough or blocks can be used to help children develop their ideas.
This week, we used loose parts to retell our pumpkin patch field trip with a friend. Look at the story with your child and ask them to tell you more about it! Enjoy their pumpkin patch stories!
Division 11 is so thankful for many things! We brainstormed what we are thankful for and then we created our own thankful mobile. Here is what we are thankful for this Thanksgiving:
Kaede: “My friends, my bike and my family”
Eden: “My home”
Jack: “Waves and mountains, my family and my friends”
Felipe: “My family”
Anna: “My family and my bike”
Arydan: “My dad, my family and I can draw circles”
Yeona: “Ice cream, heart and food”
Brooklyn: “My family, my house and my friends”
Aubree: “My family and my heart”
Melody: “My bike, my home and my friends”
Chloe: “My family, dad, mom and grandpa”
Olivianne: “My friends, daddy and I’m a queen”
Greyson: “My family, trees and chocolate”
Hera: “My family, my friends and my sister”
Myles: “My scooter and my family”
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!
Our class has been busy having fun building stories! Story workshop allows learners to explore, create and connect their ideas through play. We have been using loose parts, paint, playdough and blocks to help us develop our ideas. Our class is learning to include characters, different settings, problems and solutions in our stories. We are all becoming great storytellers and we cannot wait to share our stories with you!
Please login to your child’s blogfolio to see their stories!
