Here are 3 fun games the K/1 students learned for Partners for Ten

Save the Whale

Hit the Button

Math Lines

The weather cooperated today and so Mrs. Watson did the Mentos and Diet Coke Demonstration that we talked about in our Week 5 science lesson.  Mrs. Watson found a way to drop many Mentos into the bottle at once.  After a small hole was drilled into each candy, they were threaded onto a pipe cleaner. Another hole was drilled into the cap of the pop bottle.  The pipe cleaner was held in place with a paperclip.  When the paper clip was removed, the Mentos would be released into the bottle.  Sierra was kind enough to pull the paperclip holding the mentos above the soda, and run for it.  Here’s what happened!

IMG_2742 from Melody Watson on Vimeo.

Here is a video we watched after the demonstration to help explain what happened:

We had so much fun with our bird count, that we decided to head outside to collect data for another graph yesterday. We graphed the insects that we could find in our yards in ten minutes. The students decided that we would look for: wood bugs, bees/wasps, and mosquitoes. We decided to include an “other” column as well.  Who knew you could find so many bugs in such a short period of time.  Here is our data.

Tomorrow will be a very different start to third term (one like I have never experienced before). The teachers and support staff will be working hard to get things ready this week for a different style of learning. I will be reaching out to families Monday and Tuesday to get plans in place for our learning this term.  I am not sure how long we will be learning together from home, but I know that we can make it work!

I am getting a platform up and running called Zoom so that we can meet together online as a class. It is free for us to use and can be run on a computer or device like a tablet or phone.  I will be working with families to try and make sure you all have what you need to get connected. You will be doing some work offline (like writing in your journal and reading) and some work online (like meeting for math [grade 2/3s], science lessons, and even read alouds from Magic Treehouse). Later this week we will set-up times for you to come and get your supplies from school and any other tools you will need for learning at home.

While we are getting everything ready for you, I would encourage you to do your daily reading (a good fit book from home or a RAZ book), do some writing, and work on your math (you all have access to your DreamBox or Mathletics accounts and many of you have fact sheets you can work on as well). Passwords and login information for these websites was sent home in the report card envelopes before spring break.  You can call me at school Monday or at home after that if you have any questions.

I am going to use Symbaloo to organize all the websites you may need to access.  Some of these sites are new to you. If they require a password, I will be giving you that information once we get started. You will also have your own password-protected pages on this blog that you will use to get to a Google Doc I am setting up for each of you. We will talk all about this when we meet up in Zoom. For now, you can click on the different sites in the Symbaloo below and do some exploring.

I miss you all and am looking forward to learning with you again very soon!

Mrs. Watson

We were very fortunate to have Ada Vera and her granddaughter Gwanti’lakw visit the school on Tuesday.  We got to practice our counting in Kwak’wala. Some of the sounds are difficult to make , but we tried very hard to echo back after Ada Vera. We also played a game with animals that let us practice our counting and sang some songs as well. Then Ada Vera told us the legend of the Dzunukwa.  She explained to us that parents told this story to their children so that they would learn the importance of listening to what they are told and to keep them safe.  There was also lots of time for the students to ask questions about how to say different things in Kwak’wala.  We finished the morning practicing all the different sounds in the Kwak’wala alphabet.

In the afternoon we all met in the gym and learned a dance. Gwanti’lakw sang and played the drum while Ada Vera taught us what to do. It was a wonderful way to end the day. We are all looking forward to them visiting us again at the end of February!

The theme we chose for Family Literacy Day this year was Emily Carr.  This fit very well with the work we are doing this term around cedar. The students got to visit 5 different stations in family groups throughout the day.

In the station with Ms. Fraser, the students went out into the forest to learn about cedars. They learned the scientific names of the different parts of the tree and many interesting facts. Students then came back inside and created artwork with cedar.

At the station with Ms. Hamilton the students made cedar prints. The cedar leaves were painted and then were printed on canvas to make beautiful wall hangings.

In the station with Mrs. Walker, the students got the opportunity to paint in the style of Emily Carr. They used a painting she did of a red cedar as inspiration.

In the station with Ms. Lansdowne, the students wrote songs inspired by one of Emily Carr’s paintings. They then sang their songs while playing the ukulele. For some students this was their first time playing the uke.

At the station with Mrs. Watson, the students learned more about Emily Carr and then wrote poems inspired by her artwork or her life. The students could write free verse poetry or use one of the frames.

It was a fantastic day!

Here are some fun coding activities the K/1/2/3s may like to try at home:

https://app.codemonkey.com/junior/chapters/sequencing/challenges/1

https://studio.code.org/s/starwarsblocks/stage/1/puzzle/1

http://www.grinchhourofcode.com/game.html