Shapes in our Forest

Posted on March 14, 2020 by mrswatson123

As a part of our math inquiry work we are looking at ways to incorporate more place-based learning and culture into our math lessons. Recently we have been talking about shapes that we see in nature. We talked about traditional 2D shapes, like squares and triangles, as well as shapes used in First Nations artwork, like ovoids, S shapes, and U shapes.

The first day in the forest we looked for examples of some of the First Nations shapes:

The first day of this exploration the weather didn’t really cooperate with us. It was very windy and rainy so we couldn’t take our recording sheets with us. The second day was much better though! We each recorded an example of 4 of the shapes.

After recording our thinking we used things we found in the forest to create some of these shapes.

What a creative group of kids!

Valentine’s Day Fun

Posted on February 18, 2020 by mrswatson123

The K/1/2/3s would like to thank the Student Council for the awesome Valentine party they organized on Friday. There were two group games, one at the beginning finding your teammates with matching puzzle pieces, and then Musical Hearts at the end. There were also many fantastic stations to visit: Face Painting, Colouring, Number Hide and Seek, Valentine Card Making, Throw the Arrow into the Heart, and Mitten Unwrap.

Face Painting

Mitten Unwrap

Number Hide and Seek

Card Making

Throw the Arrow

We would also like to thank our PAC for the beautiful new popcorn machine they bought for the school. We all enjoyed popcorn outside at lunch. What a treat!

Family Math Night

Posted on February 12, 2020 by mrswatson123

Family Math Night was a great success! The gym was full of excitement, laughter, and lots of great thinking as students and their families participated in all the different activities.

The evening started with a family STEM challenge. Teams had 20 minutes to build balloon powered cars. There was a table full of materials to use and the winner would be the car that travelled the greatest distance. Everyone worked very hard (and quickly) designing and redesigning their vehicles.

After the STEM challenge families visited all the different math stations collecting stickers in their passports.

Every student won a door prize and there were also prizes for the estimation station and a grand prize draw for visiting stations and collecting stickers.

Thank you to all the amazing volunteers who ran math stations and to all the families who came out for a great night of math fun!

Wilkw Circumference Part 2

Posted on February 12, 2020 by mrswatson123

It was another perfect day for math in the forest. We started today by comparing the circumference of all six cedars.

Then each partnership took one of the trees and searched for objects with the same circumference.

Measuring Wilkw (Cedar) Circumference

Posted on February 11, 2020 by mrswatson123

When we were talking about what we noticed and wondered about cedar trees, one of the students wondered about the circumference of the trees. Today we brainstormed ways we could compare the circumference of the cedars in our forest if we didn’t have any measuring tools. The students had many ideas:

measure with our steps around the tree
make a rope with grass
hold hands around the tree
twist bark together to make rope
use our hands

We discussed that whatever we chose to use, we would have to use the same unit to measure all the trees or we wouldn’t be able to compare their size.

We set off for the forest and chose 6 cedars that we would measure. We labelled them with the numbers 1-6 in Kwak’wala as well as the animal name for each tree from the story, The Six Cedar Trees.

Next we decided on a unit we would use to measure the circumference of each tree with our partner. Some of the trees were tricky to measure.

We recorded our measurements and then compared our results with other groups to see if we agreed which tree had the greatest circumference and which had the least.

We didn’t all have the same result so we went and got yarn so that we could check. In the photo you can see a comparison of the greatest circumference to the least circumference.

Tomorrow we will head back to the forest (if the weather cooperates) to talk more about circumference!

Cedar Inquiry

Posted on February 7, 2020 by mrswatson123

This term our inquiry theme is cedar. We went down into our school forest yesterday armed with clipboards, pencils, keen eyes, and questioning minds to record the things we notice and wonder about the cedar trees (we had started this last week, but didn’t have enough time).

Here are a few of the students ideas:

Teddy-The leaves are close apart and far apart. Some of the leaves are dangling. Some leaves are longer than the others. I wonder why the leaves are so bendy. I wonder how the leaves attach and grow.

Kip-The leaves are flat on the cedar trees. The bark is flat and in little strips. The wood between the leaves iv very bumpy. The yellow cedar and the red cedar look different. The cedar cone is very bumpy and looks like waves.

Acacia-Red cedar has some red on it. One side of the leaves are lighter and the other side is darker. I notice dark and light in the cones. There are tiny white stripes on the cedar leaves.

Sinead- The inside is smooth and red and black, and a little bit of brown. I wonder how old they can get.

Clara-One side is darker colour and the other is lighter. You can count by the rings around to see how old the tree is. One tree was 34 and another tree was 41.

Ruby-The green leaves are sort of scaly.

Cayden-The cedar leaves are green. Some are short and some are tall. Red cedar trees are tall. They are two colours: red and pink.

Ryder-Red bark smells neat. I notice:hard bark, tiny cones, and strong branches. How tall can they get? Are they good for houses?

Rylann-Cedar cones are small. They have stringy bark. On the top of the cedar bough it is dark and the bottom is lighter. On the top of the tree the trunk is small are it goes bigger and bigger to the bottom of the tree.

Lina-I wonder how many branches are on the red cedar tree. I wonder why moss grows on the trees. Why is the bark so rough? When you peel the cedar bark, underneath it is red. You can count the rings and it tells you how old it is.

Ayla-Cedar trees have little cones. Why does Old Man’s Beard grow on trees? I noticed that the cedar trees have long strong branches. How many cedars are there in the world? Why does green stuff grow on the trees? Why do the branches droop down? I noticed stringy bark. I noticed there was a pattern on the bark of green stuff growing then red cedar.

Joselyn-I noticed that cedar cones are tiny. I wonder where cedar trees grow. I wonder what the circumference is. Some trees are red like cedar trees. There are two kinds of cedar trees. I wonder how long cedar trees live.

Harmony-I see a square. There are tow types of cedar: yellow cedar and red cedar. How many are there? I wonder why cedar trees have different lives? They have stringy bark. Another tree had scaly bark. I wonder why the cedar tree cone is small. I noticed that on a cedar tree the branches go from bigger to smaller to smaller.

James-The branches are really long. I noticed there are lots of branches. They are very tall. They have stringy bark. I wonder how many types of cedar trees there are.

Mount Cain

Posted on February 4, 2020 by mrswatson123

We spent a glorious day on the Mount Cain yesterday. There was an abundance of fresh powder, blue skies, and sunshine to great the K-7s, and the 18 parents who joined us for this special day. The primary students enjoyed a day of sledding and playing in the snow while the intermediate students went skiing. It was a perfect day!

The students still had enough energy for a game of, Everyone’s It Tag while waiting for the ferry in the dark!

Crafting with our Seniors

Posted on January 30, 2020 by mrswatson123

Yesterday we had a very special afternoon. We went on the school bus down to the Seniors’ building to meet up with a wonderful group of our community seniors. Throughout the year we are going to be getting together to do all sorts of activities with them. This was our first visit and we all enjoyed making Valentine decorations for their upcoming potluck, as well as some things to take home. Before we left, Mrs. Fuller had a wonderful surprise for us. She had made beautiful Valentine sugar cookies for each of us and enough to take back to the intermediate students as well. They were delicious! We are looking forward to another visit soon.

A Visit From Ada Vera and Gwanti’lakw

Posted on January 30, 2020 by mrswatson123

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!

Emily Carr

Posted on January 29, 2020 by mrswatson123

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.