Dear families,
I hope you're having a terrific weekend!
Last week we finished our learning about the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The children made torches and did a little parade around the school (Mr. Currie put a photo of this on the LKS Twitter feed!), which they loved! We did three Venn diagrams together after watching clips of the sports on the Smartboard: luge/skeleton/bobsled; hockey/figure skating; and skiing/snowboarding. The kids did some Olympic-themed numeracy activities; they compared numbers and circled the higher ones; they rolled dice and coloured matching totals; they did "skating equations." in which they added two numbers up and colour a skater according to a legend of different sums (i.e. sum of 4, colour blue); the children played again at the 6 different numeracy and literacy centres they played last week; and they completed a dot-to-dot numbers 1-30 skating picture.
The children also watched several Paralympians on the Smartboard - downhill skiers, snowboarders, cross-country skiers and sledge hockey players. WE talked about the importance of not giving up when something is difficult, and always trying your best. We also talked about respecting others and difference, and what the Olympic athletes can teach us. Also on the Smartboard, the kids read winter sport-themed sight words, letter sounds, and numbers, and we watched "The Science of the Winter Olympic Games," which explained in simple terms the physics behind all the amazing gravity-defying feats the athletes do (such as jumps). As a culminating activity, the children completed the sentence "My favourite Olympic sport is _________ because _________" and drew a matching picture. Our hall bulletin board has a lot of the kids' learning on it and they will take their Olympic folders home next week. Well done!
We also squeezed a little science lesson in our learning. The children came up with four different ideas (HYPOTHESES) about how to make play clay for our Olympic medals using different combinations and amounts of flour, water, corn starch, salt and white glue. They mixed the four different recipes and told us their OBSERVATIONS ("It didn't stick together;" It's fluffy;" "I don't think i could make it into a ball," for example). Later, I mixed up two other recipes and the kids mixed them with their hands and we decided that flour, salt and water works best (our CONCLUSION). Finally, they made balls with the clay, flattened them, put decorative lines across them with a ruler, put a hole in them with a pencil and we're letting them dry for the weekend. Next week we'll paint them gold, silver or bronze (the kids' choice). Hopefully the medals will look like the Pyeong Chang ones!
Our student teacher Miss. Patel visited again on Friday. Her Practicum will be from March 19-April 25.
The children had front row seats to a terrific school-wide Huddle Up Assembly with the Argos and the Grey Cup! They also completed their February calendar and "This is me in February." The words of the week were SAY and WITH. The homework fore this weekend is to complete the mini read-and-write WITH booklet. The new March words and March Homework Bingo wa sent home on Friday.
Thank you so much to Evelyn's mom who was our Mystery Reader!
Spring is beginning to make an appearance at school! Crocuses, tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are poking their leaves out of the soil, and some insects are coming out of the ground. Hibernating and burrowing animals are waking up, and with that in mind, we will do a little inquiry on MICE next week! Lots of wonderful books with mice as main characters, and lots of learning and fun next week, the last week before March Break.
That's the news from Room 166! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
