Mrs. Didyk's Super Kids

Back in early January, (I guess it’s been a little bit since my last post :)) we celebrated Lunar New Year and the year of the rabbit.  The Super Kids explored the zodiac calendar and learned what sign their birth year was.  We listened to traditional music and learned about the traditions surrounding this holiday.

We then created our own rabbit art with a red backing for good luck.

Cosmic Kids yoga is a fun way to get our bodies ready for learning.  Living in Winnipeg Manitoba during the winter can result in some indoor recesses.  25 first graders can get a bit restless, so activities like this help us get moving.

 

Feb. 2nd was supposed to be our outdoor field trip to The Fort Whyte Centre.  Unfortunately, it was the coldest day of the year so far at -44C with the windshield.  We had to reschedule, but we had a great day as school learning about groundhogs and shadows for Groundhog Day.

We were fortunate that the cold snap only lasted for a little over a week and we could head back outside for some outdoor fun together.

Math games are a big part of our classroom learning and help our developing number sense.  The Super Kids love getting into partners and practicing their skills with a fun game!

Our fairy tale inquiry is in full swing!  We have been reading many fairy tales and fractured fairy tales over the past month. Curriculum connections are being made to all areas of the grade 1 program.  Learning about parts of a story, predicting what comes next, summarizing the plot, and making connections is a daily experience as we read a new tale.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears was a story we focussed on earlier in the month.  After reading a few versions of the story told from different points of view, we wondered if the science around the story was actually possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_YqDN3SbDU

Would the temperatures of the porridge bowls be possible? Could Mama’s bowl be colder the Baby Bear’s bowl?  First, we needed to learn more about the thermometer and how this important science tool works.  The class then learned about the different systems used to tell temperature and noticed that the thermometer had a number line on it.  The kids then experimented by putting thermometers into hot and cold water and noticing what happened.  There were a lot of excitement watching it go up and down.

After testing the porridge, setting a timer for 15 minutes, and then checking the temperature again, the class came to the conclusion that it wasn’t possible for Mama Bear’s bowl to be colder.  We then had to brainstorm reasons why it could be that way.  One student thought that maybe Papa Bear put it in the fridge to cool it down like his mom does for his baby sister.  Another student thought that maybe the porridge was poured in the bowls in a different order.  Then the class created their own Goldilocks art.

Next we tackled the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty”.  Now I know what you’re thinking. Humpty Dumpty isn’t a fairytale, but there are several fractured fairy tales with Humpty as the main character.

“After The Fall” by Dan Santat the story of how Humpty faced his fears and climbed back up eventually only to fully crack open and become a bird.  This opened up some writing opportunities to talk and write about what our fears are.  We then wondered what other animals Humpty could have been.  There are more than just birds that hatch from an egg.  The class then learned the difference between oviparous and viviparous animals. The class was challenged with two STEM projects related to Humpty Dumpty.  First they had to work together in groups using loose parts found in our classroom such as lego, blocks etc. to create a wall that Humpty could sit on.  Each group was given a plastic egg to test with.  After the wall was built the group then had to measure how tall and wide their structure was.

The second challenge was to create a parachute for Humpty to use so he wouldn’t fall and break again.  The plastic egg had to stay in the cup to show this.

Next, we experimented with materials that we thought might protect a real egg.  We have an egg allergy in our classroom so the eggs were in ziploc bags with the materials we wanted to try and only I handled and dropped the egg.  The kids first predicted if they thought that the egg would break when surrounded by bubble wrap, Easter grass, cotton balls, water, and yarn.

egg video

The week wouldn’t be complete without a fun Humpty Dumpty art project.  We plan to use watercolour and oil pastels to finish our project this week.

This week we will be celebrating our classroom friendships on Valentine’s day and the 100th day of school on Friday.  Stay tuned for more adventures. 🙂

 

 

 

I hope that everyone is having a restful holiday season!  We’re on winter break for another week, but I was looking through the pictures from this past month and decided to write a blog post before the new year starts.

Our class has grown with two new Super Kids recently and we are excited to welcome a third beginning in January.  We found out about our new class member on the last day of school before winter break, so look for another updated contact list in early January.

When the weather gets cold, we end up having indoor recess from time to time.  Some movement breaks are necessary.  Sometimes these breaks can be to get our bodies moving, but other times it’s to calm our bodies for focused tasks.  Cosmic Kids yoga helps us do just that.  If you haven’t heard of it before, check it out on Youtube.

 

 

Partner work through math games, literacy games, and buddy reading activities helps us practice our developing reading and mathematical skills.

Computer science week was held earlier this month.  The Super Kids learned about the coding app Kodable and became computer scientists!  After learning how to code on the program, we took that knowledge and applied it to an unplugged coding activity. Can you code your gingerbread man to his house? Groups then tried to follow other groups instructions to see if it would work.

 

Have you noticed that there are many versions of the classic “Gingerbread Man” story?  We did!  Our class signed out all the different versions our school library had to compare and contrast them. We looked at the settings, characters, and if the fox actually eats the gingerbread man.

Each student drew their very own gingerbread house and outlined it with a glue/paint mixture to represent the icing.  Next chalk pastel ws used to add detail. We created a gingerbread village on our bulletin board. 🙂

We even learned to sew with the help of a parent volunteer!  Students sewed, stuffed, and decorated their gingerbread man before taking it home as a gift to their families.

I then challenged our class to build a boat out of recyclable materials to help get the gingerbread man across the river and away from the fox.  This STEM project had the kids working together, problem solving, and re-designing.

Our 3/4 learning buddies spent some time with us the last week of school.  We headed outside to play and then shared some hot chocolate.

Throughout the school year, we have been learning about family traditions and different holidays celebrated.  Hanukkah was a holiday that began the last week of school.  We read stories and learned a dreidel game.

One of our art lessons this month was to create our own reindeer!  The class first had a direct drawing lesson on whiteboards before drawing their reindeer on watercolour paper and painting their creations.

The last week of school was spirit week and the last day was PJ day.  The class brought a stuffy from home to read to with flashlights and to uses our estimating skills.  Students partnered up to estimate how many blocks long their stuffy was before measuring them.

I’m looking forward to hearing about everyone’s holiday when we return in a week.  Enjoy the rest of your break and I’ll see you next year. 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembrance Day is a day for each of us to stop and remember.  Explaining this day to 5 and 6 year olds can be tricky. We talked about why people wear poppies in November.  We discussed how they’re made, why they’re made, where you can get them, and how the money goes to veterans and their families.  As you can imagine, there were many questions and your child might have many for you on the topic.  The concept of war is very big so the only way I know to explain it is to relate it to our playground.  We discussed how the world is like a playground.  Sometimes you get along with others and sometimes you have disagreements.  It is how you solve those problems that is important.  You have to use your words and listen to each other.  Sometimes countries can’t use their words or compromise.  They fight each other and Canada’s role is to try to help keep the peace and help those countries talk.  Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t.  We agreed that the world leaders need to come to our school to learn how to talk to each other.  🙂

We watched the following video and talked about what the kids thought was happening and how with no words just video the message was shared.

We then learned about the artist Georgia O’Keeffe and read a book about her journey as an artist.

  

She was an artist who looked at object close up and created wonderful pieces of art.  She is famous for her flower pieces.  Several of them are poppies.

 

We created our own poppy art inspired by Georgia’s work and in honour of Remembrance Day.

The Super Kids also created poppies using a different art media.  Using plasticine, the class created Barbara Reed inspired art. Barbara Reed is an author and illustrator who uses plasticine as her media.

Continuing with our exploration of plasticine as an art media, the class created their own nocturnal animal dioramas with some help from our grade 3/4 buddies.  After reading sharing our research with our buddies, students created a diorama that had to show the animal, habitat, water source, food, and home.  The class then learned how to use the iMotion app to create their own stop motion videos!  They were so excited to make their video and share it with their families at student led conferences. I’ve attached one video below and will add more this week.  The videos are on the iPad at school.

Stopmotion1

After reading the book “The Royal Treasure Measure” the class estimated and measured each other friends with their feet.  The kids were so excited to measure their family members during student led conferences.

 

Developing our number sense has been a big part of our school year so far. Understanding what numbers are, counting up and back from them, and noticing patterns are all important skills the class is developing.  One of our favourite activities is to fill in a 100 chart with the help our friends.

The Super Kids have been developing their literacy skills through phonetic instruction, home reading,  buddy reading, decodable text, and much more. Learning a new phonics rule is like uplocking a secret code.  I just love when the kids come rushing over to me to tell me they found an example of the floss rule, -ck ending, open syllable word etc.  They are beaming and so excited to show that they understand.  Thank you to our Super Kid families for helping us make these connections.

 

Well the snow has hit and it’s that time of the year in Winnipeg again.  We’re bundled up for recess and I had to take a few pics out on my last recess duty.  We also had to create some snowman art to hang in our classroom.

Stay warm and stay tuned for more Super Kid adventures. 🙂

The Super Kids have had a very busy October full of hands on learning opportunities, guest presenters, and even an election!  We began the month talking about Thanksgiving, what we were thankful for, and painting turkeys with fall colours.

After reading A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman, the class was given a challenge.  Build a hideout for the turkey so he wouldn’t get caught.  The structure had to hide the turkey from view and they had to work together in teams.

We continued our inquiry unit on the five sense and explored how scientists use their senses to observe. We invited the optometrist from our local eye clinic to our classroom to talk to us about our eyes.  Dr. Shane Corelson and his staff  from Sage Creek Eye Centre agreed to join us and Mrs. G’s class.  They set up centres for the class to rotate through to learn more about why taking care of our eyes is important. The class got to try on lenses, learn about contact lenses, learn about colour blindness, and how we see.  Thank you to Dr. Corelson and the staff at Sage Creek Eye Centre for taking the time out of your day to join us.  🙂

 

Learning about sound, how our ears work, and designing our own musical instruments was a lot of fun.  The class learned about sound waves, how they travel, and made cup phones to demonstrate this. Then the class was challenged to make a musical instrument from recyclable materials they brought from home.

 

playing our instruments video (1)

 

Ms. Lagimodiere’s 3/4 class are our new learning buddies!  I couldn’t be happier about it to be honest.  Ms. Lagimodiere and I even teared up when we saw our classes together. The last few years we haven’t been able to have buddies because of restrictions and cohorts.  Many of the kids in her class were in my class for grade 1 and 2.  Both classes are so excited to learn together.  Apparently ,her class cheered when they heard we were going to work together this year. 🙂 They have joined us a few times this month.  The first time was a get to know you event.  Her class came with questions for us to help get to know each other.  The second time our buddies had gone to the school library and took one book our just to read to us!  Many picked their favourite when they were in grade one.  I guessed what book a few of the kids would bring and I was right. 🙂 They will be joining us this week to help us finish our nocturnal animal dioramas.

Diwali is a holiday that many of the Super Kids celebrate with their families.  Part of the grade one social studies curriculum is to learn about each other, our traditions, and the holidays celebrated in our classroom community.  We first learned about Diwali with the help of some picture books and videos.  Then the students rotated through some activities related to the “festival of lights”.  Rangoli is sand art that is a traditional apart of Diwali celebrations.  We created our own with colourful sand.  Students also looked at the symmetry of the Taj Mahal and were challenged to make their own structure with the blocks that had symmetry.  Students used toilet paper rolls to create firework art and they also created their own clay rangoli inspired pieces with beans. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it home.  The tray they were on was accidently was knocked off the table and they broke.  We do have some great picture of them and the kids were very good about it.  Accidents happen.

On October 26th Winnipeg held their mayoral election.  Our school was a voting site, so this was a great opportunity to learn about voting.  The class was met with a sign on our door saying “Vote Here”.  They entered and had to register to vote in the great cookie election!

 

What is an election?  Why do we vote? When do I get to vote?  These were some great questions generated in our morning meeting discussion.  We read the book Sophie Valdez Future Prez by Andrea Beaty to help us understand how kids can make a difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYVGdM6SsaU

We learned that candidates that want your vote often send you information, put ads on tv, talk at events, and even come to you house.  Our election was very exciting.  Would Oreo or Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies be voted best cookie.  Before we could vote, we had to watch commercials to try to sway our vote.  Students scanned QR codes and watched commercials featuring each cookie.  Would these commercials sway our opinion?

Our teacher librarian, Mme. Meg and the library assistants came down to vote too.

Then it was our turn.  Each student was checked on the registration and then cast their ballot in secret.  They even got “I Voted Today” stickers.

We then sat in a circle and tallied our results.  It came down to the last vote.  We had a drum roll and…chocolate chip won by one vote!  The next day the kids came in very excited to share with me that some of them had gone to vote with their families the night before at our school.  They also wanted to share with me who had won and was Winnipeg’s mayor.

Our buddies joined us again just before Halloween to help us with pumpkin math and science centres.  They measured each other with pumpkins, predicted if the pumpkin would sink or float, weighed a pumpkin, and measured how tall the pumpkins were.

Staying with the pumpkin theme that day, we also made pumpkin art with chalk pastels.

The Super Kids walked into the classroom on Halloween to find a game board projected on the whiteboard.  They had to complete a series of Halloween challenges to get a special surprise from me at the end of the day.  They were so excited!

The first challenge was to head up to the library where Mme. Meg had set up some spooky activities for us to do after we signed out our new books. She read us the book Creepy Crayon by Aaron Reynolds.  The activities related to the book.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSfJURm8El8

Next, the class headed back to the classroom and completed a series of challenges mixed in with movement breaks throughout the day.  Tic Tac Toe, Halloween bingo, and witches hat toss where part of the next challenge.

Then the class created their own spider or monster with playdough, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes.  They had to write a sentence about their creature in their writing books.

Another challenge was graphing the witches brew ingredients.  This math challenge had the class working in partners.

Movement breaks to ghostbusters and monster mash was needed to help get our bodies moving!

Next, the class had to become computer programmers and code their friends movements.  Using arrows and Halloween themed action cards, each group created their own code for other groups to work through.  Action cards included flapping like a bat, saying boo, and stirring a cauldron.

Following an art hub video for a direct drawing lesson was a fun activity that calmed the class down from a very exciting day.  With step by step instructions, each student created their own Frankenstein.

The day was full of learning, adventure, and fun.  The class completed the game board and got a special treat bag from me to take home.

Throughout the month we have been researching nocturnal animals. What are some things that go bump in the night? Animals of course. Each student got to pick the animal they wanted to learn more about.  In groups they researched the animal’s appearance, habitat, food, and some fun facts.  This week our learning buddies will be joining us to help us create our dioramas.  Each diorama will have a plasticine animal, water source, habitat, and food displayed.  We have already been working on our night time backgrounds.  Once that is complete each student will make a stop motion video.  We can’t wait to share our learning with our families on student led conferences coming up later in the month.

Stay tuned… 🙂

 

 

 

 

September seemed to fly by!  The Super Kids have been busy getting used to their new classroom, new routines and making new friends. Establishing our classroom community has been my top priority.  We read “Our Class Is A Family” by Shannon Olsen to help with this process.

After reading the book we created our own classroom family promise.  We decided that our classroom needs to be a safe place where we can try our best, where it’s ok to make mistakes, and we all support each other to achieve our “yet”.  What does that mean.  Well, we all have a “yet”.  Something we are working on learning.  Something we can’t do independently yet, but we will in time.  Everyone’s “yet” is different, but we are here to help our friends grow and cheer them on.  We create our own classroom family poster with our promises and we all signed it.

We promised to:

• Include others
• Treat each other kindly
• Support each other
• Learn from our mistakes
• Be bucket fillers

What is a bucket filler? Just ask a Super Kids!  A bucket filler is a person who does kind things for others and helps other feel good.  In turn, it helps them feel good too.  Check out the book I read to the class explaining bucket filling to the class.

Establishing how our classroom community, our expectations for each other, and the language we were going to use to express our feelings, was so important. This has really helped with recess and peer conflicts that naturally happen in primary grades.

The Super Kids have jumped into the routine of reader’s and math workshop.  Both workshops are rotations where students rotate to different activities related to literacy during reader’s workshop, or numeracy during math workshop.  The system is the same, but the activities are different.  During this time, groups work with me in small groups.

Dot Day was earlier in the month and the class was excited to do dot themed activities.  “The Dot” is a book by Peter H. Reynold that inspires kids to make their mark.  The Super Kids had a blast exploring different dot themed activities and creating a dot collaborative art project with the other classes in our wing of the school.  Twister, Connect 4, the light table, dot day interactive art, and domino math are just a few of our activities.

Part of our “All About Me” inquiry is to learn about our bodies.  Our five senses help us understand the world we live in.  Scientists use many tools to help them understand the world around them too.  We used magnifying glasses to help our sense of sight explore our school’s surroundings including the fossils in the stones that our school is built out of!

After learning about the parts of the eye and how the eye sends messages to our brain, we create our own models of an eyes out of plasticine.  As a Super Kids what the parts of an eye are and what their functions are.

Have you heard that Mr. Tiger has gone wild?  This is a charming book about being yourself and it’s ok to be different then others.  After reading it, the Super Kids created their own Mr. Tigers using a variety of art media.  This art project involved a directed drawing lesson, using pastels, watercolour painting, and collage.  It tooks us a few days, but the kids are so proud of their Mr. Tiger’s!  We hung them up on our bulletin board and on our door. 🙂

Yesterday our classroom and school recognized Truth and Reconciliation day. Since we don’t have school on Sept. 30th, which is the actual day, we had our discussion on the 29th.  Students were welcome to wear an orange shirt to school.  Our classroom discussed what the day is and how it’s important to recognize the day.  Mme. Meg, our teacher librarian, read a story to us through Teams.  She read to many classrooms in our school at the same time.  The story helped us understand the meaning behind the day.  Thank you Mme. Meg. We also painted rocks orange and wrote words on them in recognition of the day.  The kids came up with kindness, remember, caring, promise to remember, you matter, etc.  We headed outside to the front of our school where we circled the reconciliation garden that was build a few years ago and each took turns placing our rocks inside.

 

It’s hard to believe that October starts tomorrow!  For those of you that have children in my class, look for a new classroom newsletter and calendar in your child’s home reading bag on Monday.  Take care and enjoy your weekend. 🙂

 

It’s the start of a new school year and I’m so excited to welcome a new group of Super Kids! Welcome to all the families new to my class blog.  I’m so happy to share my student’s learning with you.   This past week our school welcomed families into our building for the first time in over 2 years.  It was wonderful to see the kids eagerly showing their families around the school, visiting their new and old teachers, and reconnecting as a school community.  I view this blog as a change for my families to get a peek into our school year together and to know that they are an important part of our learning too.

The first two days of school were full of smiling faces and some butterflies.  Surprising there were no tears.  Usually there are a few.  I might be jinxing myself for next week by typing that. 🙂 The first two days of school flew by.  The Super Kids were busy learning routines, learning what recess looks like, and making new friends to play with.  Being at school for a full day is always a HUGE adjustment for grade one students.  Some think it’s home time at lunch, but we’re getting used to it one day at a time.

We read “The Pigeon Has To Go To School” by Mo Willems. To help us understand that it’s normal to have all kinds of feelings when school begins.

After reading the story, the class made their own pigeon hats.  This gave me a bit of a glimpse into their cutting skills and ability to follow directions,not to mention, a pretty cool hat to wear around school.  Many continued to wear them when we learned our first math game called Tug of War.

Friday afternoon we drew our very own pigeons with a direct drawing lesson.  We first drew the pigeon on whiteboards before sketching a pigeon on watercolour paper.  On Monday we plan to paint them with watercolour and hang them on our bulletin board.

What would happen if the pigeon couldn’t get to school because the bus broke down?  Our first STEM challenge had students partnering up and working together to make a catapult to help the pigeon fly using a marker, spoon, and a pipe cleaner.  The challenge was to launch their bird into the school (a box).  The giggling and excitement when they got their birds in the “school” was so heartwarming.

I’m looking forward to our first full week of school together. Take care. 🙂

 

It’s the last day of school.  How did that happen?  In some ways it seems like a blur and in others it doesn’t.  We went from some pretty strict restrictions with distancing and masks to restrictions being lifted.  Configuring our classroom to the ever changing expectations was challenging, but the kids were so resilient.  Throughout the school year our class strived to create an inclusive classroom environment where kids could take risks, stumble, try again, and be supported by their classroom family through it all.  I have been told my many guest teachers and other adults in our school how kind our class is.  It has been a privilege to be part of their learning journey,  Every one of my Super Kids has grown so much as a learner this year.

June has been a very busy month with special events, 2 field trips, and so much more.  Check out or adventures below! 🙂

Father’s Day Gift: 

The class learned about the artist Jackson Pollock and explored his artwork that was called “art in motion”.  Each student create their own splatter paint canvas.  We also used our measuring skills to make homemade gluten free and vegan BBQ sauce!

Butterfly Investigation:

As part of our science unit “characteristics of living things”, we learned about life cycles by raising and releasing butterflies.  We observed the process of metamorphosis by becoming entomologists.  The class was fascinated with the process  and even got to witness the butterflies hatching! We showed our understanding of symmetry in our butterfly art projects and our knowledge by answering questions using our boom card challenges and our butterfly research project.

Chicken’s Life Cycle:

Mrs. G’s grade 1 class attempted to hatch chicks in their classroom.  Unfortunately, the eggs didn’t hatch due to a humid issue over a weekend, but they fostered a few chicks from a local farm and they shared the experience with us.

Zoo Field Trip:

Our class and the rest of our school wing (6 classes) went to our local zoo!  The class will thrilled!  When we arrived our zoo leader took us on a tour to learn about animal life cycles and animal classifications.  After lunch we explore the zoo and even got to see a special display of animatronic dinosaurs.  We learned that it was a cockatoo’s birthday and the class spontaneously starting to sing happy birthday to it.  The bird responded and just made us all laugh!

happy birthday singing video

Camping Theme:

How do you keep 6 and 7 year olds engaged in June?  You turn your classroom into a campground! Our theme included:

camping art projects

going on nature scavenger hunts

learning to use a compass

playing camping themed math centers

designing a STEM solar oven to make s’mores

using our knowledge of 3D shapes to build tents

campfire morning meeting and closing circles

science experiments fireflies and much more

 

Farm Field Trip:

A week after going to the zoo, we headed to Morning Sound Farm where we explored and saw so many farm animals.  Bunnies, puppies, chicks, kittens, goats, turkey’s, goats, sheep, pigs, cows to just name a few.  We even got to go for a pony ride and a hay ride. Thank you to our volunteers who came with us. My daughter Anna was done school so she volunteered too! It was a hot day and many kids took a nap on the way home.

Unlock Summer Fun Day:

This week our class walked in to the classroom with a summer challenge board on the projector.  Their task was to complete 7 challenges to unlock summer and get a special treat from Mrs. Didyk.  Activities included:

A balloon toss counting how many hits they could do before missing and telling me if it was an even or an odd number.

Popsicle math matching game

Flip flop addition game

Pool noodle structure building and measuring

Sandcastle art project

Palm tree hula hoop challenge

palm tree challenge video 1

palm tree challenge video 2

Sand pail name signing

 

Thank you again for all of your support this year.  I have loved being part of your child’s life.  Remember once a Super Kid always a Super Kid!  Have a wonderful summer. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Super Kids were learning about fairy tales throughout May.  What makes a story a fairy tale?  What are the parts of a fairy tale?  What is a fractured fairy tale?  This was the starting point to our dive into this form of literature. I have a bin of fractured fairy tales in our classroom library and I noticed that the kids were interested in the books, reading them to each other, and asking me to read them to the class.  I took the hint and our fairy tale unit began!

The book series by Bethan Wollvin was our starting point.  These books tell the classic fairy tales we all know with a bit of a twist and some inspiring art.

The class created their own “Little Red” painting using perspective to demonstrate near and far.

After reading Jack and the beanstalk, we wondered if beans really grow that fast.  What do beans need to grow? We planted some to find out.  First we put them in sprout houses and hung them in the window of our classroom.  The kids put the seeds inside a wet paper towel and watched the water cycle happen in front of their very eyes.  The class observed the germination of a seed. The roots began to grow and we knew it was time to put our sprout into some dirt. Before long we had tall bean plants!

   

The kids noticed that many fairy tales have royalty in them.  Several student took books out from the school library on castles and shared what they learned about them.  We then made our own castle art projects.

  

Fairy tale stories are part of our home reading and guided reading book collection.  After reading several during our book clubs we decided to perform our own plays!  The kids were so excited.  They got busy practicing, making lists of their props, designing costumes, and working on their voices for their characters.  The reader’s theatre play were:

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

 

3 Billy Goats Gruff

The 3 Little Pigs

The Paperbag Princess

We decided to invite several other classrooms to join us as our audience after practicing for weeks.  We held 2 performances were the kids presented to 4 classes, several teachers, educational assistants, our vice principal, and principal.  They were so proud!

Last Wednesday our class got to go on our first field trip!  This was the first time my class had been on a school bus. To say they were thrilled would be an understatement. I was too!  It was my first field trip with a class since the start of the pandemic and boy did it feel great. We headed to St. Vital Park with 444 students from our school to meet with students from many other schools in our division.  We danced, played, had a picnic, and just enjoyed the day.  Thank you to those parents who joined us.

dancing video 1

dancing video 2

In April, our class recognized Earth day by exploring how kids can make a difference.  We went on a virtual field trip to learn what how each small act can make a big impact if everyone does the same thing.  The class researched the 3 Rs and sorted items into these categories.  The class made Earth Day hats and recycling trucks to take home and share with their families.  The class even learned a new math game called “Recycle It”. 🙂

 

Dental health was another area of focus in health and science.  Why do we need to brush our teeth? What is floss?  What is a cavity?  How does the tooth fairy carry all that money? Parents…that one is for you. 🙂

We put hard boiled eggs into coke, fruit punch, and water for 2 days to observe what would happen.  We also put an uncooked egg into a cup of vinegar to observe.  The kids were completely shocked by the results!  Many wanted to go home right then and brush their teeth. We then created our own tooth ninja’s to remind ourselves how to take care of our teeth.

Mother’s day was in May and we wanted to give something special to a special lady in our lives.  Many picked their mom, while other students picked a grandma or an aunt.  We learned about the artist Claude Monet and examined many of his pieces of art.  We focussed on the art that he created in his garden called “Water Lilies”  We read the book Katie and the Waterlily Pond before creating own Monet inspired paintings for our gift.

 

I can’t believe it’s June already. Stay tuned to hear all about our June adventures.  Take care. 🙂

 

 

It’s been a while since our last blog post!  The Super Kid’s are back from spring break and ready to tackle the last three months of school.  Mother Nature needs to be reminded that it’s actually spring, because we sure have had some cold and snowy days over the last few weeks. Luckily things are melting and heading in the right direction. 😉

March was a busy month in the Super Kid’s classroom.

In the beginning of March we had Pink Shirt Day.  Not to be confused with the upcoming “International Day Of Pink”.  Pink Shirt Day was a day to wear pink and be reminded that kindness counts and standing up for others is important.  Our class read books about kindness, wrote about it in our journals, and made chain reactions.

After watching the video below about how one kind act leads to another and talking about what we noticed in the video, the class was partnered up to create their own chain reaction of kindness using dominos.  One action leads to another.

They could have made these all day!  Check out a few examples.

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The week of St. Patrick’s Day was an exciting one.  After reading about how to catch a leprechaun, the class dove into designing traps with recyclable materials from home and at school.

The day before St. Patrick’s Day was our designing day.  Creating these STEM projects is one of my favourite things about my job.  The creativity, patience, and problem solving that happens during these times is amazing.  Kids develop critical thinking skills and have to pivot their designs when something doesn’t work.  I love how it gives kids the opportunity to shine and help others.

The next morning the class was so excited to come into the classroom. Did we caught a leprechaun? They quickly ran to their traps and found a surprise waiting for them.  Footprints!!!

Traps had been sprung!  Nets were down! Secret hidden holes were pushed through! We didn’t catch a leprechaun that day, but we did get a challenge from Lucky the Leprechaun.  It came in a small envelope addressed to our class.

The class had to complete a series of activities to earn each colour of the rainbow to earn a price.  Each activity completed earn a matching coloured pipe cleaner.  The game board had a few detour movement breaks built it.  Our “Unlock A Rainbow” Day was a huge hit.  Activities included math problems, rainbow science, bubble science, a rainbow foods activity and much more.

It was a day full of making connections to our science units, math skills, and word work activities. The kids had a blast and I did too!

Once all the challenges were complete the kids had to create a rainbow with the correct sequence of colours with their pipe cleaners and some plasticine.

Thank you to Mrs. Dulder who took me up on the parent invitation sent out to our class families to read to our class virtually.

The Super Kids learned about communities in an inquiry unit about urban and rural communities.  How are they the same? How are they different.  In this unit our class learned about maps, how to read a map, and how to draw one.  They learned about directions and legends.  They showed their learning by mapping their own bedrooms and sharing it with the class.  Some even tried to draw globes and worked on puzzles of Canada.

We created art projects of an urban and rural community.

Each student researched a community helper and organized their ideas using a bubble map.

We then created our own green screen videos sharing our learning. Check out the videos I can share below. 🙂

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The class is very excited to share their reading ability with the class. Many of the Super Kids have asked to share a story with the class during story time.  Each day another student shares a book that they have practiced.

 

I have to admit this is my favourite time of the school year.  After Spring break everything clicks.  The kids are so enthusiastic about their learning!  The past two years haven’t provided us the opportunity to fully run with this excitement with lock downs and remote learning.  Being able to rearrange my classroom into table groupings and being able to share again has made a huge difference! Check out few candid shots below.

This past week we had some interesting weather.  It decided to sleet on Monday and Tuesday off and on.  Students came ready for snow or rain even with umbrellas.  It inspired our spring art project below.

 

Friday was Autism Acceptance Day in our school.  One of school’s Educational Assistant, Mr. K, organized it.  He himself has autism and talked to many classes about his experiences in school growing up.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mr. K last year in my classroom and he is a wonderful ambassador for this cause. Check out the link below to the lovely book that Mr. K read to use about how everyone is unique.

I’m looking forward another amazing week with the Super Kids and meeting our two new classmates.  Take care. 🙂

 

The month of February has been a cold and windy one!  We’ve had several blizzards that resulted in highways being closed and extreme cold warnings.  You just have to love the ups and downs of living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  One of these blizzards resulted in all routes to our school being blocked by accidents so most of our school’s staff had to walk in.  Mrs. Rempel and I braved it together. 🙂

With the weather being what it has been, the Super Kids had to talk about temperature, minus temperatures, and how a thermometer works.  The class had great questions.  Why do we use Celsius and the United States doesn’t?  What is the red part in a thermometer?  We used hot and cold water to show how a thermometer worked.

Groundhog’s Day was a day where we watched with fingers crossed to see if there would be six more weeks of winter predicted.  Unfortunately, it was.  We learned about groundhogs and experimented with shadow making.

Bell Let’s Talk Day is a day in Canada is a day where we acknowledge and talk about mental health.  Talking to kids about their mental health is so important.  Knowing their feelings are valued and helping them learn to recognize how they are feeling helps them express these feelings  to others.  This is a big concept, but using the zones of regulation along with the help from the Disney movie “Inside Out”, helps explain this concept in kid terms.  We have posters of the “Inside Out” characters in our room and we use the language of red, blue, yellow, and green zones to explain our feeling in our classroom.  We also read the book “Ruby Finds A Worry” to help with our discussion on feeling anxious or nervous about a new situation.  The class wrote about it in their daily writing journals.

The Super Kids then created a heart with all the people they felt they could go to if they felt worried, scared, or needed someone to talk to.

We also got a special gift from one Super Kid’s family.  They know the author of the new children’s book “Angry Cow” and had it signed for us.  We loved the new addition to our classroom library.  The book talks about dealing with anger.

Lunar New Year was celebrated earlier in the month and several of the Super Kids celebrate with their family.  The class read stories, created lanterns, and even research tigers.  Did you know that this year is the year of the tiger?

The Super Kids enjoy working on their math skill builder practice books and even choose to work on them during indoor recess or center times.  We use the document camera to show our learning with the class.

Throughout the month of February our class has been learning about daily and seasonal changes in science.  Students have learned how the Earth spins, orbits the sun, how the moon orbits the Earth, and how time is related to these patterns. Students showed their learning by creating stop motion videos. The videos are on the iPads at school, but I do have one that I have linked below.  I’ll add more to this post next this week. 🙂

 

Stop Motion Video Example

We have been recording the phases of the moon this month in our moon observation journals.  February moonrises happen during the day most of the time, so we have been lucky to see them from our classroom window.  Thank you to our families for helping with our journals over the weekends.

Valentine’s Day was a day that the class was very excited to celebrate their friendships!  The class couldn’t wait to share their cards with  each other.  It always warms my heart to see them deliver their valentines to each other.  They were so excited to open their cards and thank each other.

The Super Kids painted special giant Valentines for their families and wrote special notes on the back.

The afternoon was spent rotating through activities with a Valentine theme.  Groups coded their friends with Valentine actions, playing heart sight word bingo, sorted candy numbers into even and odd groups, sculpted love bugs, and played a doubles game.

We finished the day with a traditional Indigenous friendship game called stick and stone.  All you need is 10 popsicle sticks and two stones.  The game of chance is an example of give and take.  The kids loved playing it and even continued to play it during indoor recess.

This past Friday was the 100th day of school.  To get ready for our construction themed day, the class created their own construction equipment art and tool boxes from mask boxes we have been collecting for a few weeks.  The class was so very excited about the upcoming day, that some kids even got into the spirit during indoor recess and created their own cranes out of straw and connects.

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Despite a blizzard warning and a power outage, the kids came in excited to tackle the 100th day.  One student even said they thought it was like a real construction site with the power being out.  Student came into the classroom to find their own hard hat, name tag for the 10×10 construction crew, and their tool box.

The class had to complete a series of challenges to earn math tools for their tool boxes and numbers for the class 100 chart. The day was filled with math challenges such as 10 frame math, roll to 100, place value hunt, 100 piece lego challenge, cup structures, QR codes, and construction puzzles.  The class had a blast working through each challenge.

 

We worked to some construction noises thanks to YouTube and even had a movement break with a construction actions.  Check out the class below in the link and the YouTube video below too.

construction class movement break

As you can see the month has been full of exciting learning experiences.  I hope everyone has a relaxing long weekend.  Take care.