Month: November 2015

 

What a busy week for the Super Kids!  Not only did we have 50s day and two nights of student led conferences, but we also had a series of lessons with our student teacher, Miss. Phillips.  Our class has been learning about community and family traditions.  Miss. Phillips introduced us to the tradition of the “Star Blanket” from the Anishinaabe culture.  We had the privilege to get an up close look at a blanket that her mother made for her family.  The Super Kids loved looking at the details and shapes of the blanket.  We extended the lesson by making our own stars with pattern blocks.  We examined symmetry through this activity.  The students are currently in the middle of creating their own star blankets!

 

 

 

Today was the 50th day of school!  We celebrated with a jammed packed day of 50s math, dancing, and hula hooping.  The Super Kids started the day completing different math stations.  They included sorting numbers into greater than 50 and less than 50, sorting doubles addition facts, race to 50, and estimating and measuring blocks on records.  After recess we had to dance to Elvis and of course do the bunny hop.  Thanks to our parent volunteer (pictured above) for coming and helping us out with our centres.  Do you ever realize that you are always the one taking the pictures and are rarely in them?

The fun continued by finding out how many times we can complete an activity in 50 seconds.  Counting, twists, hopping, gum chewing, and hula hooping were activities the class counted.  By lunch the Super Kids were tired, but having a blast with math.

On top of all the 50s fun, today was the first day of student led conferences.  I enjoyed meeting with my student’s families and sharing how amazing they are.  Watching the kids share their activities and work with their family was great to see.  I look forward to meeting with the second half of the class and their families on Thursday.

 

This week the Super Kids have been learning about our community and where we fit in the world.  The class has been talking about Winnipeg and what a diverse community we are.  There are so many cultures and families that call Winnipeg home.  We are lucky to have our student teacher, Miss. Phillips, with us for the next four weeks.  She is sharing her cultural traditions through the tradition of sharing circles.  We can’t wait to see her family’s star blankets next week.  The blankets have been made by her family over the years, as a part of the Anishinaabe tradition.

We took on a challenging art project this week!  Since we live in a city, we decided to create our own “downtowns” .  The cityscapes turned out amazing!  Many students used the concept of perspective, that we learning in our poppy art.  We can’t wait to show our families at conferences next weekend.

 

We woke up to a snowy day in Winnipeg!  This is the view from our classroom window.

This week we have been talking about the importance of community.  We have learned about our global address starting from our houses all the way to the universe!  Many students didn’t know their phone number or address, so we started there.  I told them that when I was I kid, there were no cell phones where you could find a person’s name and click to call.  Of course to my Super Kids this made me look ancient!  These kids have never lived in a world without cell phones, iPads, or PVR.  If there was an emergency and you had to get help, you need to know your address and phone number.  Of course setting up playdates was a big discussion too.  As part of our morning work, each student got a cell phone page to write their phone number on and practice dialing.  Then we looked up some addresses on Google Maps.  They loved seeing their houses on the map and learning about “bird’s eye view” maps.  This weekend, each child is going to map their bedroom.  It is so much easier to map your bedroom sitting in your bedroom!  Starting Monday our student teacher is starting her 5 week block with us.  The Super Kids are looking forward to learning with her and helping her learn about being a teacher.

Have a super weekend.

 

 

This week we have been talking about Remembrance day and what it means to Canadians.  Our class has had many conversations about saying thank you to those brave men and women who volunteer to join the Canadian armed services or who have volunteered in the past.  As you can imagine, many questions have come up.  It is amazing to get the kid’s perspectives.  One student said, “Mrs. Didyk I don’t understand…why can’t people talk about their problems?  If we can at school, adults can.  It isn’t hard.”  We talked about how glad we are that we live in a country where they can grow up to be whoever they want to be in a safe environment. We also discussed how Canada has helped the world.

We read the book, “If Kids Ruled The World” by Linda Bailey.  It is a silly book about how kids would use their imagination and change everything. What if kids ruled the world?  The ideas the kids came up with were inspiring.  The class wants everyone to have a house, live in a place where all kids can go to school, and live in a safe place.  Sounds pretty good to me.  We watched a video on YouTube about why we wear poppies and how they are made.  We decided to make our own poppy field art project.  This Tuesday, we will be participating in our school’s Remembrance day assembly.  The Super Kids are reciting a poppy poem and some students volunteered to read a few lines about why it is important to wear poppies.

We don’t have school on Nov. 11th in recognition of this important day.

Lest We Forget

 

 

Today the Super Kids became engineers, designers, and scientists!  The challenge was to create a boat out of recyclable materials from home that could hold a 50 gram weight.  The Super Kids took home the challenge and tested materials to see if they would sink or float.  Each student came to school with lots of materials and a plan.  They were not to create the boat at home, but talk with their families to get some ideas.  The classroom was a busy and creative place.  The kids loved sharing their ideas, sharing materials, and helping each other out.  They tested their designs in the water table we borrowed from Mrs. Flisak’s kindergarten class.  Adding the weight to the boats was very exciting.  If it didn’t float, then they went back to their tables and thought about how they could change their design.  The Super Kids learned that the more space the boat took up, the more stable it was.  One boat was able to hold 1 kilogram!  The classroom was a mess, but who said learning has to be neat?  We had a blast!