It’s hard to believe that it’s the middle of June and we have a few more days left of the school year. It’s amazing to me how much the kids have grown! Yes, every year I says this, but it’s so true.
At the end of May all the grade 1-3 students in our school division head to St. Vital Park here in Winnipeg to dance together. The division is divided into two so it actually happens over two days. The kids practiced there folk dances during music class with Mrs. Styles. We were lucky to have such a beautiful day. To be honest…I have been to this event every year of my teaching career and I’ve been there in every weather situation imaginable! The weather on our day was perfect.
The month of June is always a busy one, but this year the weather heated up earlier than normal. When the weather gets hot you can feel it in the school. The kids are ready for summer and so are the teachers. To keep my class engaged and still learning we have been enjoying weekly themes. These themes encompass all subject areas and are just long enough to get excited about and just short enough that the kids don’t lose interest. Our first week wsa a camping theme. The class rotated through camping themed literacy and numeracy games, had a nature scavenger hunt, read camping themed books, and was challenged to use their knowledge of 3D shapes and materials to make a tent that was waterproof.
After reading “Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping”, the class created their own camping emergency kits. What would they take with them on a camping trip?
The weekend before our camping theme began, I was driving up to my cottage when a bear with her 4 cubs crossed the road. The mother bear stopped, turned and stared at me. She was waiting for her last cub to cross the road. It was amazing and I just had to share it with the class. We also had to make a bear project and learn about bears. Norval Morrisseau also known as Cooper Thunderbird, is a famous Canadian Indigenous artist that is well known for his animal artwork. We learned a bit more about him and created our own bear artwork inspired by his colours and style.
We finished the week creating our own solar ovens out of materials that would attract the sun. We used the heat to make a tasty treat! We made smores and it was a huge hit.
The second week of June was beach week. Activities related to water, ocean animals, and sand. The kids loved coming in to ocean waves on our projector and watching ocean animals during quiet time. The class learned a new game called flip flop math, researched ocean animals, created their own sandcastle art projects, and were given a STEM group challenge to create a tall structure with pool noodles and toothpicks. They then had to measure it. We even went fishing for words during word work time. 🙂
This past week was games week. We play games all the time in our classroom, but this week it was turned up a notch so to speak. We enjoyed some quality time with our 3/4 buddies outside, learned a card trick to teach our families, enjoyed field day organized by our Phys. Ed teachers, and made our own spinners and kaleidoscopes. To end the week the class was challenged to create a mini golf hole using materials borrowed fro the gym and items in our classroom. We partnered up with Mrs. G’s class and created our own 9 hole mini golf course! It was a blast to play the course. 🙂
This weekend was Father’s day. The class made their dads a special gift. Gifts for our families in my classroom are always art. After learning a bit about Jackson Pollock the class created their own “art in motion” projects. Splattering paint and rolling marbles helped the kids create their own masterpieces.
As you can see from our busy month so far, we’re always learning. Take care.
