Fort Saskatchewan Museum

This really is a case of "a picture is worth a thousand words", as the children's faces as they went through the interactive activities on this field trip, tell us what an amazing day we had!  

It's the simple things they all wanted to do, like swing!  Sad that swings aren't part of playgrounds anymore.

This volunteer blacksmith taught the children about forges, making horseshoes and nails, and how branding doesn't hurt the cattle!

This one room school house had children from Grades One through Eight.  They learned about who was King 102 years ago, the flag that was honored each morning, and how the pot bellied stove kept the students warm.

At the Kulak house, the students were able to see the logs that were hewn to make the house, along with the chinking that kept out the elements and the bugs!

Can you find the stove and fridge in this photo?

 They were so excited to go into Dr. Henry's house, because this family was very well off!

A new attraction at this wonderful little museum is the reconstructed fort,  complete with gate to keep the attackers out.

It was full of interactive opportunities.  They washed these clothes over and over again!

                                Remember walking on tin cans when you were little?

                                       Milking isn't as easy as it looks!

Pumping water seemed like a game....

                                    but the real game was 'Tug of War'

The children learned how to salute and march and ride horses, just like the NorthWest Mounted Police did more than 140 years ago on this site.

          What is he lying on?  I got it wrong because I said buffalo hide.  What should I have said?

Grinding the coffee beans to make the officer's coffee.

The students ate a picnic lunch.  Thanks for sending it in a basket, like they would have had to used long ago!

 It was a treat to get up close and personal with the famous sheep who graze on Fort Saskatchewan town land for three months of the year.  The children got a chance to watch the sheepdogs work and follow the commands of the shepherd.

See the shepherd in the background?

I LOVE that when I take pictures, some child always asks "Will this be on the blog?"

We ended the field trip learning how ice cream is made...

...and then trying it out!  YUM!

If you are looking for a wonderful place to spend a day with your family, please consider a visit to this museum.  There were so many places that we didn't even get to see because we ran out of time.  

Field trip

Fort Saskatchewan Museum

End of the Year Field Trip for Grades 1 – 4

Friday, June 21, 2012

Dear parents,

     Tomorrow is the long awaited field trip.  Our class has three mothers volunteering.  They will car pool and follow the bus as there will not be enough room on the bus for everyone.  We will leave as soon as all 58 students arrive at school, hopefully well before 9:00 a.m.

     The museum is interactive.  There are a minimum of 9 stations where the students can participate in some activity relating to life long ago. The parent volunteers will be leading their groups to these stations and assisting the students. It will be interesting to watch the students learn in a fun manner!  The program runs no matter the weather and the majority of the time, the students will be outside, so please ensure they are dressed for the weather, have sunscreen/repellent applied beforehand and come prepared with a small water bottle and a hat.  Please send your child in sturdy shoes with socks and not ‘flip flops’ to avoid injuries. They will be responsible for their own items.  We thought it would be a fun adventure if they had a ‘basket’ lunch, complete with a small tea towel to lay their food out on, as we will be eating picnic style near the ‘jail’.  As part of our admission fees, there will be some homemade ice cream.  Please know that it is the experience of turning the handle and watching the ingredients become ice cream that is important.  With 58 students, there will only be a small taste for each.  As well, the famous grazing sheep of Fort Saskatchewan will be released in a pen near our area so that the students will be able to see them too.

     We hope to arrive back at the school near 1:30 but the time is not set exactly.  The students will be participating in a number of activities that the teachers have organized and will be dismissed at the regular time.

     We should have a great time!

 

Prayer

Every year the students in Grade 2 and 4 are asked to make prayer bags for the Grade Twelve students at Archbishop Jordan High School.  These bags are decorated and then filled with a water bottle, a granola bar and other such treats, along with a prayer for that student, who will be studying and preparing for Diploma and final exams later in June.

On Monday, the Grade Three students from our classroom were invited to come to the high school and read a prayer to the students at a little ceremony.

Someday these little ones will be as big as those happy students behind them!

(Some of those big ones were once my little ones from my Gr. 3 class at Father Kenneth Kearns School!)

We started with the sign of our faith....

                        and then prayed using some of the words that we pray each day at the end of school...

when we pray for the students to learn their lessons, study hard and remember not to be nervous....

and then the six got to help hand out the prayer bags.

Thank you to the principal at ABJ for thinking of us (last minute at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday

and the parents who said said yes to my quick phone call later that day).

The little ones were so excited to get to go to high school!

I think that having the little ones actually there helped the big ones see that they are important enough to be prayed for by complete strangers.

What a wonderful Christ-filled moment!

What's important

Sometimes, in my classroom, I am reminded of what's really important.  It isn't that a student gets an answer correct.  It isn't that the test results were in the high average range.  What's important is that my children are ready for life.  They know how to co-operate...

work together for the same goal....

share and take turns. Sometimes it's all about the fact that many hands make light work.  Sometimes it's about the revelation that comes from doing.  My favourite insight came as one girl looked at the printed picture directions as she was attempting to know what to do next to make the castle and she said...

"This would have been much easier with words!"  Hooray!  She knew the reason that we have written out directions in sequence at least half a dozen times this year!  I was so proud!

We had a 'surprise' visitor this morning.  A fireman crawled into the classroom (literally) and asked the children if there was any sign of a fire.

He showed them all of the equipment, explained the reason the equipment was needed and spoke through the special microphone to show them that the sound might be different, and he may look scary, but a fireman would always be there to help them if a fire were in their house.  They are never to hide.

The best part was when he took off his mask and revealed himself as the father of one of our own classmates, who is celebrating his birthday this weekend.!  Dad was given a big hug for this great gift!

The father and his partner gave a wonderful presentation which the children were so actively involved in!  They asked question after question and were reassured that with planning, they could always count on getting out of their homes safely and that the firemen would arrive to help.  They all went home with a stack of fire safety booklets and pamphlets.  Please take the time to have a home fire drill this weekend and set out a plan for escape routes and meeting spots so that your children know the plan.

Thank you for the well wishes and notes about the upcoming transfer.  As sad as I am to be leaving this school, I do believe that God's plan for me will be revealed in time, if I could just be patient.  I love teaching and am glad that I again will be at a school that I worked at, at the beginning of my career.  If you are interested in assisting me be ready for the new adventure, remember my dedication to bringing technology into the classroom.  I will be ordering another iPad later this month and would love to be able to start a fund towards the purchase of a third one.

News

I wanted to tell you all the news that I received this week.  Because of a variety of reasons, there will not be a teaching position for me here at Jean Vanier Catholic School for September, 2012.  I have been transferred to St. Theresa Catholic School, a school that I taught at 30 years ago!  I can only believe that God has a plan for me that I do not have understanding of yet.  Please keep me in your prayers.  Thank you for the support that you have given to your children this past year.  I am so very proud of their progress.

Multiplying Our Knowledge

In the second grade mathematics curriculum, patterns appear everywhere.   

One of the objectives that the students strive to achieve is:

Demonstrate an understanding of increasing patterns by describing, producing, extending and creating numerical (numbers to 100) and non-numerical patterns using manipulatives, diagrams, sounds and actions.

Multiplication is a pattern.  Here's an example:  1x3, 2x3, 3x3, 4x3 and 5x3.  Do you know what comes next in this pattern?

                                                   We can use manipulatives to produce,

                                                                           create

                                                                           and extend.

Knowing that numbers follow a pattern is so very important for these young learners!

They love the opportunity to try to understand something that they have seen their 'big' brothers and sisters do!  They will have to know the facts up to 5x5 next year in Grade 3.  For this year, understanding the concept is what is important!