Love You

Saturday 21 December 2013

The Grinch didn't steal OUR Christmas!

Thank you to the mommy of this little cutie who sent in the perfect treat for the last day of school.  We all really appreciated that it met the criteria of our 'Apple' School philosophy and it looked like the Grinch in his 'Santy Claus' hat, too!
Older is better, in my humble opinion.  The students loved seeing the 1966 television version of the story that has driven our learning this week. (Yes, they are in their pyjamas!)
Another thank you  to elementaryartroom for the post that we used as inspiration for our Who Village scene, done on watercolour paper, with sharpies and felt pens.
After drawing with pencil, the whole scene was outlined with a black Sharpie pen...
...so it looked like this....
before colour was added, and finally the peeking Grinch took a little look into the scene.
The students were rightly proud of their final product.
Until we meet again in the New Year, I'll leave the final words to Dr. Seuss.....
“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”
― Dr. SeussHow the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Friday 20 December 2013

Blessings to you this Christmas!

We think Snowflake isn't taking any chances with getting touched.  The last few days she has been up high each time we open the classroom door.  Turns out she was actually stuck inside of our paper lantern!
 
This morning, we found her on top of the SMARTBoard projector.
She looks like she is all ready to watch a movie with us this afternoon.
 
At each seat were some little (teeny tiny) chocolate kisses..

..elf size and minty good!
May the hope, peace, joy and love brought to our world through the birth of one small child, the saviour of us all, be yours throughout this Christmas season and in the New Year!

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Learning about 'RISDVO' (Ukrainian Christmas)

What an amazing day we all had at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village where we felt like we had stepped onto the Magic School Bus and were transported back into the 1920's.  We were the visitors to the homes of three different Ukrainian settlers who were preparing for Christmas, which they would be celebrating on January 7, according to the Julian calendar.
This museum is different in that the 'guides' take on the persona of a person who would have lived in that home at that time and so it is a 'living' museum.  The guide stays in character and invites the children to learn the cultural aspects of that time period, for those people, through hands on experiences.
They washed their hands in the basin with soap and water that was added to a pan full of snow.  The lady told us it was the softest water.
She told us that when you come to her house, there was no time to waste, and that everyone would need to work.  She taught us how to make kolach, a special braided bread, which, because it had no beginning nor end, represented the circle of life.
The students all got to make their own.


The kolach were put into pans and then left to rise on top of the wood burning stove. Once they had risen to twice their size (it was a yeast dough), then she was going to bake them.
There was a lot of very impressed young bakers in the group!
She then taught us how to make a fruit filled dumpling.
This dough was different and once the squares had been folded into triangles and pinched shut,
she boiled them.  They were quite sweet and tasty!
The children were brave enough to taste a little bit of kutia, which is the first dish served on Christmas Eve.  It is made of boiled wheat, with honey and poppyseed added.
When we had thanked our friend for all that she had taught us, we were surprised to find out that we were going to have a ride in a horse drawn wagon.
It made the song 'Jingle Bells' come alive!
After lunch, we walked over to St. Nicholas Parish and heard about the history of the building and the important role that it played in the celebration of Jesus' birth.
The ceiling was painted with the Holy Trinity.
At the next house we visited, the lady taught us how to make wax crosses.  The smell of beeswax was intoxicating as the children's warm hands molded the little crosses that were traditionally put above the windows and doors of the home.



In the third home, the lady of the house offered each child a mint, which would have been a special treat only given to the children during this special Christmas season.
She went on to explain about the diduch, the last sheaf of wheat cut during the harvest and how it took pride of place in the corner of the house, reminding the family of the members of the family who were no longer with them.

She gave us a small one to bring back to our classroom.
Did you know that there are special programs that run year round at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village and that dancing, harvest and the blessing of the water for the Feast of Jordan, are all part what can be seen.  Consider visiting sometime in the next year to learn more about our Alberta heritage.

Tuesday 17 December 2013

Marshmallow Launcher


Where was Snowflake this morning?  Could she have thought that this really was Santy Claus?
This afternoon the two Grade Three classes worked on the engineering design process, as they worked on solving this little 'problem.'  They worked in groups of three to create a snow catapult to help Daddy save his back when he shovelled the driveway.  Thanks to Jennifer Maschari for sharing her original idea, which this project grew from.
Each group was given the same package of materials, but they could have as much masking tape as they thought they needed to use as their adhesive.
The best part was listening to the talk, and seeing all the co-operative skills that the students were using.
They had worked through the plan with each other so when it was time to create, they were ready.



Don't you love that they were testing out their model?
Many hands worked together...
all the groups made different types of catapults....
each group got put their design to the test....
and some of those catapults really launched the marshmallow 'snowballs' across the room!
Lots of learning...lots of budding engineers!