We've been busy!

After the Victoria Day long weekend, we have had a very busy week with Christ in the centre of it all!  Father Jim led our school in a mass on Tuesday and then we processed, as a school community, to the chapel, where each class had a chance to adore the Body of Christ.

We finished up our unit on two dimensional shapes and three dimensional objects.

Can your child name some?

Can your child identify the vertices, edges and faces?

Can your child explain the different ways that the shapes and objects can be measured?

The students really enjoyed the challenges of creating (here it is the 2D shapes) with marshmallows and toothpicks.

Just one little shot of a group making three dimensional objects.  

Can you identify which one they made?

We have moved onto measuring.  In Grade One, the students are using non-standard measuring tools, which means that they are not using actual rulers or measuring tapes.  They worked in small groups,

and measured items around the classroom.

Each group measured the same ten items, but some groups used links, some used little red cups, some used cubes and the final groups used yellow wooden hexagons.  They created a chart and were also learning how to record the information that they gleaned through the two days of hands on activity.

The best part is always listening to their thoughts as they share their ideas within their groups.  They are becoming quite confident in being able to 'solve' their little 'problems'.  Here's a great example.  These two are trying to measure the height of the chair.  If they just put the cups on top of each other, they will all slide down, giving an inaccurate answer.  What did they do?  Look closely....every second cup is inverted so that they will stack up.  Whose idea was this?  THEIR'S!!!!

It was a crazy busy week, because unbeknownst to most of us, the RCMP had made arrangements to come and visit our school.  What patient horses, as almost 700 students made their way onto the back tarmac for a little 'up close and personal' visit.

We even got a shot of us all with our special guests!

Last Sunday the Catholic church celebrated pentecost, the feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples of Jesus.  We made tongues of fire and displayed them in our windows.

We ended the week with another assembly, focusing on our school's namesake.

We then went outside and said a prayer together that was on a little bottle of bubbles.

We got to blow the bubbles and recognize that the Holy Spirit is like them, bringing joy to us all!

Arbour Day (and a little bit of geometry too!)

I've got to stop taking so many pictures!  Honestly, though, I want you to see your sweet kiddos having the time of their lives, trying new things, learning, smiling and enjoying their days at school.

If you ever run into your town counsellor here in the County, please let him or her know how wonderful the County sponsored (as they pay for everything, including the bus!) Arbour Day for the Grade One students of Strathcona....and I hear that was over 1000 of them!

After watching some cool tree climbing antics and learning about pruning, the students got to run through an obstacle course.  I think there were 7 or 8 stations all together.

These are white spruce seedlings (that were sent home today).  Place two adults finger tip to finger tip next to each other.  That's how massive these trees are going to be at maturity.

My advice:  don't plant next to a fence or your house!  They will need about 4 meters of space on every side in order to grow up healthy and strong.  Did you get a tree in Grade One?  WOuldn't it be fun to show your little one how large it is now?

This beaver mascot was kind and very photogenic!

It was a beautiful day with just enough wind to keep us from overheating.

The children disappeared into the trees to make little fairy houses.  We adults were not allowed to follow!

The fire department talked to the children about fire safety in the forest.

They sent us home with pamphlets and tattoos!

The students learned about how a tree grows and each got a tree cookie (ha! ha! not the kind to eat) and counted the rings to see how old the tree was.

Two of my munchkins were invited up on stay with Peter Puffin, to act as characters during one of the songs that he sang.

Have the children told you about the seeds that we have planted?

Here's a group of them as they used magnifying glasses to check out the parts of the plant.

The know where to find the roots, stem, leaves and we hope to one day, see our plants produce flowers.  Ask them about the seed coat and how the seed gets its' food at the beginning of it's growth, when it is still a sprout.

We are trying different activities each day of Mental Health Week.

Today, we were asked to create and so we used toothpicks and marshmallows to see if we could create the sides and corners of two dimensional (2D) shapes.

Do you know what a rhombus is?  Ask your kiddo because they all know!

Here's a rectangle,

and here's an octagon!

Happy birthday to this 7 year old!  They are growing up so fast!

Another busy week in Grade One!

On Tuesday morning, the students from Grades 1 through 4 made the trek into the big city and enjoyed a morning of music supplied by the Symphony Orchestra...and one bear, just waking up from his winter hibernation!

They thoroughly enjoyed the comfy seats!

Don't they all look so grown up...

in their special clothes?  Thanks for taking the time to get them dressed up for this special outing.

It did tire them out!

On Wednesday, the students very carefully followed the directions,

and put beads onto wire in the proper pattern.

'

Today, they were able to use those lovely rosary beads as the whole school participated in the Living Rosary.  The students were just wonderful!

They were so proud to carry the rosaries that they made into the gym.

We'll keep them at school until the end of the month, so that we can actually learn how to say the rosary.  They know the prayers, but need practise on how to move their fingers along so that they know which prayer is next.

Did you notice that cutie from Gr. 4 photo bombing us??  Ha! Ha!

The students are beginning a bit of a review on 2D shapes.

They learned that the correct mathematical term for diamond, is actually rhombus.

They also learned that the term for same shape, same size is congruent.

They are so excited when they can tell others about their new learning!

Today, they worked in pairs and challenged themselves to use different 2D shapes to cover the different pictures that they were given.  They surprised even themselves, and every few minutes I was called over to another pair of students, who wanted to show how they figured out the best shapes to use.  Another proud moment for them (and me!)

They never complain about who they are paired up with.  They have the kindest hearts!

It will be 3D objects next week!