Another year over....look how they have grown!

It was a combination of the review of our unit on liquids, some chemistry

a little bit of vocabulary, and a whole lot of fun!  Today, our class explored

lemonade!

Every student had the chance to squeeze the lemon so that it could produce more juice,

and then, using a borrowed electric citrus juicer, each student got to squeeze half a lemon.

We watched as the empty measuring cup went to nearly full!

We looked up how to make old fashioned lemonade using a simple syrup.

This is where the chemistry came in.  We received the words dissolved

and evaporated,

We had a great conversation about how a stove works, watched the bubbles to understand the word boiling, and then let the simple syrup cool in the fridge.  To make a simple syrup, use equal parts sugar and water.

We knew we wanted to compare two different flavours, so strawberries were mashed and then added to one of the batches (new word to most of the students).

Each student got to taste each of the lemonades that we made together.

They had to remember which one they liked best because....

we collected data (using tally marks) to see which of the two flavours was most liked.

The data was first turned into a pictograph and then a regular graph.

Here are the results on our white board.

I just want again, to thank each and every parent for trusting your precious child to me.  I know that I didn't do everything right, but I sure did try my best to help your child on their education journey, with a great emphasis on Our Loving Father's guidance.  May they always know His love!

The children and I talked a lot over the last few weeks about being 'bored'.

Here's what we decided the students could do if they ever said that 'b' word during the summer:

a) visit the library and choose a book to read, cover to cover, a little bit every day

(That book should be a challenging one....not one that would be too easy....

they are great readers now!  Search for Big Nate, Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House)

b)  practise using a keyboard....ask a parent about getting an app on their device, or being allowed to use the computer in the house, specifically to learn how to use all ten fingers to keyboard....it will be a skill that they will be happy to know how to do!

c)  Keep a journal for the summer.  Encourage at least 5 sentences everyday, keeping them using correct spelling, conventions and details along with interesting vocabulary.  Add some drawing.  Maybe they saw an interesting bird while you were camping....draw it and label its parts....or maybe you're made S'Mores....can your child write the steps on how it was done?

d) practise math facts....especially subtraction.  In Grade Two, the students are only required to 'know' the facts to 5+5 or the inverse operation so 25 - 5, etc.  The truth is that knowing all the facts addition to 20 and subtraction from 20 (that includes ones like 6 + 8 or 19 - 12) will make their math journey so much easier.  These are great to practise on road trips, on the way to hockey camps, playing various forms of card games, etc.  There are games on the computer for practising, but these are often too focused on the 'fun' of jumping or shooting after getting a few correct, rather than on the actual facts themselves.  How about a competition.....how many days before I know all the 8's or 5's.... or how to subtract any number from 12?

d) just be bored....let the child come up with something to do....it helps their imagination, it allows them to think outside of the box, encourages them to play with their siblings, or invite a neighbour from down the street to ride bikes or some other such summer memory creating moment.  Don't fall into the trap of being your child's entertainment or chauffeur.  Create a list together early in the summer of what you are willing to do as a family.  Do one thing on the list every few days....visit the zoo, have a picnic, walk to the spray park....but otherwise, encourage the child solve their problem on their own.  By the end of the summer, you will see a much more confident kiddo 

ready to take on the world! 

Sports Day

Look at these happy faces!  Thank goodness that God let the rain 

keep away for the afternoon.

They were 'super heroes in training'

This looks like potato sack racing....

Here is the bean bag toss...

and they also did some water balloons involved.

Here are the super heroes enjoying the freezies at the end of the 

day....

This was a cool activity where the kiddos were trying to stay away

from the 'boulder'..

The kiddos learned to put their hero clothes on in the 'phone booth'.

and then went to 'rescue' someone in the field.

Here is the aiming game....

They loved this one where they got to use the wet, wet sponge 

to fill the buckets but they went over and under....fun!

This was the ring toss where they tried to catch the 'bed guys' for points

This was the tug of war....the ground was so wet the board with the dowling

underneath that they were standing on was sinking into the grass.  

THANK YOU to all the parents who ran the stations.....you were the heroes!

Gather your people, O Lord

Today was a day like no other.  It is the day that proves that the many students and staff at our school are truly a family.  We all belong together.  We all matter.  We all are loved by God.

It's a wonderful tradition that at the end of the school year, the entire body of Christ meets at our parish and prays together.  The Grade One buddies give their Grade Eight buddies a cross.  This year was especially poignant as the students in Grade 4 to 8 will all be off on new adventures.  Our school moves to a K to Gr. 4 model in September.

Before our 'farewell' assembly, the Grade Eight students lined the halls and as the other students walked by, they exchanged high fives and 'good luck' and general excitement for their new foray into high school.

The 'leader of the band' is our own music magician.  She brings tears to my eyes almost every time her kiddos sing.   It doesn't matter if is one class, the choir, or the whole school, these children sing with the voices of angels!

Here she is getting them all 'worked up' and ready for this day's song fest!

What a gift she is to our school!

The students in Grades One to Four read a poem to the older grades explaining why they are wonderful to have around!  My money is on our Assistant Principal writing that amazing piece. (The boy in stripes is from my class!)

Look at what the kiddos can do!  Their final research project in Social Studies was focused on one of the most photographed symbols in Canada, our own Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Using the writing of Mary Wise Brown, as their template, they wrote about the important thing about the RCMP.  This work was edited and the students used the school's chrome books to create their final keyboarded copy.  They learned how to :

centre the title,

change the font,

change the font size,

recognize errors,

fix errors 

import a picture

size a picture

print

It makes for a very impressive hallway display!

Great job kiddos!

...and it is only Tuesday!

When your school is named Holy Spirit Catholic the best day to celebrate your namesake is the feast of Pentecost.  The whole school gathered together Monday morning and spent time together hearing the Gospel about Jesus sending the Holy Spirit to his disciples.  It truly was the birth of our church. 

The entire school then went out and created a gigantic circle around our playing field, prayed together and then showed the spirit through a little bubble magic.  Enjoy the photos of the students enjoying this school tradition.

Father Jim couldn't resist coming for this fun way to be altogether as a school family!

The little bottle of bubbles was extra special with the crosses on it!

Tuesday we got to go to MY favourite place to take children...the Fort Heritage Precinct. 

Even those these kiddos went last year, I think they loved going again, because this time they were able to show all that they learned and remembered.  They were ready for the fun to come!

Here they about to go into the court house....

where the trial of the horse thief would take place....

and this group decided that he was guilty!

The buffalo blankets turned out to be soft and comfy,

and these kiddos got to try on the NWMP and RCMP hats.

In the horse barn, they got to try a saddle,

and listen to various bugle calls.

These kiddos are such good friends!  During their free time, they tried to build a pyramid of people.

Here they are in the Kulak house...two rooms downstairs, and three bedrooms upstairs for 11 people!

Look at all the modern conveniences of the time.

We visited a little church,

and tried out this train set...

...each kiddo got a turn.

Can you see them all up in the lookout tower?

Funny what will catch their eye....this deer head generated so many questions!

But by far, their favourite part and they one they couldn't wait to try was getting put into the gaol (jail)

Such theatrics (with "please take my picture" thrown in!)

I don't drink coffee but the smell of the freshly ground coffee beans was lovely.

"Look what we can do!" these three were so pleased!

There were tons of chores,

and horse training, too!

If your family has not made plans for Canada Day, I highly suggest a trip to this amazing facility.  The price is right.....free for the day, and there will be balloon animals, face painting, fire works, and visits with the sheep (who don't come on Tuesdays, so we couldn't see them this year)