Yum! Yum!

Our school day looks quite different this year from last.  We start at 8:45 and 

have a 'wellness break' from 10:05 until 10:10.  It is just enough time for

the little ones to have a bathroom break, wash their hands and grab their morning snack.

Keeping with our school district and school policies to encourage

healthy choices, the students are asked to find a fruit or a vegetable

to munch on each morning.

The natural sugars and the great source of vitamins keeps them learning

until after their playtime outside at 11:30.  They eat their lunch after

playing outside and we are back in class at 12:15.

Apples, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, apple sauce, berries, bananas,

grapes.....these healthy choices bring smiles to their faces!

Thanks for finding a way to encourage your child to eat really good food!

Our week in pictures

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have posted!  Between the fact that I was out of the country, we had a PD Day, and I had an opportunity to spend time with an old friend who lives across the country this week, the blog just didn't get done!

I am so happy to see that the students are choosing a fruit or a vegetable as their morning snack.  These natural sugars allow the kiddos to have enough energy to get through the morning and do their best.

They so enjoy the opportunity to tell me what they are eating...and it varies from grapes to strawberries to carrots with dip.  They love it!  Thanks for packing those important foods.

Earlier this week, after reading a story about a family who decided to get organized and keep count of their many household items, I had the students work in pairs and count boxes and bins of a large quantity of items.  I wanted to know what they already knew about large numbers and ultimately, what they remembered from their learning last year.  Most of the students counted the items in the containers one at a time.  They wrote the number (or in some cases attempted to write the number) on a sticky note. and put it on the outside of the box.

The next day, as a group, we talked about what is important about knowing how to count large 'quantities'.  We discussed the need to be 'quick' and 'efficient' and that counting by ones, was neither. The students worked with their same partners, but were given a different container and were asked to come up with a different strategy to count, and to check if the number on the sticky was the actual amount inside.

They were so proud of being able to 'prove' that the amount that they counted was correct.  They worked hard to create groups of 10s or 5s or 2s.  They were able to demonstrate to others in the classroom that their number was correct.

They were so proud and I could hear the change in their conversations, as they started to use the words that are displayed on our board:

Today our whole school participated in our annual Terry Fox Run.  After a really miserable week weather wise, seeing glimpses of blue sky was was encouraging, even though the temperatures still meant the students needed a sweater or jacket.

The students thought of someone who they would be running for and coloured a picture of Terry.  They have a better understanding of how important this run is, to ensure that cancer is cured.

It was hard to get a good shot of how those hundreds of students running for this cause, really warms your heart.

These smiles help...

as does this pair who walked and talked around the course.

They did it...and now it is time for the big reward....

I am sure you heard how those who brought a Toonie for Terry, would have their name entered for a chance to throw a pie at a teacher.   Here's the before shot....

...and here's the after!

again, with a different group of teachers

willing and waiting for the chance to help this cause.....

any way they can!

Good thing that it was all just whipped cream!

You are what you eat.....

I love when the lessons that I create cover a variety of the curricular outcomes that we are to learn in Grade One.  Reality is that learning is not easily pigeon holed into one category.  As we explore vegetables, through two lovely pieces of children's literature Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens, and Oliver's Vegetables by Vivian French, the students were immersed in writing, health, science, and art, all at the same time.

Oliver tells his grandparents that he doesn't eat vegetables, he only eats chips (He's British, you see).

Grandpa makes a deal with Oliver that they will find the potatoes in the garden and make chips but if they find a different vegetable, Oliver has to eat it without complaining.  By the end of the week, Oliver has tried, and enjoyed, seven different vegetables grown in the garden.

In the four different table pods, the students worked collaboratively and retold the story, which were then read aloud to the entire class.  Writing is becoming an area that the students are gaining confidence in, recognizing that they are able to think of ideas, and then write the words that are in their mind, down on paper.  They are being encouraged to use correct conventions and to print as many of the words on their own as they possibly can.  They are rising to the occasion!

The bear in the Tops and Bottoms story, reminds me of Brier Bear, not really the swiftest of all God's creatures.  The rabbits get that ol' bear very confused as they ask him to choose if he wants to eat the 'tops' or the 'bottoms' of the vegetables that they are going to plant.  Depending on his answer, the rabbits choose what they will plant to benefit themselves and not the bear.

The students created some 'bottoms' vegetables, using pastels on watercolour paper,

then applying a 'wash' of paint over

then finally dabbing the paint off of the leaves and the vegetables.

I think they are stunning and love how far these little artists have come!

Operation 'WASH UP'

Snowflake, our classroom elf, sent to us by Santa himself, must have been missing the North Pole because yesterday we found her cuddled up next to our polar bear.

This morning, she and Saint Nicholas, were watching over our little sock Baby Jesus.

It made our heart melt!

Here I am, in my own 'proud mama' moment.

My youngest son, Aran, came to our class to present to the students and explain why it is so important to wash their hands often.  He is in first year Pharmacy at the U of A.

He brought some stuffed 'germs' and the kids were in love!

These germs didn't scare them!  It was quite the opposite!  They all wanted to hold the 'ear ache'

'stomach ache',

'common cold' and

'sore throat' germs....which are about one million times bigger than their real life counterparts.

After discussions, and demonstrations, and explanations, the students lined up and got a tiny bit of the Glo-Germ gel, on their hands. and then followed the six step process of washing their hands.  I am so glad I have a sink in my classroom!

Using a UV flashlight, their hands were checked after the 'wash-up' and they received their

official hand washing certificate.  You might have noticed that there was a letter for you in their Kanga pouches along with a little activity book to keep at home.

I hope that this lesson, will keep those nasty germs away from our classroom, and all of our kiddos healthy!