First Communion

The first of our little angels received her First Holy Communion tonight!  May her relationship with Our Lord continue to be strengthened as she continues on her faith journey!

Solving problems is what mathematics is all about!

What some of you might not know is that I have a younger brother whose older son is in Grade Two.  Recently, my brother called and asked if I "understood the new math"?  I laughed!  There is nothing new  about math.  What is new is that the students are not taught only one method to find an answer.  Instead, the students are encouraged to explore possibilities, play with numbers, look for strategies that are efficient, and most importantly, understand the meaning of numbers.

Seldom are the students asked to find the answer.  Instead, they are asked to solve a problem.  It might sound like semantics, but there is an underlying message.  I want the students to feel comfortable with the process of trying to solve a problem, rather than worry about getting a correct answer.

Today we met for our 'math congress' which basically is an opportunity for us to share, safely, as a group, the manner in which a problem was attempted to be solved.  It never ceases to amaze me how deeply and richly the students think when they are not tied to following one particular way to do things!  In the photo above, the girl was demonstrating how she figured out how much money would be needed to buy 17 party hats, it each one cost 15 cents.  Look at her rich understanding of numbers, as she added 15 to each previous number to create a counting or number line:  15, 30, 45, 60. 75. etc.  She did it!

We shared our different ways to try this problem.  What 5 coins could you use to equal 45 cents?

Note the thinking here:  This child didn't need to count each dime, instead recognizing 4 X 10 is 40!  He was multiplying and didn't even now it!

No child is ever reprimanded for mistakes.  One of our beliefs in our math community of learners is that WE LEARN FROM MISTAKES.  This gal didn't  realize that she had only used 4 coins, or that they added to 50 cents until she shared.  It was the perfect opportunity to reinforce that once a solution is figured out, the student should go back and check it again. By doing this is a group setting, all of the students got the benefit of hearing this valuable feedback.

Sharing is encouraged and valued.  When one student is 'stuck', the others volunteer to 'whisper in his/her ear', allowing one student to practise their learning, and the other to have 'a hand up' to assist them in being successful.

How would you count out 6 coins to equal 55 cents?  We found more than one way!

This little guy choose one nickel, then five dimes.  The next girl wanted to share her idea which was 5 dimes, then one nickel.  Again it was a wonderful opportunity for the group to be reminded of the associative property, not that they heard that big fancy word.  It means that I can add the same numbers in different order and still arrive at the same sum.

The minute this girl put down her coins, she said "Oh no!  I see what I forgot!  I needed 6 coins!"

Learning from our own mistakes, or those of others, really moves our own learning forward.  It was a great day in math and each of the students agreed, almost crawling over each other to be the next to share!  This new math is creating students who aren't afraid of numbers and don't say "I don't get it" quite as often!

The Last Supper

                    May the joy of the Risen Lord be with all of you!

Using a project found on the Catholic Icing blog , the students learned about the Last Supper, the Passover meal that Jesus and His Disciples ate before Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  We referred to the painting by Leonardo da Vinci and noted that the men were in groups of three to represent the Holy Trinity.  They learned the names of the men, recognized that they could imagine what the men were thinking by their arm gestures, and recognize some of the desciples by what was in their hands.

I hope that this child-friendly version of The Last Supper takes 'pride of place' on your Easter Sunday table

and that Jesus, Our Risen Lord and Saviour, takes His place within your heart!

A picture is worth a thousand words

Yesterday, we heard what would happen to our part of the world overnight.  We now know that the groundhog's prediction was true...we did have 6 more weeks of winter!  What we didn't know was that we actually are onto our 10th more week of winter!

Here's my vehicle before I left for school....can't even see what colour it is meant to be!

The front of the school at around 11:00 a.m.

A view of the school drop-off zone in the parent parking area!

BUT...I'll take the snow rather than tornadoes, any day!

A swimming we will go.....

What a great morning the students in our class had as they worked swimming at their individual level.  Some worked on their floating, 

on their ability to keep their head under water, and

on keeping their arms straight during a swimming stroke.

Look at those happy faces!

They will be swimming every Tuesday morning, as part of their physical education program until the end of May.  Feel free to come and watch!

Surprise visitors with an amazing message!

Unbeknownst to our students, two Edmonton Eskimo football players showed up to visit this afternoon.  Number 11 is Grant Shaw, a native of Edmonton who was only recently traded back home and Number 30 is Mathieu Bertrand, originally from Quebec.  Both spoke about their experiences and their journey to becoming professional football players, but the younger Mr. Shaw had a message that hopefully will resonant with our students.  He explained how his poor attitude, and lack of academic effort almost cost him the opportunity to play ball.  He encouraged all the students to set goals and work towards reaching them, take pride in their accomplishments and get an education.  He was really honest and really sincere! The message was meant to tie in with our last pillar in the Character Counts program, responsibility.

Here's a couple of my darlings who were chosen to toss the ball with the players.

There were a few autographed posters being handed out...

and the happy recipient of one!

NEWS!

I'm sorry that I can't figure out how to add cutesy pictures to go with this posting!  Just thought that if anyone checked tonight that these are some important notes for this week:

1.  This week is Passion Week and we will be creating a special 'craft' to go with The Last Supper.  Each student needs two egg cartons that hold 12 eggs.  If you have extra egg cartons, could you please send them in to share with those students who will forget to bring them in?  THANKS!


2.  Don't forget that TUESDAY, April 3rd is our first swimming lesson!  PLEASE send a swimming suit, a towel and flip flops to wear in the changing room.  If your daughter has longer hair, please have it braided for the day.  After years of experience, I know that there is no time to dry and comb out hair at the pool and having it tied back will just make it easier for everyone.  There will not be time for a complete shower with soap and shampoo either.  It is a public change room and there will not be available stalls for all the little ones to undress and dress privately.  Often the girls (and I am sure the boys but I am never in their change rooms) will be changing when elderly ladies (or gentlemen) are changing.  Please have a conversation with them about respecting others and ignoring what they will be privileged to see.  As well, the students will not be allowed to use the vending machines.