First off in my “ketchup” week is to congratulate all those that made their First Communion last weekend. They were all so prepared and beautiful at Mass. I love sharing this sacrament with them! Here are all your beauties while we were waiting in the back.
After an extremely busy month with my family, I think I can finally try to get some sleep. My daughter, son and I were involved with South Simcoe Theatre in Cookstown and worked backstage for their show this past month. My daughter was also involved in her own show with Crazy Pants Theatre which was this weekend as well as her Confirmation yesterday. We had lots of family stay over the weekend, a few of which are also educators or retired educators. So….I had to gush just a “little” about my class!
I came home Friday bragging about our band and how much fun it was to play music, sing and move. Aside from having a fun time and not wanting to stop, the value of music in learning to read is incredible. I see the kids following along in their books, learning the words, finding the beat and moving to the rhythm. I video taped them, or at least I thought I did, but when I went to replay it, it wasn’t there. 3 kids were away on Friday so I figure that’s why it didn’t work…..I’m not supposed to take the video until everyone is here. When I do, I’ll definitely send the link, it’s beautiful to see them.
I have to spend the week going back in my pictures and posting them for you all to see. If I declare right now that I’m going to do that, I’ll feel the pressure and make sure I do it! This week will be busy with Catholic Education Week activities so we will likely not be following the same routine as usual. Have a great day!
Dear Parents:
Please review the following as we prepare for our First Communion this Sunday, April 24th at 1:30.
We look forward to sharing this special sacrament with your child as we continue to support them in their faith journey.
$1 to participate in PJ Day tomorrow to raise money for less fortunate children. Have a great night!
Thank you to Christian and his mom for finding a huge container of army guys for our launchers! Your kindness is very much appreciated!
For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been learning about maps and their different elements. The kids have been looking at different road maps and learning about landforms. Mrs. Pipe gave me this awesome, huge puzzle of the world. A few of the kids set to work on it this week but didn’t get it finished so today we all worked together and did it. We also watched Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and the kids recorded the different land forms they saw in the movie and what better way than a great movie. Thank goodness for a happy ending because there were a few tears!
In our land of cardboard creations, we are in need of some materials that you may have hanging around the house. Over the next few weeks at our Problem Solving Space, the children will be doing a series of STEM activities that relate to our science curriculum. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. They will be building a newspaper tower and testing how much weight it can hold, making an army man launcher, building bridges and testing how much weight they can hold and designing boats.
Some of the materials we will need:
• newspaper, no flyers please (for making newspaper dowels)
• toy army guys, only if you are okay with the kids bringing them to school (initials so we know who to return to?)
The rest of the materials I have or can pick up at the dollar store. Thanks so much!
April 6th – Sports Day – $1 donation – wear your favourite jersey, hat, etc.
April 7th – Book Orders Due
April 8th – P.A. Day
April 15th – Parent Meeting for First Communion 6pm – St. Paul’s Church
April 24th – First Communion at St. Paul’s Church – 1:30 pm – please arrange to be at the Church by 1pm, children should go to the Fr. Bennett Hall in the back of the church as we’ll be entering as a class.
These marble mazes just keep getting better and better. They started off very simply but as each child shares theirs with the class, another idea is sparked by someone else. I just keep collecting materials, for instance, I found a bunch of old CD’s and threw them into our materials box and a few of the children used them in their mazes, where you had to get the marble into the centre of the CD. This week, the tunnels and ramps have become a little more elaborate and bridges were starting to be made. Someone even made a swinging gate! I wish I could record their conversations for you as they talk to each other about how they’re going to make their maze and the thinking they’re using. When they are presenting their mazes and saying things like, “I experimented with this but it didn’t work so I tried this.” or “I found the marble kept getting off track so I built this.” I think I keep saying this, but I am continually surprised and amazed at the learning and sharing that is happening!
I hope you all had a wonderful March Break, the kids certainly told me lots of exciting stories yesterday and by afternoon, there were many tired eyes and yawns….me too!
Two projects they’ve been very excited about during our spaces time is making marble runs using a pizza box and making robots with small boxes. Always amazed at what they create, I’m in awe of some of their ideas. The marble runs are becoming more complicated with tunnels and ramps, very cool! I’m not sure I’ll have enough tape to last the year with all their creations! They love it so much more than glue!
The robots are interesting! I’ve shown some of them how to take the box apart and back together so that the labeling ends up on the inside. That led to a little discussion about nets for geometric shapes. I love how all of this intertwines with other areas of the curriculum. In their notebooks, they write a description about them and also present them to the class.
They take the pictures so they might be a wee blurry!
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