Sunday 26 May 2013

Ghana!


This past Wednesday students in Division 1 talked about soccer, one of Ghana’s favorite activities.  They learned Ghana’s national “football” (soccer) team is called the ‘Black Stars,’  listened to the Ghana national anthem and played soccer outside.
 
On Thursday students had the opportunity to understand what it would be like going to school in Ghana.  They watched a short video clip and then enacted walking to school by walking around the outside field 4 times.  Once they arrived ‘at school’ they had to sit in rows. 

 

 
Then, they filled in letters to send to students in Ghana, (Sarah’s friend works with many children there).  They wrote about their favourite part of school, drew a picture of their family and described what they wanted to be when they grew up! 
 

 

In Sarah’s math group the students have been learning about measurement.  This past week they learned about non-standard units of measurement.  They listened to a story called, ‘How Big is a Foot,’ by Rolf Myller.  It is a silly story that explains how the King’s foot is a different size than the apprentices foot which results in a few mistakes when making a bed for the Queen!   
 

Students traced and cut out their own foot, which they used the next day to estimate and measure different objects outside on the playground! 




Div. 2 had an awesome week full of “smells”!


In Olivia’s math class, the kids are also learning about measurement. On Wednesday, the students took their stinky feet out of their shoes to trace. It was a smelly experience! Then, the students used cubes, paper clips, and cars to see how long their feet were.




The next day, they learned about centimetres by cutting play dough. Some of us even put together two pieces to make two centimetres!



On Friday, the kids became researchers of balance scales. They had to research what the balance scales do and report back to Olivia to tell her everything that they found out. They explored the balance scale by using things in the classroom. They had so much fun that they started to use more and more objects to weigh together.

 

The children in Div. 2 learned about the cuisine of Ghana, Africa this week! They made a specialty called Jollof Rice. All the kids worked hard chopping up ingredients to make this delicious dish! Ingredient stations included: the onion station (also called the “crying” station), the garlic station, the carrot station, the green pepper station, and the tomato station. Once the ingredients were ready, we put all the ingredients in the pot and talked about how it smelled, how it looked, and predicted if it was going to be like a risotto or if it was going to be like rice in soup. We each had a turn to stir, and voilà! Turns out the liquid all soaked up! Our classroom was also one of the most delicious smelling classrooms there ever was!

Our Jollof Rice took a long time to cook, but we all waited patiently.  We each got to try some and we absolutely loved it! Our master chefs will let you all in on their secret Jollof Rice recipe very soon! So stay tuned!

Lastly, Div. 2 read a story called The Spider Weaver: A Legend of Kente Cloth. We made our own Kente Cloths by weaving strips of paper and drawing patterns on them. We then compared our own clothes to the Kente Cloth.

 That is all for now!


Sunday 19 May 2013

Africa - Our new focus of study!

Akwaaba Dickens families!

Check with your son or daughter for the meaning of the above-mentioned word ;).

What an exciting week we had with the beginning of a new theme and Sports Day!

Sarah and Olivia are continuing to learn and grow throughout their practica.  While still involved collaboratively, they are now teaching lessons separately which will provide them with opportunities to develop their own personal teaching styles.

In Division 1, the students boarded a "mystery flight" which took them on a very long journey (snacks and inflight movie provided).  They were given passports,



and then were greeted by a very charming flight attendant named Sarah.


Once the students received their travel documents, they boarded the flight,


then listened to flight attendant Sarah briefly describe the journey ahead.


A pre-flight safety video was provided for the passengers.  Then, vroooom!  Take off!


During the flight, snacks were served that grew natively in Africa.


Flight Attendant Sarah occasionally intervened during the flight to discuss the progress of the flight and their current location on a map.

The passengers were also given clues onboard in order to determine their mystery destination!  Our seasoned traveller of Africa (Sachaa) was the first to make the correct guess!  Finally, the passengers arrived!

Division 2 began their African adventure by exploring a shoebox containing clues about the mystery theme. 



Once all of the clues were found and deciphered, the students drew the clues onto a page and then
made a prediction of the mystery theme.



 Predictions included energy, people, the Philippines and travel.  Finally it was revealed that the new theme would be Africa!  Yay!

The children also explored a display that included authentic African drums.





They also learned about the map of Africa and where Ghana was located on this continent.



Finally, it was time to learn about the "Big 5".  Olivia's class listened to animal sounds (very scary sounds!) and guessed which animal belonged to which sound.  It didn't take long for our savvy friends to identify the Big 5!  Be sure to ask your child which amazing animals fall into this category.  Next, the students chose one of the animals, drew it and then created a bracelet to display their animal.


Finally, the children played a Big 5 version of musical chairs to further extend their knowledge.


Everyone enjoyed this game!

On Thursday the Division 1 students boarded a zebra print safari bus with their tour guide Sarah.  They each received a camouflage hat and headed out to learn about Africa's "Big 5."

Student's received a name tag with their African name on it, determined by which month of the year they were born in. 

 

Below you can see Anson and Sachaa with their African names, Anson-Kwaku and Sachaa-Kwabena


Once student's had their hats on and their "Big 5" sight seeing worksheets, they were sent out in partners to explore the main floor of the school to find one of each of Africa's "Big 5." 





 These student's have spotted their first "Big 5," the African Rhinoceros. 



Once student's found all of Africa's "Big 5" animals, they recorded the name of the animal and took note of one interesting fact about each one before they returned back to class.

Once they got back to class they all shared what they had learned and enjoyed some nice refreshing apple juice to cool off after a very exciting safari ride!  What a fun adventure!


On Friday, we had so much fun at Dickens with our annual Sports Day!  Each year we celebrate teamwork, encouraging others, and loving exercise and this year was no exception.  Here are some photos from this wonderful event.

The obstacle course:


The Running Relay:

The Wacky Waiter:


The Sponge Bob relay:

The Multiple Sports relay:

The Moon Bounce:

Take Away:

The Skittle relay:


And "A Day at the Beach"!



Fun was had by all despite a few chills.  Special thanks go to our wonderful parents who helped Maggie set up a team yellow face-painting station.


As we bring this week to a close, we wanted to share some "hot off the press" photos of Jen and her new Whistler digs.  They arrived today and are in the midst of unpacking.  We wish Jen and her family a smooth transition and much happiness in their new home.  Sending all of our love your way Jen!





Happy trails!