Division 1 and 2
Saturday, 22 June 2013
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Science...the new frontier...
Well, it really isn't a "new frontier" but it is for Div 1 & 2! This week, we were fortunate to host two world-renowned Science Professors - Professor Hypothesis from Austria and Professor Beaker from Pennsylvania. They had rather strange accents that seemed inconsistent with their places of origin but we were not swayed by this...it must have been because they were so highly educated and scientific.
While Elana and Wendy headed to Starbucks to enjoy an afternoon of idle chat and latte sipping (hee hee), the professors captivated the students by discussing complex scientific words like "hypothesis", "dissolve", "prediction" and "observation".
The first experiment consisted of combining hot water with a detergent powder. The students formed hypotheses about what they thought might happen when the powder was added. Some hypotheses included explosions, flashes and crystallization. Wow!
We recruited an enthusiastic volunteer named Theo who assured us that he had muscles strong enough to stir for a long time!
As the solution was stirred and stirred and stirred, it remained cloudy-white for quite a while. Then something happened. You will have to ask your child for the information on this.
The children were then sent off in scientific research teams and they boldly performed their experiment. Pipe cleaner shapes were formed then suspended in glass jars containing the solution.
After a couple of days, the jars were regarded with scrutinizing scientist eyes as the children compared their prediction with the end result.
Aha! Crystallization! We then had an engaging discussion about molecules (and Borax powder) and how molecules tend to move faster and like to be far away from each other when heat is involved. The opposite occurs with cold; molecules move slower and tend to clump together. Hmmmmm...!
On Wednesday, Professor Molecule (Professor Hypothesis' distant cousin) came for a visit. They created a substance called Oobleck. The name of this substance actually comes from a Dr. Seuss book entitled, Bartholomew and Oobleck. In the story, it rains green Oobleck and gums up an entire town! The cool thing about this substance is that it is slimy, gross, disgusting (these are words your children came up with) and perfect for our class! It normally behaves like a liquid or jelly, but if you squeeze it in your hand, it will seem like a solid.
We apologize for the fact that there are no photos of Professor Molecule but rest assured, her hair is almost as capturing as Professor Hypothesis'. :)
With all of this sitting and thinking about science, we realized the kids needed some exercise. At the end of the week, we headed into the gym and did some Boot Camp. The children rose to the challenge and proved that they can run really fast,
jump really far,
do step ups without stopping,
do the wall bounce,
and do squats until they cheered, "My legs are on fire!"
Happy Father's Day to all of our wonderful dads!! We hope you enjoyed your special day :)
While Elana and Wendy headed to Starbucks to enjoy an afternoon of idle chat and latte sipping (hee hee), the professors captivated the students by discussing complex scientific words like "hypothesis", "dissolve", "prediction" and "observation".
The first experiment consisted of combining hot water with a detergent powder. The students formed hypotheses about what they thought might happen when the powder was added. Some hypotheses included explosions, flashes and crystallization. Wow!
We recruited an enthusiastic volunteer named Theo who assured us that he had muscles strong enough to stir for a long time!
As the solution was stirred and stirred and stirred, it remained cloudy-white for quite a while. Then something happened. You will have to ask your child for the information on this.
The children were then sent off in scientific research teams and they boldly performed their experiment. Pipe cleaner shapes were formed then suspended in glass jars containing the solution.
After a couple of days, the jars were regarded with scrutinizing scientist eyes as the children compared their prediction with the end result.
Aha! Crystallization! We then had an engaging discussion about molecules (and Borax powder) and how molecules tend to move faster and like to be far away from each other when heat is involved. The opposite occurs with cold; molecules move slower and tend to clump together. Hmmmmm...!
On Wednesday, Professor Molecule (Professor Hypothesis' distant cousin) came for a visit. They created a substance called Oobleck. The name of this substance actually comes from a Dr. Seuss book entitled, Bartholomew and Oobleck. In the story, it rains green Oobleck and gums up an entire town! The cool thing about this substance is that it is slimy, gross, disgusting (these are words your children came up with) and perfect for our class! It normally behaves like a liquid or jelly, but if you squeeze it in your hand, it will seem like a solid.
We apologize for the fact that there are no photos of Professor Molecule but rest assured, her hair is almost as capturing as Professor Hypothesis'. :)
With all of this sitting and thinking about science, we realized the kids needed some exercise. At the end of the week, we headed into the gym and did some Boot Camp. The children rose to the challenge and proved that they can run really fast,
jump really far,
do step ups without stopping,
do the wall bounce,
and do squats until they cheered, "My legs are on fire!"
Happy Father's Day to all of our wonderful dads!! We hope you enjoyed your special day :)
Sunday, 9 June 2013
Thank You Sarah and Olivia!
This was our last week with our wonderful student teachers,
Sarah and Olivia. While it was
incredibly sad to see them go they made sure we had a great last week with
them.
Division 1 made beautiful Batik art with Sarah. First the students drew their picture on paper, next they put a white piece of cloth over top and traced their drawing with special glue.
Once the glue dried, they painted their cloth and Sarah took
them home to wash and press them.
They turned out GORGEOUS! Sarah made Division 1 a Batik cloth that she framed to be hung in the class to remember her by.
On Friday, Division 1 boarded an airplane back to Canada. Their African trip was a blast and they learned so much but it was time to come home. The students
enjoyed an in-flight service snack and were drilled by Wendy the “border
guard” when entering back into Canada.
Division 2 Worked really hard all week preparing for their
African family party on Thursday afternoon. The students prepared several stations where they got a
chance to teach their parents a little bit of what they have learned about
Africa.
There was basket weaving.
Jewelery making
Pin the trunk on the elephant
A sound game, teaching the parents about Africa's Big 5
Drumming
The party had other stations such as guessing how long it takes to fly from Vancouver to Ghana and learning how to make Jollof rice and getting a chance to taste it. For the grand finale of their African party, Division 2
performed an impressive African drumming and dance routine.
The beginning of the week had such great weather that both
divisions played fun games out in the sun for gym class. First we played
Shadow Tag. A game where ten
students were “it” and the rest of the students had to run away while the “it’s”
tried to freeze them by stepping on their shadows. The students got very sweaty but had a great time.
Next, we played a game of Grounders. The teachers were 'it' and it didn’t take
long for everyone to get caught.
Later in the week when the sun decided to hide, the students
had fun playing Dr. Dodge ball.
On Friday afternoon, we surprised Sarah and Olivia with a
big goodbye party with all the families.
There was a huge table packed with delicious treats and everyone had a
wonderful time.
To start off our party the students “popped up” and said why they love Sarah and
Olivia.
Next, the classes presented each student teacher with their own hand
made class books to help remember the students by. Each student wrote why they loved their student teacher and
drew a beautiful picture.
While there were many tears shed there were great memories
made throughout the student’s time with both Sarah and Olivia.
We will miss you both so much. Thank you for all your love and support and best of luck
with your new teaching careers! We
hope you will come back to visit us soon!
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Ghana and the Children's Festival
What a fun-filled,
action-packed, week of learning we had! We began with our continued exploration of Ghana.
The
kids then made their very own djembe drums and created drumming sequences in
groups. Afterwards, they showcased their group drumming number to the class.
Following the
performance, all of the groups set off to discover and experience what the
Children’s Festival had to offer.
There were so many
things to do and see including:
Face Painting,
Origami,
Electricity and
Play Dough,
Shadow Plays,
The Woven Snake,
And the Musical
Playground!
toys,
musical instruments,
masks, and baskets for us to examine.
Jossie (grandma) read
a traditional fable about Anansi the spider.
Many thanks to Gil and Jossie for sharing
all of their knowledge, stories and artifacts with our class.
In finishing, we would like to thank all of
our parents who volunteered their precious time to accompany us on our field
trip and to set up and run the Spring Fling (which was an overwhelming success
by the way!) We can’t do all of these wonderful things without you!
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