Good News Travels FAST!

The first few minutes of the morning were absolutely priceless! Genuine awe, amazement and excitement was written all over the faces of each and every student! As boys and girls entered, Mrs. Beliveau sat back, beamed, and captured the energy:

Here is why the students were so amazed:

Throughout the day, the three little ones napped while drying off in the incubators. We prepared a cozy box with wood shavings and a heat bulb, and ensured there was healthy food and water. 

After lunch, we noticed one little black chick was fluffy and ready to experience the world! A brave and very gentle student was chosen to make the move. 

Lifting with two hands, one on top and one under, ...

she carefully lifted the little one up ....

... and into it's new home! Ta da!

Turns out this chick isn't a "chick magnet", but rather a "kid magnet"! Somehow, it ended up hearing a story from an eager and very thoughtful reader:

This makes Mrs. Beliveau's heart smile!

It was a wonderful, memorable day and the students were so welcoming of all of the company that made their way into our classroom. They were very protective of the fragile new life, and were so keen to share their knowledge and answer questions. We definitely learned the meaning of "good news travels fast"!

The Beliveau family went in after supper and transferred the two other chicks, who had fluffed up sufficiently, into the cozy box. By an incredible stroke of luck, we arrived just in time to see our fourth chick hatch! God's work is amazing!

Tomorrow is sure to be special. Many thanks for your prayers as our journey continues!

"Egg-citement" abounds!

When the doors to our boot room opened this morning, and the students rushed in, the energy was blasting through the roof! 

Was it Earth Day that had the kids oozing with excitement? Nope! Today was "Egg Day", and our eggs were due to arrive!

We had lots to do to prepare, as the eggs were scheduled to arrive at lunchtime!

First, we thought about what we already knew about chicks:

Then, we wondered together about what we wanted to find out:

We took a minute to record our ideas!

We jumped right into learning about the life cycle of a chicken! We read several non-fiction books and enjoyed watching a chick hatch:

We also made a visual of the life cycle of a chicken: 

Do chicks really have eyelashes? 

Then, before we knew it, our "egg angel" arrived! We have a wonderful neighbor who has a farm with free range chickens, and she has generously offered her latest batch of eggs for us to hatch! She arrived with an incubator full of eggs. They are due to hatch over the next few days and early into next week. 

We had prepared our classroom incubator, monitoring the temperature and humidity, so we gently moved a few eggs into our own incubator. The two eggs we moved already had little peck holes in them. And we were thrilled to hear cheeping ... from a chick inside its egg! 

We spent lots of time observing the incubators:

And, as real scientists do, we recorded our observations for Day 1:

Today was certainly a four exclamation
mark kind of day!!!!

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to experience the miracle of new life!

The Lifecycle of a Chicken craftivity was inspired by I Heart Crafty Things.

We LOVE our Earth!

Happy Earth Day!

Turns out the boys and girls DO care a WHOLE AWFUL LOT!

Mr. Marshall read us Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, and then, wearing our yellow mustaches, we channeled our inner Lorax and brainstormed ways to care for the Earth! 

Here is a close up of some of our little Loraxes:

"I can be nice to the worms. "

"I can ride my bike."

"I would plant trees."

"I can recycle plastic."

Well done, kids! 

Below is a little Earth Day treat to enjoy together at home. The story, The Earth Book, is read by the author himself Todd Parr, and he has loads of great ways we can love our Earth!

Worms, Word Clouds, and ... Cookie Monster?

We've wrapped up our Seasonal Changes in Spring mini-unit! Check out our word clouds! We included words that describe Spring, including what people do, how plants and trees change, what animals do, and the weather in Spring!

Here is a close up of a few of our fantastic Spring word clouds:

Thanks a million to Miss Smith and our patient, amazing Grade 5 buddies for helping us out! You rock!

This week we dug into our Needs of Living Things unit, and began by comparing living and non-living. We listed our ideas of what makes something living. Then, thinking about things we knew to be living (like a puppy and a plant), we crossed off ideas that didn't fit. 

Just to make sure we didn't miss any ideas on our list, we looked at a few more examples of living things from Kathryn Warner. We discovered we needed to add "It reproduces" and "It needs food and water". 

While we ALL agree Mrs. Beliveau is the bee's knees when it comes to effective teachers, there are some lessons best left for Cookie Monster to teach:

Then we double-checked our list to ensure what makes things living was accurate:

Today, to really compare living and non-living, we examined an earthworm and a gummy worm! The boys and girls were ecstatic! 

Comparing a gummy worm with an earthworm gave us a hands-on, real-life example of what makes something living!

We are ready to hatch chicks next week! The students are thrilled to prepare for the arrival of eggs on Wednesday! Please keep us in your prayers as we explore the miracle of God's creation. Watch the blog for daily updates, and please feel free to drop in to learn alongside us!

They're everywhere!!!!!!

3D solids are here and there, 

3D solids are everywhere!

We have begun our Geometry Unit! This week we have learned that 3D solids are FAT, not flat! 

This song has been stuck in our heads all week:

Students were sent out around the school to find real-life examples of 3D solids. Teams hunted for examples of cones, cubes, cylinders, and spheres, and they certainly didn't come away empty handed!

Look at all of the 3D solids we discovered in our school!

Super searching, boys and girls!

Solid Shape slides in the video are gratefully borrowed from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten's Geometry Freebie post. 

Join Our Spring Photo Hunt

I think it's finally safe to say that Spring has arrived, and she is here to stay!

Our Science mini-unit on Seasonal Changes in Spring has kept us busy the last few days. We've been reading books, examining YouTube clips, and taking our learning outdoors to explore nature! 

Look at the data we have collected so far:

There are so many signs of Spring all around us! Let's share them together! 

Here is how our photo hunt project works:

We have a "virtual wall" where we can all contribute our signs of Spring.

First, give your child a camera (it's as easy as handing over your phone!). Have your child take a picture showing a sign of Spring!

Then, to share your photo and/or comment on our wall:

(a) Double-click on the "Signs of Spring" wall below. 

(b) A box will appear with a place for a comment and even a picture! Type in a comment. Upload a picture. Ta da!

(c) Be dazzled with all of the signs of Spring our students have found!

Created with Padlet

Thank you for not mentioning first or last names on our blog, as well as any other identifying / sensitive information. 

Signs of Spring are all around! What can you and your child find?

Christ is Risen! Happy Easter!

Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Today we celebrated the risen Lord by making a special little treat together, Resurrection Rolls! 

First, we dipped marshmallows in melted butter and rolled them in cinnamon and sugar. 

Next, students wrapped their sticky sweet marshmallow in a crescent roll. They were careful not to leave any holes!

Then, the rolls were dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Off to the ovens!

While the rolls baked, we headed to the gym for some crazy 4-corner soccer! We all missed each other over the break and it was a blast to run and laugh together. Boy, we worked up an appetite! 

Look at how our rolls turned out:

Wait!! Did you notice the roll is empty? We sure did! 

Not only did the rolls taste warm and sweet, they had a deeper meaning. Can your child explain how the Resurrection Rolls retell the Easter story? 

To make these simple treats, follow the Empty Tomb Marshmallow Delights recipe. 

But our Easter fun didn't stop there! 

(by now, you should know it NEVER stops there) 

Today we introduced an engaging new little behaviour reward system to keep the kids motivated, now that most of them have a case of the "Spring Sillies" (disclaimer: not a medical diagnoses). 

Introducing, the Easter Egg Reward System!

The system is simple. Throughout the day, a student's name is pulled in secret. If that student is on-task, they are called up to choose an egg, which has a "non-tangible" reward inside (so rather than stickers or trinkets, an activity or special privilege is the prize). 

Here are the prizes...

Now, if by some itsy, bitsy slim chance the student whose name was pulled is off-task, their name is returned and is not revealed. 

We still have the behaviour clip chart, as well as a revised version of our Weekly Choices Journals. 

We already have students who demonstrated excellent behaviour! Tomorrow, three special students have earned Super Supplies, Computer Time, and Silly Student! Keep it up, boys and girls!

Our Easter Egg Reward System and Spring certificates are adapted from What the Teacher Wants. The eggs are filled with prizes adapted from Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations and were designed on rainbow frames made by Ashley Hughes.