What's "growing" on in grade 1?

After we said goodbye to our chicks, our Science Unit on Needs of Living Things shifted... to plants!

Our room has looked a little like a green house lately. We've had things growing all around the room!

Did you know we eat seeds all the time? We did a little "seed surgery" and examined seeds in several fruits and veggies:

We had lots of fun observing our very own bean seeds as they sprouted roots, a stalk, and leaves!

We wanted to determine what a plant needs to grow, so we carried out several experiments. When conducting an experiment, we learned to keep everything the same, and just change ONE thing. Here are our results:

One plant lived on our sunny little windowsill, and one stayed in a dark cupboard. Plants sure need sunshine!

We watered one plant, and didn't water the other. As many predicted, plants do need water.

We observed how water moves throughout the whole plant when we put celery into coloured water. So cool! And holy moly, does it happen fast!

Grass seeds were planted into four homes; sand, dirt, rice, and cotton. Look! It did really well in dirt and sand ... and cotton? We were surprised!

Armed with their knowledge about the needs of plants, the students set to work on their culminating project today, fairy gardens! Using soil mixed with grass seed, the boys and girls had so much fun creating their little gardens! We can't wait to see how they will look when the grass grows!

Turns out plants also make lovely jewelry! 
Thanks, kids!

Fantastic gymnastics!

We've been so blessed to have an incredibly talented, experienced, and caring Holy Redeemer parent volunteer to teach our energetic kids gymnastics! It is a class the students absolutely look forward to! Everyone is having loads of fun and is learning so much!

Here is a sneak peek into our latest class! Please enjoy the VIDEO CLIPS of our students tackling various balances, rolls, positions, jumps, and landings! Be sure to make it "full screen". 

Honoring Mary: Praying the Living Rosary

Throughout May, we not only honour our mothers, but take some extra special time to honor our Holy Mother, Mary. She said YES to God when she was faced with a challenging situation, and because of her willingness to trust in God's plan, she became the most Blessed Mother of Jesus Christ. 

Today we gathered as a school community to pray the rosary together. Our school is so blessed to have a beautifully painted giant rosary that we call our "living rosary". It stretches around the gym! 

Here is the gym set up prior to the celebration

This special rosary allows us to physically pick up the beads as we pray each prayer. Our class was responsible for the first decade. We led the school in the Hail Mary prayer 10 times. 

Because I was leading this celebration, along with Mrs. Haston and Mrs. Lemire, I was unable to take photos of our class. Sorry!

We have learned that prayer can happen anywhere, even on the bus or while we ride our bikes! Songs can also be a form of prayer, as well as the quiet time that we share with God. Turns out there are very few rules about praying and how we talk to God!

Please consider praying the Hail Mary with your family throughout the month of May. 

To the Ladies Who Love Us

As Mother's Day approached, the boys and girls took time this week to reflect on the most important lady in their lives! 

In the simple words of the boys and girls, here are some special messages in honor of Mother's Day:

We had so much fun working on our hand printed mugs, and truly feel you are "tea-riffic" ladies in our lives. Fingers crossed, all of the special hand painted mugs made it safely home in one piece. 

Absolutely use your mugs, as we baked the paint on so it will not wash away, but skip the dishwasher and hand wash instead. 

Ladies, may you be showered with blessings this weekend! Happy Mother's Day!

Tea-riffic Mug Tags from Happy Go Lucky.