Reindeer: Zoo Project Week 12

'Twas the week before Christmas, 

Holy Redeemer was a zoo, 

What was this week's animal focus?

The reindeer, that's who!

World's Cutest Reindeer

We read about reindeer,

Who couldn't fly Santa's sleigh,

By the end of the story,

They worked as team ... up & away!

The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett

We noticed in the word reindeer,

There are two squealy ee's

So we built some "ee" words, 

Like tree, queen and bee!

For our Math challenge, 

We used a hundreds board,  

And coloured the numbers we found, 

Just look at our reward!

Then we looked at the zoo map,

And the reindeer were found!

Using our mapping skills,

The ice cream shop was also around!

Then we carefully sketched & labelled

In our journals for Zoo School,

We are learning to work like scientists, 

Don't we rule?

Then things got silly, 

When we made our reindeer names,

Such as Bootsie Von Stride, 

What a hilarious game!

Reindeer Name activity from here

As the week came to an end,

And we became experts on reindeer, 

We hugged one another, 

Can't wait to see you all next year!

DASHing All The Way!

It is with great excitement that we welcome in two new students to our class, Dot and Dash!

Dot and Dash are robots that will help our students learn about coding and robotics!

Image courtesy of Wonder Workshop

Our first task was simple. In small groups, the kids practiced moving Dash, the larger robot on wheels, around various obstacles. They challenged one another to move Dash to different spots. 

Inspired by two weeks of chilly weather, we popped the bulldozer bar attachment on Dash and challenged one another to shovel the "snow". There was excitement, cooperation, frustration, patience, persistence, and lots of squealing and smiling!

Think Grade 1's are too young to code? Think again! What will Dash and the kids be up to next?

Ball Python: Zoo Project Week 10

With all of our concert rehearsals this past week, we had to stretch our focus on the ball python over two weeks! But we sure learned a lot about this amazing reptile!

During our week at Zoo School, we will get to meet, and touch, Sid the ball python! We wondered what he might feel like. Bumpy? Smooth? Warm? Cool? Slippery?

Mrs. Beliveau met Sid last spring

We read The Greedy Python, a story about a snake who eats every animal he meets in the jungle. This python was so very greedy, that in the end he swallows his own tail! We worked hard sequencing the events using pictures. 

Snakes have such unique patterns, and we had a blast making our own patterned ball pythons with play dough and glitter! Then we described our patterns using letters or numbers (e.g. AAB or 1122) and compared the length of our snakes using words like longer and shorter. 

Our sketching continues to develop! We are adding more detail and are able to label the parts of our animals. 

Who is excited to meet Sid, the ball python? Can't wait!