"Otterly" Adorable!

Back for day 3 and ready for action! We hopped on the bus, traveled past our favourite "shiny balls" on the Whitemud, and counted zoo signs until we arrived!

The second we got to the zoo, we headed to the commissary! This kitchen feeds over 400 animals! 

We learned about herbivores and carnivores, and also about piscivores (primarily eat fish), insectavores (primarily eat insects), and frugivores (primarily eat fruit)! So many neat animals to feed at the zoo!

We took a peek at the enormous zoo recipe book that lists all of the dietary needs of all the animals. We examined the red panda's diet and even saw the bamboo being taken out for the day!

Teacher Courtney showed us the meat cart for the carnivores. Theses animals get whole food which is already dead. We had an excellent discussion about the food chain and how the zoo keeps animals healthy. 

Today, rather than sketch the animals we had chosen for the week, students got to decide fairly as a group which new animal they would observe today! This opportunity allowed us to compare and contrast the new animal with our previous one!

Comparing lemurs to meerkats

Comparing the snow leopard to the wolves

Comparing the wolves to the seals

Comparing the ref fox to the lemurs

It was nearing lunchtime, but before we got to eat, we saw the river otters being fed! We asked so many questions and were fascinated! 

They were "otterly" adorable and playful! This was a huge highlight of our day and we could have stayed forever!

After lunch we welcomed in Dean, who has been working with the Edmonton Valley Zoo for 39 years and has tremendous knowledge and infinite experience!

Dean taught us how animals can be safely captured (e.g. for medical checkups). He used hoop nets, control poles, and even some blow dart pipes (which aren't typically used but are oh, so super cool!). The zoo prefers to train animals to voluntarily do various behaviours so the animals can be medically examined or moved and keepers can safely interact with them, keeping captures to a minimum. 

After a few quiet minutes journaling our Top 4 moments of the day, we took one last stroll through the zoo and waved goodbye!

We were completely and "otterly" exhausted! 

We Just Can't Stop Smiling!

As we bounced back onto our bus for day 2 of Zoo School, one little girl exclaimed "Mrs. Beliveau, I just can't stop smiling!"

We also couldn't stop being silly

And so began day 2!

We knew the rules and routines, so the second we arrived we headed out to observe our animal ... and we had the zoo all to ourselves, as it hadn't even opened yet!! We observed 3 things about our animal and drew a labelled diagram. 

Wolves

Lemurs

Meerkats

Seals

Then we discovered how the zoo trains animals! We learned about target training, how to reward an animal for a desired behaviour, and how to select an appropriate reward for a given animal! We had a hoot using pom poms on sticks and clickers to "train" one another!

Then off to Arctic Shores to see a harbor seal training session! 

After lunch, we tackled a rousing game of Mystery Artifact by working together to use our senses to identify several unknown animal items. We were presented with a red fox fur, a tortoise skin shoe, an owl wing, and a river otter fur. 

Mystery Artifacts

Then a bonus artifact was brought in ... a beautiful tiger fur! AMAZING!

Some cute little rats live in an enclosure in our classroom, and Teacher Courtney gave us an opportunity to meet one cutie, Zazu, close up!

We wrapped up by journaling our top 2 moments of the day. 

Back we go tomorrow for more learning, more challenges, more adventures, and more laughter! 

Zoo School is a Real Snooze!

What went on at the zoo today that had everyone snoozin' on the ride home?

Today was our first day attending the Edmonton Valley Zoo's week-long ZOO SCHOOL adventure, and it was an absolute blast!

We were met by Teacher Courtney and got busy right away! We were about to meet a non-venomous children's python, but first we recorded what we already knew and what we were wondering! 

Then out came 23 year old Rover! He lives in the caves of Australia and is a constrictor. We learned Rover continues to grow his whole life, which is why he sheds his skin. Ask your child about how taking off our sock is like Rover shedding!

Bursting with energy, we were let loose in small groups to do a little exploring and get acquainted with our amazing new "classroom" for the week!

After a speedy lunch, Teacher Courtney sent us out in our small groups again to tackle some animal observations. Each group will observe their chosen animal for a few minutes each day throughout the week! Today we were challenged to write 3 "ing" words, describing what our animal was doing. We also drew and labelled the animals' enclosures. 

Observing the Arctic wolves

Observing the seals

Goofing with the meerkats

We headed back indoors and Teacher Courtney noticed how curious we were to meet our classroom bunnies! This is Summer, a Flemish Giant. Can you believe he is only 1 year old?!? Everyone loved feeling his soft fur!

Our day ended with a visit to see Zena the Canadian Lynx! She was taking part in a training session. The zoo trains animals to help them learn to do behaviours that help the keepers and vets look after them. 

No wonder half the class fell asleep on the ride home! Can't wait to head back tomorrow! What a spectacular day of learning!

Break into 2018!

Grade 1 students are typically pretty enthusiastic, but today they were so excited they nearly had to be peeled off the ceiling!

Today Mr. Dumont showed up in our room with a delivery! He had a box. A very, very LOCKED box. And a few clues...

Our Grade 1 Breakout Box challenge was about to begin! The goal? Break into the box!

A Breakout Box is similar to a breakout room, but students use curricular skills to break into a box instead of breaking out of a room!

The theme for our box was from Dr. Seuss' book Oh the Places You'll Go!

Clue 1 asked us to examine boarding passes to figure out a 3-digit combination that would open our first lock! We found 3 seat numbers that we put together to make our combination!

Clue 2 was tricky. Using UV lights, we scanned Dr. Seuss' rhyming posters to discover a secret 4-letter word! This was the combination for the letter lock!

To open the directional lock, Clue 3 provided a goofy Dr. Seuss poem with directional words hidden inside!

Hooray! We opened the box!

What!?! Inside the box was a locked pouch, along with with a nonsensical message! 

Using a top-secret letter code, we deciphered the message and were able to make sense of it!

"Oh a place that you should look is near a book!"

We hunted for the key, and opened the inner box!

We did it!  We were rewarded with brand new "clicky" mechanical pencils! 

What better way to start our learning journey in 2018 than to work as a team and have a blast!

This breakout box activity was adapted from BreakoutEdu's Oh the Places You'll Go. 

Skating & Smiles

It is safe to say that there were likely many students who slept very well last night!

Today we tied up our skates, snapped up our helmets, and pulled on our mittens! We joined the Grade 2, 3, and 4 classes for a recreational skate at the Ardrossan Rec Complex. What a fantastic afternoon!

Part of our PE curriculum calls for students to demonstrate basic skills in a variety of environments. In our case, we were going to participate in skating (a basic skill) at the arena (an alternative environment). The curriculum also outlines that children require opportunities to demonstrate effort while participating in various activities. Boy, did we see effort from everyone! We had several sweaty little skaters!

After dividing up the ice into areas for skating fast and skating slow, students were encouraged to participate at a level they were comfortable with. Many students in our class are hockey and ringette players, and they were wonderful at encouraging the new skaters in our class. The new skaters were very determined and positive, and all made a marked improvement by the end of our ice time! The afternoon was a tremendous success and an absolute blast! 

An enormous THANK YOU to all of the parents who spent the afternoon tying skates, joining us on the ice, and encouraging our budding athletes. The success of our afternoon is because of your support, time, and patience. 

We will return to the rink for two more recreational skates in the new year. We can hardly wait!

Snowy Sentences

When we started Grade 1 together, we knew many of the sounds the letters make and some words, too (thank you, Mrs. Small!). You'll never believe it, but we are now working on writing FULL SENTENCES! 

We really began examining what a sentence was these last few days. 

We learned three things every sentence has:

Mrs. Beliveau revealed her hidden talent ... rapping!

Ask your child to rap for you!

We sorted letters, words and sentences as a class!

This week we read Dream Snow. In the story, a farmer falls asleep and dreams that snow covers his farm animals. This book is very clever! Clear plastic sheets, with "snow" on them, can be lifted to reveal the animal underneath! 

Armed with our knowledge of sentences, we made our own version of the book, but with a twist! 

Students each wrote clues about an animal of their choosing. Kids were challenged to write a sentence beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. As well, students were required to spell Word Wall Words correctly (weekly spelling words posted on the wall).

An illustration of the animal accompanied their clues. Just like in Dream Snow, a clear page with painted "snow" covered the animal, so it would be lifted up to reveal the animal hidden under the snowbank! The very best part of this was adding "snow"!

Here are the clues:

Peek under the "snow" to see the animal!

Because of their fantastic work, the hallway near our classroom is packed with curious students, reading the clues and peeking under the snowbanks! Well done, Grade One!

Writing strong sentences is a skill we will work on throughout the year! Support your child by finding sentences in the books you read, by identifying components of a sentence in our daily agenda message, and by writing sentences together ... the sillier the better!



"Is It a Sentence" poster was from here. 
Pete the Cat Letter, Word and Sentence sort was from here. 
Writing project inspired by teacher Christina Bainbridge.