We LOVE The Earth!

God blessed us with a beautiful place to live, Earth!

We have spent the week preparing for Earth Day! We read a silly book by one of Mrs. Beliveau's favourite authors, Todd Parr. Enjoy! 

We also read Dr. Seuss' book The Lorax, which got us thinking about how we can care for our environment. Then we channeled our inner Lorax, yellow moustache and all, and made posters about how we will care for our Earth!

Look at our awesome work!

(1) I can plant trees. (2) I can clean up garbage. 
(3) I can recycle paper. (4) I can ride my bike or scooter. 

Happy Earth Day, friends! Remember that little choices each day can make a positive difference!

Comparing Living & Non-Living

We have begun our Needs of Plants and Animals Unit! This week we are focusing on what it means for something to be living. 

We brainstormed ideas about what makes something living. Then we thought about something we knew for sure was living, such as a dog, and crossed off ideas on our list that didn't fit with what we knew about dogs. We also did this for other things we knew for sure were living, including a plant! 

To reinforce what makes something living, we enjoyed a clip from our pal on Sesame Street:

Then we studied a few examples using our criteria for what makes something alive:

To conclude our exploration of living and non-living, students tackled an an up-close, hands-on observation! Our extremely excited scientists compared gummy worms and earthworms! We were able to see many examples that demonstrated that the earthworms are indeed living and gummy worms are non-living:

Now let's hunt for examples of living and non-living things with a photo hunt at home!

First, give your child a camera (your phone would be perfect!). Have them take some pictures of things that are living and non-living.

Then, to share your photo(s) and/or comment on our "wall":

(a) Double click on our Living and Non-Living wall below

(b) A box will appear. Type in a comment. Upload a picture. Ta da! 

(c) Marvel at our learning!

(or just email me your photos/captions and I'll make it happen)

We will check this wall often next week to see the pictures that we all post!

Our EGG-citing Week!

Our week was filled with EGG-cellent learning!

This week we began our hatching journey! To prepare, we listed what we already KNOW about chicks...

... and what we want to LEARN.

This week we carefully placed 22 beautiful eggs into a warm, humid incubator. We can't bring hens into the school, so the incubator acts as a mama hen, turning the eggs while keeping them warm and moist. Each day we monitor and record the temperature and humidity.

These eggs didn't come from the grocery store, they came from Mrs. Junck's family farm! Mrs. Junck is guiding our learning and hatching. Each week we are looking forward to a lesson from her. This week we learned about the air cell inside the egg. We were able to see it when we shone a bright light on an egg.

We noticed that the eggs in our incubator were many beautiful colours. They didn't all look the same. We cracked open a brown egg and a white egg, and noticed they looked the same inside, even though the outsides were different. Then we had a really powerful discussion about how WE all look different on the outside, but on the inside, we all have a heart and want to be loved.

Eggs are a symbol of new life, which is why eggs are a symbol at Easter! We spent an afternoon making Pysanky, traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs. This took lots of patience and creativity, and we did have lots of fun! We kept reminding eachother that "everything new is hard at first". 

So much EGG-citement this past week! Have a blessed Easter!

The CROSS: A Symbol of Love

We are exploring the Easter Story and have focused on a very important symbol in our faith; the cross. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for each one of us. The cross is a powerful symbol that reminds us how much God loves us.

We created beautiful burned matchstick crosses. Don't worry, the matches we worked with were already lit, cooled and very safe to touch.We patiently helped one another count out matches, glue, and check and re-check the intricate pattern. This took lots of patience and perseverance!

After they dried, we were able to cut them out. 

The symbol of the cross reminds us of Jesus' everlasting, infinite love for us! 

Celebrating our Differences

God made us all different! He made us with love and intention, and He doesn't make mistakes! 

We shared the book It's Ok To Be Different by Todd Parr. His creative illustrations and inclusive messages made us all feel accepted and loved. We are all special!

We seized this opportunity to celebrate our uniqueness by making our own posters! What makes us different?

Our art and writing will be on display for the next week, so please come by during your interview night and enjoy our hard work. 

(a) I have freckles. (b) I am good at art. 

Not only is it ok to be different, but it is AWESOME!

Retelling a Story

Today we were introduced to the parts of a story! 

We made our own beaded story retell bracelets to help cue us to each part of the story. Each colour reminds us of a different part of the story. 

Then we listened to The Gingerbread Boy, and used our anchor chart and bracelets to figure out the parts of the story together. 

We'll be using our bracelets as we read many books together. We'll be working hard to identify the beginning (characters, setting, and problem), middle, and end of each story. We're going to have so much fun!

Beginning Our Lenten Journey

This past Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday, a day of feasting and fun! On this day, we traditionally use up the rich foods in their fridge that are often not encouraged to be eaten during Lent, such as milk, eggs and butter. Add a little flour, and you have pancakes!

This was our prayer table earlier this week, before Lent began:

This is our prayer table, now that it is Lent:

Why the change? Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent is a time when we look at ourselves and try and see what can change and improve so that we can be more like Jesus. We take more time to pray, to ask forgiveness of our sins, and to share with others. For forty days we prepare for the new life of Easter.

 

Our Lenten wreath is brown and bare, symbolizing the desert where Jesus prayed for 40 days and also the crown of thorns. Can your child explain the symbols pictured on our wreath (purple ribbon, burlap cloth with a cross)? As we journey through Lent, we will add more symbols to help us better understand this liturgical season. 

We participated in Ash Wednesday mass with Father Jim at OLPH Church. We all received ashes on our foreheads to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice for us. 

Lent is a time of change; a change of mind and heart. May the 40 days of Lent help us prepare for the joy of Easter.