Christ is Risen: Celebrating the Resurrection

Today we celebrated the risen Lord! Alleluia!

Resurrection Rolls

We made a special little treat together called Resurrection Rolls. 

We wrapped marshmallows in crescent roll dough. The students were careful not to leave any holes! Then, the rolls were dipped in butter and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar. Off to the ovens!

Look at how our rolls turned out!  But 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. 

Resurrection Gardens

During Lent, the students decorated pots and planted grass seeds, creating their own little gardens. 

Upon arrival back at school this week, we were thrilled to see our pots bursting with new life! These little "resurrection gardens" are a visual reminder of the journey from death to new life. Our pots will be sent home in the coming days so your family can enjoy the new life of the resurrection!

Christ is Risen! Alleluia, alleluia!

EGG-citement in Grade 1!

Our week was filled with EGG-cellent learning!

Today Mrs. Junck visited us. We compared the eggs and feathers of a turkey and a duck, learned how an egg forms inside a mama, and examined the development of ducklings inside the egg. 

Today marks day 14 in our incubation journey. We are halfway through incubating our duck eggs, and in two weeks our ducklings should be hatching. We were able to candle a few eggs and saw the growth of the ducklings inside. We could even see movement!

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

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

Hatching & Harvesting

Hatching

Our duck eggs are a quarter of the way in their growth! Mrs. Junck visits once a week to guide our learning.

Mrs. Junck is always full of surprises and she brought two grown ducks from her farm. We compared the drake (male) and the hen (female), noticing that the female is brown and camouflages well. This is because she has to sit on the eggs for 28 days and stay safe from predators. 

We candled a few eggs in our incubator. Candling shows us if the egg is developing into a duck. We made our classroom very dark. Using a bright light, we were able to see if there was a developing duck inside the egg or not. Bright, lit up egg? No duck (bottom R). Dark, shadowy egg? Duck (top R)! 

Harvesting

The seeds we planted in our tower gardens a few months ago have thrived! Today we sampled the fruits (or veggies?) of our labour and had a little salad! What a wonderful treat!

Our classroom is bursting with new life, signs of spring, and lots of joy!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has sprung in Grade 1, and ducklings and seedlings are on the horizon!

Hatching Ducklings

Our duck hatching journey has begun! Our local farmer, Mrs. Junck, brought us duck eggs from her farm and is visiting us weekly to teach us about new life. Each day we carefully monitor the incubator's temperature and humidity. Near the end of April and into May, we will be welcoming our ducklings!

We are so excited for Day 28, also known as Hatch Day, to arrive! Until then, we will continue to pray for our little eggs and marvel at the new life growing inside. God is so good!

Planting problem

We arrived today, ready to plant seeds, but we had a problem … our seeds were missing!

We each received our own case files, with a list of suspects inside. We were challenged to work through several tasks. 

These tasks were a wonderful review of many skills, including comparing numbers, vowel sounds, shapes, blends, and more!

As we completed each task, we received a clue, eliminating a suspect. 

We found the culprit! The case of the criminal critter was solved and we found our seeds! We look forward to planting next week … stay tuned!

Our Faith-Filled Lenten Journey

We are learning about 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 made beautiful matchstick crosses as a reminder of God's love. 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 collaboration!

We even figured out how to carefully count matches using tallies!

What stunning masterpieces!

Have a safe, relaxing and blessed Spring Break! 

Cookie's Mischevious Week at St. Nicks!

This past week, we read the story Cookie's Week, all about a cat who causes mischief all over his house!

We jumped at the opportunity to write our own versions of this story! In our own stories about Cookie, we imagined this sneaky kitty spent a week at St. Nicholas. What kinds of mischief did this little trickster get into?

After a walk around the building, we brainstormed places he could make a little trouble. 

Then, using sentences frames, we wrote and illustrated our own stories!

These stories will take several days of diligent writing and creative, careful illustrating. 

We're having so much fun imagining the mischief Cookie would cause at our school! Watch for these stories to be shared with you next week!

The Liturgical Season of Lent

This past week 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!

Father Chad from OLPH Parish even popped in for a little visit to help us understand Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent:

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

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.