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. 

100 Days Smarter!

100 days of school is a big deal in Grade 1!

A big part of our Math curriculum focuses on working with numbers to 100, so celebrating 100 is an opportunity to tie in several Math activities, as well as many Language Arts tasks and even the perfect Religion lesson.

We worked over several days to write 100 words:

We made fabulous runway-worthy party hats! There were 10 strips of paper, and we counted 10 polka dots on each. Boom, 100 dots!

The boys and girls practiced and read a 100 word poem to several classes:

We brought in collections of one hundred items:

Isn't it interesting how different 100 items can look? Some bags are so full, and others have much less. 

Hidden down the hall were many numbers. The students were challenged to find and colour them in on a 100's chart to find a secret message:

We challenged ourselves with many numeracy games!

We were SO EXCITED to meet our Grade 3/4 buddies in the library for a celebration with board and card games!

To bring our special day to a close, we settled ourselves and heard the story from the bible about the lost sheep. We looked at 100 cotton balls, thinking of them as 100 little sheep, and wondered "Would God worry if one little sheep went missing? Wouldn't having 99 sheep be enough?" No! If we stray from God, He worries and looks for us. He always welcomes the lost little sheep back. 

Happy 100 Day, boys and girls! Be proud of your hard work!

Warm in the Winter

Our current Science focus is on seasonal changes in Winter, and today we were exploring how some animals survive the cold. 

Do you think it is warmer under the snow or on top?

This generated an enormous amount of really thoughtful discussion and the students were asked to predict where it is warmer. 

The experiment was simple: bury one thermometer in a snowbank, and leave the other sitting on top of the snow. To protect the thermometers, each was encased in a cookie box.  (Honorable mention to the Beliveau family for eating so many cookies).

Off we went to set up the experiment! Students watched from indoors as Mrs. Beliveau buried one box/thermometer and set the other on the snow. 

We headed back to class and were very busy all morning!

After lunch, we hustled back to check on our experiment. 

Mrs. Beliveau checked the box sitting on top of the snow. The thermometer read -22 degrees C. Then Mrs. Beliveau dug out the buried box. The thermometer read -18 degrees C. It was warmer under the snow!

Many animals have a better chance of surviving the cold winter when there is a lot of snow. This snow acts like a blanket. It traps heat from the earth, as well as an animal's body heat when an animal burrows deep. Turns out that winters with little snow are harder for plants and animals to survive!

Wilderness Adventures: First Families & Snowshoeing

On Friday, we spent the day at the beautiful Strathcona Wilderness Centre! 

Our morning kicked off with the Indigenous First Families program, led by Nadine. We explored how families used to live a long time ago. We learned so much about the Inuit people of the Arctic, the Plains First Nations, and the Woodlands First Nations of Eastern Canada. 

Nadine began by explaining why the first families in Canada thrived. There were no stores like Costco, so these people were excellent hunters. They lived in community, supporting each other in many ways, such as sharing food and child care. The children had chores and responsibilities that helped their families survive, too. While they didn't attend school, children learned from elders how to hunt, make clothing, cook, and so much more. 


The Inuit

The Inuit lived in the north, often in igloos. Nadine shared many fascinating items with us from the Inuit people. We touched a ring seal fur. Fur from ring seals was used to make clothing and "kamiks", or shoes. One student tried on a cozy seal fur parka, which is very warm, as well as caribou kamiks! He gave snow goggles a try, too, which are wooden glasses with thin slits that protect the eyes from the sun's glare off the snow. 

The Plains First Nations

The people of the plains would follow the buffalo and hunt them. They often lived in tipis, which could be quickly and easily set up, taken down, and transported. 

Nadine shared that the Plains First Nations were known for their love of celebrations, or "powwows". She showed us an elaborate fan that the women would use, and when it waved it sounded as though birds were flapping overhead! She dressed up one of our students in some traditional celebratory clothing. She wore a bone and bead choker, beaded moose moccasins, a breast plate (often used as chest protection during battle), and a moose skin wrap. We saw a replica headdress. Traditionally it is made of eagle feathers (although this one was not), and each eagle feather on a headdress represents a brave or kind deed. 

The Woodland First Nations

The Woodland First Nations lived in the forests of eastern Canada around the Great Lakes. They were amazing hunters. Nadine shared a variety of beautiful furs with us. 

The Woodland First Nations lived near many lakes, and made canoes from the bark of birch trees so they could travel through the water. 

After hearing so many interesting facts and seeing the amazing collection of artifacts, it was time to touch them ourselves! The students most enjoyed feeling the silky furs and pelts!

Then the students were challenged to get creative! Using paper, feathers, and markers, the children got to work designing their own fans. They were encouraged to draw scenes from nature, and many drew rainbows, flowers, animals and more!

Perhaps the highlight of the morning was learning several of the games the children would have played. While they were simple, with few rules or game pieces, they were challenging and fun for everyone!  

After a quick lunch, we jumped into snowshoeing! We learned that Snowshoe Hares have wide feet that snowshoes are designed after. 

Then we snapped up our own snow shoes and headed out! We played relays, tag games, and Simon Says, and then headed out on a walk in search of signs of animals. 

It was a beautiful day of learning!

Kids in Winter!

Our Winter unit in Science has been lots of fun!

We got our creative juices flowing when Mrs. Beliveau read Snow Day. In the book, a "snow day" is declared and kids must stay home from school! The children in the book do many fun seasonal activities, which became an excellent conversation starter for our class!

Mrs. Beliveau promised we could do those Winter activities we just read about! Ski, sled, build a snowman, skate ... but how?

First, we brainstormed winter activities we enjoy doing. 

Then we dressed in their warm woollies and posed as if we were doing a snowy activity. Can you guess what winter activity these kids are acting out?

Then students focused their efforts on writing a complete sentence about their activity, 

chose a whimsical Winter background, 

and glued their cutout with a few details to complete the picture!

Look at what we made! 

We sure do know what people do in Winter!

Project idea adapted from a project featured by Christina Bainbridge. 
Visit her blog at Bunting, Books and Bright Ideas.

Sneaky Snowy Sentences

Before Christmas, we examined what a sentence is.

We learned three things every sentence has and Mrs. Beliveau revealed her hidden talent, rapping!

As a team, we sorted letters, words and sentences:

Now that we're back, we've set to work practicing our sentence writing skills. We tackled a project this past week, inspired by the book 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 weekly words correctly. 

An illustration of the animal accompanied their clues, too!

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's a peek at the final masterpiece:

Peek under the "snow" to see the animal! It's a bat!

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

Writing strong sentences is a skill we will work on consistently throughout the year. Support your child by finding sentences in the books you read, by identifying components of a sentence in our daily home reading books, 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. 

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Christmas break is upon us! During Advent, our students were able to deepen their faith and prepare their hearts with kindness for the coming of Jesus. 

Have a look at our journey through Advent!

May your families be blessed with peace, joy and health throughout this Christmas season!

Christmas blessings and lots of love, 

Mrs. Beliveau