January 10-14th  

We had a great first week back at school!  It was so nice to be back together after the long break!  Everyone was excited to reconnect with our classroom family. 

I Can Learn on the Land

We were so lucky with the weather this week and were able to get out for a community walk.  Students had some awesome questions and observation along the walk - which included "Why does this bush still have it's berries?" -" I think it is because they are poisonous." "Yes the birds don't like those - they make them feel yucky". 

 "Look at the the ice - why is it different under the bridge? - "Because it is warmer under the bridge." "The bridge shades the ice there."

"Why is the ice not frozen there in the middle?" - "Because it is in the open and the wind blows on it." "Because the sun shines on it, there is no shade." "Because the water is deeper and faster there." 

"Who made those footprints on the ice?"  "I think it was an animal like a muskrat." "I think the footprints look like it is bigger like a dog" " I think it was a person crossing over the ice."

"Look at the tree! A Beaver has been here!!" " Yes look at how it is a new cut, we did not see that before." "That one looks different  and dark so it an old cut". "The beaver must have been adding to his house." "I wonder where his lodge is?"

Another focus of our walk was to identify different shapes we could find in our community. Students were very excited to challenge one another to find different 2-D and 3-D shapes. 

We also took this as an opportunity to talk about winter safety.  We learned how to walk on icy sidewalks like a penguin and why it is not very safe to walk on frozen rivers.

I Can tell the difference between geographic features in my own community and other communities in Canada: 

On previous community walks we have focussed on learning about landforms we have in Ramsay, Calgary and Alberta. This week we reviewed that understanding of landforms in Alberta and challenged students to represent those landforms using different materials (paper, cloth, yarn, pencil crayons, etc.). We have just begun these projects but here is a preview!

Please also take a look at our beautiful artwork that we created before the holidays when we were focusing on the Metis traditional story - The Giving Tree (created with pastels) and on Metis dot art.(acrylic paint)