Poetry Podcasts

Hey Everybody!

For the past few weeks our students have been hard at work with their older buddies to create a series of poetry podcasts! Each group was given a poem and a list of criteria to follow in creating their podcast. Click on the videos below to hear their fabulous creations!

The Mouse, The Frog, and The Little Red Hen 

by Win and Carl Braun

Bear in There 

by Shel Silverstein

Peanut Butter Sandwich 

by Shel Silverstein 

Chippy Chip Chipmunk 

by Win and Carl Braun

Ticklish Tom 

by Shel Silverstein 

Mrs Stein 

by Bill Dodds 

The Secret 

by Win and Carl Braun 

Who Sank the Boat 

by Pamela Allen

Thinking in Bed 

by Dennis Lee 

Music Makers 

by Win and Carl Braun 

I Had a Little Brother 

by Win and Carl Braun 

Five Little Polar Bears 

by Shel Silverstein 

Thank you for listening! 

A Fabulous Forest Field Trip (In the Rain!)

OFF TO STANLEY PARK!!

We had a wonderful (& wet!) field trip to Stanley Park!

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the Stanley Park Ecology Society's Nature Detective Program.

We were taken into the forest in small groups led by enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff from the park program and were encouraged to explore using many of our senses.

We learned about soil and which parts of the forest decompose to form the nutrient-filled forest floor. Children were invited to gather soil components into bowls to make Forest Soup and feed it to the tree at the roots.

 

 

Children were each given a bug jar and went on a bug hunt! They found LOTS of different kinds of critters including sow bugs, millipedes, centipedes, ants, worms, and more! Children learned about protecting the natural state of the forest and were encouraged to keep the bug homes intact by replacing overturned rocks, logs and twigs.

 

 

 

 

Finally, we were able to look at a preserved brown bat, one of the common creatures often spotted in Stanley Park. We learned some interesting tidbits about bats and their habitat, sleeping patterns and diet.

Pretending to be Stanley Park brown bats, we left the forest playing a day/night game. The children "flew" down the path when the leader shouted NIGHT! and found refuge on one of the majestic Douglas Fir trees when she shouted DAY!

 

We enjoyed the dryness of a nearby picnic shelter for lunch and activities. The children heard the story, "In the Tree House" by Andrew Larsen and had fun designing their own popsicle stick tree houses.

We warmed ourselves by the "campfire" and enjoyed singing lots of fun songs to keep the energy high and bodies warm!

 

A great day was had by all!

 

Fabulous Forests

Our student teachers, Minji and Danielle, have started a new unit that is all about the forests! Here are some pictures of the first few weeks of learning we've embarked on. 

As part of the forest unit the students have all chosen a tree from Sunnyside Park to adopt. Over the first few weeks we have sketched, measured and learned about the science behind our trees. 

Division 3 and Division 4 created a collaborative mural in each classroom. 

DIVISION 3'S MURAL 

DIVISION 4'S MURAL 

The students worked in small groups to create posters that explained why trees are important. Here are a few of the students' posters. 

Tree posters illustrating tree parts and their importance.

The students learned all about what goes in and what comes out of the leaves during the process of photosynthesis.

We are also learning about the animals that live tin the forest. Here are some nests and the animals that live in them.

We also learned all about one of our furry forest buddies, the raccoon. Take a look! 

We hope you've learned something from our wonderful students about the forest and we hope to share much more about their learning in the coming weeks. 

Welcome Spring!

During the last couple of weeks before Spring Break, we have been observing our changing environment and riding our weather roller coaster on its way out of Winter and into Spring!

Daffodils, tulips, butterflies and sunshine are filling our minds!

However, we continue to take cover under our cheery umbrellas, hoping to brighten the gray of the early spring showers!

We look forward to seeing all of you over the next couple of days at our Student-Led Conferences.

A few friendly reminders:

1. Please return your report card envelopes so they can be used for term 3 reports.

2. Please return any Dance-a-thon money that has been collected.

3. The Book Fair is on at the library!

4. The children will be dismissed at 2:00 pm today, Wednesday, AND Thursday for Student-Led Conferences. Please pick up your child promptly as the first conferences begin at 2:00 sharp.

We hope you enjoy a safe and happy Spring Break with your families! 

Sound!

We spent several weeks after the Winter Break exploring SOUND.
We kicked off the unit by creating these beautiful Soundscapes:

Children had fun recording, creating and imagining sounds for each different Soundscape.

WHAT DO YOU HEAR....

 ....in the jungle?

....in the forest?

.... on the farm?

..... under the sea?

Each week we had new sound experiments to explore at our Sound Station. Children were able to listen to sound waves travel through water, see the vibration of sound waves create waves in the water and match like sounds. Students created a sound cannon, ear models and even got to play in their own hand-crafted instrument in our orchestra.

Before our trip to the Orpheum, we studied about famous composers and listened to several different types of music from Elvis to Bach. The trip to the Orpheum was wonderful and the children singing along to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", unforgettable.