Not Just A Bear

Spotlight 

On November 29, our school will be hosting the Toronto Catholic District School Board We Day workshop for all west end elementary and secondary Me to We teachers.  This is the third year that our school has opened its doors and hosted this inspiring event. 

In order to prepare for this occasion, each division was asked to submit student artifacts that reflected a particular theme.  The primary classes were asked to focus on Education, the junior classes were asked to focus on the Catholic Graduate Expectations, and the intermediate classes were asked to focus on the Year of Hope -anchor symbol. 

Knowing that our focus was education, Ms. Marrella and I immediately thought of the TCDSB logo/symbol.  The TCDSB symbol, which was designed by internationally-recognized design artist Allan Fleming, is made up of a cross, anchor and heart, representing the virtues of faith, hope and charity.

TCDSB Symbol: A community of FAITH, anchored in HOPE with HEART & CHAIRTY

Ms. Marrella and I showed our students the TCDSB symbol and explained its meaning to them.   Our 3, 4 and 5 year old kindergarten students thought it looked similar to a bear’s nose and mouth.  What an amazing connection!  After some discussion, we decided to create a bear for this event.

A few weeks ago, Ms. Pascot, our fantastic librarian, performed for us the story of Alexander the Bear.  This was a special story for our class because Ms. Pascot drew the story!  We remembered this story and decided to model our bear after Alexander from the story. 

Alexander the Bear

Here are some pictures that show the process of our students creating the bear.

 

Reflection

You may be asking what the connection is between the theme Education and the bear.  Well it goes beyond using the TCDSB symbol as the nose and mouth of the bear.  In my opinion, it was the process of actually creating the bear that allowed students to further their knowledge/education.  After learning about the TCDSB symbol, students were required to critically think and make a decision about how they could incorporate that symbol into something meaningful.  They were challenged to be creative in terms of the materials they would use and the placement of those materials.  Finally, our students were responsible for communicating and collaborating with each other during the entire process of this project.  Most importantly though, our students had fun working on this project because they were involved every step of the way, and it was meaningful to them. 

Boxes and Sticks Inquiry

We have started a new inquiry called Boxes and Sticks.

Our inquiry began with a pile of branches and boxes.  The branches were collected from a recent nature walk.  The boxes were found in the hallway when Ms. Johnston (our creative and funny neighbour) moved into her new classroom across the hall.

Our inquiry question is… What can we make with these boxes and sticks? 

Inquiry Corner

Before we can build anything we need to explore the materials we will be using.  Here are some pictures of the students investigating boxes and sticks. 

"Look! This box opens."

"This box looks like a present"

"I think this box is bigger than me!"

Students building a "bumpy road"

Our next step is to decide on something to build and construct with all the boxes and sticks.  Stay tuned for more posts on our box and stick inquiry.

Number Wall Project

Nature Walk Find

Every week, Ms. Marrella and I take our students on a nature walk around the neighbourhood of our school.  The students usually find fallen leaves, branches and little rocks.  A few weeks ago, the students came across four large piles of branches that a neighbour had put on their front curb.  Though we didn't know what we wanted to do with these branches, we were very curious about them.  We took two piles of branches back to class for further exploration. 

Ms. Marrella and I thought it would be a great idea to use some of the branches to create a number wall in the classroom.  We organized a group of 10 students to participate in this project.  First we asked the students to sort through the pile of branches.  We needed to separate the branches from the leaves, pine cones, and other debris.

Each student was then responsible for a number.  Their task was to pick out the correct number of branches from a pile, glue them onto a piece of construction paper, and then write the number on another piece of construction paper. 

Once the project was completed, we used the left over branches for wondering and critical thinking.  All our students were invited to explore the pile of branches by estimating how many branches were in the pile, in addition to writing/drawing about what they thought the pile of branches could be used for.

Graveyard Café

During the month of October, the kindergarten students transformed their Dramatic Play Centre into a Haunted House and name it The Graveyard Café. 

Our construction sign.  Safety first!

Our students were so excited about this project.  For approximately one week, students brought to school a variety of decorations including skeletons, spider webs, costumes, and pumpkins to transform this space.  Who knew spider webs came in green and orange?! 

We were ready to begin…

First, we sorted through the big mountain of items.  We needed to know what we were working with.  We also had to make sure there weren’t any real creepy crawlers in the pile.  We found one, so we decided to save it for our lunch break!

Then, we transformed the space.  Ms. Marella and a group of students decided on the layout and placement of all the items.

Our Café was almost ready, but something was missing.  A menu!  What would the Ghouls and Ghosts visiting the café want to munch on?  Of course, eyeballs, worms and spiders.  Deeeeeelicious!

Ms. Marrella and I added a tray of money (unfortunately not real!) and a clipboard for the café staff to write down customer orders.  

This project and play area gave students the opportunity to learn while they played (play-based learning).  Students improved their oral communication skills through their interactions with each other.  They experienced, counted and touched money when paying for their meals.  They used crayons and paper to write and draw customer orders.  Finally, they developed their fine motor skills when zipping and buttoning costume pieces.    

 

This project would not have been successful without the support of our fabulous parents.  The donations we received to complete this project were over and above what we originally expected.  The students had a screaming good time playing in their Graveyard Café.

Grace's Visit

The 2013 billboard for National Down Syndrome Awareness Week

This past week (November 1^st to 7^th) was National Down Syndrome Awareness Week (NDSAW).  The aim of this public awareness campaign titled See the Ability, is to focus on the strengths and abilities of people with Down syndrome.  This is the campaign’s third year. 

Grace

Grace is a student at our school who has Down syndrome.  This week Grace and her teacher Ms. Ferrari visited our class to talk about Grace’s interests, abilities, and Down syndrome.  The visit was very successful.  The kindergarten students enjoyed asking Grace questions about her favourite colour, food, and hobbies.  Grace did an amazing job speaking to the kindergarten students about her interests.  

As a follow-up to Grace’s visit, the kindergarten students watched a short YouTube video titled Everyone Counts: My Friend Isabelle.  Based on a children’s book by Eliza Woloson, the video teaches acceptance and inclusion through Charlie and his friend Isabelle.

After the video the kindergarten students discussed how Isabelle and Charlie are the same, and how they are different.  One student made a connection to flowers.  The boy said all flowers smell nice and grow, but they don’t all look the same, they have different colours and petal shapes.  What an amazing connection!

As a symbol of Grace’s visit, the students created flowers using coffee filters, markers, water, glitter and tissue paper.  The flowers are now on display in our classroom.  Next week we will invite Grace to see the beautiful flowers that she inspired the kindergarten students to create.

  

Thank you Grace for a wonderful visit.  You are an inspiration to us all!

Quick Facts

*  People with Down Syndrome have 47 chromosomes and people without Down syndrome  usually have 46 chromosomes.

*  A doctor named John Langdon Down provided the first description of the syndrome… that’s why it is called Down syndrome.

*  For more information visit http://www.cdss.ca/