We have had such a hot start to the last month of school. We have taken advantage of the weather to get outside for gym, reading, and planting. Here are some of the things we have been working on:
Our outdoor skipping has been so much fun. We are making sure to get out in the morning to avoid getting overheated. Students are able to skip individually and are learning how to work as a small group to turn a larger rope for their friends. They are also using hula-hoops and skip-its to explore the coordination needed for skipping activities.
In Math, we refined our skills at solving addition equations that contain a missing number 7+__=12. Once students showed that they understood that work, we moved to doing similar work with subtraction equations. 14-__=9. Students are becoming flexible at working with numbers and using the "part, part, whole" and their triangle math to figure out how to solve for missing numbers in equations.
Our Science unit on building things has begun! The students are so excited and filled with creative ideas. We began with reviewing the 3D shapes from our Math unit and tried to build structures with marshmellos and toothpicks. Students soon discovered that those structures were unstable unless they used triangular shapes or extra supports. The next build we did was inspired by the book, "Not A Box" by Antoinette Portis. Students created a plan to build something creative from a box. The challenge of trying to create what they pictured in their mind out of a single material was very engaging. Some students persevered with the plan they had made, some made adaptations to their plan, and others changed their minds completely and created something different from their original vision.
We are also revisiting our needs of plants and environmental stewardship concepts from earlier in the year. Students enjoyed using magnifying glasses to look closely at the seeds they received this week. They are excited to try growing sunflowers and radishes at school and to document their progress. On Friday, every student in our class worked with a partner to plant a seedling perennial of a native flower. We have added these plants to the long rectangular space with the trees next to the parking lot. These plants are ones that are common to the Twelve Mile Coulee, Nose Hill, and other grasslands area around southern Alberta. We will be using this as a learning opportunity. Students will learn to identify these plants at school and then find them when we are out in the natural environment.
We were excited to have a Fire Safety presentation on Thursday. As we are unable to have a live visit from a fire fighter, we had a presentation over video conference. Students learned about fire prevention, detection, and evacuation. They were encouraged to "close before you doze" as having bedroom doors closed when you sleep can protect you if fire breaks out in the night. Students also learned about the importance of having a family evacuation plan.
As you have already heard, Ms. White will be leaving Tuscany School at the end of June as she is retiring. We are working on a couple of special things to send her off with good memories. We had a chance to meet our new principal, Mr. Tomczyk, today when he came by to say hi.
