Rick Hansen School Opening!

Wow!!! What an amazing day we had yesterday.  It was our Official School Opening and our whole school worked so hard on our assembly and school displays.  We were lucky to be able to host "The Man in Motion" Mr. Rick Hansen!  He got to the school around 11:30am and shared with our students his experiences during his Man in Motion World Tour.   In 1985, Mr. Hansen traveled over 40,000km in his wheelchair and averaged about 110km/day!  His words of encouragement and praise towards our students (future difference makers!) was an amazing experience.

As one of our gallery displays, our students worked on another Explain Everything project demonstrating how someone in their family makes a difference.  We are excited to share this video with you!

In math, we have been focusing on 3-D shapes!  We know that 3-D shapes are fat  not  flat.  : )

We had so much fun playing a detective game today.  We put a 3-D shape inside a paper bag and had to describe it to a detective.   The detective then had to use the clues to guess what shape was inside!

The students have been learning about cones, cylinders, cubes, spheres, pyramids and rectangular prisms.

N.W. said "My shape has a square on the bottom, a point on the top and you find it in the desert."     His group knew it was a pyramid!

C.W. said, "It has rectangles all around it, it stacks and it looks like a Kleenex box!"  Her group thought it was a rectangular prism! 

Making a Difference!

We are so excited for our Official School Opening this Thursday, April 18!  We have been working really hard on a song for the assembly and some projects on our iPads! Our school has adopted Rick Hansen's saying Make a Difference - this week our hallways have been given Make a Difference street signs!

On our iPad's, students have been using the program PicCollage to display posters of how they make a difference. 

We are also finishing up another Explain Everything movie!  We are excited to share how a member in our family make a difference to others or ourselves.

The signs of spring are all around us!  Here is a display we have been working on!  We used tissue paper to make buds and blossoms on our tree and coffee filters to make the flowers.

To go along with our Difference Makers topic, different careers and community helpers have come up in our discussions.  Our new socio-dramatic area has transformed into a Hospital!!  Take a look at how students have begun to lead this inquiry!

It certainly has been a busy week!  We are creating self portraits to display in our cubby area!  We looked into a mirror and looked at the shape of our faces. 

We read the book Art  and discussed that all creations we make are art!  Everyone in our class is an artist.

   

When You Plant a Seed

Some Updates!

Link for April School Newsletter and important "Eye See, Eye Learn" Flyer. 
http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/rickhansen.ps/NewsEvents/Pages/Current%20News%20and%20Newsletters.aspx 

April 18 - School Opening!!!  (see newsletter for more information) 

April 30 - 11:45am - PRIDE Assembly "Courage"

I have sent home a second copy of our video consent form (yellow) to a few families for our School Opening.  Please send these forms in as soon as possible :)

A few weeks ago was Mrs. Taebpour's New Year, NowRuz.  In our class, we grew a "Sabzeh" meaning “spring sprouts,” which symbolizes rebirth and renewal.  During NowRuz, It is customary for families to germinate lentils and place them on a table as one of the 7 items that all start with the letter 'S.'  
 We have been busy since then conducting a lentil experiment and watching a Sabzeh grow! 

We thought, what a wonderful connection to spring and plants!  

What signs of spring can you see outside?!

First, we got a package of lentils.

AK - I think those are seeds.
J, Lds.– They look like Easter Eggs or little seeds.
M.O. - I wonder why they are different colours.
L.S. – I see seeds for the birds.
S.S. – I think they are beans.
D.V. – I wonder why they aren’t moving.
E.W. – I think it will turn into food.
S.Z. – I think it is burd food.
N.W.  – I think it will grow into a fruit tree.
E.Z. - I think the will turn into oranges.
S.C. – I wonder why they are circle shaped?
G.F.F. – I think they are grass for the flowers.
A.G. - I wonder why they are small.
C.W. – I think they are pumpkin seeds.
A.L. (SK male) – I think they are apple tree seeds.

Next, we soaked the lentils in water. 

 

Z.L. – I think they are going to crack and then turn into a little egg.
D.M. - I see some leaves on top (floating).
M.O. – I think they grow into a tree.
E.R. (JK)  – I think a tree will grow
D.V. – I think they will open up and another will grow.
S.Z. – I think it will turn into a plant.
M.S. – I see different colours.
S.C. - I think they will crack open and there will be another lentil inside.
A.G. - I wonder if they are going to grow.
C.W. - I think it will get bigger
A.L. (SK female)  – I see some are floating.  I think they will turn into flowers.
J.L. (SK female) – I think they are darking now.
A.M. – I think they will get bigger.
V.R.  – A flower. I see seeds.
E.R. (SK) - it might open and a plant will grow.
L.U.  – I think they will turn into food.

Then, we kept the lentils wet in a damp cloth.

S.C. – I wonder why the cloth is wet
A.G. – I wonder if they will grow.
A.L. (SK male) - I wonder why they have to be wet.
A.M. – I see they got bigger in the water.
L.U. – I see watered beans.
E.Z. – I think they will grow into plants.
Z.L. – Some look a little brown.
D.V. – I think they are getting bigger.

Finally, we watched as the lentils began to sprout and grow!

M.O. -  I see the lentil on the top. 

A.L. (SK female) - I see green and white parts. 

 

D.V. - I think they grow. 

S.Z. - I think they look like spaghetti. 

N.W. - I think they look like a spider. 

A.M. - I think the green part came out on the weekend. 

S.S. - I wonder if they cracked. 

S.C. - I wonder if the white stuff is growing more. 

C.W. - I wonder why some a white and some are green. 

E.Z. - I wonder why the white parts aren't strait.

E.R. (JK) - I see green stuff. 

S.Z. - They got big. 

S.S. - I see the white part is underneath now. 

S.C. - I see the lentils are getting bigger!

A.L. (SK male) - I see the roots. 

J.L. (SK female) - I see leaves. 

A.M. - They look really tall now.

J.Lds. - I think it looks like broccoli. 

D.V. - I think the water helped it grow. 
L.U. - I think it looks like grass.

Z.L. - I wonder if it will grow a flower.