Scientists at work

Today we continued to use our investigative skills in science.  We looked more closely at solids.  We used our observational skills and a magnifying glass to look at two cookies.  We noted many of its properties!  Some of the words we came up with to describe the cookies were:  thin, bumpy, light brown, crumbly, dark brown (chocolate chips), sweet tasting . . .. After we broke the cookie in half we realized many of the properties were still the same!  A solid keeps it shape unless you do something to it (like break it!).  Then we used the app Skitch to represent our knowledge and thinking. After all our hard work we got to eat our cookie!!!  Mmmmm.... it was good!

Do you use any scientific skills in your job?

Molecules, molecules!

We have been learning about Matter.  Did you know that everything is made of matter?  We have learned that matter comes in three states.  Solids, liquids and gases.  On Monday we found out the molecules act differently in different states.  In solids they are so tightly packed together that they hardly move at all, in liquids they is a little bit of room between them so they can move a little bit more.  That's why liquids FLOW!  In a gas the molecules are SO FAR APART that they never touch each other.  We pretended all 48 of us were molecules.  First we were a solid.  We were so tightly packed together, no one could get through us!  Then we slowly pretended to become a liquid and then finally a gas.  Mrs. Betts tried to video us acting like molecules.  She didn't get it all but you get the idea!

 Here we are as a solid!

Now we are a liquid!

Finally we are a gas!

After we pretended to be molecules we demonstrated our thinking on the iPad using Skitch.    Here is one person's picture of their thinking.

After we look more closely at the properties of each state of matter we're going to investigate how matter changes from one state to another!  Stay tuned to see our thinking!

Multicultural Week

Last week was Multicultural Week at Chantrell Creek.  Our morning messages were given in a variety of different languages from teachers and students.  Chantrell Creek is rich in language.  Just have a look at all the different languages that we speak.

On Wednesday we had a variety of presenters come to the school to showcase their talents and customs from their cultural heritage.  Some of the exciting activities we were fortunate to see and participate in included an authentic Cape Breton "kitchen party," Chinese painting, and a First Nations presentation.

 The kitchen party!

The video does not do the activity justice but it does give you an idea of the fun we had!

First Nations artifacts

 Eagle feathers used in ceremonial activities

  A demonstration of the art of Chines painting.  We learned they write from right to left and top to bottom.  Many of our students understood the presentation in their native language!

 Jenson got to try painting a frog.  He did an amazing job! 




Thank you Chantrell Creek.  We truly are fortunate to have such a rich and diverse learning environment!

Friend2Friend

Today we learned about how to be friends with everyone.  We had a group come in called "Friend2 Friend."  We watched a video that taught us some friendship tips.  There were 7 tips in all.  We were able to remember all seven tips!  Here they are:
1. Use friendly words - say hi to them
2.  Give your friends a choice about what you both could play together.  Don't forget to be clear about those choices
3.  Use wait time - let your friend have time to think and then speak
4.  Use short sentences so your friend won't get confused - you don't want your friend to hear " blah, blah blah."
5.  Use gestures and pictures to help your friend understand what you are saying
6.  Use the person's name to get their attention BEFORE you start to talk to them.
7.  Find out what your friend's affinity is- that means what do they like to do; what are they interested in.

We also talked about behaviours that help us calm down.  Some people twirl their hair, some people like to chew on their sleeves, some people like to play with a rubber band.  Most people don't even know that they are doing these things.  They just do them to help themselves calm down.  Do you have any self- regulating behaviours?

We learned what the word "affinity"  means.  Affinities are things we like to do.  We shared some of our affinities and we also shared some of things that we do well.

We then had time to practice our friendship tips with some puppets.

Mrs, Betts challenged us to use some of our new friendship tips during lunch time!  Beware! We might even try them on you!

A Snowy Day

We just couldn't help ourselves!  On Tuesday when we woke up and there was snow we just had to have a snow day at school.  After reading some snow poems, we read the story,  "A Snowy Day," by Ezra Jack Keats.  While we read the story we noticed the way the pictures were done.  We then "reproduced" a scene from the book.  We posted our pictures on our bulletin board in our classroom.  We hope you enjoy looking at our pictures as much as we do!

The Beginning, Middle and End

We have been learning about the characteristics of fiction stories.  We have learned that they have a beginning, a middle and an end.  In the beginning of the story we are introduced to the characters and the setting (where the story takes place).  In the middle of a story there is usually a problem.  Sometimes there are many problems that need to be solved.  At the end of the story the problem or problems are solved.  Here are some examples of our summaries of the story "Giraffes Can't Dance."

What's the Matter?

Today we were scientists!  We used magnifying glasses to look at different examples of matter.  Our job was to find something that we could hold in our hand and then use our magnifying glass to look carefully at it.  Then we had to come up with at least four words that would describe the properties of that object.  We loved being scientists!

Kick Off to the New Year and our Multicultural Week

Today started out with an inspiring assembly.  Our emcees spoke about the importance of setting goals and then some grade ones read their goals in front of the whole school.  They did an amazing job!  We were also given a little sneak preview of what will be taking place next week at our school.  We are planning a multicultural celebration.  There will be a large map in our front foyer showcasing where all our learners originated from.  The assembly ended with our mascot "Talon" doing the chicken dance with Mrs. Thorvaldson.  She promised that if we raised $5000 for the Terry Fox Cancer Run she would do the chicken dance in front of the whole school.  She kept her promise!  We all enjoyed watching her and Talon do the dance!

Goals for 2013

During our first week back at school we talked about the importance of setting goals and how to achieve those goals.  First we brainstormed for all things at school that we do during a day and then we talked about some of the things we find hard and that we need to work on or get better at.  Some of our ideas included:  reading, writing, listening to others, focusing our attention during work time, math, and  improving our fitness level. Next we had to review our report cards with our parents and come up with a goal that we needed to work on.  Then we talked about how to achieve our goals.  Finally, we wrote our goals down.  We are going to review our goals regularly and see if we are improving. 

Making words

Today we started a new spelling program called Making Words.  We used the app Magnetic Letters.  We pulled the letters:  s, c, c, r, t,  h and a.  Mrs. Betts gave us clues and we had to use the letters to spell the word.  For example, she might say make a word that means something you can travel in.  Then we spell the word car.  Some of the words we spelled were star, cars, cash, trash.  We talk about the spelling patterns we learn.  The patterns that we are working on this week are: ash, at, art.   All the letters together make a wizard word.  This week the wizard word is scratch.  Here is a picture of some of the words we made with the letters we were given.