We Went to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...

Today we went on a field trip to the zoo! We had an excellent time and learned a ton. We also went to the Nature Playground which is amazing. If you live in Winnipeg or are ever in Winnipeg, you need to check it out. When we got back to school we made this slideshow with our pictures from the day. The kids added their ideas to some of them. Check it out!

zoo from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Our Caterpillar Weekend!

On Friday as I was getting ready to go home I realized I should take the caterpillars home. They were getting so big and it's a 3 day weekend. I knew many, if not all of them would go into their chrysalids and I didn't want to miss it! It's too bad all of you aren't here with me to watch this amazing transformation. Not to worry, we are catching them in photo and video when we can! Here are some we have so far.

30 x 30 Nature Challenge! {get outside}

We are participating in an exciting challenge this May! The 30 x 30 Nature Challenge. The David Suzuki Foundation  offers this challenge each spring, challenging Canadians and people around the world to join the 30×30 Challenge by spending 30 minutes a day in nature for 30 days. We have responsibilities at school that we still need to take care of so we are going to be creative in how we get outside. Sometimes we will be exploring, sometimes we will be reading and sometimes we will be writing. You can join us in the challenge by clicking here and signing up. Also, follow us on Instagram (@terrifictwos) to see how we are getting outside and use the hashtags #natureiscalling and #30x30challenge


The David Suzuki Foundation also posts some great daily tips (see the link on the website) with ideas of what to do outside to connect with nature. We will certainly be using a few of these!
We hope you will join us! If you plan to participate, leave us a comment so we can connect.

Earth Day in the Library

I have been working with a few classes on Earth Day activities this month in the library. Mrs. Tresoor’s grade 1’s gathered ideas for ways they can help the Earth on Earth Day and all year around. Then they created this great display of their ideas in the library!

Ms Wasney’s grade 5’s worked with me to upcycle book pages for blackout poetry. This was a fun and challenging activity. There are some very creative poets in grade 5!

Mrs Daraska and Miss Dodd’s classes have both written Earth Day Haiku poems. We brainstormed the things they can do to be more sustainable citizens and take care of the Earth. Then they used these ideas to write haiku poems, typing out their good copies to be displayed with their art.

WOOHOOO! The Jets are in the Playoffs!! :: THE PLAYOFF ANTHEM

We are super excited that the Jets are officially in the playoffs!! Ace Burpee at Virgin 103 released this PLAYOFF ANTHEM this morning. Check it out!







1031 Virgin Radio Winnipeg :: THE PLAYOFF ANTHEM :: Blogs Blogs - Article

#postcardproject

This year in Social Studies we have been learning about our community and comparing our community with other cities. Now we are ready to learn about lots of other communities in Canada during our current unit - The Canadian Community. We are looking for LOTS of information and we hope you can help.

We would like Canadians from other parts of Canada to send us a postcard from their community. On the postcard we would like them to tell us information about their part of Canada. We have brainstormed a list of questions we are interested in asking other Canadians. If you are interested in sharing with us, leave us a comment below. We can communicate by email, snail mail, Google Hangout or Skype.
We posted about the project on Instagram and have some more folks that are going to connect with us too! You can find us @terrifictwos.
As the postcards start coming in we will post the locations and the facts we learn to our Google Map. Each pin on the map will show a location where we know someone and when you click on it, the information they sent us will pop up. We will also post them in our classroom on our wall map of Canada.
We will keep sharing here on the progress of the project so stay tuned!

The letter we sent to our fellow Canadians

The questions we generated to ask them! We each highlighted the ones that are important to us and asked our person those questions.

Spring Art

This week we made art. It was called spring art.We painted on water colour paper.We painted lots of sqaures and then sprinkled salt on them. But first we painted a blue background. Then we cut out flowers,birds,butterflies and even more! Then we glued the stuff on the paper. Doing the art was fun!
by: Haylee

The Eagles Have Hatched!

Once again this year the Decorah Eagles are being streamed online. Ms. Wasney just posted that three eaglets hatched in the nest which is in Decorah, Iowa. We will enjoy watching them grow up and hopefully see them take their first flights again this year!

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Awesome Activity Day

Today we did activity day. Activity day is when you get to do a whole bunch of activities. -Haylee

It was really awesome because there was a lot of cool activities. -Gabby

We did 10 of the stations but there were 14 and we didn't get to do all of them. It was sooooo fun because even though you didn't get to do all 14, the ones we got to do were amazing! -Katelyn

I liked the fencing station because you got to hit people with pool noodles. Not on the nose but on the legs. We were trying to knock them down without losing our balance. They lose their balance and, woop, their off. -Nathan

There was a really, really incredible activity and you got to go into a big huge green, red and blue donut with no sprinkles or icing. And you got to go in it and big kids pushed it and you got to knock down a bunch of pins. And I whacked two down with my hands. -Adam

My favorite part was the parachute because when we were playing cat and mouse it was so fun. I got to be a mouse. -Amie

My favorite station activity was the mats on the scooters because the big kids pushed us and we pushed them around a pylon. I also liked silent ball because we had practice and then we had a game. -Jaden

I really liked the musical chairs because Mr. Hargreaves hosted and there was lots of chairs and lots of people and were going slow and touching the chairs a lot and there was some pushing to get on the chairs so fast and then it was fun to watch when you were out. -Addison

My favorite station that I went to was silent ball. There was a lot of people and the people out could make funny faces but Nathan and some were making them and it was funny and that made it hard to stay silent. -Haylee

My two favorite were the mats on the scooters because they were going really fast and my other favorite one was the human bowling because it was fun flipping around in the donut. -Gabby

Mrs. Dent Scarcello was hosting the parachute. We played the cat and mouse. I was the mouse and it took a long time for me to get caught. I was on my belly and my hands were pulling me. -Gabby

I liked the hand hockey because it was sooooooooooo incredible. I was whacking the ball over and over again and I lost. -Adam

Commenting on Blog Posts

Now that we are pros at posting to our Kidblogs, we are ready to start commenting on each other's posts! We have talked about what quality comments look like and everyone understands the criteria. Just like with posts, comments must be approved by me so if they don't meet the criteria they don't get published. The purpose of commenting is to generate conversation, just like you would in person. If someone tells you a story you respond to them and ask questions to get more details. This is what we are trying to do with commenting on blog posts.

It always feels great to get a comment and know that there are people out there reading your posts, but we are hoping to generate discussion with our comments. "Dead end" comments are kind and usually involve a compliment. For example, "Great job on your post, Leslie!" A "highway comment" is kind and complimentary but it also opens the door for discussion to begin. For example, "I really enjoyed reading your post, Leslie. I am reading it in Vancouver, Canada. Can you find that on a map? In Vancouver it is warm and sunny right now. What is the weather like in Winnipeg?" When a commenter asks a question, the blogger can reply to their comment with the answer and perhaps another question.

Our criteria for quality commenting on blog posts is: 
Be kind and appropriate. 
Give a compliment or make a connection. 
Ask a question. 
Re-read your comment for spelling, punctuation and upper case letters. 
Sign your first name only.

The New Canadian Kid by MTYP

Today we saw a play called "The New Canadian Kid" by MTYP.

It was about a boy named Nick from "Homeland" (a pretend, foreign country) who moves to Canada. -Kate

At first he didn't like it because everything was different and then he liked it because Mencha (a boy) was being really nice to Nick. -Ciera

Mag (a girl) and Mencha were not nice to Nick at first at school but then Mencha starts to be nice. Mag was still a bully to him. The play was really perfect. -Anthony

In the end, Nick and Mencha were best friends. Mag and Nick got along. -Addison

The actors were very serious and they didn't laugh when we laughed. -Addison

All the people in the play live in Winnipeg. The play was awesome because they were really good at acting. -Ciera

Two actors ate real stuff! One ate crackers and one ate pudding (or maybe applesauce). -Jaden

It was funny and it was nice. -Abbey

The whole play was in another language when the Canadian kids were talking. The author made it up because they wanted to make it for us to feel like we are the new kid that doesn't know the language. Everything they did at school was the same as us but just in the made up language. -Haylee

I thought this play was brilliant in that the author created a situation for the audience to experience coming to a new country where they don't understand a single word. The "newcomers", Nick and his mom, speak in English and the "Canadians", Mag and Mencha, speak in this made up language that has similarities to English. So we could kind of get the gist of what they were saying but really had to rely on watching their actions. It was also interesting to me how in the 45 minute play I could pick up some of the words they used and their meaning. You can see more information on this play at MTYP by clicking on the title link at the top of this post. -Mrs. Dent Scarcello :)

Buffalo Represents Respect and the Bear Represents Courage

Today we had a special guest, Mr. Delorme who was talking to us about the 7 Sacred Teachings. He focused on the bear which represents courage and the bison which represents respect. We talked about when kids need to have courage and respect. He also passed around parts of the bison that Aboriginal people used. It was really neat! Things like a tooth, horn, fur, bladder, hoof, etc and he told us how they used each of those items for a purpose. 

Each class in our school will get to learn from Mr. Delorme and then we will all be doing a letter writing project with another school.

I got to touch a real bird's feather. It was cool that we got to touch the buffalo's bladder.  -Gabby

It's cool that I got to touch a buffalo's tooth! -Adam

I like feeling the fur on the buffalo. -Evan

The horn on the buffalo was smooth. -Ciera

It's cool that I got to feel the buffalo's tooth. -Kate

It's like cool that I got to feel the buffalo's fur because it feels kind of rough a little bit. -Jaden

When the buffalo has to go pee the bladder holds the pee. The people use the bladder as a bag! -Kate

It was cool feeling the brains because it was softer than I thought it would feel like. -Adam

Fit-a-thon

Today we did a Fit-a-thon. When we do a Fit-a-thon we run. -Kate
We have 2 pylons set up in front of us then the one near the track is the mailbox then after you run you get a stick from the middle of the circle. -Addison
It is called the mailbox because there are lots of them and you have to run around them. The inside pylon is called the house. That's where you wait for someone to run around and then come and high five you. The sticks are for keeping count of your laps. -Evan
You run around all the cones. They are in a circle. I didn't get tired. -Gabby
We couldn't run our fastest because Mrs. Rand said to go medium pace so you don't trip and fall or run out of energy. -Haylee
In the Fit-a-thon you have 2 or 3 people with you and you run for a long time and you have to take turns running and it's really fun! -Adam
We ran for 15 minutes. We put music on and we went through 4 or 5 songs in 15 minutes. -Jaden
It felt like we ran for 2 hours! -Sean
Mrs. Rand and Mrs. Knoll and Mrs. Dent Scarcello and 2 parent volunteers were watching us. -Ciera

An Exciting Guest Reader!!

This week we were very lucky to have a special guest reader! Frankie Hollywood from Energy 106 came and read "Yuck, A Love Story" to us. It was so fun! He was a very energetic guest. He told us that he has been a morning radio personality for 25 years. He has to wake up at 2:45 AM!!! That is so early! He reads for 2 hours before he goes to work. He has to read the latest news, celebrity gossip, and sports news so that he knows what is up for his radio show. He told us reading is very important for his job. He also recorded us saying "Bird's Hill School loves to read" and then played it on the radio twice the next morning! We got to ask him questions too. His favorite sport is hockey and his favorite team is the Jets. He has met a lot of celebrities like Zach Bogosian and Taylor Swift!

We Are Live!

Our Kidblogs are live! We got to start our posts on our very own student blogs today! I bet the hoots and hollers could be heard in Portage la Prairie! 

The students have worked very hard to navigate through digital citizenship, internet safety and creating their paper blogs. You can read more about that over on this post. Today we learned how to find our blogs (here or the Kidblog link on the right side of this page), login, change our avatar, we voted on the background and we started typing our first posts! Some of the kids were so excited about it all they decided they would finish them from home tonight!

As we wrote our first posts on paper, we followed this criteria:

We will keep you updated as we continue to publish our posts and hope you will leave us a comment. Comments are what encourage the kids to keep posting!

~ Mrs. Dent Scarcello :)