Wednesday 13 May 2015

Spring Inspirations and Awakenings

The smell of spring, and the new colours in the grasses and plants, inspired us...



...to paint spring paintings and write spring poetry.




The dinosaur lands we made indoors this winter....


...inspired us to make lands outside this spring, 


and film our own movies!


Under all that snow, there was a geocache!


 And a caterpillar.


Here we are playing our new favourite card came, "Who has more?" Thank you, Logan for making the sign to remind us what makes a happy math game. We came up with this list together.






I am happy to report we are all loving and caring for our new class pet, Gloria Leafy Argyle. 
We have learned a lot from this little crested gecko.

Here, Jack gives her a misting. We mist her terrarium twice a day.





Friday 6 March 2015

Making the most out of our Indoor Space

February, warm clothing or not, seems to be an indoor kind of month in Manitoba. So, we make the best of it...building and playing in our community (which now has a clinic and lemonade stand), designing lands, painting, sorting and counting.
 
Bring in a dinosaur book and soon someone sets up a dinosaur land. Set up a dinosaur land, and soon there are all sorts of lands all over the room! 
 

Got a sore leg? Need a Band-Aid? Visit Mykayla in the community clinic. After that, swing by the lemonade stand!




We are so fortunate to have a K-2 dad that works in conservation. These posters were a reminder of all the animals we hope to see again come spring.


 
February Valentine and Friendship Celebration...
 



 
100 Days of School. Here we are grouping the 100 objects we collected. Groups of 2...5...10...25...50...it was a morning of counting!






A sweet treat from Samuel and Benjamin to mark the occasion:


And here we are yesterday, with one of our favourite art tools: watercolour pencils. Painting pictures for our beloved music teacher.


 
 
Never is it TOO cold to go outside for a little while...
 


Tuesday 3 February 2015

This is Us, 2015

This is us.
This is what we do and where we go,
this is how we play,
how we explore,
where we can be quiet
still
listen, 
yet never more together as one.
 





Goodbye, 2014

Oh dear readers, how I have missed you and our little blog. This school year I have spent less time writing here, as you probably have noticed. After a full day of planning, prepping, playing, working, walking, and creating, evenings have been used for sleeping and recovering, playing and reading. I hope you find these collections of photos enjoyable. It always fills my heart with love and happy memories to look back through photos of our learning. And it is with this joyful heart I am inspired and motivated to go forward.
 
In December, we were fortunate to have the support of our families and friends for the 100th Christmas celebration, concert, and brunch. We held our first (hopefully annual) lantern walk, rode on a horse drawn wagon around the community, and worked in our gingerbread workshop.
 
at the rink, post lantern walk

parents and teachers warm by the fire
 

walking to the community centre

Sam and Ben show their beautiful lanterns




Writing out the recipe for Easy, Excellent Gingerbread
Rob rolls out the gingerbread dough

feeling the warmth of the dough

Rolling out the excess dough to make more squares


and more squares


assembling the homes

Candy Shop


Autumn spends the last of her money at the candy shop

A home for a horse, all under a $2.00 budget

cow shelter

UPDATE: Thanks to the veggie fundraiser last fall, we have purchased these woodland and farm animals and the blocks you see below. A few of the students have been playing a game they invented called "The Great Stack". They are challenging themselves to see just how tall the animals can be stacked. We measure and record in centimetres each time we play the game.

the great stack game
This is just one example of the creating and building happening with our new blocks. This castle even has its own moose pen.


Walking towards the busses on the last school day of 2014