In Like a Lion

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." 

-Charles Dickens

March came in the night like a fierce lion. From the comfort of indoors, I would not imagine it to be forty (nor fifty) below. The sky is cobalt blue, the sun is bright and warm. Made me think of the indoor recesses last week and the plasticine worlds the students started. Here it was too cold to even entertain the idea of going outside, yet the sun was pouring in the windows melting our work into a soft goop.

The K-3 class has been coping extremely well with all of these weeks cooped up inside. The key to this is finding an outlet for our creativity and energy. Many of us have taken an interest in constructing these imaginative and elaborate scenes with a few friends at recess time. We have four worlds on the go right now, each with its own characters and storyline.

From our window you can see a beautiful bramble of branches covered in red berries (We're not sure what kind of tree this is, so if you happen to know, please tell us.) When I drive up to the school each morning I notice the berries and think about how wonderfully out of place they are. It was this tree and the blue sky of course, that were the inspiration for our latest art piece.

February, 28th, 2014

 

First, we painted the background with liquid watercolour, using the wet on wet technique. The colours blended beautifully together. We then sprinkled a little salt onto the paint for a shimmery effect. Once the background was dry, we used India ink to create the trunk and branches. The berries were added as a final touch using the flat end of a crayon and acrylic paint.  We originally thought 100 berries would be appropriate to represent 100 days of school, but this soon seemed like an awful lot of berries. I wonder how many on the tree outside?

Whenever we have had an opportunity to get outside this winter, we have been working on a coloured ice wall surrounding one of the trees in front of the school.  Below you will see Brett, from the 4-5 class, adding warm water to the ice-bricks he just laid. Nic is counting the bricks we have freezing for the next time we build.  Looking forward to showing you how this project all unfolds...

Until Next Time,

Take good care of each other*,

Ms Hadfield

*Did I just steal Fred Penner's line?

One Hundred Days Wiser

Today we marked the 100th day of school: the halfway point, the middle of our journey together. It was a day full of activity and numbers as we each measured, weighed, and counted one hundred items. Here are some moments from the day...

This was actually yesterday. Sam is recording day 99, in anticipation of tomorrow.

And here she is today, carefully laying out 100 squares of toilet paper. Brilliant!  She certainly had the longest line!

Not to mention the most unique object.

Making lines with 100 things.

100 buttons

100 pennies: longer than Tommy!

Nic's elastics measured over a metre.

The results from the weight, length, and area challenge.

Grouping our objects

Groups of two

Looking forward to the next 100 days! 

Stay Safe and Warm,

Ms Hadfield

Celebrating Friendship and Love

Although we were still stuck indoors, we made the most of it this week. We took the time to start each day with compliments for each other, and started a "Random Acts of Kindness" board where we can all show how meaningful these little gestures are. We wrote thoughtful notes and drew pictures for each other, sneaking over to Ben's as soon as it was -24 to send them in the mail.  We ended the week with a Valentine's Day celebration, dancing, and sweet treats. All brought to you by the colour red...

Decorating the pouches that will hold Valentines

Oil and Watercolour Heart

Preschool Puffy Heart

Sugar Cookies

Tom and Caleb make Valentiney Words

Valentine Math Games

Finding the Area of a shape with cinnamon hearts

Mr McT gave us candy today, so we baked it into our cookies. This seemed to make up for the fact I reduced the sugar in the recipe by more than half.

Special Delivery! What a surprise! 

Raspberry milkshakes with Interlake garden raspberries!

January in Quiet Shades

 “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” 

 -Poet Edith Sitwell

Animal Projects

Black and white seemed fitting for these January photos. I believe we got outside once, maybe twice this month. Instead, we have found ourselves cozy and warm, protected by the century old walls of our daytime home. Below you will see photos of our Manitoba Animals in Winter project. The first step was to study the appearance of the animal. We looked at many pictures, watched videos, and read descriptions of the animal's appearance. We sketched the animal, as Myles is doing with his Jackrabbit here:

We also sculpted models of our animals. We started with a ball of Model Magic clay and puuuuuulllllled out the head, puuuullled out legs, pulled out a tail, ears, wings...

We did a lot of reading to learn about the habitat of our animal. And after all this reading about homes, one of us (I think it was you, Sam) decided their little animal needed a home. And now that one of the clay animals had a home, a few more needed nests or dens to survive the cold nights left alone at the school. Within a couple of days we were collecting shoe boxes and all making elaborate dioramas that represented a winter habitat. 

Mink leaving his den with a mouse in his mouth

The Wolf looks around for a rabbit.

 And what about zoo animals, we wondered? How do they survive the harsh prairie winter? Trent wrote to the Assiniboine Park Zoo to find out.

Seeing these projects evolve has been exciting for us all. 

Today we were very fortunate to share our learning with Matthew's grandpa, who worked for Manitoba Conservation for over 40 years! Mr. "Matt's Grandpa" Gillespie is a real expert who taught us a lot of very interesting things about how animals adapt for winter. Mr Gillespie talked about all the animals we have been studying (and more!) and even brought in his animal calls. We also got to see wolf, mink, and muskrat pelts, learning so much from being able to closely examine them. 

Here we are with Mr. Gillespie looking at the difference between bobcat claws and wolf claws. These two animals have very different claws for a good reason. Wolves have claws that will give them traction on the snow and ice; their claws and paws are designed to dig for prey. Bobcats on the other hand, use their claws to catch their prey. 

Map Work

When we started taking about the animals around us, the creatures we have seen in the bush, we started to talk about where we live. And when we started to talk about where we live, we started to look at maps. And when we started to look at maps...

We drew all seven continents on a long piece of paper and traced over the pencil lines with thick oil pastel to define the land. We waited for the pre-school children to paint the water, as it was an opportunity for the K-3s to teach the colour blue to our younger friends. We finished it off with the magic touch: salt, to help us remember the oceans are salt water and to give our map a shimmery glow.

working together

this one calls out for colour!

Here we are adding the names of the continents and oceans to the map. Once we got looking at and talking about maps, we certainly had to look at and talk about GLOBES! Yesterday morning I walked towards these two, and had to turn back and grab my camera. Look at how the light beautifully shines on Matt and Myles as they make their own globe out of plaster strips and a balloon.

Mrs Hadfield (my mom) was in this week to help with knitting club, and she enjoyed it so much, she helped us with our globes afterwards. 

Keeping with Routine

I love this picture of Tom, he is so into the letter H. He has set himself up with an encyclopedia, an ipad, and he is going to find THE best words beginning with the H sound. 

Sam and Autumn are playing a game called, Race to 100. Here they are collecting and regrouping units into tens. 

Finding letters at the stamping table. The answer to, "Why do you come home with ink on your arms and hands?"

Good-bye January, and welcome
With open arms,
February

Welcome, Winter

What a way to ease back into the school routine: Two snow-days followed by a trip into the Manitoba Museum. We closed the week with a ski/hike down the trail and some delicious hot-cocoa.  Here are some highlights from the first week back...

 

Sunrise on the North Pole? Or is it 236? Either way it was stunning.

Sand table at the Science Gallery

Matt and Nic take a break in Downtown Winnipeg, 1920

Entering the Parklands Gallery

Matt finds an Elk 

Brett and a Beautiful Jackson Beardy Painting

Tom shows two older students out how animals keep warm in winter: something we talked about at school and got to see here at the museum.

Friday's "Let's get back OUTSIDE!" afternoon

Off we go!

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says 'Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'" 
-Lewis Carroll