Week Fourteen: Outdoor Adventures
It is shocking to think that we are only a few days away from the winter holidays, but exciting to think about how much we have accomplished this term. The girls became readers and writers, mathematicians and scientists, as well as athletes, activists, environmentalists, and designers. This week they put their kindness, inclusion, and knowledge of routines and expectations at school to the test as we welcomed in a visitor, H, on Friday. It was no surprise that the Early Learners were excellent hosts, volunteering to walk with H to recess and lunch, help her explore some of our favourite materials in the classroom, and encourage her to engage in risky play while at the ravine and on the playground. Thank you!
A uses the cover of a classic holiday story, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!", to help her write the morning question.
O, A, and N work together to create a kindness countdown calendar for the classroom. The girls talk about the chocolate advent calendars they are eating their way through at home, so we wanted to make something similar to countdown to the winter holidays. They are colouring envelopes for us to hang and then include different acts of kindness for each day inside.
N tries to catch falling snowflakes on her tongue during Outdoor Education. A new way to get some hydration while outdoors!
Today's Outdoor Education time ended with a big surprise - a visit to the "Tunnel of Glam" near Yonge & St. Clair. The girls loved making designs in the sequins and taking in the beauty of this cool installation.
N shows off her condo building with attached elevators. There are even some animals living on some of the floors if you look really closely.
A discovers that the bunny stuffy from the Drama centre is actually a puppet! She loves making it jump up and down in the classroom.
M (in grade 6) reads a winter story to N during our weekly reading buddy time. N loves getting to pick out her favourite stories and then having someone read them to her each week. Thanks grade 6s!
After learning a bit about the traditions that come with celebrating Hanukkah, the Early Learners and grade 1-2s learn how to play dreidel. They're doing a great job cooperating, while also building their math skills at the same time.
As we lead up to one of our favourite weeks of the year, gingerbread-cookie-baking week, it is important for the girls to practice rolling out the dough, using the cookie cutters, peeling the dough away, and moving the cookies from the table to the baking sheet. A is the first one to practice with the gingerbread play dough and manages to fit seven different cookie cutters on her piece of rolled out dough.
A created a structure at the Building centre using a mix of materials and was especially proud to share her finished product because it toppled over a few times and had to be rebuilt.
After choosing to work at the Math centre, A wanted to try working on something new. She created a ballet studio with all of the dancers (bears) lined up along the side, and then added in the squares as a pathway to get outside. A was curious to find out how many materials she had incorporated, and she figured a measuring tape would help her find that out.
N is working at a cookie shop today with AB (not pictured) and they are practicing making gingerbread cookies using the play dough. They wanted to include beads in their cookies for decoration, and N is in the process of putting the cookies in the oven.
Today's act of kindness on our holiday countdown calendar is "offer someone a hug". The girls decide on offering each other a hug during morning snack time but are excited to offer others hugs throughout the day as well.
Today we are rallying on Yonge Street because it is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. We have an important conversation about gender inequality around the world, and ways in which we can raise awareness about the inequalities that are still happening today. The Early Learners and grade 1-2s prepare signs for the rally and learn chants, such as "My Body, My Business" and "Who's the boss of my body, I AM!".
After a fun, loud, and successful rally together, we take a quick photo break with the fantastic signs the girls made.
N plays in the snow with H, who is visiting in the Early Learning class for the day. We are so excited about all of the snow that we can collect, pile up, and transport around the roof.
In CERES this morning we are experimenting with which fastening materials (hot glue, velcro, nails, screws, etc.) are the strongest and most effective. M (grade 2) slowly adds more weight to the bucket until the connection between the wood blocks breaks.
AB and AK get a turn to add weight to the bucket to test the strength of a material.
During literacy centres, A starts off by lining up the letters in alphabetic order, but then moves onto creating a design with both letters and board markers.
A wants to make her own creative design using the magnetic letters on the board. She chooses to pull out only uppercase letters from the bin of all different types of letters for her design.
On our ravine walk, we find an icy patch at the bottom of the hill. The girls even show off some of their skating moves.
There's nothing more fun than playing at the park in your snowsuit - you can jump, roll, and even fall down without feeling hurt. These are our Friday faces after a great week together.