Part of our curriculum is learning how to ask questions and where to get the answers. This week we had our first Skype call of the year as we asked an “expert” to answer some of our many questions.
Month: September 2014
PJ Day
Friday was PJ Day at Westmount and the students brought their favourite nighttime stuffed animal as well. What do you do when you are wearing PJ’s? You nap, of course! At the request of almost all of the students we had a short nap time in celebration of this special day.
Shadows
This week, on the first day of fall, we drew a line on the Tarmac to show where the shadow from the school was at lunchtime. We wonder of the shadow will be in the same place all year…
Terry Fox Run
Terry Fox is a Canadian hero. Many years ago, after one of his legs was amputated because of cancer, he began a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research so that others would not have to go through what he did. Terry was not able to complete his run, so every year thousands of Canadians run to raise money in honour of him.
Terry ran for us. We all chose who we were running for and wrote it on stickers that we wore on our T-shirts.
Whisper Phones
Check out the new whisper phones we are now using during reading time. These devices, made from PVC pipe, let us hear what we are reading as we read (which helps with blending and fluency) and helps those students with loud voices to lower their voice as they read.
The Circle of Courage
One of our school’s goals this year is to learn to develop the four quadrants of the Circle of Courage in our lives. The four colours stand for belonging, independence, mastery and generosity. We’ll be working on each of these areas in our classroom this year.
Dot Day!
Today was Dot Day, named after the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. Check out the fabulous dots made by the students.
Mixing Colours
Do you know what the primary colours are? Do you know what colours you get when you mix them? We do! Just ask us.
Something Creepy Has Come Our Way
One of my former students brought in a tarantula skin, shed by a family pet, to share with us. No one was brave enough to touch it, but there were lots of looks and questions!
We Are Teachers!
During the first week of school, we talked often about the fact that all of us (including Mrs. Cassidy) are learners. We decided that each of us is also a teacher because we can all learn from each other.
The students each chose a few props and then posed in a way that they thought a teacher looked for the pictures in this video. (And yes, the photo with the glasses perched on the end of the nose does look familiar.)
This year, we hope to all be teachers and learners together.