Building And Reflecting On Park Structures

My Grade 1 students got to join Mrs. Howe's class today for a special building experiment. Students used a variety of recyclable materials to construct their own park structure that could hold a small teddy bear. The students had to plan this structure first, and then build it today. After building it, the students reflected on their work: what worked well, and what would they add or change the next time?

My students took turns recording these reflections using our classroom flipcam. Below are some of the reflections. It was interesting to hear what each of them had to say, as well as hear what information they provided on their own, and what information they shared after some guiding questions.

What feedback do you have for my students? I'm sure they would love to hear what you have to say! Thanks for your help, and a special "thank you" to Mrs. Howe for organizing and facilitating such a great activity!

Aviva

It's Almost Here ...

Identity Day is less than a week away. I can't wait! When I read George Couros' post about Identity Day back in June, I knew that I wanted to give this a try at our school. Thankfully the amazing staff at the school were just as eager. All week, I have heard students, teachers, administrators, and parents buzzing about the Identity Day Projects. I'm so excited to see all of them on Thursday!

Media literacy is a large part of our current TLCP, so to help build some more excitement about this special day, my Grade 1 and 2 students created advertisements about Identity Day. Below is a glog of their advertisements:

Right-click on the glog to view in full screen.

Now it's just waiting until May 5th to see what the staff and students share about themselves. I can't wait to see what interesting information we all learn about each other on Identity Day: the day we celebrate what makes each of us special.

For others that have had an Identity Day at their school, how did it go? What was the best part of this day? What did this day teach you about the people in your school community? I would love to hear!

Aviva

Learning Something New

This week, my students learned how to tell time in math and how to read a map in Social Studies. Many of the students had some background knowledge to help them with both of these activities, but they also learned many new things as they explored these concepts both individually and in small groups. Below is a short slideshow of a "telling time" and "mapping" activity. Watch this slideshow with your child. What did he/she learn as a result of these activities? What is he/she ready to learn next? I would love to hear what you and your child have to say!

Aviva

Telling Time and Exploring Maps on PhotoPeach

Talking Time

Carmel Crevola (@carmelcrevola), Heather Jelley (@team_jellybean), and Angie Harrison (@techieang) have all showed me the value in using oral language in the classroom. This year especially, I am trying to give students more and more talking time, and I love hearing what they have to say. Below is a glog that I made today that features videos of students talking about math. Having discussions with them about their learning really shows me what they have learned and what they continue to need to learn.

I hope that you enjoy these video clips! I would love to hear about how you use oral language in the classroom for formative assessment. I think that we can learn a lot from each other!

Aviva

Busy Builders

Both the Grade 1's and 2's were hard at work building in the classroom today. My Grade 1 students were challenged to build a chair to hold Eeyore. They could either build one for the baby Eeyore or the big Eeyore, but their chair needed to support his weight. Students worked together to create the chair and make changes to it along the way. Have a look at our video to see if all of the chairs worked.

The Grade 2 students worked in partners to create different simple machines using pulleys and gears. They needed to work together and follow instructions. They were reading with meaning and having a lot of fun as well! Students quickly realized the importance of teamwork.

I'd love to hear what your children thought of these activities. What did they learn from them? Please add a comment here and let me know. Thanks for your help with this!

Aviva

Get Into The Groove

Thanks to the generosity of our Home and School Association and the amazing organization of our Grade 2 teacher, Ms. Stretton, the JK-Grade 3 students get to enjoy some dance lessons this week. Here are my students participating in their first lesson. Hopefully they will show you some of their jazz moves at home too!

The students are very excited to learn a new dance on Thursday as well. I hope that you enjoy us grooving to the beat!

Aviva

An Amazing Week

I don't go far without my camera. I am definitely not a professional photographer, or anything close, but I do see the value in pictures, and in the classroom, it's amazing how much a few photographs will tell me about the learning that's taking place.

Looking back on the photographs that I took this week, helped me realize just what an incredible week it's been. Below is an Animoto Slideshow featuring some highlights of this week. I hope that you watch this slideshow with your children and talk about what happened in the classroom. What did your children enjoy the most? What are they looking forward to doing next? Please feel free to leave a comment here and share your thoughts!

Have a great weekend! I look forward to another amazing week next week!

Aviva