Gifts of Grace

Today we watched a video called "Gifts of Grace" that was sent to us by Regan's mom. Here it is:



When the video finished I said, "We should help them collect new or gently used mitts and buy some candy to put in the mitts." -Cali
I have lots of candy and I think my Mom can buy some new mitts. -Cole
At home me and my Mom and my sister made two shoe boxes and we put some medicine and some candy in it and a toy car. They go far, far away somewhere where people don't have any food or anything. -Matt G
I think this is a good idea because it can help a lot of people have a shelter and food and keep them warm. -Sofia
At my church, where I go to catacism, we have this thing where every class had to bring something and my grade two class had to bring some toothbrushes or one toothbrush and it was for people who don't have anything far away. They ship it there. -Katrina

Our class is going to help Grace with her project next week. We are asking for each family in our classroom to donate one pair of adult size mitts or gloves (or even socks). Ms. Clarke will take care of buying some candy to put in them. If you have some left over Halloween candy (small packs of wrapped candy) that you would like to donate as well, of course that is welcome too. Ms. Clarke will arrange for pick-up or delivery of our mitts by Friday, December 20. Thank you!
-Ms. Clarke

Snow Fort!

We've been talking about Happy Recesses which means everyone follows the rules and keeps hands and feet to self. When we have a happy recess we put a tally on the white board. When we get to our goal, we get to do something fun. -Carter

Last week we got 10 Happy Recesses so we went outside on the side and built a snowfort. -Karys

 

Today we made a snow fort but we didn't have that much snow to make our snow fort. We were the snow makers. You just put your hands on the ground and then you put your feet on the ground and start moving them back and forth. It didn't really work so then we made snow angels. -Matt G

It was fun and it was hard. I liked making snow. -Cole

Snowflake Patterns!

Today we made snowflakes out of blocks. It was fun because we were in groups. One person made one on the paper and one person made a practice one. I made a snowflake and you have to start with a hexagon and then you have to do all 6 sides like what ever you did on one side. -Cole

We had so much fun making our snowflakes. There were all different kinds. Ms. Clarke told us that in the middle we always have to have a hexagon and today she showed us some new ways to make them. -Sofia

Take six triangles to make a hexagon. Other ways are to get three diamonds or two trapezoids. -Dylan R

This week we made snowflakes on cardboard. It was fun because at the end you got to paint with sponges and at lunch recess me and Ms. Clarke were taking off the tape off the snowflakes. -Matt G

6 Simple Machines... and other stuff.

Yesterday...
In our classroom and in IBL with Mrs. Klaussen, we have begun some science fun! We started by talking about different objects around us and the materials that they are made of. Then we moved on to talk about how different things are made, how they move, and how we can tell about them. Now we are learning about the 6 simple machines. The kids of Room 9 will tell you all about it...
-Ms. Clarke

Today we made a seesaw because we are learning about the 6 simple machines. We watched a video about a lever, and that's why we made the seesaw. We wanted to see how it turned out. We made it out of a rolled up carpet and a piece of wood. At the end Ms. Clarke got on and Carter and Jonathan were on the other side and then they lifted up Ms. Clarke. -Cole

Our prediction to lift up Ms. Clarke was 10 or 4 people, but it only took 2. -Carter

We went to the computer lab and Ms. Clarke gave all of us some papers and we had to draw pictures of each simple machine being used. We watched a video about each machine. -Sofia

Tomorrow we are doing some fun things with our 6 simple machines. We have some new toys to use for the 6 simple machines. -Dylan W

Today...
Levers - I liked the levers station because I got to launch dice. I used two popsicle sticks taped together and a block for the fulcrum. -Dylan W
Pulleys - I liked the pulleys because at the end we got to try and lift a chair. We lifted the chair and after we showed Ms. Clarke. We used two pulleys. -Cole
At the pulley centre we got to make our own pulley. For the pulley I lifted up a container. -Katrina

Inclined Planes - It was fun making inclined planes because you get to make your own ramp. I tested it will wheels.
-Matt G

Wedges - I liked wedges because I got to hammer a nail into a wooden board. It was fun. I probably took 14 swings. -Jonathan
I liked wedges because you got to use a hammer and it was hard to start the nail. -Matt D

Wheels and Axles - At wheels and axles you got to make your own car. I used lego for the first one and tinker toys for the other one. -Dylan R

Screws - At the screws station, you got to screw in your own screw. There were some you had to do with a screw driver and some you had to do with your hands. -Cali
Today was a lot of fun. We hammered, rolled, pulled, twisted and turned while we explored simple machines. The conversations the children of room 9 had were the best part. They talked about how hard it was (effort) to hammer a nail into aboard, how fast a car can go down a steep ramp and how slowly it goes down a flat ramp (velocity, inclined plane), how much easier it was to lift things with pulleys and levers (forces), and how the different toys made different types of wheel and axles. All of their conversations were about physics... and they're 6 and 7. Yes, they played with LEGO, K'Nex, Mechano sets, toy cars, and lots of cardboard, but they were learning so much about the world around them and the way things work.  As a teacher, I love days like this. Small people with big ideas. That's how we roll in Room 9 :) -Ms. Clarke

Halloween Who's Who!

This weekend our homework was to write what we are going to be and we had to draw a picture of us going trick or treating. -Matt G

Here are our costumes for Halloween:

Matt G - Thor
Claire - Ariel
Carter - Mario
Nick - A mascot for the Montreal Canadians
Anna -  a Witch
Danika - Pegasus Unicorn
Grace - a Vampire
Cali - a Devil
Gabrielle - a Vampire
Matt D - Indiana Jones
Ashten - a Ninja
Dylan R - a Ninja
Cole - a Minion
Kayla - a Vampire princess
Sofia - a Cowgirl
Jonathan - a Bunny
Katrina - a Godess
Karys - a Candy Corn Witch
Jackson - an Army Guy
Dylan W - a Ninja
Ms. Clarke - a Bird

On Thursday we are going to have a Halloween assembly. We walk around the gym and show our costumes. Mom's and Dad's and little brothers and sisters can all come. It is at 1:20 in the afternoon. -Cali

The Assembly

Today we had the Bag Up Manitoba Assembly. Some people just did the talking, and some people did the acting. I did the acting since I was too scared to do the talking. -Karys
At the beginning of the assembly we showed a video about bags and how they are on trees, in the ocean and bushes. Here it is: -Nick

Me and my partner talked about why recycling is important to us. -Kayla
We told about what we are doing and my buddy said how many bags we have counted already. We've counted 10 800 bags. -Katrina
Then we showed the video "Why Plastic Bags are Evil". It was funny. Here it is: -Dylan W

We showed them how we count the bags. My job was to shake them and take them to Ashten and Spencer. They shook them again and turned them inside out... shake, pull, umbrella. -Cole
My job at the assembly was to hold up the garbage that we find in the bags. -Matt D
One of the things we found in the bag was a diaper. -Matt G
We showed a video that showed how they recycle bags. Here it is: -Karys


We showed them Timmy the Tumblebag. Claire, Amy, Grace and Kaiya read the book. Here it is:
-Dylan R

 

Then we showed what could go in the Recycling Bins and what can't. -Cole

Me and my learning buddy, Will, held up things that can't go in the recycling bin. -Dylan W
Me and my partner were holding the recycling bin. -Nick

We did AWESOME! -Danika

Mrs. Ziprick told us how good of a job we did. -Matt D

We felt tired after. -Cole

IBL!

last week we sarted IBL.We talked about kind's of mateial's then we went all around the library and computer lab then we went in our class room.we went all around the school. on monday we wached two video's one was called  snow bords here it is :


the other one was called toothpicks. here it is :

then we had to write what we learned  or what we did not know.today we having IBL.we are going to wached  another how it's made video!.
-Cali & Carter
                                                           

Counting Bags!

Today at school we counted bags because we are recycling them. Our total number is 8660. It's part of Bag Up Manitoba! -Dylan W
Wow! 8660 bags for Bag Up Manitoba! That's a lot of bags. -Carter
Today we counted 1150 bags. That is lots for 20 kids. On Tuesday we are having a Bag Up Manitoba assembly. Some people were on the announcements so they won't get to talk but they'll do some acting for the steps of how we do it. The people that did not talk on the announcements will talk. We might get a park bench if we are in the top 15 schools. If we're not in the top 15 schools, we'll get birdhouses. -Cali
We have a tower of bags in our classroom. -Anna
Today we found a diaper in a bag. We found a Lego cape. -Jackson
We also found in a bag, a pink envelope. -Jonathan
We found lots of reciepts in lots of bags. -Carter

We are collecting bags until November 1, so if you still have some at home, send them in! -Ms. Clarke

Thanks A Lot

This week the children and I learned Raffi's song "Thanks a Lot". Raffi and Fred Penner were my two favourite singer/songwriters when I was a child and I often play their music in my classroom. They both have beautiful songs with powerful and important lyrics that teach great life lessons... and they also have a ton of super fun, silly songs to dance to!

This is our (and my) first attempt at stop-motion animation... which it's a fancy technology trick that makes a video look like those paper flip books :) The children worked in partners to create paper representations of one part of the song. Then the children placed their pieces on the backdrop where I took photos of them. In between each photo, the children moved their piece slightly (like the slight changes in the drawings in a flip book). Then all of the photos were compiled into this short video. (This sounds a lot more complicated than it actually was... I promise).

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
-Ms. Clarke

Thanks A Lot from Erin Malkoske on Vimeo.

PS - I tweeted the video to Raffi and he loved it! I'll tell you more about it on Tuesday :)

We're Back!!!

Today we went to MTYP and we saw the show Jack and the Bean. At the end, we got a magic bean. -Nick
At the first part of the play, Jack was selling toys and I got a teddy bear. Then he said how much do you have for it, and I said "Nothing" so I gave it back. -Karys
It was really funny because the worm told us to dig, eat, poo, and grow. -Sofia
We sat in the front row on the stage and we got to dance with the worm. Jack climbed up to the clouds and the giant had black gold. -Matt D
There was disco lights when we were dancing. -Danika
At the end of the play, we each got a lima bean that he used to put in the ground. The beanstalk worked because a lady had a control and when Jack put the bean in the ground, and there was a hole in the ground, and there was a rope. The rope had leaves and the vine. She used the remote to control it. -Cali
It took a long time to get there and to get back. The play took a long time. A person in the play did four parts: the worm, the gardener, the giant, and the dad. -Cole
We listened to a song. Jack said we had to get down everytime we heard a sound. -Anna
Jack was funny. -Dylan W

It was a great trip to MTYP and a great first week back for me. Thank you to all of our families for the kind words and messages that you've sent. I am very fortunate to work in such a kind and caring community. Have a great weekend. -Ms. Clarke

Perfect Attendance!

Every day we had perfect attendance because no one was gone. -Karys
Today we did Word Work. That was part of Daily 5. We had Music. Mr. Chan always tries trick us to do the wrong stuff. -Cole
Today we had Library. We got to pick books. We all remembered our books. -Nick
Today we went to Mrs. Kosolowski's room because we went to do surveys. Some of us didn't get to finish. We did TWAS and our homework is to do a survey with our family and other people that come by. -Cali
We wrote a piece of paper called TWAS. I wrote about going to the book fair and open house and gym. -Issabella

It has been a GREAT first full week of school! Like Karys said, we've had perfect attendance since the very first day and that is AWESOME! I am enjoying getting to know all of the new children in my room, and I am feeling very greatful toward the students that are in my class for the second year in a row. They have been a tremendous help in showing their new classmates where things go, how our routines work, and what my expectations are. This is one of the things that I love most about teaching a combined grade classroom. Each year I love to watch my second year students step up to the challenge of being a leader and doing what their former classmates did for them. I seen huge differences in confidence in these children already this year. It's amazing!

This week we introduced the new students in our classroom to the "Brain Game". (It's actually called "Cranium Brain Breaks: 200 One-Minute Mini Games"... the box looks like a big purple brain.) We've played a few of them as a whole group this week. Most of the games that work for a large group are word games. They are a great way to get kids thinking about words and letter sounds, and they're a whole lot of fun. Today at the end of the day, we played a game where everyone had to answer this question:
 

If you could dive into a pool filled with something other than water, what would you dive in to?

Some of our answers were gummy worms, whipping cream, ice cream, mud, spaghetti and meatballs, and jello. After a great first full week, I think I would dive into a pool of feather pillows. Good night Room 9!
-Ms. Clarke

Our Day

Today we had jungle gym. It was fun. I went on the ropes and the spider web and I played Skittle Ball. -Cole
At jungle gym I went on the spider web. I had fun. I climbed to the top and I played Skittle Ball with Cole. -Dylan W
We had Daily 5. We read to someone. -Nick
At Read to Someone, my partner was Gabby. I read a book called Frog and Toad. -Sofia
At school what we just did was we wrote our first name and our middle name. Then we wrote a story if anybody in your family has the same name as your middle name. My story was my all the girls in my family, their middle name is Jane. -Mackenzie
When I went out for recess I played with Claire and went on the glider and the monkey bars, and the pole and the slide. And we went on the spinny thing together. Then we went inside. -Issabella
We wrote some surveys. My question was "Do you like pets?" -Anna
When we did the surveys, our table group got a giant piece of graph paper and Ms. Clarke had a bucket of questions and we had to pick a question out and we had to decide which one we were going to do because there were two sides with a question on it. We each voted which one we would do. -Cali

All About Me Bags

Yesterday we made "All About Me" bags. We're taking them home today and we're going to look for stuff and bring it to school and tell everybody about it. -Cole
We decorated our bags with the things that we like. You have to put 4 things in your bag and bring it to school on Monday. -Dylan W
We can only put 4 things in the bag and if we didn't finish the outside, then we have to do it at home. We all got an "All About Me" bag. Ms. Clarke already did hers. -Cali

Today I shared my "All About Me" bag with the children of Room 9. I showed them a picture of my family, talked about some of my friends, and shared some of my favourite things with them. The four objects in my bag were a copy of The Book of Awesome, my passport, my Blue Bomber baseball cap, and my geocaching kit. Many of the kids in our class already knew that I love to read all kinds of books, that I love the Bombers (despite their unfortunate record this year) and have season tickets, and that I love to travel. However, the kids in Room 9 didn't know that I like geocaching. It's a fairly new hobby for me. As a pulled out the items in my kit (a tiny flashlight, a pair of big tweezers, an extendable magnet, pencils, a Swiss Army knife, coins from different countries that I've visited, and some ziplock bags) one of the boys raised his hand and very seriously asked "Ms. Clarke, are you a SPY?!?" I quickly explained what geocaching was, and assured the children that I was most definitely NOT a spy. We had a great laugh together. Here's a photo of my "All About Me" bag... and my Spy Kit :) -Ms Clarke


Today at recess Ms. Clarke taught us a new game. It's called "Switch". It's really fun. How you play is you have to have 5 or more people. You have to stand in a square and the person in the middle has to yell "SWITCH!" and everyone runs to a different spot. If you don't have  a spot, you go to the back of the line. -Sofia
You have to stand in the corner or in the middle. People have to wait in a line sort of beside the four square. -Karys
If you want to play, you ask someone how you play the game. -Issabella
I felt AWESOME! -Dylan W
It's a fun, fun, fun, fun game! -Danika

Classroom Rules

Last week we talked about what kind of classroom we'd like to have this year. The kids of Room 9 came up with a list of things that they thought they could do to make sure that everyone in our class has an AWESOME year. Here is the list in a Wordle:

A Morning with Hal!

Last night I was asked to speak to Hal Anderson on CJOB's morning show this morning about the first week of school. I was first on Hal's show last year for the kick of of Manitoba Education Week. You can read a post about it here. Even though I spend my days talking in front of an audience, I am always quite nervous to do things like this. If you'd like to listen, here's the clip!
-Erin Clarke

The Third Day of School

Today we did TWAS. We had to write as much as we could. I wrote about self portraits and my friends. -Dylan
Today in the morning, we had gym. We played games and we did 8 laps. After gym we had recess. -Nick
Today our teacher talked on the radio. We got to listen to what she was saying. She's been on the radio twice. -Sofia
In gym we played catch with bean bags and we played match the colour. -Carter
Today we worked on self portraits. We watched a music video. The song was called "Don't Give Up". You can see it here: -Matt


Yesterday we started counting happy recesses. If they were good recesses, we got a tally mark. Yesterday we had to get 5 tally marks to get some choice time. Now we have to get 10 tally marks to get something. -Karys
We got our book boxes out. We picked three books out of the books and then we read them for a little while. Then we had recess. -Issabella
At recess today it was very, very hot! -Katrina
At recess we played hide and seek and the snake game and jumped rope. -anna

The Second Day

Today we played a new game. It was called "Spot It!". How you played was you all got a card and you had to match the letters or shapes to a different card in the middle. -Karys
We had choice time today. I made bookmarks. -Nick
We did our self portraits today. Today we added the nose, ears, hair, mouth and neck. Ms. Clarke called all of us up and we painted them and then we were done. -Sofia
We had choice time. I coloured. -Anna
Choice time was AWESOME! -Dylan W
Today we had music. We learned a new song. It was a Christmas song. -Cole
Today we had library. Mrs. DeBruyn made a castle. The grade 1s got to get 1 book and the grade 2s got 2 books. -Matt
Today we had music for the first time this year. It was fun. We played Doggy Doggy. -Jonathan
We got a piece of paper out and wrote some rules about school. One rule was listen to each other. -Issabella
Today the grade 2s gave the grade 1s a tour around the room and some of the new 2s. We had to walk around the room and tell them what's what. We each got three. -Cali

Day 2 was a great day! I am always so amazed at how quickly children accept one another and begin to build friendships. Our first choice time was awesome! The children in our class drew, wrote notes, played dinosaurs, built lego structures, made marble courses, and looked through our library. As I watched them explore and play, I saw them using manners, inviting each other to join in games, experimenting and asking questions about spelling, sharing, cooperating, sharing their thinking, and telling each other about themselves. Most importantly, they were beginning to build their community and learn about one another. Community building is so important in a classroom. In a school year we share a physical space and a variety of experiences. We share ideas, questions and wonderings. We share in pieces of each other's lives and celebrate milestones together. It's a chance for children to learn to care, trust, feel welcome, and safe with one another so that throughout our time together they will take risks as learners, be willing to try and try and try again, to be proud of their accomplishments and the accomplishments of others, and to have a lot of fun along the way. Dylan had it exactly right... Choice time IS awesome! Until next time...

-Erin Clarke

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school. We did self portraits. We did it by steps. We only did the head and the eyes today. -Cali
Today we took pictures outside on the playground after recess because today is the first day of school. Then we got to play a little bit more on the play structure. -Karys
We had an assembly. Mrs. Ziprick picked a video to show us. Here it is:

The message was to try again if you mess up on something. -Sofia
When we first got in our classroom, we put our stuff for computers into the brown pockets. -Mackenzie
When we got to school, we sat in a circle and shared what we did this summer. -Anna
When we got to school, we looked for our spots and took our backpacks in to look for all the stuff we need. We went to gym and played games and then we went to eat our lunch. -Nick
We had snack and recess and I loved recess because we had it four times! -Issabella
We did five laps around the gym and we did push up, sit ups, and star jumps. -Dylan W


Today was a great first day of school! This is my 10th year as a teacher and the first day is always very exciting, nerve wracking, busy, and the best kind of exhausting. I can't wait to learn more about the kids in our crew this year, and to see what kinds of amazing things they'll do. One of the reasons I love teaching, and can't imagine doing any other job, is that every year is different and new. Every year I get to start again. Every September brings the beginning of a new story, with new characters, new learning, new laughs, and a different ending. I can't wait to see how this year's story goes!

As some of you know, and others will soon find out, I am an avid reader of all kinds of books, articles, blogs, and magazines. Every year I seem to revisit one book in particular during the week leading up to the start of school. The book is called "The Last Lecture" and was written by Randy Pausch. (You may have seen him on Oprah or on Youtube, talking about his book and sharing his story.) There are a number of passages in this book that I connect to as an educator, but none more than this one (from Chapter 36 - Look for the Best in Everybody):

"This is beautiful advice that I got once from Jon Snoddy, my hero at Disney Imagineering. I just was so taken with the way he put it. "If you wait long enough," he said, "people will surprise and impress you." "

This is another reason I love my job. Young children tend to surprise and impress more quickly and more often than adults... usually on a daily basis. :)

Thanks for reading... see you tomorrow!
-Erin Clarke

Community Gathering Day

Today was our comunity gathering day. In the morning we had an assembly. We shared what we were working on in the gym. -Reegan
We saw lots of different presentations. They were really cool. Ours was our movies. The grade 2s and 4s sang "The Elders Are Watching" and they made art and did a dance. -Elly
A few of the groups did their presentations on The 7 Teachings. One of the groups that did The 7 Teachings made totem poles. Also, the kindergartens and the grade 6s made a music video and a photostory. -Syd
In the afternoon, we had centres. Some of the centres were dancing, art, games, storytelling, and snacks. For the snack we had gelato. I liked it. -Karys
In the art centre we made a dot painting. We used Q-Tips. -Carter
In the library, we heard a bear song. Ms. Lisa played the drum. -Cayden
One of the centres was dancing. The dances that we did were folk dances. We did car wash, macaroni, and one I don't know. It was fun. -Cameron
In Mrs. Enns' room we played a game. Some volunteers played music and we had to try and guess where that music was from, like which country. Some of the places were India, Greece, France, Russia, Ireland, Jamaica, West Africa, Australia, Spain, Egypt, and Paraguay. My Dad has been to Ireland. -Rylee
After all the centres we went back to the gym and talked about the centres. We watched a music video. -Sofia
I liked the rap video. I liked all the centres. My favourite was dancing in the gym and games. -Ella

Little Movie Makers

We've been working on a project since the beginning of May. We've been working with Mr. Kapilik and Mr. Mercredi and our learning buddies and Mrs. Kosolowski. We went to Bird's Hill Park and shot some videos for the movie. We used a green screen. It looked like the forest at Bird's Hill Park. -Elle
When we first started the project, Mr. Mercredi told us some stories (you can read our other blog post about Nanabosho Stories). Then we worked with Mr. Kapilik and he helped us decide about what our story would be about. We wrote stories that weren't real, almost like a folk tale. When we went to BHP we filmed the background of our play that we were going to make. Then we recorded our voice and made masks. Then we did acting in front of the green screen. -Syd
Today we watched the movies. Soon we will post them on our blog. -Karys
After Mrs. Malkoske played around with the movies because she's the computer girl. The movies were called, How the Catfish Got His Whiskers and How the Turtle Got His Shell. -Ry

Nanabosho Paper Slide Videos!

Our Nanabosho videos are all done! Click on the "Nanabosho Stories" tab above this post to visit our video page. Don't forget to leave us a comment!
-The Kids of Room 9

Nanabosho Stories!

The last few weeks we have been doing a project with our learning buddies. The project is a story telling project. So when we started we got split into groups and those would be the groups for the project. Each group got to hear from a guy named Mr. Mercredi he told us some stories from when he was a kid. They weren't real stories but they are stories that his family believed in. Some stories were funny and others taught you a lesson. Then a few days later we meet with a guy named Mr. Kapilik. He helped us figure out what our story would be about, what animals would be in the story, which lesson we wanted to teach, stuff like that. After we figured out all that, we started the story. While we came up with the story the teacher in our group, Mrs. Kosolowski, wrote it down on the computer. So then again, in a few days, we edited the story. Meanwhile, in Mrs. Malkoske's group they were doing the same thing but they just had a different story. There story is about "How the Catfish got it's Whiskers" and our's is about "How the Turtle got it's Shell". Today we are going to fnish up editing our story. And tomorrow we're going on a field trip to Bird's Hill to video tape the backround because we're going to make it into a play and show the whole school at an assembly. Every single class in the school is doing something Aboriginal and they have to show a presentation!

Goodbye Butterflies!

On Thursday we released our butterflies and we had to put our fingers in sugar water. We went by the garden to release them. -Reegan
On the weekend Mrs. Malkoske took the butterflies home and she couldn't keep them because it was May Long Weekend and butterflies need to be outside and eat their food. -Rylee
When we were trying to put the butterflies on our fingers, a lot of them went out of the net so we all didn't get a turn to hold them. -Cali
Before we released the butterflies, me and Sydney stayed in and we got more food and sugar water for another set of butterflies. Mrs. Malkoske had to move one set of butterflies to the other cage. One got out and it landed on me. Outside, when we had to let them go, a lot of them flew away. Two were on Alexander because they liked him. There were still some chysalids left. -Rhianna
That day when we let the butterflies go, when me and Rhianna stayed in, the butterfly that got out it first landed on Rhianna's leg and then it flew to the window. So I picked it up and I put it back in the cage. I thought it was cool to hold a butterfly because I'd never done it before. -Syd

The first picture says "I'm ready!" because the butterfly was ready to come out. You could see the wings through the chysalis. The second picture shows left over parts from the caterpillar (the red stuff). It comes out when the butterfly comes out of the chrysalis (it's called meconium).

This is a butterfly eating an orange. The butterfly eats it from it's proboscis. The second picture shows the butterfly looking out the window because we had an escaper.

The first picture shows a bunch of butterflies in the net outside in the garden. They are painted lady butterflies. The second picture is a butterfly on a stepping stone in the garden. We put an orange down on the dirt and let the butterfly on it because it didn't want to get off Alexander.

These are some pictures of us saying goodbye to our butterflies.

When Mrs. Malkoske got home, she saw a butterfly coming out of it's chrysalis. It was halfway out. Today Mrs. Malkoske told us about it. It looks like a leaf. Mrs. Malkoske saw a butterfly on her flip flop so she took a picture of it. (It escaped).

The Sharing Song Music Video!

Here is our music video of Jack Johnson's "The Sharing Song" :) Enjoy!
-The kids of Room 9


the sharing song final cut great from Erin Malkoske on Vimeo.

The Soggy Field Trip!

Today we went to Bird's Hill Park with our learning buddies. The reason we went is that we are writing plays and we needed a background for the greenscreen. -Rhianna

We were taking videos and the videos connected to our book that we are making. -Reegan
The trails that we went hiking on were Chickadee Trail and Cedar Bog. The Cedar Bog was more kind of a skinny trail and it was squishier. -Syd
The Chickadee Trail was very sunny and the Cedar Bog Trail was very rainy. -Sofia
When we got of the bus, 5 minutes later, we got all soaked. It was pouring SO hard! There was a little bit of thunder but no lightning. -Cali
Everyone got soaked/ I was wearing rain pants and a rain coat. Because it was raining so hard, it went through my jacket. My shirt was soaked but it dried up. -Elly
When it rained I thought it was AWESOME! At the  end, I couldn't even see where we were going so I had to stop for Tyson. Then I had to follow Tyson. -Cayden
The Grade 3 and 4 boys were yelling "This is the BEST field trip EVER!" when the rain was coming down. I wasn't so sure about that ... but we had a lot of laughs and it ended up being the BEST hike I've ever been on :) -Mrs. Malkoske
Mrs. Oddy made trail mix for us. She gave a bag to each of us. It was awesome. -Kaspir
At the end of Cedar Bog we saw a garter snake. It was really cool. I freaked out and ran away because I do not like snakes. -Rylee
The snake was yellow and black and green. We saw it's tongue. It was slithering around in the leaves. -Nick
After Cedar Bog we had lunch. We had lunch on a picnic table and tarp. On one of the picnic tables there was a heart and it said "Kevin + Elly" and there was an arrow through it. It was funny. -Andy
After lunch we went to the Chickadee Trail. Then we had to walk for a long time. We saw lots of signs and the lookout was closed. We had to walk back. -Sam
On the Chickadee Trail there was a lot of poop. There was horse poop and rabbit poop and deer poop. -Jonathan
At the end of Chickadee Trail it started to spit a little. We had the BEST field trip EVER!!! -Syd