200 Awesome Days!!!

Today is the last day of school. We are doing our final blog post right now. It was an awesome year! -Nick

The funnest part of this year was the butterflies. They were painted lady butterflies. -Matt D

My favourite thing was the finger painting rainbows. -Anna

The funnest part of the year for my was paper mache. -Karys

My favourite part of the year was reading all of those chapter books. -Jonathan

Field Day was my favourite because of the sponge game and bouncy castle. -Jackson

My favourite part of the year was when we made our Rube Goldberg machines. -Nick

My favourite part was doing paper mache. -Claire & Cali & Gabby & Danika

My favourite part was paper mache because you had to paint your guy. -Ashten

My favourite part was paper mache because it was messy. -Cole

My favourite part of the year was Gotta Go! -Grace & Kayla

I liked paper mache best out of the whole year because it was messy. -Katrina

My favourite part of the year was having parties! -Dylan R

My favourite part of the year was Ms. Clarke reading chapter books to us. -Gavin

The best part of this year was the duct tape boats. -Carter

My favourite part of the year was field day because I got tons of candy. -Dylan W

My favourite part of the year was the play. -Amaryllis

My favourite part of the year was playing with all of my friends. -Maddy



It has been AWESOME year in Grade 1 & 2! I couldn't have asked for a better group of children and families to work and learn with this year. The end of the school year is always bittersweet, as I (and the kids) love summer, but we are so sad that our year together is over.

This year is a bit of a different feeling for me, as I won't be returning to the classroom in the fall. I will take on a different role at home with a new wee one to take care of. I will try and post here occasionally during this new adventure.

Until then... Have a safe and happy summer!

Erin

Playgrounds!!

We were learning about 3D and 2D shapes. We had to make a playground with a partner. They had to have 3-2D and 3-3D shapes. -Matt D

It took us a while to build it but we finished and Ms. Clarke put the people's names in a bin and then she picked one out and whoever's name it was, got to take their playground home. -Nick

At the end we had to explain what our 2D shapes and 3D shapes were and tell the class what each piece was. Then we had to fill out the criteria. -Dyaln W

Here are some pictures of our playgrounds:

Our Caterpillar Adventure!

Yesterday we got caterpillars. We got containers and Ms. Clarke mixed the food. Then we put the food in the containers and poked holes with a tack in the lid. Then we got a paint brush and we put two caterpillars in each container. -Karys

Today when we got to school, the caterpillars were getting a little bigger. Danika took a picture of the caterpillars for Instagram. We are learning about Instagram. When we started doing Instagram Jonathan and Karys took pictures. -Anna

Today before the announcements we had to write in our Butterfly Journals about what they looked like and what they are doing. You have to draw a diagram and we're going to count how many days we keep them for. -Kayla

Some of our caterpillars are small, and some are a little bit bigger than others. Some have already shedded their skin, but some haven't. -Maddy

Yesterday when we got the caterpillars we were all excited! There were 86 caterpillars but some died. There were more caterpillars than last year. -Matt D

Right now they are all larvae. Next they make a chrysalis/pupa. Then they slowly start to come out of their chysalis and then they sit on their chysalis to let their wings dry. Then they will lay some eggs and die. Then it happens all over again. -Dylan W

When they are all full grown, we are going to let them go free. -Nick

Kicks for Kids!

On the way to school on Tuesday, I was listening to Hot 103.1 and heard someone talking about the West Broadway Youth Outreach's program, Kicks for Kids. WBYO runs a variety of programs for kids in their neighbourhood. Right now they are training for the 5ish Fun Run on June 1. Some of the kids don't have proper running shoes so WBYO is asking for donations of new or gently used runners for kids and youth. I shared this information with the Kids of Room 9 and they thought it was a good idea to help! I am, as always, very proud of them. -Ms. Clarke

Yesterday the Kids of Room 9 picked a job for Kicks for Kids. The jobs were posters, letter, and announcements. The posters had pictures of shoes and a title on it. We're going to put them on the bulletin board and all around the school. -Anna

Today we made posters. Next week we are going to hang them up. -Claire

The announcements are going to go on Monday. We are going to start collecting shoes on Monday. Last night Ms. Clarke went and got 4 pairs of shoes to start us off. -Cali

Our goal is 50 pairs of runners. On the posters we had to have something about WBYO and about the dates and the sizes (we'll take any size). -Dylan W

A Trip to the Marsh!

Today we went to Oak Hammock Marsh. First we got on the bus. When we got there we went inside and learned about AMPHIBIANS and REPTILES. We learned about a lot of animals. At the end we played a game. -Dylan R

The game was called Hot Frog. We passed a stuffed animal snake to the next person and the next person passed it to another person. The stuffed animal frog could jump to the next person or across. The frog couldn't touch the snake. -Anna

Then we went upstairs and looked at some stuff that you can find on the trail like eggs, skat (poop), nests, fur, feathers, owl pellets, sticks chewed by animals, and bones. Then we went outside and started to look for some clues for different animals. We got to use magnifiying glasses. Some people found nests, underground holes, ground squirrels, birds, feathers, fur, footprints, and tons and tons of skat. -Dylan W

We heard frogs and saw two dead ones. We heard different kinds of birds like red-winged blackbird, and the yellow-headed blackbird, black-ringed gull, Canada geese, and ducks. -Cole

After we went inside to wash our hands for lunch. After lunch we went outside and went critter dipping. Abby (our group leader) told us all of the different critters we could find in the marsh. These are some of the critters we found:
-snails
-phantom midges
-blood worms
-shrimp
-water mites
-damsel flies
-dragonfly nimphs
-and the first tiger beetle of the year! -Maddy

Gabby found a tiger beetle. We were on a floating dock so then everyone went to go see the tiger beetle, and the docked was tipping. Grace almost went for a swim! Her feet got wet but she didn't go for a swim. Ms. Clarke and Mr. Lapage we worried that she was going to fall in so they tried to balance out the dock. -Cali

When we were finished critter dipping, we went inside to take bathroom breaks and after we got all of the people, we went outside and we got on the bus. On the way, me and Anna saw some ducklings in the pond. -Claire

Thank you to all of the parents that helped out on the field trip! My dad, Jackson's mom, Matt G's mom, Kayla's mom, and Mr. Lapage! -Katrina

Writing Residency Week!

Last week, we were talking about a teacher named Mrs. Augusta. She was coming to our school to help us be better writers. She was working in Mrs. Abrahams class and Mrs. Kosolowski's class. Ms. Clarke had to watch them talk about it and we got to go to the library and watch movies. That's totally fair. -Jonathan

The movies that we watched were The Ant Bully and second one was James and the Giant Peach. The third one was Chrysanthemum and then The Weekend with Wendell. -Matt G

In our classrrom we were writing about characters. We did 8 character maps. First Ms. Clarke took a picture of the character and glued it to the middle of the paper. Then we read the book. Then after we read the book, we would put things about them.  -Maddy

The characters were Chester, Clarice Bean, Edward, Nora, Charles, Yoko, and Wemberly... and Cali! Cali sat on the stool and she couldn't talk and we had to say stuff about her. And at the end Cali was going to correct it. We asked her some questions too. -Karys

We are going to create a character and we're going to put them in an adventure. We are going to be the author! -Cali

Digital Footprints

Did you know digital footprints are all the tools we use online? Mine are ABCya, Kidblog, Blogger, Wikispaces, Instagram and all the apps on the iPods. -Cole

Today we looked at Ms. Clarke's digital footprint by searching her name on Google. Then she searched me, Carter, Jackson, Gavin, Karys, and Dylan R. We found that I was on the internet for skating, Carter was on the front page of a magazine for fishing, Jackson was in a catalog, Karys was on 200 Awesome Days, and Dylan R and Gavin were on for hockey. -Cali

Don't put bad stuff on the internet because if you do, if you are trying to get a job, the boss is going to look up your name and see what you posted. When you are little, don 't put your last name if you're writing a blog. -Maddy

Don't put personal information online. Post appropriate pictures. Be kind to other people. Don't post any pictures of other people if they don't want. -Dylan R

Tell the truth when you post stuff. -Dylan W


Today we had an amazing conversation about the different things that we do on-line from the apps we use to blogging to Instagram to Google. The kids of Room 9 know a lot about the tools they use, the ways they share their learning, and how to connect with others in a safe and responsible way.

On April 16 & 17 I will be away from our classroom attending and presenting at the Manitoba Teachers Society Conference on Technology called "Awakening Possibilities". On Wednesday evening I will be doing an IGNITE talk called "Little Feet, Big Footprints: Builing a positive digital footprint with young children". (Ignite talks are 5 minute presentations where the presenter gets 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds). Today the Kids of Room 9 helped me to get my thoughts together for the presentation and to take some pictures for my slides. Here are a couple of screen shots from my presentation... These are some of the "rules" we follow when posting things online together in order to create a positive digital footprint. -Ms. Clarke

See you later!

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring Break! We are so excited! One of our teachers is leaving so we made him a book. His name is Mr. Sobie. He is our substitute gym teacher. -Dylan W

We said goodbye to Mr. Lapage. He is our student teacher and we made him a book. We will see him in a month. I can't wait to see him because then we can read together. I miss him already. -Cole

Today we had a little party since it's the day before Spring Break. We made pita pockets and I put cheese and pretzels in mine. We got ice cream after. There were two kinds - cookies and cream and vanilla. I picked vanilla. -Karys

I made a picture for Mr. Lapage and Mr. Sobie. For Mr. Sobie's picture I had to miss a little bit of recess. -Jackson

I hope that everyone has a safe and relaxing Spring Break! Many of the children in our class are travelling to warmer places... I hope that they bring some sunshine back with them! -Ms. Clarke

Kids in the Kitchen - Cooking in Room 9!

We got our own personal cookbooks so then we started making things like lemonade, bugs on a log, smoothies, and yogurt pops. We're making bannock today. -Jonathan

We are cooking because we are learning about growing up healthy. The food groups we have been learning about are Grain Products, Milk Products, Meat and Alternatives, and Fruits and Vegetables. -Carter

Yesterday we made Yogurt Pops and I got to cut the bananas. We have groups that we're in. -Nick

You have to wash your hands befor you do anything. You have to put everything in the garbage that's garbage. You have to wash all the fruits and veggies before you use them. Don't put your hands in your mouth or touch your face. -Cole

We need to wear an apron when we cook just in case we get stuff on us. When it was the boys group turn, we were making smoothies, and when me and Gavin made our smoothies, our smoothie tipped over and spilled all over the place. My apron saved me. -Matt D


When your group is done making the food, two people have to go and wash the dishes. Each group takes turns and if you are washing a cup, you have to get the cloth in the cup. -Sofia

Here is our favourite recipe so far: Yogurt Pops
1. Take a big container of yogurt and put it in the blender.
2. Chop up 2 bananas, and put them in too.
3. Then put a tablespoon of honey in too.
4. Then blend it up.
5. Then pour it into Dixie cups, cover them with tin foil, and stick a popsicle stick in the cup.
6. Freeze them over night.
7. Enjoy!