Koalas Eating Part 2 (Adam)

The children had fun playing Adam`s game in the gym. We lined up against the wall of one side of the gym. We put bean bags on the other side. Adam decided that the game would begin when he started running to the other side to get the food (leaves). The only ajustment he brought to the game was that he told his friends they should only pretend to eat the food. The bean bags had to stay on their side of the gym. So the children had to run to one side of the gym, pretend to eat the food and run back to the starting line without being captured by the dingo(me, Mme Maklin). After the children who had not been captured by the dingo went back to the starting line, we would then start the game again with everyone.

 

Alphabet Soup

On Friday, we made our Alphabet Soup. Most of the children enjoyed the soup. Thank you for your help in making this activity a success. You can listen to the video of your child sing the alphabet in French by going into his or her ePorfolio.

 

la soupe à l'alphabet

The children wrote «J'aime la soupe.» if they liked the soup and «Je n'aime pas la soupe.» if they did not like it.

Ben

Jackson

Arman

Visit from Nathalie Pageau

Tuesday, we had a visit from our health nurse Nathalie Pageau. The children learned that sugar causes cavities and that good mouth care is important. She also talked about the importance of good eating habits to avoid cavities.

 

They learned that we should brush our teeth twice a day for 2 minutes and floss once a day. Brushing should be done in a circular motion. We should limit the amount of tooth paste to the size of the tip of our little finger. Sugar is one of the main contributing factors to causing cavities. It reacts with bacteries to create an acid that eats at our teeth. Moreover, healthy eating is important to keep our boby and teeth strong.

 

We also did an experiement where eggs were used to represent our teeth. We started by observing the eggs. We noted that they are white and hard. We explained that the egg shell represented the enamel of our teeth and that it protects what is inside. Then we soaked 2 boiled eggs in pepsi, 2 boiled eggs in tea and 1 raw egg in vinegar (acid) for a day. We noticed that the eggs soaked in pepsi and tea turned brown and the egg in the vinegar got bigger and lost its proctective shell. We concluded that acid eats at the enamel on our teeth and that brushing our teeth after drinking pepsi and tea can remove most stains on our teeth.

This week, the children are having fun pretending to be dentists and dental hygienists in our dentist office.

 

Our rainbow teeth

Koala (Adam)

Adam just came back from a trip to Australia. He brought with him a picture of him and his sister in front of a school and a little stuffed koala. After, he presented his picture, I noticed that we could see Adam's dad in it. So I decided to play Where is Waldo? with the children. I put a sign saying "Où est le papa à Adam?" During our play time, the children had the chance to look at the picture and find Adam's dad. Colin was the first to find him. Adam explained that it was a reflection of his dad in the window and that his dad was across the street taking the picture.

Picture is not showned in respect of privacy

Adam also told us that he had a game we could play with koalas. Here is the information that Adam gave me about his game.

Mme Maklin: What is your game called?

Adam: Koalas Eating

Mme Maklin: Where can we play the game?

Adam: In the gym

Mme Maklin: What material do we need?

Adam: Bean bags

Mme Maklin: How do we play the game?

Adam: We pretend that we are koalas, we pretend the bean bags are food. We need to get to the bean bags if we are captured we have to start over again.

Mme Maklin: Who captures you?

Adam: Tigers and lions

Mme Maklin: Where do koalas have to stand in the gym and where is the food?

Adam: We are going to be on this side (pointing to the right) and the food is going to be on the other side.

Mme Maklin: what do we do after we get to the food?

Adam: If we want we start the game again when everyone is on the other side.

Mme Maklin: How do we win the game?

Adam: Everyone wins even if you can`t make it to the line so no one will be sad.

We will play Adam's game tomorrow during our gym class. Do not forget to read our blog to found out more about Adam's game.

After our discussion, we decided to get books on koalas to find out what they eat and other interesting information. During circle time, we researched koalas on the Internet and read a book about them. We learned that koalas eat eucalyptus leaves, they sleep most of the day, their predators are dingos and pythons and they measure more or less a meter and weight between 10 to 30 pounds.

We also watched Wild Kratts Koala Balloon during our popcorn and movie on Friday. We learned that eucalyptus leaves are poisonous to human, koalas live in the shade of trees and are active at night.

 

We are learning more about koalas and Anstralia.

Visit from Mrs. DiGiacomo

Last Friday we had a visit from Mrs. DiGiacomo. Here is what she had to say about her role and responsibilities at school.

Role: Office Administrator

Responsibilities: Take teacher and student's attendance, organize bus transportation, make sure all registration forms are filled out, assign students to their class, deposit money,  purchase school supplies, take phone messages, call parents and take care of small injuries.

Tools: Telephone, computer, headset.

Thank You Mrs. DiGiacomo for giving us pencils after your presentation.

Ville Sparkle

This week the children have learned the roles and responsibilities of several school and town community helpers. We are still expecting a few more visitors, so keep reading our blog to find out more about our community helpers. The children have also been learning about Fire Safety and the role of a fire fighter and the tools used on the job through their pretend play. Go under the tab Classroom Activities to see pictures.

The children have also been learning about buildings that can be found in our community. Here is the town that they have built. Giuliana G. decided to call it Sparkle.

ville Sparkle

caserne de pompiers made by Ben, sign written by Tianna

station de police made by Colin sign written by Giuliana G.

hôpital made by Kaitlyn, docteur made by Giuliana G.,
sign written by Kaitlyn

Alessa, Tammy, Folu and Ava decided to be neighbours 

Nahisha and Joanna-Lee decided to be neighbours

lac made by Joanna-Lee, sign written by Ava

Preston wanted to be Giuliana G.'s neighbour

Alessio and Mme Maklin are neighbours

le parc and l'oiseau made by Giuliana G., signs also written by her

l'école St.Rita made by Tianna

notre cour d'école made by Tianna, maison made by Giuliana M.

A Visit from Spiders (Leila)

 

 

With the Winter weather we've had lately, our visits from M. Marc, Mr. Slack, Mrs. DiGiacomo., and Ms. Cocco have been accompanied by some other friends coming for visits of a more extended kind, making their way in for a warmer place to call their home for the snowy season ahead of us. We found a couple spiders the other day and decided to put them in a jar for the kids to observe for a few days.

 

 

 

Observations made by the children:

 

Devin: That`s the mommy and that`s his baby. They stay still so bugs will come. Momma made the spider web. Puts his teeth in and wraps it around in his silk.

 

Mrs. Cole: Why did the spiders come in the classroom?

 

Colin: I think he found his way inside because he wanted to get warm. I think they`re having a Halloween party.

 

Mrs. Cole : Why is he curled up in a ball?

 

Hannah: He`s hanging on a spider web.

 

Sean: He`s hanging on spider silk so he can protect himself from predators.

 

Nahisha: Because, so he can be safe.

 

Ben: So he can stay safe.

 

Mrs. Cole:  What's that yellow thing on his back?

 

Sean: It makes the spider web, it makes the silk.

 

Mrs. Cole:  How many eyes does a spider have?

 

Sean: 6

 

Hannah: 5

 

Kaitlyn: 6

 

Alessa: 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Visit from Officer Grant

This afternoon, we had the visit from Officer Grant. Here is what he had to say about his role and responsibilities in the community.

 

Role: Police Officer

Responsibilities:
- A police officer main`s responsibility is to help people.
- He or she gives traffic tickets to keep people safe.
- Occasionally, he or she has to arrest criminals.

Uniform and tools:
- Pants with red stripe
- Badge
- Police crests
- Baton
- Flashlight
- Radio
- Walkie Talkie
- Hand cuffs
- Whistle
- Police car
- Siren
- Pen
- Computer

Other information:

- A police siren can make 6 different noises. Each noise responds to a particular situation.

- The tool that is used the most is the pen. Police officers spend a lot of time reading and writing reports. The children were told that to become a police officer they need to have good reading and writing skills.

- Children should  never touch guns. They should tell an adult if they see one. 

- If they are in danger and by themselves they should call 911.

- Children should know their phone number. Officer Grant assigned this as homework to the children.

Visit from Ms. Cocco

Today, we had the vist from Ms. Cocco. Here is what she had to say about her role and responsibilities at school.

Role: Resource Teacher

Responsibilities: Help students with their reading, writing and math skills, talk to parents, teachers and doctors, order materials (special books, learning games),  help teachers set up goals for students, help children improve their fine motor skills by doing exercises.

Here are Alessa and Giuliana G. demonstrating how to exercices your fingers.

 

 

Visit from Mr. Slack

Today we had the visit of Mr. Slack. Here is what he had to say about his role and responsibilities at school.

 

Role: Principal

Responsibilities: Announcements, lock downs, fire drills, safety, make sure that students follow rules, discipline, help teachers and teacher aids, set up goals for students and with the help of teachers establish a plan to meet those goals, manage school web site and blog and visit the classes. His favourite part of his job is going to classes and reading a story to the children.

 

Rescue Heroes

For the last two weeks, the children have been playing with the Rescue Heroes figurines. This was the perfect opportunity to teach the children about who can help them in our community, at school and at home. From our inquiry, the children were able to identify some of the "helping hands" in our community (go under the tab Our Inquiries to learn more). This week we turned the house into a Police Station. The children built a cruiser, a computer for the phone operator and Colin decided that we needed a jail and some boys made walkie talkies to communicate. We also read the book The Kissing Hand. Then, we had a discussion on the helping hands in our school community. The children learned that their teachers, Mr. Slack, Mrs. G., Ms. Cocco and M. Marc are our helping hands at school. M. Marc. was in our class fixing our tables and shelves and we took that opportunity to ask him about his role and responsibilities at school. This is what we learned.

Role: Custodian

Responsibilities: Cleaning the school, fixing things, safety, shovelling, getting the balls from the roof, painting, putting in work orders and fire drills.


 In the next few weeks, we will be visited by other community and school helpers.


You can go under our tab Classroom Activities to see pictures of our Police Station and other activities on the topic of Fall.