WE Scared Hunger

We did scare hunger the week prior to Hallowe'en.  How is it that it is ALREADY the first days of December?  That may be even more scary 😱!

Sorting over 1100 food stuffs collected by staff and students

Every year, we have hosted a canned food drive at some time throughout the school calendar.  Since this is our inaugural year as St Teresa of Calcutta and because we are a WE school, we decided to bring a twist to this old favourite by trying a "WE Scare Hunger" campaign running until Hallowe'en.

I proposed to the kids that they could choose any way of advertising the campaign.  The traditional poster ads were common replies.  So, I challenged the kids to consider how the world advertises.  Minds opened; ideas poured!  Twitter, TV, radio, announcements, commercials, emails, newsletters were some of their inspirations.

Students then selected group members based on skill set and began bringing their campaign strategy to life.  

A group of actors added a tech kid for filming, lighting and sound

A group who wanted to create a dance "commercial"

 added a different tech partner for filming and music

Another group of artists set about to advertise 

with posters throughout the school

And still another group created a PSA about the campaign which can be seen here  

The Wall of Fame for many classes!  5P reached 175 cans!

We found time to throw some math into the campaign by posting the tallies in the main hall.  I think it lit a fire under some of the classes!  My kids used the tallies to determine the percentages towards our goal.  This gave an opportunity for mental math adding and learning how to figure out percents (which we hadn't studied yet).

Day 2 of the campaign and we had reached 35.3% of 1000 cans!

Of course, as their teacher, I was totally psyched that they were geeking out, using their talents to promote the WE Scare Hunger initiative throughout the school.  I appreciate it when extracurricular meshes with curriculum and collides with the real world.  Never mind that the campaign was a HUGE success thanks to the time they put behind the scenes.

~MissBrooks

Aisle Try That!

First Field Trip of the Year!

When the trip is 4.1 km down the road, involves food, learning about nutrition, and is FREE (only need to pay for transportation), who wouldn't jump at the opportunity?

Through the generous support of Field Trip Factory and their partners, the class was able to take their learning outside the classroom walls and apply learning in a real-world setting.   

Meeting Cindy, the dietician at Zehrs on Tecumseh Rd East

For one of our students, this was the first trip to a supermarket in Canada as he only arrived in the country on Sept 21.  Can you imagine what a bounty that would look like when you aren't used to it?  Talk about sensory overload in terms of sights and sounds and smells!

And Produce was just the first aisle we went down

Learning about fibre, carbohydrates, Canada's Food Guide, sodium and Zehrs' "star system" was both interactive and interesting.  Students were tasked to find a vegetable that they had never tasted before and to look for star counts in the produce aisle (everything is a 3).  Rutabaga (cross between turnip and cabbage--Sweden), daikon (white radish--Japan) and spaghetti squash (noodle-like squash--Manchuria, China) were some of the less familiar veggies.  A big surprise was seeing dandelion in the store because few knew these were edible and, during a recent science unit, many believed them a nuisance to be destroyed because they served no purpose!  

There are those greens--dandelion and collard

The long white one is daikon

In the bread aisles, students eventually came across one bread that had stars on it (whole wheat).  It was a challenge!

You're COLD....keep looking!

Moving on to the butcher (more 3 stars!), students learned that their plate should include a fist-sized portion of protein.  Here, for the vegetarian crowd (ALL meat eaters in this group), students discussed meat alternatives.  Tofu anyone?

Towards the end of the tour, the students were let loose in the cereal aisle (SO many choices) and were to find the cereal usually purchased in their home and check for stars, carbs (lower than 10%), sodium (lower than 10%) and fibre content (higher than 10%).  The results were surprising!

Brooklynn finds a good choice

Honey Bunches of Oats

These should "POP" into more cupboards

Really high in fibre (=good) but a wee bit high in sugar but 2 stars!

The kiddie catching cereals with colourful characters on the box

Is this side of the cereal aisle for adults only (i.e, healthy choices)?

For many, snack time before returning back to school, was the highlight.  Cindy asked that the kids try one new food before the end of the month.  Almost everyone accomplished that goal today!  Dragon fruit, tofu, snap peas and carrot harissa hummus were new flavours and textures for many palettes. 

NO double dipping!

Dragon fruit with water to cleanse the palette

Tofu for you!  Smoked sriracha flavour.  Wait for it....The heat kicks in

Miguel got the leftover "to go" since he just loved this hummus

Encourage the "no thanks/not yet bite" in your house.  After one bite, you're allowed to say "no thanks" and even spit it out (politely).  Since our palette is ever evolving, continue to try foods that you didn't like in the past.  Eventually, they might grow on you!

~MissBrooks

Talking Turkey on Twitter

Thinking 140 characters to be an easy entry point for a writing lesson before a holiday, I tasked the students to create a Thanksgiving tweet. The catch?  They were tweeting as a turkey!

In our Writing Workshop, we've discussed R.A.F.T.s as things that should be considered helpful when writing.  These are Role (Who/what am I?), Audience (Who am I writing to?), Format (What style/form), Topic (What am I writing about?) and the inclusion of a strong word.

For this #turkeytweet, I gave the students a twitter template (Format--thanks Jim Covais at Covais Tech) and told them to tweet as a turkey (Role) at Thanksgiving (topic).

Neriah's tweet

It is evident that creativity abounded in this lesson with choices in usernames, header images and profile pictures!  Despite Twitter being for the 13+ crowd, these students clearly had some experience with the inner workings of social media with their inclusion of emojis and hashtags!

@IAMAHUMAN took a political stance but fooled no one!

Jace's tweet

...while @TurkeyLover432  had other suggestions for Thanksgiving dinner...

Reese's Tweet

@Turkey4real ignored the 140 character limit as Twitter is currently testing doubling the limit to 280!

Jazmyn's tweet

It's especially rewarding when these child writers make the effort to include many features of the text we are practicing.  Many of their efforts came off as polished and authentic tweets from a turkey.

Caleb's tweet

Maybe we should #eatmorepumpkin this Thanksgiving instead of turkey?  Afterall, #turkeylivesmatter.

If you're on Twitter, look for and like the tweets included in this blog and others.  

Happy Thanksgiving, eh!

~MissBrooks

Survey Says

7 dots and how we see them from YouCubed.org

After having completed Dr Jo Boaler's Week of Inspirational Math, I felt students had some key learning under their hats to begin their adventure in Gr 6 Math.  This key learning included:

1. Math is not about speed.  Math takes time!
2. There is no such thing as having a math brain or not.  EVERYONE can learn math!
3. When we make mistakes, our brain GROWS.  When we are not challenged, there is very little activity going on.

With some new found confidence, we began to delve into the Data Management strand of the Ontario Curriculum.  The big ideas are that graphs contain information and we are to draw inferences from them.  I had the students complete the Census at School survey which gave us a spreadsheet containing oodles (a real math word) of results from our class.

Sample categories from of our class' spreadsheet

After looking at who was the oldest, tallest, biggest footed or which was the most liked subject, I asked the students to consider a research question.  Giving them the example "Do boys have allergies more than girls?", they understood that they would be comparing data from 2 columns of their choice.  Some interesting research ideas included:

• Do tall kids have big feet?
• Do boys or girls have quicker reaction times?
• Who eats breakfast more:  boys or girls?
• Are your feet and forearm really the same length?

Students were challenged with the task of creating tally charts, 2 graphs and a title page ... without paper!  Instead, they would be like "real world" data analysts and use the Chromebook to create colourful, professional looking results.  

Our brains were definitely growing with using technology and math discussions flowed over the course of the week.  Once students figured out how to create a table or make tallies or use Create A Graph, they began to show their peers how to ease themselves through it.

Collaboration in the learning environment ... a beautiful sight to see!

~MissBrooks

PS  Ask your child to show you their research on their mytools2go accounts.  I think you'll be impressed!

No Gym? No Problem!

6B enjoying some "Cheese Ball"

With three weeks behind us, the grade sixes of MissBrooksHasClass have to consider themselves blessed thus far.

You're not in the new school!  How could you possibly consider yourselves "blessed"?
While the staff and students and parents and neighbours of St Teresa of Calcutta continue to await the GRAND opening of our new building, we remain housed in the former St Bernard building with former St Jules students.  This "house" is full up!  Which includes our gym which is currently home to 3 classes with another on the stage.

Exactly!  So your kids haven't had gym for three weeks!  {SCOFF:  "Blessed" she says!}
Hold on ...

Blessing #1:  In the last years of St Bernard we didn't have any neighbours in our Gr 6 wing.  It could get lonely down that hall.  Now, we aren't the only ones responsible for the volume!

Blessing #2:  #nogymnoproblem
On the first day, as the kiddies were heading home, I reminded them to pray every night for NO RAIN as we now had to get used to an "open air" concept gym until we move into the new building.  Who says God doesn't answer prayers?

While we may have had some rain, we have yet to be rained out of gym class which is first period in the morning...EVERY morning (except Wed when we walk to Mass).

Sept 6:  "Caterpillar Challenges"

Sept 7:  "Throw Up"

Sept 8:  "Bench Ball"

Sept 11:  "Cheese Movers"

Sept 13:  "Swamp Ball"

Sept 21:  "Long Ball" renamed "Cheese Ball" (by Cora) as it seems to be a mix of Cheese Movers and Kickball

Maybe you're thinking, "LIAR!  See how she skipped days!" but, those are simply days I left my phone in the classroom!

So far, we have not repeated an activity.  Our focus the first two week was cooperative games.  Since the school soccer season is upon us, we're building on cooperation and incorporating some soccer skills in our activities.  

With the help of GOOGLE, I found mrgym.com and physedgames.com which has helped make PhysEd planning SO! MUCH! SIMPLER!  I've linked the games above to full instructions (some include videos).

Welcome back to school.  And routines.  And gym classes!

~MissBrooks  

CHL (Can Hockey Learn)?

Excuse the bad grammar in the title since "Can Hockey Educate" doesn't fit the Canadian Hockey League acronym!  Since January, we have been involved with CHL in preparation for the MC Memorial Cup which is being hosted in our city of Windsor, ON May 19-28, 2017.  Here is a playlist of some of the life lessons we learned from our involvement!

*DON'T STOP BELIEVING
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
~Journey
*By the way, if you're "born and raised in South Detroit" isn't that Windsor, ON?  Check a map.

Many schools across the three school boards in Windsor, drafted a team on Jan 26, 2017.  Two months later,  only a handful of those schools had a vested interest in the CHL as their teams progressed to the playoffs.

Our team, the Regina Pats, won round one 4-0.  Expected.  They had been #1 team in Canada for most of the 2016/17 hockey season.

Round 2 was where the Pats' determination and grit would be tested as Swift Current would, by game 4,  take a 3-1 lead (after multiple OT losses).

One of the kids said the Pats were in good company like the CUBS who pulled it out

*LOSE YOURSELF:
"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity 
To seize everything you ever wanted.  In one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?"
~Eminem
*We only used the hook, but being Eminem, there are graphic lyrics (which we did not use)

The Pats' playoff journey fueled conversations in our hallways.  We had chosen this song to create a STOMP routine to encourage the Pats through their playoffs.  We admired their ability to play each game as a single "shot" and how well they captured their opportunities.  How inspiring to watch this team soak up the trials, the praise, the fans, the experience.  A real lesson on how to live in the moment.

NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP:
"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down,
Never gonna run around and desert you"
~Rick Astley

Relationships take work.

Our friendship with the Pats began on Jan 26.  We tweeted a shout out; they sent some swag.  We sent our thanks; they invited us to watch them play via a link.
This was the early stages of the relationship.

Fast forward....

Feb 14--Already in our hearts!
Meet a Spitfire and ask if his team is worried about
facing Regina Pats in Memorial Cup

April 28--Still thinking about our Pats as we travel to other places
like Gr 6 day at the middle school.

One student even created a Kahoot to challenge the rest of the class' level of knowledge about the Regina Pats!

GRACE, TOO:
"Armed with will and determination
...
Armed with skill and its frustration
And grace, too"
~The Tragically Hip

We engaged in a friendly rivalry with our former VP, now principal of St Peter, whose school had drafted Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Mr McMahon showed us GRACE, too!

Despite having the will and determination and skill to take themselves to the Memorial Cup, we were sorry that our beloved Regina Pats did not make their way to Windsor this week.  In Game 6 of the WHL finals, Seattle Thunderbirds defeat them.  How your handle defeat says a great deal about character.  This is one classy team!

Bonus Track:

On Wednesday, two days before the MC Memorial Cup opener, we received a phone call that let us know the CHL wanted to donate 84 tickets to our kids for their support and enthusiasm of the Pats throughout their season.  I think they even expected we would be coming to the Cup to meet our Pats.

We attended the Spitfire vs St John SeaDogs game on Friday night.  

Thanks CHL!  For the experience not only last night but throughout the hockey season!

~MissBrooks

Eggs-citing Day of Learning

Jelly Bean Prayer waits at each child's table as a wee Easter gift

The day after Easter weekend (Easter Tuesday?) is one where I've traditionally (for about 5 years) followed a theme of sorts to get the kids back in the swing of learning after having been off for 4 days.  Bring on the eggs-plosion of   

             eggs-tremely   

                       eggs-citing   

                             eggs-periences!

Enjoying an egg hunt in gym class

GYM:

Students were divided into teams of 4.  Plastic eggs had been hidden under the pylons that were scattered around the gym.  Time for a little eggs-ercize during this Easter egg hunt in gym. 

For each round, the students had to find the right coloured eggs in the right order.  We did Yellow, Blue, Green for the first round.  The first students for each team set out to find the yellow eggs.  They were only allowed to check under one pylon.  If it had yellow, they took the egg.  If it didn't, they left the egg under the pylon and headed back to their team so the next person could go.  

We played a few rounds, broke a couple plastic eggs but definitely got up and moving first thing!

My favourite tradition is Resurrection Rolls

RELIGION:

When food is involved, especially after gym, the kids will buy in EVERY SINGLE TIME!  This lesson is simply delicious.

Materials Needed:

• Large Marshmallows (White represents Jesus' purity and His body)
• Butter (melted in microwave represents oil placed on bodies during burial)
• white sugar mixed with some cinnamon (represents spices used in burial)
• Crescent Rolls or Grands Biscuits (represent the linen wrapped around the body)

Preheat oven to 350 F

Students took a marshmallow, dunked it into the butter until covered and then dropped it into a baggie containing the cinnamon/sugar mix.  They then took a roll and worked to get it wrapped around their marshmallow, taking care to cover completely by pinching the dough shut.  We placed ours into muffin papers so that the kids could write their name on the roll that they actually made, ensuring that they were eating their own germs!

10-12 minutes later... 

MATH:

After licking the sticky goodness from their hands (and then washing them), I had the kids grab a pencil for some Easter Math.  

NRich Maths had some interesting information about the largest Chocolate Easter Egg so I created a worksheet which allowed the kids some practice at estimating and calculations.

After lunch, we tried eggs-perimenting with Egg Drop Engineering.  No, we are not talking Chinese food here.  We're talking about honest to goodness, raw eggs and designing, building and testing a contraption that allows the egg to survive without eggs-ploding.  FUN!  Here are some of the designs...

Each group was given the same materials (brown bag, Solo cup, smaller plastic cup, 1 pipe cleaner, 2 large paper clips, 3 popsicle sticks, 1m of tape, 1 sandwich size Ziploc, 1 paper towel, 4 bendy straws) and 25 minutes to design, build and test.

We then headed back to the gym so that we could set up a drop of 2m.

There were seven teams.  

1 egg survived.

You do the math!

~MissBrooks