River Safety

Thank you Vanni for coming into our classroom to teach us about 'River Safety'.

*Today, we discussed the places where water runs in St. Marys and how quickly the water flows at this time of year when snow has melted and there is lots of rain.

*We learned that our Watershed is the place where all the streams and creeks in the area join the Thames river

*We read a story about Splish and Splash.  We counted how many times something dangerous happened in the story and we discussed the water cycle.

*We were reminded that water is very cold at this time of year.
*We discussed why rivers overflow  and cause flooding.
*We discussed that water is usually deepest in the springtime.
*We discussed pollution.
*We talked about swamps and marshes (wetlands) and the plants .  They are like a sponge and hold water.  Wetlands clean the water.  They are on the edge of cities and they often get replaced as people build/expand.

Most importantly, we learned HOW TO STAY SAFE NEAR RIVERS AND STREAMS!

*Don't go near the water without an adult. Keep a safe distance from the water.
*Avoid slippery rocks near the river edge.  You could slip on them and fall into the water.
*avoid flooded areas
*avoid waterfalls
*Stay away from dams - the water flows very fast in these areas when they open the gates.
*Stay off frozen rivers/streams especially when the weather warms up.  It's not strong enough to support a person. The water is cold and it is difficult to get out if you fall through the ice. An adult will help you know when ice is strong enough for skating.

We played a game to get us thinking about all the plants and animals that live in our watershed area.  Students had to listen to clues and fit a puzzle piece into a giant puzzle of our watershed.  These are some things that live in our watershed area:
cat tails, frogs, herons, snails, geese, turtles, fish

These living things need our water to be clean. So remember what Vanni said:  "nothing but rain should go down the drain".

At the end of the presentation we played splish - splash bingo to see if we could figure out whether people were being safe around rivers and streams or not.

The students consolidated their learning by writing down ways to stay safe around rivers and streams! Great job everyone!

Texture Sandwiches

We have been learning the importance of describing words in our writing and when recording our observations about different kinds of matter in our Science unit.  'Texture' is the word we use to describe how things feel and we have come to realize that things in our environment can have a lot of different textures.  In Science, we created a list of texture words that could be used to describe liquids and solids.  In Art, we explored a variety of art materials that had different textures.  We had a lot of fun shopping at the 'Texture Store' in our classroom and creating different textured layers in an art project we called a 'texture sandwich'.  Afterwards, students recorded the texture words that best described the layers of their sandwiches!  Their sandwiches look amazing!  

Road Hockey Challenge

Please enjoy these pictures of our first ever 'Road Hockey Challenge' at Little Falls which was held on Thursday, January 21st!

Students from our class played students from Ms. Mahaffy's class in a classic game of hockey.  The games were all refereed by members of our Lincolns and members of the 'Leading Mentally Healthy Schools' team.

Prior to playing, we discussed (in class) the importance of  co-operation/collaboration when working as part of a team.  We reviewed the ways to show that we are a good collaborator and practiced this by working in teams on some morning activities.  (Sharing resources to make a list in a group of 4 - every team member must share/write  AND boggle word building with a partner)

We also discussed the importance of ANY physical activity to helping us achieve a healthy body and mind.  Any form of exercise can be a fantastic way to relieve stress and anxiety, so get out there and get moving!

How to Wash Your Hands

'Tis the season for colds and flu and this week we seem to have had our share of the coughs, fevers and sniffles!  It was a perfect time for a special visitor to talk to us about how to stop the spread of germs and stay healthy.  Thank you very much to Jen, from Jackson Pharmacy, for coming into our classroom to discuss proper handwashing technique! We watched a fun video about the importance of careful handwashing and learned the important steps to washing your hands properly in order to get rid of germs.  We got to see what germs look like on your hands (before and after washing) by using a special glowing gel that showed where germs like to hide.  We learned that fingernails and in-between fingers were the places germs like to hide.  After seeing the yucky, glowing germs, the kids were actually begging to go to the bathroom to wash their hands! LOL!

After our presentation, students were challenged to record the steps to proper handwashing.  It was a perfect way for us to begin exploring 'HOW TO' writing during our writers workshop.  (We will be doing more 'how to/procedural' writing now that we know the key features of this kind of writing).

I'm happy to report that everyone remembered exactly what to do to get rid of germs and they were all able to write the steps in clear, concise language.

Let's stay healthy everyone!
Wash your hands after sneezing, coughing, blowing your nose, eating, playing in anything messy and after using the bathroom - of course!

Settle Your Sparkles

As part of our 'Mentally Healthy Schools' initiative, we have been trying to teach students different strategies for helping them when they are feeling stress, anxiety or just the need to 'calm down'.  In our class we practice these different techniques after recess in order to help us calm our bodies and minds and prepare for the next part of our day.

We shake our sparkle bottle and breathe deeply until all the sparkles in the jar have settled.  We call this our 'Five Finger Breath' because after we inhale and exhale, we turn a finger on each of our hands  under.  If we get to five and we still don't feel 'settled'...we can always take a few more deep breaths.

We listen to slow, instrumental music to help us slow our breathing and our body movements.
We project an image on the smartboard of a calming place to help us visualize something peaceful.

We have found that taking a few minutes to calm our bodies and minds makes us better prepared to attend and focus on the next part of our day.  Ask your child to show you the Five Finger Breath!  Relax....enjoy!

Perfect Pajama Day!

We had an absolutely perfect pajama day on Friday, January 8th.  Students enjoyed a variety of activities in our classroom which allowed us to use our pajamas and out stuffies as tools in our learning.  We drew/wrote about our pajamas and practiced using describing words so that our readers could visualize our pajamas.  It was fun guessing whose pajamas were being described!  We sorted and graphed our stuffies and even measured them using both non-standard and standard units.  It was a great way to celebrate the end of our first week back to school!