Sunday 29 September 2013
Thursday 26 September 2013
IXL Month-Long Trial
I signed our class up for a free one-month IXL trial. IXL is a Math practice and game website and we had our first chance to try it out today.
Each student got two copies of his or her username and password - one to leave at school and one to take home.
I'll be interested to see what everyone thinks and I hope that this is something helpful to practice with either at home or during Pickle time. I think that it can really help us fill up some of our holes in our Math "Jenga Towers". Please feel free to leave your comments about your time on IXL here.
One of the cool things with IXL is that, like Typing Web, I can check out how everyone is doing and see how much time students are spending practicing their skills.
Two great tips from your classmates today:
-when you're practicing addition and subtraction, there is no space on the website to carry or borrow. I am not great at mental math, so I would keep some scrap paper nearby to help me work out questions and problems
-make sure to read your instructions very carefully. The difference between digits and values, for example, are very important
Each student got two copies of his or her username and password - one to leave at school and one to take home.
I'll be interested to see what everyone thinks and I hope that this is something helpful to practice with either at home or during Pickle time. I think that it can really help us fill up some of our holes in our Math "Jenga Towers". Please feel free to leave your comments about your time on IXL here.
One of the cool things with IXL is that, like Typing Web, I can check out how everyone is doing and see how much time students are spending practicing their skills.
Two great tips from your classmates today:
-when you're practicing addition and subtraction, there is no space on the website to carry or borrow. I am not great at mental math, so I would keep some scrap paper nearby to help me work out questions and problems
-make sure to read your instructions very carefully. The difference between digits and values, for example, are very important
The Famous Bungee Chairs
After I picked up five wonderful bungee chairs at Target in New York State, I realized what a wonder I had on my hands! From the first day of school, these chairs have been the talk of the Room 209 town!
In fact, when parents came in for their Class Meeting, many of them had the same question - what were the famous bungee chairs.
Even your parents enjoyed relaxing in the sought-after chairs!
In fact, when parents came in for their Class Meeting, many of them had the same question - what were the famous bungee chairs.
Even your parents enjoyed relaxing in the sought-after chairs!
Working with Buddies
One of the most fun things that we do at Churchill is work in multi-age groups. We have already had a chance to buddy up with four other classes for our weekly Math Buddies sessions on Fridays. Tiiu, Heather C, Roy, Stacey and our class get together every week and work on awesome Math skills. We have already measured ourselves with "height snakes", estimated and measured ourselves with hands and will be doing a math problem about robots tomorrow!
We also love to buddy up with Roy's class and help them out in the computer lab.
We also love to buddy up with Roy's class and help them out in the computer lab.
We get to work with younger students many times in the day, doing Lunch Monitor shifts, and walking younger students out to recess and to their buses.
The students in Room 209 take their role modelling and responsibilities very seriously and many of them spent most of the Terry Fox run with their Little Buddies, making sure they felt comfortable and had the best time possible!
Room 209 Fashion - Jackson's Lunch Bag Pants 2.0
Remember this fashion from last year?
Well, Jackson's done it again! He replicated his Terry Fox form and function look from last year and added to it by creating his own t-shirt (and later, a lot of body art!).
Well, Jackson's done it again! He replicated his Terry Fox form and function look from last year and added to it by creating his own t-shirt (and later, a lot of body art!).
Wednesday 25 September 2013
The Terry Fox Letter That Came Home Today!
Dear Grade 5/6s and Parents,
Tomorrow we are going on the Terry Fox Run! We will be leaving the school at 10:30 a.m. and heading to Dovercourt Park to run laps and have a great time! Students will bring their lunches and have a picnic with students from other grades who are in their running groups! Please remember to wear comfortable clothing and running shoes. Bring your water bottle and your lunch. Bring a sweater or jacket in case it gets cold. Dress appropriately.
We are fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation to raise money for cancer research and awareness. Almost all of us are impacted by cancer, we probably all have friends and family who had or might have cancer, so we think it's really important to bring in money to help cure cancer so they won't have to suffer that.
Our goal is to bring in $1 per person at least. This is because Terry, when he was going around Canada, he asked every Canadian to give just one dollar. He was put on the one dollar loonie because of this. We also wanted to try to collect money from our family members and friends to see how big our Churchill community is and how much we can help.
"Bring ur $" - Hunter
Translation: Please bring your money to help Terry Fox out! - Jackson
Sincerely,
Rainbow Egg Heads of Class 209
Friday 20 September 2013
New Gym Games
Check out this Youtube channel - PhysEdGames. It's full of great ideas for Gym. I want to add more variety into our activities and think this will be an excellent resource! Today, we tried Pass It On after a few fun warm-ups. We played Tiiu's recommendation of "Meet in the Middle" and learned the "Fresh Prince Handshake", "Do-si-do", and a very fancy partner spin. Then, we tried to pass a ball down the wall, using only our legs. Students are feeling the burn in their abs and thighs and the stretch down their whole bodies! A great day in Gym!
If you find a game that you'd like to play in Gym, please visit the "Daybook as We Go" and leave a comment with a link to the game you'd like to try.
If you find a game that you'd like to play in Gym, please visit the "Daybook as We Go" and leave a comment with a link to the game you'd like to try.
Thursday 19 September 2013
First Computer Lab Session
Hello and welcome to your first period in the computer lab.
You have a few simple jobs to complete today.
#1. Get seated in boy-girl-boy-girl order
#2. Use your school log in to get onto a computer in the lab
#3. Visit the blog (you're here!) to see what your jobs are for today
#4. Log in (using the username and password Shauna gave you in class) to Typing Web
#5. Start at the "Beginner Course" and pick the first lesson. Get to work typing!
#6. We'll all type for the same amount of time today. I'll stop you when it's time to move on.
#7. After you practice typing, come visit the blog and find the post about elephants. Read it and watch the video. Then, leave a comment (make sure to enter your name) about if you'd like to participate in this project and what you'd like to get out of it.
#8. Once you have double checked your post for your best spelling and detail, you may read other posts on our blog and leave comments if you wish.
You have a few simple jobs to complete today.
#1. Get seated in boy-girl-boy-girl order
#2. Use your school log in to get onto a computer in the lab
#3. Visit the blog (you're here!) to see what your jobs are for today
#4. Log in (using the username and password Shauna gave you in class) to Typing Web
#5. Start at the "Beginner Course" and pick the first lesson. Get to work typing!
#6. We'll all type for the same amount of time today. I'll stop you when it's time to move on.
#7. After you practice typing, come visit the blog and find the post about elephants. Read it and watch the video. Then, leave a comment (make sure to enter your name) about if you'd like to participate in this project and what you'd like to get out of it.
#8. Once you have double checked your post for your best spelling and detail, you may read other posts on our blog and leave comments if you wish.
Jackson at the Terry Fox Memorial by Jackson
What happened was that me and my dad were on a motorcycle trip and he wanted to see this and we stopped and I saw it. So we stopped and took a picture. It's the Terry Fox Memorial, I don't remember where it was. It's 'cause it's where Terry Fox stopped, I think.
-Jackson
Wednesday 18 September 2013
Alex's Lemonade Stand - Family BBQ Version!
After watching the Alex's Lemonade Stand video as a class, several students jumped right into action!
Oceanna, Clara, Hannah, Kaleigh and Skye brought in supplies (lemons, lemonade, a pitcher, cups, a table cloth and signs) and they, as well as other Rainbow Egg Heads like Jackson and Kaleigh, got straight to work!
The lemonade sold out before the end of the Family BBQ and they raised more than $50! In addition to that, the students explained the cause eloquently and passionately to countless families. I was one impressed teacher!
What an amazing start to what is sure to be another thoughtful, philanthropic year!
Oh yeah, after we sold out, we have a quick, fun Macarena Flash Mob!
Oceanna, Clara, Hannah, Kaleigh and Skye brought in supplies (lemons, lemonade, a pitcher, cups, a table cloth and signs) and they, as well as other Rainbow Egg Heads like Jackson and Kaleigh, got straight to work!
The lemonade sold out before the end of the Family BBQ and they raised more than $50! In addition to that, the students explained the cause eloquently and passionately to countless families. I was one impressed teacher!
What an amazing start to what is sure to be another thoughtful, philanthropic year!
 |
| Also, Skye had another fundraiser running at the same time for her Genius Hour project with Sharky and Kaitlyn, more info to come on that soon with a guest post from Skye! |
 |
| The lemonade was a welcome, sweet treat on a beautiful, sunny evening! |
 |
| Hannah, literally enjoying the fruits of her labour! |
Oh yeah, after we sold out, we have a quick, fun Macarena Flash Mob!
Should We Bring Elephants into Our Classroom?
I found yet another cool opportunity on Skype in the Classroom. Scientists in Thailand have offered to share information about the elephants they're studying via Skype with classes all over the world!
There is a big time difference between our countries, and meeting live may be tricky. I'm tyring to come up with ideas of what we could request from Think Elephants and then remembered how much better 29 minds are than 1!
What could we do? Students in NYC meet virtually with scientists (and even got to see the elephants via Skype!) after school in the evenings. They even helped the scientists in Thailand develop experiments to test the elephants' understanding!
Check out Think Elephants website. You can read about the work they've done, their educational programs and what they've learned about how elephants think!
There is a big time difference between our countries, and meeting live may be tricky. I'm tyring to come up with ideas of what we could request from Think Elephants and then remembered how much better 29 minds are than 1!
What could we do? Students in NYC meet virtually with scientists (and even got to see the elephants via Skype!) after school in the evenings. They even helped the scientists in Thailand develop experiments to test the elephants' understanding!
Check out Think Elephants website. You can read about the work they've done, their educational programs and what they've learned about how elephants think!
Monday 16 September 2013
Terry Fox Sharing Coming Up!
This Wednesday, the whole school will be getting together for our first Sharing of the year!
We'll be hearing about Terry Fox and will be reminded why we fundraise for the Terry Fox Foundation every year.
Terry's two main goals for his run across Canada were to raise awareness about cancer and to raise one dollar from every Canadian. I think we can raise one dollar from every Churchill student, and even more money from our school community. How big do you think our community is?
If you want to fundraise this year, you can either bring money in to school or do your fundraising online. You can sign up online to fundraise, just visit the link with your parents, click on "Join this School Run" and then follow the sign-up process.
To get ready for the Sharing, we'll listen to and practice this song: Run Fox Run.
We'll be hearing about Terry Fox and will be reminded why we fundraise for the Terry Fox Foundation every year.
Terry's two main goals for his run across Canada were to raise awareness about cancer and to raise one dollar from every Canadian. I think we can raise one dollar from every Churchill student, and even more money from our school community. How big do you think our community is?
If you want to fundraise this year, you can either bring money in to school or do your fundraising online. You can sign up online to fundraise, just visit the link with your parents, click on "Join this School Run" and then follow the sign-up process.
To get ready for the Sharing, we'll listen to and practice this song: Run Fox Run.
Run Fox Run
You gave us a dream as big as our land
A mountain of hope from a humble man
Chasing a cure one mile at a time
Facing home you would smile,
Take a breath and hit your stride
Come on run Fox run
Into our hearts
You can run Fox run, run, run
Into our hearts
A marathon a day
Through the wind and rain
You believed in a miracle
Beyond the pain
Now there's unfinished business
And we're racing the clock
For today and tomorrow
We can't rest til' the hurting stops
Come on run Fox run
Into our hearts
You can run Fox run, run, run
Into our hearts
Your spirit runs farther and stronger each day
Helping us to go the distance and to keep the faith
Come on run Fox run
Into our hearts
You can run Fox run, run, run
Into our hearts
A mountain of hope from a humble man
Chasing a cure one mile at a time
Facing home you would smile,
Take a breath and hit your stride
Come on run Fox run
Into our hearts
You can run Fox run, run, run
Into our hearts
A marathon a day
Through the wind and rain
You believed in a miracle
Beyond the pain
Now there's unfinished business
And we're racing the clock
For today and tomorrow
We can't rest til' the hurting stops
Come on run Fox run
Into our hearts
You can run Fox run, run, run
Into our hearts
Your spirit runs farther and stronger each day
Helping us to go the distance and to keep the faith
Come on run Fox run
Into our hearts
You can run Fox run, run, run
Into our hearts
First Day of School - Getting to Know You BINGO
First Day of School Class Photos
The amazing new Room 209 students...
...finding out they're in Room 209 this year...
...riding a rollercoaster...
...and the aftermath of riding a rollercoaster.
Saturday 14 September 2013
Wednesday 11 September 2013
Our First Post Together
Greetings parents and kids!
We are sitting here as a class in Room 209 writing our first blog post of 2013-14.
In our class this year, we have 28 students (or "eggs"), 3 pets, 1 sock monkey, 1 puppet, 5 octopuses (not counting Squidward) and 1 teacher. We have 11 grade 5 students and 17 grade 6 students. There are 11 boys and 17 girls. There are a bunch of EPIC people who like bacon. There are also a bunch of people who like flying ponies, rainbows and dublacorns.
Shauna's class likes to always have a class name and we are called the "Rainbow Egg Heads" this year. Our class is the "Farm of Rainbow Egg Heads". We have picked this name because Shauna started off with ADD EGGS. ADD EGGS means accountable, driven, dynamic, engaged, grateful, generous and supportive. We are students who demonstrate ADD EGGS every day, hence the "Egg Heads". We added rainbow to the beginning of our name because we all love rainbows and Shauna rainbow coated the tables for the first day of school.
There will be a Class Meeting for all parents and guardians of the "Rainbow Egg Heads" It is on Thursday, September 19th in "the Farm" (the classroom, room 209). It starts at 7 p.m. and will take about one hour.
Sincerely,
The Rainbow Egg Heads
We are sitting here as a class in Room 209 writing our first blog post of 2013-14.
In our class this year, we have 28 students (or "eggs"), 3 pets, 1 sock monkey, 1 puppet, 5 octopuses (not counting Squidward) and 1 teacher. We have 11 grade 5 students and 17 grade 6 students. There are 11 boys and 17 girls. There are a bunch of EPIC people who like bacon. There are also a bunch of people who like flying ponies, rainbows and dublacorns.
Shauna's class likes to always have a class name and we are called the "Rainbow Egg Heads" this year. Our class is the "Farm of Rainbow Egg Heads". We have picked this name because Shauna started off with ADD EGGS. ADD EGGS means accountable, driven, dynamic, engaged, grateful, generous and supportive. We are students who demonstrate ADD EGGS every day, hence the "Egg Heads". We added rainbow to the beginning of our name because we all love rainbows and Shauna rainbow coated the tables for the first day of school.
There will be a Class Meeting for all parents and guardians of the "Rainbow Egg Heads" It is on Thursday, September 19th in "the Farm" (the classroom, room 209). It starts at 7 p.m. and will take about one hour.
Sincerely,
The Rainbow Egg Heads
Friday 6 September 2013
Welcome to a New School Year!
Hello Room 209 students and families (and the rest of the blogosphere!),
Welcome to a wonderful new school year. It's great to see familiar and new faces in Room 209 this September! We had a wonderful first week, filled with games, laughter, learning and community building.
For now, our class is called the "Egg Heads", as a nod to our class recipe for success, ADD EGGS. Students have spoken in detail about how Accountability, Dynamism, Drive, Engagement, (being) Grateful, Generousity and Support will help to make our classroom a wonderful place to work this year!
Please check out the slideshow below for some ideas about what ADD EGGS will look like in Room 209.
I'm thrilled to be teaching this great group of school leaders this year and I can tell already that we are full of ideas, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Wait 'till you see how far the Egg Heads will go!
Welcome to a wonderful new school year. It's great to see familiar and new faces in Room 209 this September! We had a wonderful first week, filled with games, laughter, learning and community building.
For now, our class is called the "Egg Heads", as a nod to our class recipe for success, ADD EGGS. Students have spoken in detail about how Accountability, Dynamism, Drive, Engagement, (being) Grateful, Generousity and Support will help to make our classroom a wonderful place to work this year!
Please check out the slideshow below for some ideas about what ADD EGGS will look like in Room 209.
I'm thrilled to be teaching this great group of school leaders this year and I can tell already that we are full of ideas, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Wait 'till you see how far the Egg Heads will go!
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