This past month the grade 7 & 8s have been learning about Healthy eating choices in our Nutrition unit. Students have analyzed food labels, nutrient contents and the Canadian food guide. For their culminating project, students were challenged to create food truck with two specialty dishes, and boy did these kids not disappoint! The project was an excellent way to demonstrate their nutrition knowledge, language finesse, media savvy and oral competence in one shot. Check out some fantastic examples below.
Step 1: I give each student a large piece of white cartridge paper, and have them draw a 10 cm by 10 cm border around the outside. Step 2: Students then trace a variety of school supplies in pencil all around the border. Step 3: Students outline all the objects traced using a fine line marker. Step 4: Students add patterns and lines using a combination ofBLACK fine line and Crayola thick markers. Step 5: Once the students have finished the black and white border they are allowed to do anything in the "middle" section of the desk mat. The only thing they MUST include is their name. I encourage them to use LOTS of colour and a variety of media. Some students bring in pictures from home, some draw their favourite objects, some print images from the computer. They often use a combination of pencil crayon and marker for this part of the project. Step 6: After students have finished the inside design and the outside patterns, they go back to the border section. Here they use a fine line marker to fill all the "white" space in the background with dots. This can be tedious for some students but the finished effect is worth it. Some days it sounds like there are woodpeckers in the classroom as several students are making their dots at the same time. Step 7: I laminate all the desk mats. I know this is not considered very environmentally friendly. The students are also very PROUD of their work, and most keep the mats for years and years to come. The grade 7s worked hard collecting materials for their ecosystems int he forest behind our school. The final products turned out great!
Copeland class 2018/2019 worked really hard at creating realistic space models in our most recent science unit. Check out the AWESOMESAUCE below.
Very intricate, very laborious but very rewarding art. They are (painted) paper mosaic landscapes courtesy of CopelandClass. Most of the scenes depicted are directly inspired by landscape photographs, some are a fusion of different photos and a few are entirely imagined. Islands and icebergs, mountains and rivers, rocks, roads, oceans, jetties and sunsets—there's a great variety of scenery, and as with all good landscape art, it's very easy to stop and stare at these beautiful natural environments. The first and probably most enjoyable part of the process was painting all the paper. We gathered a tonne of scrap paper (just regular old copy paper) and went a bit wild with the paint, making numerous colour mixes, tints and shades. The unprinted side of each A4 sheet was quickly painted one colour, then the mix was tweaked (darker or lighter or greener etc) and another full sheet was painted. And so the process continued until virtually every flat surface in the room was covered in dozens and dozens of differently coloured pieces of drying paper. The students then made planning sketches based on a series of landscape photos that I showed them. They also wrote down the colours they intended to use in each area. Next they very lightly drew in some guide lines on their good piece of art paper. Finally they began the laborious task of blocking in each segment of their landscape by cutting and pasting down pieces of the paper we had painted previously. As well as deciding exactly where to place all those great colours, other goals included gluing each piece of paper so it didn't touch its neighbour, and also to rub out the pencil guides before they were immortalised in glue! This cutting and pasting part of the process was quite taxing but the students did a fantastic job! Copeland Class 2019 ArtAs a Intermediate teacher for the last 11 years I have come to LOVE and HATE math in the same breath. The simple truth of the matter is that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE doing, solving, and thinking about mathematics. I use math everyday, I love the challenge and simplicity of breaking down a problem. I love the satisfaction of how numbers work together and I love teaching various ways to get to the same answer. But over the years I have begun to HATE how math trips up the confidence of my little ducks. Its as though the word itself carries magical mental blocking properties that prevents kids from even trying to get an answer. I say math and a majority of students have stopped listening immediately. This is an incredibly difficult hurdle to jump over when their confidence seems directly linked to the math textbook pages. Its heart breaking! There are soooo many skills involved in being successful. Some as simple as writing down a note or an example. Listening or rather ACTIVE listening is also key, and usually the beginning breakdown to students confusion of a concept. Organization is important to just keep your sheets, questions, quizzes together as they can used again to study from or review. But ultimately a students success depends on their attitude in TRYING! Today we played an algebra review games called GRUDGEBALL. Kids had to work as a team to complete a math task and get a chance to shoot for power so to remove points from opponents. As a naturally competitive person I feel like this game sparks a motivation to literally "Give it a shot". The team with the least amount of points taken are deemed our winners and all won AwesomeSauce in the class. Everyone had a great time and as one student pointed out "Copeland, I feel like I'm learning more from my mistakes in this game" : WHOO HOO!! MATH HELPThis year I have communicated with a number of parents who are frustrated with helping their son or daughter at home. I have a solution for you. Every student in Ontario has access to website called Mathify: and its awesome! Mathify offers LIVE TUTORS every Sunday-Thursday night from 5:30-9:30pm to help consolidate students classroom learning. Students can log on to the site using their Student OEN number (which I have provided to them) and can ask any math related question they have, for FREE! They will have a 1 on 1 tutor who can help them through the process and keep any and all notes they discuss in their tutor session. AWESOME!!! I HIGHLY recommend all my students check this out SImply click the picture or website below
www.tvomathify.com This week the grade 7s had the opportunity to visit Mansfield Outdoor Center and experience the true essence of Winter Wonderland. Amid the largest snow storm of the season, we hiked, played, went snowshoeing and explored the amazing facilities. Students learned very quickly that dressing appropriately for winter elements is a key to success and because so many were prepared it made for a really enjoyable experience. Students learned a variety of wilderness survival strategies, like building shelters and fires to survive the elements. Students really shined during our cooperative games and teamwork challenges involving low ropes and barn boards. The cabins were small and cozy and I know many enjoyed chatting and bonding with their friends over the three days. A highlight for many was the serene night walk we completed in the forest trails being guided by only the moonlight above. The sound of soft snow falling and coyotes calling the distance made the experience very memorable. Despite a flu bug that creeped in at the end of our trip, it was certain by the smiling faces and sleepy eyes that everyone had a great trip.
For the last week, Copelandclass has been preparing for our Flight and Form structure build. The challenge was to design a structure that related to Flight for grade 6’s and Function for the grade 7’s. Students collected materials and selected groups to begin the design process. Students had ONE day to construct an efficient structure. Groups worked well to complete the challenge and the results were quite exciting. Check out our gallery below.
Sudan has been involved in civil war fueled by religious, ethnic and regional strife since the mid-1980s. Thousands of children have experienced mind-numbing horrors and intense hardship. Their story has been dubbed the Lost Boys of Sudan because they arrived at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya without parents. The name, borrowed from the children's story "Peter Pan," describes a generation of Sudanese boys driven from their tribal villages by a devastating civil war between north and south Sudan. Most of the "boys" - which, regardless of age, is how they still refer to one another -- are from the various tribes of Southern Sudan and most are orphans. Approximately 26,000 Sudanese boys were forced by violence from their southern Sudan villages in the late 1980s. Their villages were attacked mostly at night. The boys, some as young as 4 years old, ran into the surrounding forest (girls were more likely to have escaped or died with their parents, or have been enslaved). They then started walking to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, where they stayed until the Communists overthrew the government in 1991 and forced the young boys to leave at gunpoint. Chased by Ethiopian government tanks and armed militia, the boys frantically tried to cross the River Gilo, where thousands drowned, were eaten by crocodiles or shot. Those who survived the river crossing walked for more than a year back through Sudan to Kenya. Only half of the original boys, about 10,000-12,000, survived the journey, arriving at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya in 1992. The majority of them were between the ages of 8 and 18 (most of the boys don't know for sure how old they are; aid workers assigned them approximate ages after they arrived in Kenya). They walked for days, then weeks, then months and finally for over a year. They walked anywhere from 700 to 1,000 miles, first to Ethiopia, then back to Sudan, then south to Kenya, looking for safety. Ten and eleven year olds were the elders. Seven and eight year olds became each others' parents, binding one another's wounds, sharing sips of muddy water, burying their dead. When the littlest ones became too weak or tired to continue, the older boys picked them up and carried them. Some boys, too exhausted to go on, simply sat down and died of starvation or dehydration. Others lagged behind, becoming easy prey for lions. In 2001, intolerable living conditions in the refugee camp gave the United States government reason to resettle some 4,000 of these now young men in America. Today, about 120 "Lost Boys" have made Chicago their new home. It is no small irony that several of the boys who came to Chicago were on flights to USA on 9/11 and thought they were bringing the war with them; they were diverted to Canada where they stayed for a few days before they were allowed to enter the U.S. Their spirit of hope remains strong through their unyielding faith in God, and their intense desire to become educated. They are bright with hope, full of smiles, and ready to become contributing members of their new communities, while helping to rebuild their communities in Southern Sudan. Watch the film here -->http://www.lostboysfilm.com/ Copyright © 2004-2009 BCDEnterprises. All rights reserved. All photos and graphics are original work by Barbara Rose written permission required to use them.
|
EXPLORE!Feel free to look around the site using the categories/tags below on the topic you are looking for. Categories
All
Archives
July 2019
|