Category: Uncategorized

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING LATELY?

CATAPULTS

In UE, we had another Engineering Challenge. It was three people in a group, and we had to make a catapult that functioned with long distance and accuracy. We had a lot of trial and error and then we had to test them against the other groups’ catapults. The winner of the challenge was Joe Perras’ stool-cooking spoon catapult, but he would not accept the victory, so first place went to Saad, Sohun, Fraser, and Gabe. Second place went to Jane, Layla, and Emily and third place went to Kaydence, Molly and Nikhil. Jenna, Evan and Ben sniped the accuracy award, being the only group to knock down any cups at all! (Three… or was it four?)

ICE RINK

Once again, thank you to all the people who have been shovelling, getting water, and just helping in general with the rink! We feel that the rink is almost finished. It has been a lot of work and sadly the rink is starting to melt, but with the snow that fell on Thursday, we think it will make a come-back! We have all been looking forward to skating on the rink and we really hope that the rink will freeze again. Fingers crossed!

BURNHAM WOODS

Recently, the UE class went to Burnham Woods for gym. It was a lot of fun and we hope to have more fun like that in the near future. It was especially great because we got to play some good, old ‘Camouflage’! Being outside in the fresh air was really nice. Unfortunately, some students did not bring the proper outside equipment and got cold. So, please, everyday there is snow on the ground (or it is cold outside), make sure to bring proper equipment for that day.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

One time, when we were leaving Burnham Woods, some of the students saw an elderly lady walking down the driveway getting her mail. We felt we could help her. So now, we are arranging with her about volunteering to help shovel her driveway, get her mail, and several other outside chores.

WHAT’S COMING UP?

March Break is coming up soon, but in the meantime, we are going to be doing some small group research work to learn more about First Nations, and what they lived like in ancient times. We know that North and South America were the last continents to have humans on them, and learned about the way they got here — over the land bridge from Asia! Did you know that they have found camel and hyena fossils way up North near Alaska? The earliest people travelled across our country using their feet and the best ‘roads’ in Canada…. lakes and rivers! So Joe is busy testing us about our map knowledge of all the lakes and rivers in Canada, as well as provinces and their capitals (which we should already know… haha). Also, for those of us who are really science keen, there is a Science Fair at Trent University to prepare for. We thought you would like to know, since the fair is right after our March Break, so you might need to do some preparing for that over the Break, if you want to go!

(This blog was by: Kieran and Isla, with help from Kristina)

WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON LATELY IN UE? (by Molly and Rhys) As you probably might know we all contributed doing what we call Expert Day. We each chose something that we are passionate about and already know, or something that we would like to become an expert at. Another fun thing that we did this January was we had a ski day at Brimacombe. We had lots of fun and learned lots of new skills. We got to hang out with our friends. The most fun part of it all was skiing of course!

In classroom learning, one of the things that the grade sixes have been studying this term is World Religions. Each person picked a certain religion (for example mine was Islam). We each studied it and became a master in our certain religion. Something that the grade fives have been studying is the Middle Ages. The large group of them each had a question about this time period, like “What did they eat?” or “What type of government did they have?” or “What were their houses like?”. They found sources and researched their question, and then included it in a giant slideshow of Middle Ages. Rumour has it we will be learning how to make chainmail, as soon as the materials for that arrive! The grade fours have been learning about matter, states of matter, atoms, and the periodic table. Something that we are all still working on and will continue to work on is our ICE RINK! We started this about two weeks ago and have been working on it ever since. We started by shovelling out all the snow in a certain area then we would get the hose and start to slowly spray the certain area the we shovelled. As I already said the ice rink is still in progress it is coming along nicely.

WHAT’S COMING UP? Well, another ski day will happen in February, so watch out for that. Also, this coming week we will have the folks from TRACKS (Trent Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Science) out to join us and share some learning on Thursday! We’re pretty sure that will involve being outside a lot, so dress for success outside, that day! Might even be an idea to bring extra stuff, if it gets wet. Also, our holidays committee has another fantastic potluck for Valentine’s Day on their agenda, because we love celebrating with food, here in UE! More info to follow on that, when the committee has made some decisions. People are really interested in making committees and groups right now. We have some people interested in baking things, especially after expert day, when there was BREAD! Also, we have a Dungeons and Dragons group who stay in one lunch and enjoy doing some role playing and adventuring. We learned in a recent leadership session with our principal, Emily, that we have a shortage of ‘Drivers’ and ‘Relationship Minders’ in our class, though we have lots of creative and spontaneous ideas people. All this committee work lets us practice more organizing and planning and MAKING THINGS HAPPEN, which is a bit of our weak spot at the moment. But, practice makes… better! We really enjoyed reflecting on our group work skills and roles in our Engineering Challenge – ask about the spaghetti and marshmallow 😉

This week:

This week we gave a warm welcome to our new friends who joined our classrooms! We had a blast making carrot soup and exploring the lower field in the sunshine.

Tip of the week:

Please say “Hello” to our placement student Nanae if you see her in the hall. She is with us for two more weeks! We do like to spend time outside so thank you for sending your children in weather (and mud) appropriate clothing! We have had a lot of fun!

Next week:

Our Public Open House is next Saturday, April 6th from 10am-12pm! Please feel free to share this information with any friends or family interested in learning more about our school.

This Week:

What a busy week we have had in Casa! On Monday, Aimee’s Mom “Chef Anne” came in to help the children make fruit salad. It was a hit! Irish Millie was also visiting that day and brought along her fiddle to play for the children. Some children even had the opportunity to touch the fiddle and try out the bow on the strings. On Tuesday, Evan Ng’s Mom, Jenny, visited both Casa classes to teach the children more about Chinese New Year. Students had an opportunity to ask questions and use chop sticks! Today, Jimmy Chapman was back for another exciting session of break dancing. You can ask your children if they can show you “the robot”, “the worm” or “cut the cheese”. Remember to check out the photos we post to see some photos of these events as well as students completing daily work.

Next Week:

Tuesday will be Pancake Day at KMS. This is a wonderful morning when the Lower Elementary students prepare and serve pancakes to the whole school! The pancakes will not replace a meal, so please still send along whatever food you normally would. Please also send your child with a plate and fork in a bag. More details can be found in the email sent out by Kristi this morning.

Don’t forget there is no school on Friday, March 8th, as teachers will be hosting parent-teacher interviews.

Tip of the Week:

Thank you so very much for all of your donations of milk / juice cartons. We have received enough cartons to begin our bird feeders!

We have a new student teacher in Casa for the next seven weeks. Her name is Nanae and she is currently completing her ECE diploma at Fleming College. We encourage you to introduce yourself if you see her in the halls!

This Week:

What an icy week! This week we spent some time learning about the Chinese New Year and took a walk to our lower East field to play for recess!

 

 

Next Week:

Monday, February 11th:  PEG initiative Staff Appreciation Potluck.  Please contact a PEG member, (a.joshi@arteri.ca ) if you have any questions or refer to the information email.

Friday, February 18th: P.A. Day

 

 

Tip of The Week: 

We are hoping for better weather next week to be able to play outside. Please consider sending an extra pair of mitts if you haven’t already. Have a great weekend!

 

Our last week of school has been full of excitement! Wishing you and your family a safe and happy holiday break. Looking forward to seeing you all in the new year!