A field trip before the break

Dear Parents, 

Thank you so much for the cards and gifts some of you sent in this past week. It always means a lot to know that you appreciate the work I do. I'm especially excited to try some of the treats kids have made...I like to think about the next generation of bakers. 

Yesterday's trip was a smashing success. I cannot recommend the High Park Nature Centre enough to you all. We had a lovely exploratory session in the morning, looking at different signs animals leave in the wild and then taking a hike to see what we could find. Because we had so many excellent parent volunteers, my job was mostly to take photos. 

Students did some centre based work: making pinecone feeders, molding clay to look like different types of animal scat, matching animal shelters, and connecting parts of animals to their wholes. 

Put the lard over the pinecone, then roll it in sunflower seeds

 

Match the animal to its tracks

The faces from this centre are really the best. I had a hard time winnowing them down:

The Moose

What kind of feather?

In the afternoon, we talked about different kinds of owls and the special features these kinds of birds have. For example:

Sharp beaks

Binocular vision

 And then we got to take apart some owl pellets. Owl pellets are kind of like hairballs from owls: they cough up all the things they can't digest in these little balls of fur and bone. When you pick them apart, you can tell the kinds of animals owls may have been eating. All the germs were gone thanks to irradiation with UV light, but it was still a little gruesome (for some of the parents more than the kids). You can see from the pictures below how enthralled and engaged they were.

After that, we played an owl trivia race game and role played as hunters seeking food in the forest--half the class hid the prey in one area, then the other half hunted for the tags (and vice versa). 

All in all it was a fantastic day. Thanks to all the parents who slogged through the snow with us. And a very special thanks to Jackson D's mom, Jenny, who showed up with hot chocolate at lunch (and coffee for the grown ups). 

Following up on Forms

Dear Parents,

1. I'm still missing the majority of trip forms and money for our trip to High Park Nature Centre on December 22. I know that it's a busy time of year, but one form I got back today was a NO because that student will be out of town the week before Christmas.

 Unfortunately, the entire class booked for the trip still has to pay once the reservation is set, so please let me know as soon as possible if you a) are also out of town and will miss the trip. b) need another trip form.

2. I sent home two pages of math today. If you would be so good as to send it back whether or not it's done, that would be ideal.

There was a bit of a mix up with the supply and the sheet that went home yesterday was best done in class, so we finished estimating together. I've sent it home so you can review it together if you get a chance. We measured using a paperclip as a non-standard measure. It's good for students to have a concrete sense of units, so we're using paperclips, blocks, and finger lengths as well as centimeters and meters to measure.

  "Using a Grid to Measure Length" was the sheet that should have gone home yesterday. Some kids got more done than others on this sheet. I hope it's a little more clear how to follow the directions on it. Students are simply comparing different lengths to each other and there's a coded message if you get it right.

3. Taking up our "Activist Checklists" inspired some good conversations in class about what we think is right, why we make different choices, and how working towards our goals is important. There was some spirited debate about zoos and vegetarianism. This one made me laugh:

"What does that mean? "I don't know. My dad just told me to write it."

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan