Bracelet Patterns

Dear Parents,

Tomorrow is our field trip. Mr. Eloi is my +1, but I look forward to doing more trips this year and hope that we'll be able to use your support then. The students were really excited today about the trip and I hope they enjoy the show tomorrow.  We should be back by lunchtime, so lunch will follow as normal and students will also have library tomorrow afternoon. Return those books if you can find them!

Last week was short but full. I've managed to see all but a few of the parents in the classroom to touch base about student progress.

We were also lucky enough last week to be able to see some Native North American Powwow dancing. The Men's fancy style was students' hands-down favourite, but they also appreciated the Jingle Dancing.

Men's Fancy Style

And we finished our math unit on Patterning. In case you wondered why your child came home with a new bracelet over the weekend, this was why. Each bracelet has a core of 5, which repeats in a circle. It's nice to consolidate learning in fun ways when we can.

Friday is Mr. Eloi's last day with us. It's also Pizza Day, so I suspect I may have some volunteers in the afternoon and we hope to make a mini-learning celebration out of it. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

First Nations Picture Books

Dear Parents,

I spent my Friday afternoon at the Spadina branch of the Toronto Public Library. They've got a really great collection of Aboriginal resources that I was happy to be able to pick through and bring back to the classroom for Monday. In looking at books, I'm trying to access resources that represent different Native groups from across Canada, so that students understand that Native culture isn't monolithic--Native peoples from different regions have cultures and traditions that may look quite different.

Here are some authors of picture books I personally like and the communities they talk about. (As teachers, sometimes these resources are tricky to come by, so it's nice to have a list) It's by no means exhaustive and not all of these authors are themselves from the communities whose stories they are telling, but they are all beautifully written and illustrated:



Paul Goble (connected to the Yakima and Oglala Sioux)

Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd (connected to various Northwest Coast Native communities, like Haida, Tsimshian, and Heiltsuk peoples in British Columbia) 

Paul Owen Lewis (connected to Northwest Coast First Nations)

Chad Solomon (connected to the Henvey Inlet Ojibwe First Nation in Ontario)

Tomson Highway (connected to Cree First Nations from the Prairies)

Rachel  and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley (connected to Inuit peoples)

Jose Angutinngirniq (connected to Inuit peoples in Nunavut)

Qaunaq Mikkigak and Joanne Schwartz (connected to Inuit peoples in Nunavut)

I'm also really cautious about giving an exclusively historical look at Native cultures, so I was lucky enough to find several books talking about the way life looks on different modern reserves in the Northern Territories by Fifth House Publishers: Come and Learn with Me.

As we continue to explore Roles and Responsibilities and move into our next science unit on Living Things, we'll also continue to talk about some of the challenges facing Native peoples, especially looking at how many Native peoples have taken on a role in championing land and water rights. For good reason, too, I mean, we hear about the pipeline blockade at Standing Rock and the issues with pipelines in British Columbia in recent news stories, but the ongoing issues of safe water fly under the radar. For example, this is a map I hope to share with my students showing that over three quarter (84%) of Native reservations in Ontario have drinkable water issues:

Ontario Water System Risk map from National Assessment of First Nations Water and Wastewater Systems (2011)

Forgive me if this particular post seems a little more academic, but I promise pictures of smiling children in my next post, demonstrating our recent math adventures. Enjoy your weekend.

Sincerely,

Lisa Goegan

News 105.1

Dear Parents,

1. Reports went home today and with them interview confirmations. I added a couple of interviews for parents new to me, but mostly used the forms you sent back to help schedule things as best I could. If there's a problem with your scheduled time, please let me know as soon as possible.  (I'm hoping to get an online form together for next term, but in the meantime it's a bit of a juggling act to shift things about.)

For me, the most important part of the report card is the learning skills. York Region has a handy little brochure for parents about reading learning skills:  Learning Skills and Work Habits. These are the first areas to address when looking to improve overall student performance.

You should also know that teachers use modifiers to explain what students are doing in the classroom in reference to curriculum expectations. A student may be reading clearly and confidently (Level 4), just "beginning to" access skills (Level 1) or be somewhere in between. If you find the language confusing, or just want more information about your child's progress, I am available to meet on Thursday night and Friday morning this week.

2. Library books are not being returned on a weekly basis by many students. As of next week, library will be on Tuesdays (Day 3 shifts around, but it's always Day 3 in our cycle). If you are not getting a library book in the Mr. Zippy on library day, the system believes you have books that are outstanding. Get in touch with me or Ms. Greenwood to resolve this if you believe there's been a mistake or if you want to pay for a lost book.

3. There was a patterning math sheet that went home tonight. Students got time in class to work on it, but it was to be sent home as homework by the supply teacher. If you can help your child finish it tonight, that would be ideal. If not, send it back via Mr. Zippy anyways so I know it's not been lost. Checked homework is returned to you with a sticker to keep at home.

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

Art, Science, Social Studies: A Post in Pictures

Dear Parents,

The Getting to Know You Self Portraits are down and went home today in Zippies. The Picasso-Frankenstein self portraits are up. Students layered profiles on top of face outlines and added details like eyes, hair, ears, mouths, and teeth to create these. I love how individual they are. 

I have been impressed by the students interest and engagement in science. About half of the energy presentations got to go today. Here are some of the toys that use energy that students made with their parents:

Airplane

Guitar

Drums

Wind turbine car

Bongos

Wind up elastic car

A butterfly

A kite

A windmill

A guitar

A cork boat

The Good Ship Yebin

Finally, I posted on Friday about some of the books we've been reading in class. This one asks children to imagine a world where anything is possible. We're using it as inspiration to make our Canadian flags for Remembrance Day.

 These books are stories based on Native myths and legends. Storm Boy and Frog Girl have particularly beautiful illustrations and are based on Haida stories and art (though not by a Haida artist).

This book is about a Native Canadian's residential school experience and was brought to us by Mr. Eloi. We're discussng some of the differences between the roles and responsibilities of teachers and students at Residential Schools versus our own school.

Ella-Jane's dad touched base with me today regarding books on the residential school experience --I think this is the list he was talking about: 10-books-about-residential-schools-to-read-with-your-kids. 

There's some really great middle grades books on there that I've used in Grade 5 and 6 to really get into these issues with students, but Grade 1 is a whole new world for me. Do you know of a great resource dealing with the viewpoints of Aboriginal peoples? Please do let me know. 

We've been talking about Native experiences and perspectives in particular as part of our Social Studies unit on Roles and Responsibilities. It's so important to give students a sense not only of the history (the treaties are mentioned every day on announcements) but also of the contemporary issues and perspectives that different groups deal with in an ongoing basis. 

Sincerely,

Lisa Goegan

Reminders, etc.

Dear Parents,

Here's a reminder post! Next Monday, we look forward to seeing students' presentations on their energy devices. (It's also Library Day--many students have library books outstanding).

Unfortunately, I was away today and I'll be away tomorrow afternoon as well. Please feel free to touch base tomorrow morning or to ping me with any questions you may have about the science project at my tdsb account (lisa.goegan at tdsb.on.ca).

In class, students have been working on a lot of visuals this week: a poster for energy conservation, a flag for Remembrance day, and a Picasso self portrait. This last one started out being somewhat Halloween themed, but changed with experimentation, much like Frankenstein himself. I'll have pictures of these for you soon.

Mr. Eloi is beginning our social studies unit about Roles and Responsibilities. We're encouraging students to think about their role in making positive changes in the world through energy conservation. In particular, we'll be looking at Native peoples' perspectives on this, perhaps highlighting recent struggles over water and gas pipelines.

We'll also be comparing our experiences to those of children who went to residential schools, or who live on reservations and might have less access to basic needs. I think that students in our classroom already have a pretty good sense of respect for nature and what fairness looks like, so it's up to us to help them frame those understandings in larger contexts. I'm excited about bringing some of these big ideas into the classroom.

Sincerely,

Lisa Goegan

Halloween Reading Fun

Dear Parents,

Yesterday was our first Pizza Day and our Halloween celebration. Ms. Lock's class did a great drama presentation at yesterday's assembly, and we had a lovely afternoon in what I hope will become a Pizza Day tradition.

We had a number of parents in to read books with students: Thank you to Adam, Jenny, Liz, Maggie!

Each parent picked a Halloween themed book and took turns reading with students, along with me and Mr. Eloi, our new student teacher. We also had out stamping, marble run, lego, and peg boards with elastics for those waiting their turns.

Students had prepared haunted houses, and when they read with an adult, they got a spooky character sticker to put in their haunted house. Kind of a reading passport idea spookified for the occasion. Be sure to check Mr. Zippy to see how many books your child read yesterday afternoon!

I loved overhearing one student, Zack, tell one of the parent volunteers: "The Grade Ones are all really good at reading, aren't they?" I just love how proud they are of their accomplishments (and they should be! Learning to read is a big job).

The book I chose was a pop-up by Jan Pienkowski called Haunted House. I love his books because they are full of little easter eggs--there's all these little details happening in the background that are fun to discover. Reading one on one was a good opportunity to let the kids explore and play with this book's hidden treasures.

Here's some before shots of students haunted house drawings. As a side benefit, you get to see some pretty cute costumes:

 And here are some after shots, taken in a hurry as we rushed out the door:

Reminders for this week:

--Friday is our Halloween celebration and costume parade. Feel free to send them dressed up in the morning.

--Friday is also Pizza Day.

--Forms and money are due Friday for the November trip. There are still a lot missing. Please send a note if you need a second form.

--Our Mad Scientist afternoon went well yesterday. Many thanks to Oscar's dad (as well as Katie and Nasr's moms from 104) for coming in to support. Students made windmills and took home U.V.  bead charms.

--I also sent home a project for our energy project. I've made it due November 7 in order to give a second weekend for you to manage this together at home. Please see me if you have any questions.

--Library is on Day 3, so Mondays until the next P.A. day

November is a really busy month in the school: we have our trip and a school performance, plus Remembrance day and report cards coming up. Please ensure you have a copy of the November calendar from the school mailout so you can keep on top of it all.