Our Field Trip Success!

We had a wonderful time at the Ukrainian Museum! The volunteers there certainly knew their stuff. Not surprisingly, they all used to be teachers, so they knew how to captivate the students through story telling, acting and active participation. 

Before we went to St. Vladimir's, we thought we knew quite a bit about Ukraine. It turns out that there was a whole lot we had not even thought about. We learned many new things, including how to do some traditional dance steps, how and why people used to want to leave Ukraine, how to card and spin wool and what a Ukrainian 'cake' looks like. We also learned a few Ukrainian words. Ask your child if they  remember any! Get your child to explain their personal highlight of their day. Get them to tell you about three things they did not know before. Ask them what connection they can think of to do with the dance (Hint - think of Mrs. Njie shouting, 'pa de bas, pas de bas!). 

Here are a few photos from the day. Ask your child what each object is and how/why it was used.

The most heartwarming thing about the day was how all the children wanted to show their appreciation to the volunteers. We hope to have something for the other two classes to take back to say a big thank you to them!

Housekeeping:

Wear pink tomorrow
Look for art your child made. This is your opportunity to have it turned into a long-lasting memory!

Field Trip Forms Needed

No blog today except a reminder to hand in your field trip forms if you have not already done so. I have not received forms from 5 students. 1 additional form will be  returned tomorrow as it is only partially completed. Please ask your child if they have a returned form for you to complete:)

If your child's name begins with E, M, A, F or C, then I have not received a form from your child. (Email me directly if you are still not sure as I have a few children with same initials). You might have sent it to school but it has not landed in my form collecting bin;) If your child says they are sure they gave it to me then remind them that I do not handle forms; it is the students' responsibility to place them in the bin. I have processed all the forms I have. 

Unfortunately no filled form means I cannot take your child on the field trip:(

Thank you to the one parent who has volunteered. Look out for a volunteer form coming home. I could still use an additional volunteer, if there is anyone who can help out.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a lot of fun today! First we designed and made our Valentine's hearts. We had to use warm colors for the heart and cold colors for the background. It was heartwarming to see how the students helped one another complete this project. Some people physically helped by doing some extra coloring, some helped by putting marks on a neighbor's paper to help them know what color to use where. It looks a simple task, but it was easy to go wrong!

The finished art on display:

Despite the excitement of the day, we kept calm!

We had lots of fun making our musical instruments to create the "Landfillharmonic Orchestra."

 We now realize how hard it really is to make pitched instruments our of recycling and have a new appreciation of the true Landfill Harmonic orchestra that we found out about by reading the book, "Ada's Violin" and by watching a video about the real orchestra. It is so amazing that it tours the world! All the instruments were made out of scraps found in the garbage dump. Ask me about the story.

See the real Ada here:

Children's Orchestra Play Instruments Made from Trash - YouTube

Thank you to all the parents who made today a success by helping your child find the 'garbage' we needed to make our instruments.

Housekeeping:

No School until Tuesday as the teacher's get to enjoy and learn at Teachers' Convention on Thursday and Friday. Have a great day with your family on Family Day, whatever you end up doing. Just relax and enjoy each other's company.

I still need a few field trip forms to be returned. It would be great to get the last couple on Tuesday so I can get the paperwork finished!

Don't forget to wear purple, gold and green for Tuesday and red and gold on Wednesday.

Don't forget to bring in your materials in a labeled plastic bag on Monday so you can start designing your musical instrument!

Materials, like for the box project at the beginning of the year, are just things you can find in your home.

Think about how your instrument will change pitch and volume.

Do not build your instrument at home; we will be doing that at school!

Google Wintergarten or copy and paste this link to see the ultimate instrument that inspired us!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q

Here are some examples I found by searching 'homemade musical instruments'