What's Your Story?

Everyone has a story and that story matters.

We have been exploring the different parts of our own personal stories.

What words would you use to describe your life story?  We used magazines to search for these words and added them to a silhouette of our face.  We wrote lists about who we are, what we can and cannot do, our likes and dislikes and the people who matter most in our lives.

 

Using the list of loved ones, we created a family tree and told our family stories.  It was so interesting to find out where our friend's families come from!  Some families have stories about moving from other places in Canada and around the world.  We learned about different family traditions and shared our favourite family activities.



We also learned about the story of our name.  We talked and wrote about why our parents chose our name and what the meaning of our name is.  Many of us were named after someone close to our moms or dads - a relative or a close family friend.  A couple of our friends were named after characters on television!

One of our favourite activities was creating a heart map, showing all of the things that take up space in our hearts.  We read the book My Map Book and used it as inspiration for our own creations.



Who we are, who we love and what we experience makes our story unique.
When we remember that everyone has a story of their own, our interactions become more compassionate, tolerant and gracious.

Building a Bug Hotel

As the autumn weather began to get colder, our concern for the small crawling and flying creatures of the school garden sparked an idea.  What if we could make a winter home for the insects and arachnids to use as protection during the cold winter months?  

The task posed an exciting problem to solve and we got to work on blueprints right away.

During the design process, many questions came about the materials we would need and the needs of particular invertebrates.  We decided to search for a local entomologist who might be able to answer some of our questions.  Dr. Swann from the University of Calgary wrote us back and gave us lots of useful information!  Below is a copy of the email we received (his answers are in blue):

Can we make the hotel out of sticks?

Yes,  make it big enough to put lots of leaves in to act as insulation. Insects use things like leaf litter like we would fibreglass insulation.  
How will our bug hotel attract the insects make them want to stay inside?

Insects will want to hibernate in a dark and cool place, they will find it if you put it outside along the edge of the building where leaves tend to naturally accumulate
Will we need a door?

No just an opening of some sort that will let them in but not so big that the leaves inside blow out
How big do we need to make it for all of the bugs that need to fit inside?

I'm not entirely sure because I've never made one either but I'd suggest about 30cm cubed
Where do they prefer to sleep?  

Insects prefer someplace that is dark and slightly moist --they don't want to dry out nor do they want to wake up too early because it is warm. So they want things cool but not extremely cold eg.
 -20C is too cold
What kinds of beds do they need?

Dry leaves and grass are great because of the insulation value
Do they need water?

No because they will mostly be hibernating/sleeping for the whole winter but they also don't want it to be bone dry.

Do we need more than one room inside?  One for the invertebrates that get along and one for the creatures who eat each other?

No you don't because most insect that use your house will be hibernating.  Insects that don't hibernate are very neat.  You might want to look up 'rock crawlers' on the internet.  They are native to the rockies, love the cold, running around in the space between the ground and snow all winter and are one of the few groups of insects I've never caught.  My goal for this spring is to catch some when they start running around on the top of the snow when it starts to melt in late March/early June in K-country (you have to have collecting permits to catch insects in provincial and national parks and I have one for out there)

To begin the building process, we worked in small groups to build prototypes out of cardboard.  Each group explored, tested and retested the stability of their structure, as well as its potential to meet the needs of various invertebrates and their winter behaviours.

 Most of our groups decided to make separate rooms for different species.  We also added natural elements to our models which makes the structure easier to camouflage and more inviting for the small creatures to use.

These are some of our reflections about designing and building our models:

"It was easy to decide who was going to do what.  
It was not easy to tape it together. I had fun." ~ Ivy

"First I made the instructions to the bug hotel.  It didn't really work out.  
Everyone did different things and it was difficult for me.  
I made an elevator for slugs and snails even if they are icky. 
 It's a bug hotel!" ~ Xander

"I learned that insects need to be on different levels.  I also learned bugs have to be in different rooms.  It was fun when we painted! ~ Landon

"We used a lot of tape.  It was challenging.  It was fun.  It was hard though.  ~ Landyn

"I learned that cardboard is strong.  I learned that working together works.  
I liked painting.  I liked helping. ~ Eisy

The last step in this inquiry into the world of invertebrates is to create the bug hotel that will go into the school garden as a permanent structure.  We are so excited to connect our learning to the real-world!  Come by the school to see more documentation of this learning - and the bug hotel, of course!

Investigating Small Crawling and Flying Things

After visiting our school garden, we were filled with new questions about the creepy crawlies of the world.

"What do beetles eat?"

"Where do bugs go in the winter?"

"How long do ants live?"

Putting on our entomologist hats we continued to investigate these questions and others, through scientific sketching, and reading many informational and non-informational texts. We also wrote in various ways, and used our mathematical skills to count the many insects and arachnids around Glendale School. 

  

Exploring Our School Garden

As the season began to change, we went outside to explore the school garden.  

What small crawling and flying creatures live there?

Where can you find them?

What are they doing?

We pretended we were little entomologists, studying the smallest animals of our planet.  We used magnifying glasses to observe the small creatures up close and used pictures and words to document our observations.  

                                                 

Home Reading

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." ~ Emilie Buchwald

We were so excited to get our home reading bags and fill them with "just right books."  Each day we will choose two leveled books that are not too easy and not too hard.  We spent time in class learning how to choose a "just right book".   It is tricky to do and it might take us a few weeks to get it right!  We are looking for books that we are interested in and have some words that we can read on our own.  When we read with you at home, we will practice the reading strategies we use in class.  Reading for even 5-10 minutes a day will help me become a much better reader - and writer!

Reading Strategy of the Week: Use the Pictures!!!

The illustrations and photos in a book help to tell the story and share information.  When I come to a word I don't know, looking at the picture sometimes helps to figure it out.

Story

"There is no greater power on this earth than story. "- Libba Bray

This year we will embark on a journey to explore the power of story. Our inquiry will be guided by these three overarching ideas: 

1. Everyone has a story and everyone's story matters.

2. The stories from the past impact stories in the present and in the future. 

3. Stories have the power to create change.

To begin, our learning community came together to discuss our feelings, thoughts, and wonderings. It was an exciting conversation, these were some of things that were said:

"Stories are for sharing."

"Stories teach us new things."

"Stories can make us feel happy, curious, sad, and excited." 

"When you read a good book, it makes you want to read more."

"There are lots of different kinds stories."

"Stories can take us to different places."

These were some of the questions asked:

"How do stories get made?"

"How does the author come up with an idea?"

"How do you get your own story?"

"How do the author and illustrator work together?"

"How do stories help us?"

The Story of Terry Fox

"Who was Terry Fox?"

"Why is Terry Fox so important?" 

"What is cancer? If you have cancer do you have to stay away from other people?"

"What do they do with the money we raise?"

We have been learning about Terry Fox and the important role he played in 

raising awareness about cancer.

We have read stories, watched videos and participated in conversations about Terry's life and his Marathon of Hope. 

We have learned interesting facts about his story and used our new knowledge to help us communicate our understandings, thoughts and feelings.

On September 30th, we participated in a school-wide run for the Terry Fox foundation. Our whole school ran 1280 kms and we raised over $600!

Have a look at what we've done! 

Running for Terry

Counting our laps (1 lap = 500m)

Sketching Terry