Home / School Connections

Folks at November Learning are looking for fine examples of home / school connections. Here are some I appreciated this year:

• Message to soldiers - For a father serving is Sudan


• Sharing Movies and information on conflict resolution


• Students and parents sharing about independent learning at home


• Inviting parents to view portfolio online and leave comments on the blog


• Sharing pictures of school outings or events
• Sharing movies produced by students

Swine Flu - La grippe porcine

Public Health Canada - Sante Publique Canada
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/index-eng.php

Tu dois chanter - You Have to Sing

Here's a little montage to help prepare student for the music videos they are making.

Voici un petit montage de la chanson que Tu dois chanter. Bientôt des vidéos de musique pour accompagner la chanson.

Student Wellness - Conflict Resolution Skills as the Foundation for Collaboration

Eight-year-olds enjoy sharing their viewpoints on a variety of topics. They have a clearly-developed sense of self-worth and may express frustration in response to activities that they perceive as areas of personal weakness. Eight-year-olds begin to understand the concept of masking emotions and can vary their use of coping strategies to deal with challenging situations. In peer interactions, they may start to engage in leadership, goal-setting, elaborate fantasy play and an assortment of interactive games. Eight-year-olds still rely on adults for a sense of security, but are proud of their independence and will want to express it. Under emotionally-stressful circumstances, they will seek adults in less direct ways but still need contact.

Effective conflict resolution is built upon strong communication skills. Encouraging children to describe and discuss their feelings helps them to establish a sense of control over those powerful emotions that, at times, threaten to overwhelm. These types of discussions can serve as a productive outlet for these kind of feelings.

What is conflict resolution?
Sometimes we all get pretty angry.
We may feel that something is unfair, something has been taken or broken that we value, someone is being mean, we're not getting a fair share, etc.
So what do we do?
Well, we could throw a huge tantrum, get really upset, be mean to everybody etc.
Would any of these things solve the problem? I don't think so!
Well, what could you do?
Conflict Resolution Try to sort things out so that everyone gets a fair go and something of what they want.
There are 4 things that you need to do.
1 Understand
2 Avoid making things worse
3 Work together
4 Find the solution

From PBS Parents, AllSands, and Kids Health

Challenge Based Learning

I am very excited! A teacher in my Professional Learning Comminity has blogged on Challenge Based Learning I could not be happier to see that initiatives these are weaving their way in to discussion on best practices in education today. Engaging the Whole Child, a GREAT collection of articles was also part of my weekend delight. WORDLE

Testing Vehicles

On construit des véhicules et les essaient sur une rampe. COOL.

Building and testing out vehicles this Friday afternoon.

Matt produces his movie! Matt produit son film! - Movie to be added soon

From Matt`s Mother:
Matt and I saw the information on the blog (Friday or Saturday). Thanks very much for doing that. We enjoyed your voiceover while the video showed the breakfast scene (Matt especially).
Matt’s short movie was shot on Sunday. The whole family had a lot of fun doing it (a LOT OF FUN). I was truly impressed with Matt’s motivation and focus. I originally thought that Calvin would have to help him with MovieMaker, but Matt definitely proved me wrong about that.

While Calvin and I were preparing supper on Sunday, Matt decided that he would edit the movie. He found the program quite easy to use. So, the film is exactly how Matt wanted it. And, his family is extremely proud of the outcome.

Matt burned a CD for you and will bring it to school on Tuesday.

Thanks for all help on this project. I foresee more movies in our future, from our young Steven Speilberg.

Matt has me working after hours! Matt me force à enseigner le soir!

Matt is preparing us a movie. He wants to create a freeze but is not sure how. Since he asked at 4pm before Easter weekend, I created a short screencast with Jing to show him how.

Matt nous prépare une surprise, mais il a besoin d'un peu d'aide. Comme il n'a pas écouté en classe, je lui ai fait un petit vidéo sur `comment créer un video`. J'espère quì'il lui servira bien.

Raven Stole the Sun

Aujourd'hui, on a vue une présentation théâtrale de la compagnie Red Sky website. Ils sont de vrais professionnels! Ils nous ont amené sur un voyage magique et merveilleux avec leur interprétation d'une légende Autochtone.

C'était très intéressant de remarquer les ressemblances entre nos méthodes de travail -les statues qui se transforment en action- et le déroulement de chaque scène de cette pièce.

Activités

May the forces be with you. Que les forces soient avec vous!

Here is Claire doing her homework. CAREFUL! Forces are not balanced and it`s about to take off! Can she control the friction?


Voici Claire qui fait ses devoirs. Elle a crée une fusée! ATTENTION! Les forces ne sont pas en équilibre et elle va décoller (la fusée!)! Comment peut-elle faire voler sa fusée plus loin et plus vite? Comment peut-elle réduire la friction?

Le portfolio et Wordle - Notre blog en poeme

Science and Technology Museum - Muséedes Sciences et Technologies

On a passé une excellente journée au musée et je suis bien fier de mes élèves. Ils ont non seulement amené leurs connaissances des structures et des forces, mais comme en classe, ils on bien travaillé ensemble en parlant Français.

We had a great day at the museum. I`m quite proud of the way our class applied their knowledge of structures and forces during our workshops and how they continue to work well together all while speaking French.