May 26

Fairly Traded

 

 Photo Credit: laurabillings via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: laurabillings via Compfight cc

Today we’ve began learning about the ethical side of trade– fair trade.

We examined 2 chocolate bars and a bag of coffee and found that not all products are created equal. Do you really know who made that cotton t-shirt you are wearing? Do you know whose hands helped to pick the cacao seeds that eventually got turned into the chocolate you are eating?

These formed the basis for our discussion today in Social Studies class.

We watched a few videos to get us thinking about the every day items we consume or use, and from where they may have originated.

Have a look yourself at some of these videos:

What do you know about fair trade? Do you ever wonder where the products you use come from? Who has helped to make that product?

May 14

School Art Exhibition

Wow–what a turnout to the Art Exhibition held at our school last Thursday evening! It was such a delight to see so many parents and students sharing the hard work the students created this year. Thank you for coming out and making the evening a success. The hallways and library showcased the beautiful artwork and the staffroom was transformed into a Bistro with treats for everyone!

Our class, along with Mrs. Thompson’s, displayed our block-printing that we learned how to do with Jen Hamilton, the artist who came in over the last several months. The artist statements the students wrote helped to explain the thinking behind the artwork. It’s not easy to see the hours and hours of work that goes into block-printing, but Jen put together a flow chart showing the process, as seen below.

Congratulations Grade 6s on a job well done!

IMG_0482 IMG_0483 IMG_0481 flow chart made by Jen

May 14

Dance Fest 2014!

Over the last several weeks, students from across our school board have been busily toe-tapping, finger snapping, spinning, jumping, sliding, and moving to the beat in preparation for the annual Dance Fest.  Our class performed a dance that was….shall we say….a bit creepy! We dressed like puppets and the idea was that we came to life after our Puppet Master, Abby, cut the strings!

What a fantastic job you all did! I am proud of your hard work and dedication to the dance. You looked like you had fun, which is the most important thing. Congratulations!

 What style of dance would you like to learn how to do?

May 14

Farming and Technology

 Photo Credit: mag3737 via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: mag3737 via Compfight cc

“If you ate today, thank a farmer”. Those were the words from a local farmer who visited our classroom last week. She was visiting on behalf of the dairy farmers of Ontario. She is an Ontario farmer herself along with her husband, and she told us about the technology used on her farm and how much it saves time instead of doing it by hand!

We learned about what happens when a cow may get sick and need medicine and how that cow’s milk is not allowed in the system so that humans do not consume the medicine as well. We learned about how much it can cost to buy a cow and that it costs thousands of dollars to have permission to milk that cow!

Here is some more interesting information:

Ontario dairy farmers receive about 67 cents for each litre of milk they ship to the processor
The typical dairy cow will produce 30 litres of milk each day, from two daily milkings, about 12 hours apart
The number of licensed dairy farmers in Ontario = 4,400
A female cow is called a heifer; a male cow is called a bull
IMG_0437

If you enjoy dairy, what is your favourite dairy product? Cheese? Yogurt? Milk? Something else?

April 10

Saints Project

Miss Bekking has assigned you a research task to do with your patron saint.  She would like you to design a bristol board poster showcasing your saint, teaching others about him or her.

Here is the criteria for a successful project:

  • Prayer to their saint
  • Feast Day
  • Birth/Death
  • Name what the patron saint is known for
  • Why did you choose this saint?
  • 2-3 pictures of the saint
  • Think of adding a few symbols of the saint (e.g., for the patron saint of music, you could put music notes as a border perhaps)
  • About a page summary of their life (birth/death, miracles they performed, when canonized, interesting facts)
  • a strong attempt to put information your research into your own words (avoid printing from the internet and gluing it to your display)
  • References list

There are MANY published books that will give you much information about your chosen saint. Be sure to check the school library first before going online.

Here are some websites to help you as well:

1.  http://www.catholic.org/saints/

2.  http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/byname.aspx

3.  http://saints.sqpn.com/alphabetical-list/

 

April 10

Wading Through the Web

 Photo Credit: The Hamster Factor via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: The Hamster Factor via Compfight cc

Research is not an easy thing! The internet, in particular, is such a vast space filled with information–and not all of it is relevant or even “good” information. It’s hard to sift through it all–even adults find it a challenge!

Several weeks ago you examined a handful of websites to determine if they were reliable, trust-worthy and found that looking with a critical eye is easier said than done! Click here to check out one of those sites.

The first thing we talked about was the domain suffix. That is the part of a web address that comes at the END. For example, everyone has heard of .com or .edu

We learned that .com websites… anyone can create those and they are commercial sites with the information on the site usually trying to sell you something…an idea, a product, etc.  Therefore, we should be extra careful when navigating sites with the .com suffix because they may not be giving us ALL the information or we are only getting PART of the picture.

.edu means the website comes from an educational source such as a school, but not all schools choose to use .edu in their website address. NOT just anyone can get .edu as a suffix because you have to go through a very rigorous process to be approved for this. Information from these kinds of websites are generally good to use.

Click here to read more about what the different endings of addresses mean!

More tips to help you know if a website is credible:

1. Who wrote it? There should be somewhere on the site information about who was the author or who sponsored the website. What kind of credentials does this person have. Are they an expert on the topic or is this their opinion?

2.  Up to date? Is the website well-maintained so that it contains current information? If it is up to date, it should say at the bottom of the screen when it was last updated.

3.  Links–if there are many hyperlinks broken or when you click on them, they lead you to other sites that seem unrelated to the original site, this could indicate you are visiting an unreliable website.

4. URL–what does the ending or suffix of the website tell you about  who is sponsoring the site? Where is the site from?

5.  Compare–It is so important to look at other websites and compare information. If you are not sure about some information you are reading about on a website, research that a little more or Google it…see what you find out.  How does it compare with what you read?

Remember: don’t overlook valuable library resources such as the books or magazines on the shelves…and your librarian!

Regardless of where your information comes from, using the Sources handout will help you keep track of where you found your information. Give credit where credit is due.

Here are some search engines and websites that you may find useful:

1. http://kids.britannica.com/

2.  http://www.gogooligans.com/

3. kids.nationalgeographic.com/

4. This link may be helpful for some of you: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/

5. http://www.kidtopia.info/

6. http://www.kidzsearch.com/