June 26

Off to Camp We Go!

Camp Kee-Mo-Kee was our final field trip this school year. What a beautiful day we had, too! Students were engaged in a variety of activities including investigating the creek looking for bugs, fish, crayfish, and more. They also aimed for the bullseye in archery, played Gaga Ball, and other field games. Our visit wouldn’t be complete without a campfire sing-a-long with some crazy counselors who did some crazy things. Finally we enjoyed munching on some s’mores.Yum!

Thank you to all of our parent volunteers and to Camp Kee-Mo-Kee for making our day one to remember.

June 23

Our Last Mystery Reader was….

Our last Mystery Reader of the school year was with the one and only Ms. Chrissy Hellyer from New Zealand! (Click on the link and you can learn a little bit more about her). I first met Chrissy in Thailand when we were both Grade 5 teachers at International School Bangkok. I was able to visit Chrissy in New Zealand at Christmas time one year and explored the gorgeous North and South islands with a rental car–driving on the LEFT side of the road. If you ever get the chance, please DO visit New Zealand.

The students were thrilled to meet her via Skype and listened to a funny story called the Wonky Donkey. The Wonky Donkey is a children’s book and song written by New Zealander Craig Smith and illustrated by Katz Cowley.

The students loved asking her questions about topics like how many sheep are there in NZ, the time difference, what is a Kiwi bird, what is the Haka, her favourite sports team (the All Blacks, of course), and the Maori language. Chrissy said she wasn’t fluent in the language of the Maori people but did count to 10 for us. Chrissy talked about how the Kiwi bird is a nocturnal animal and is sadly endangered. There used to be 12 million of them on the island and now there is around 100 000 left.

When a student asked about how many sheep are in New Zealand, Chrissy said there is a saying that there are about 4 sheep for every one person in the country. The population of New Zealand is 4.6 million. Woah, that’s a lot of sheep!

kiwi bird

Photo Credit: denisbin Flickr via Compfight cc

 

Chrissy explained that the Haka is a traditional war dance used to frighten the enemy. Now, it is ceremonial and is performed before every All Black’s international game of rugby. Watch below to check it out.

What a cool experience for us all!  A big thank-you to Chrissy for taking time to read to us and answer all of our questions.

 

June 18

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Harry Potter

Poised on Platform 9 3/4 with their black gowns, lightning scars, and ticket in hand, students were ready to step through the brick wall into a whole different world–Hogwarts!

With a SWISH and a FLICK, we began with the Sorting Hat who whispered into Mrs. Sullivan’s ear which house each student would be assigned to.

We began with some activities in our new houses, all related to Harry Potter, of course. Photo opportunities came next and then the much anticipated FEAST!

At 11:00 we began digging into the incredible assortment of treats and eats. We are all so thankful to all of the parents who helped make our feast super special.  We had everything from beautifully decorated homemade cakepops, Hagrid’s rockcakes, to Wizard hat cupcakes, Ollivander’s licorice wands, and Professor Sprout’s veggie sticks. You can see it all in the pictures below.

After filling our bellies, we began watching the movie of Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone, followed by more picture-taking.

I’m happy to announce that all students graduated with a degree of Master of Wizardry courtesy of Professor Albus Dumbledore and Professor Minerva McGonagall. Congratulations!

I think it’s safe to say the students enjoyed their time at Hogwarts. I’m so happy they all embraced all that is Harry Potter and soaked it all in. 

 

June 5

It’s the Circle of Life

Pivot turn, shuffle step…students at our school danced their hearts out in the gym for both parents and peers. Plenty of practice and hard work paid off today and performances brought smiles and lots of applause. It’s not easy to perform in front of an audience and you all did a wonderful job doing your very best.

Our class decided to join forces with the Grade 3/4 class and we danced to a remix of Circle of Life. Students decided to dress as an animal of their choice and we had a wonderful assortment of animals such as giraffe, leopard, tiger, parrot, monkey, elephant, and so on.

Grrrreat job, Grade 3s and 3/4s! I’m proud of you!

Note: A video of our dance will be posted in the near future.

June 1

Who Will Win the World Cup?

The world cup is a soccer tournament held every 4 years. This year it’s in Russia and starts on June 14th.

There are 23 countries taking part. It’s the most watched sporting event in the world.

Countries such as Argentina, Germany, Brazil, and France are favorites to win. One of  my favoritse is

Lion Messi , so I hope Argentina wins.

Who are you cheering for?  Click here for more videos about World Cup.

by: Dante

 

May 29

Congratulations Authors!

As a fun way to wrap up our hard work in writing fiction, we held a special Author’s Party in our class today. The students seemed to enjoy reading each other’s stories and were very proud of their efforts.

There were stories of camping disasters, auditioning for a play, overcoming losing hair due to childhood cancer, playing baseball, soccer-playing dogs, dance competitions, and so much more! I enjoyed reading them all and hope you continue to look for new and interesting things to write about. You have so much to say!

Awesome work, Gr. 3s!

May 28

You Are Invited…

Dear Fellow Muggles,

As you know, Hedwig the owl delivered to you a special package today. Inside the package were letters addressed to each of you.

These letters are a special invite for you to attend a

Harry Potter Party on

Monday June 18, 2018

*Please reply to this invitation by leaving a comment on this post*

 

May 25

C’est Fini!

What a week. Students in Gr.3 and Gr.6 across the province have been busy writing the provincial test in reading, writing, and math. As of today, students at our school have wrapped up their test. We celebrated with a delicious ice cream party! Yum.

Special thanks goes out to Mrs. P who provided many of our toppings for our ice cream.

Bravo, Grade 3s for a job well done. I’m proud of you!

May 22

Don’t Move a Mussel!

Last Friday, students were treated to a special visit from a scientist named Dr. Kim Holzer from Northern Idaho. She is an Agriculture Program Specialist.

She was skyping us from her field site where she is involved in inspecting boats as they come in off the water. She and her team look for zebra mussels, in particular, which are an invasive species. Dr. Kim talked to us about why it’s important to control invasive species and ensure they do not make their way into Northern Idaho waters.

You can check out this website to learn more. Dr. Kim specializes in aquatic invasive species. She also taught us what ballast water is. It is important to inspect and test ballast water for things that can be harmful when transporting items on a big boat like a tanker.

The students loved asking questions and were excited to see a live demonstration of an inspection of a boat. They were good listeners and thought it was neat to talk to a scientist via Skype!

Thanks Dr. Kim for your time!