Our classroom has been a hive of activity the last month.

Allow us to share some of our activities and learning with you!

Robyn Michaud, an Anishinaabe community member, came in to teach us about the importance of beads and how beads are communication and the colours and patterns tell a story.

The earliest First People did not write. They communicated through their beadwork. When settlers came from Europe, they had to make agreements. First Nations People used beadwork to communicate these agreements. These agreements were called treaties. 

Robyn brought buckets of beads and some ribbon for us to tell our own stories. Each colour and pattern was specific to us and showcased special memories and favourite things in our lives.

In math, we used the Bee Bots to explore movement on a grid. We practiced using language such as up, down, left, right, and turning the Bee Bot. For instance, 1/4 turn clockwise or 1/2 turn counterclockwise. We liked playing with the Bee Bots and coding instructions for them to follow.

Learning about perimeter and area led us to some creative work with designing an animal sanctuary on giant grid paper. Students were given a list of the items in the sanctuary that had to be included such as 5 animal enclosures, a picnic area, and a snack shack. We had to be able to state the perimeter and narea for all of the criteria given to us. You can see the students working together to design their projects and then presenting them to the class.

Just before March Break, we built 3D shapes using marshmallows and toothpicks. We reviewed the terms congruent, prisms vs. pyramids, 2D shapes within the 3D shapes, and maybe even invented some of our own shapes along the way!

Making leprechaun traps was something our class wanted to do, so that’s exactly what happened the afternoon before March Break. Were they successful? I’m not sure, but they sure had fun making them!