International Dot Day

September 15th was International Dot Day, in recognition of the 10th anniversary of Peter H. Reynold's book, "The Dot". Mrs. Dent Scarcello shared some info with staff about various activities to do to celebrate the day . . . first challenging teachers to wear polka dots on Monday! We pretty much carried on the dot theme all week . . . working with a million dots in math and doing pointillism art, which was quite a challenge! A BIG thank you to Mrs. Tresoor for coordinating a fun math game and working with the Grade 5s on the Colar Mix App to create dots that came to life! Check out the video to see the dots totally jump off the page!

Fun in the Photobooth for I LOVE to read month!

Maddy and Carly look VERY
happy with their unique
bookmarks!

Today Ms. Wasney`s sister Leah brought in her photobooth to share with us. We got to go in the photobooth to make a bookmark.  The photobooth takes 4 pictures. Our class got to go into the booth twice! We went in with our book buddies and Ms. Tresoor’s class. With our book buddies we pointed to our eyes, then we made a heart with our hands, then we put up 2 fingers, then we held up a book so it looked like were reading. We did it because February is I Love to Read Month. We can’t believe we had an opportunity to do something like this! It was fantastic!

By: Maddy and Carly

Book Buddies!

Today, we started a very special tradition - Book Buddies with Mrs. Turner's Grade One students! We are hoping to meet once a week to read and work on special activities. This was super neat because many of the Grade Five students remember being in Grade One and having an older buddy!

Leave a comment and share with us what your favourite part of meeting your Book Buddy for the first time today was!

Book Buddies

Today we had   book buddies and I thought it was cool! It was fun to hang out with different people and make new friends! They were good at reading even though they had very soft voices. They were so cute and so nice!       
                              
 They are in grade 1 and in Mrs. Turner’s class. I went out in the hall with my buddy Morgan, but some stayed inside the room. I knew Morgan from the Y program, so we got along really well. 

It was a good experience to have book buddies. And it was so fun! I bet it will be the same much fun the next time to!

By: Reagan

Book Nooks

In our classroom, we have a variety of comfy spots to do our work. Students are welcome to grab a clipboard and work anywhere around the room . . . as long as they aren't distracting others from their work. I always like to say; "you're not glued to your seat/desk"! To make it fair, we have a way of keeping track of who gets what each day. Choices include: comfy cushions, carpet squares, 2 butterfly/camping chairs, a black moon chair, a share chair (which is a director's chair), a rocking chair, "Free Choice", at your desk, and even "Ms. Wasney's chair". So far, this system is working wonderfully! We have a person that rotates the names along the list at the end of each day. Several students make a point of checking out the list to see what chair they will be getting next! I'm hoping this enthusiasm stays throughout the year!

What has your favourite Book Nook been so far? Which one are you looking forward to trying out?

Novel Study #2 Final Projects

This week, we wrapped up our 2nd novel study (aka: literature circle) final projects. We had 4 different books being read by groups of students . . . Math Rashes, Superdog, Kensuke's Kingdom, and The Fortress of Kaspir Snit. Again, to celebrate finishing the novel, students were given the choice of various projects to showcase their comprehension of the novel. This time around, we had the LOTS of dioramas, movie posters, board games, and 2 dramas: a talk show and a scene re-enactment. Here is a video of photos of the final projects:

 

Here is a video of Aidan, Branden, Emmy, and Renee sharing their talk show for the novel, Kensuke's Kingdom:

Novel Study Final Project - Talk Show Part 1 from Krista Wasney on Vimeo.

Here is a video of Faith, Haley, and Memphis re-enacting a scene from the novel, Math Rashes:

Novel Study Final Project - Scene Re-enactment from Krista Wasney on Vimeo.

Beautifully Organized Book Bins!

Here we are sorting through the books!

During the last week of school before Spring Break, we spent almost a full day organizing our classroom library. It was a BIG job, but one that really needed to be done! The students went through the old book bins and decided on books to keep and books to donate. We then organized the books into Fiction and Non-Fiction and then into genres. I bought some snazzy new book bins and made up labels. We all think our classroom library looks WAY better now! Thanks for your hard work!


Ahhhhh, all organized and ready to read!





Novel Study Final Projects!

Today, we finished sharing our novel study final projects for Owls in the Family. The students had the choice of 7 different projects that included; dioramas, movie posters, scene re-enactments, board games, a newspaper article, an interview show, or Owls in the Family . . . Part 2. The most popular project choices were creating dioramas or movie posters. The students worked really hard on these projects, either by themselves or with others of their choice. I hope you appreciate all their creativity as you watch the video!

Here's a video of Emmy, Haley, and Renee performing their scene re-enactment:

Novel Study Final Project from Krista Wasney on Vimeo.

Dress Like a Book Character Day . . . and TWAS!

Today was "Dress Like a Book Character Day" as part of our celebration for I LOVE to Read month! I was surprised that several students in the school had NO idea who I was, and then others told me that there is a "Where's Waldo App"! Well . . . . before Waldo was an App, he was in a BOOK!

Haley volunteered to do her TWAS this week on our blog.

TWAS

Feb. 17, 2012

This week at school in ELA we are doing our final projects. Renee, Emmy, and I are doing a scene Re- enactment. We are doing the scene where Billy brings Wol in the house and Ophelia screams because she didn’t know that Billy had owls. In math we made a calendar. We had to put the days of the week and any activities. It was fun! In social studies Elder Jules and Mr. Cyr came to our library and sang a song and we had to think of a wolf. He also taught us about the seven sacred teachings. We had a sharing circle and we had to tell our name and our favourite colour. Also we read a book called Nanabosho and porcupine. We had to write about the beginning, the middle, and the end. Then we had to draw a picture. It was fun! In science the grade 3’s did an experiment with static electricity and the grade 4’s did sound waves. The grade 3’s used balloons and combs. On February 14 we had our valentine’s party. It was also my birthday! I picked a notebook from Ms. Wasney's gift box. I brought in a vanilla and chocolate cupcake cake. It was very good! Today was dress like a book character day. I dressed like a ninja from magic tree house night of the ninja’s. Ms. Wasney dressed like Waldo from where’s Waldo.

By Haley J

I Love to READ Month!

For the month of February, Bird's Hill School has been celebrating I Love to READ Month. Mrs. Dent Scarcello created a month-long challenge with literacy activities, which was sent home in calendar form at the end of January (and can be found in the February newsletter). This week, we have been having D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) once a day. We also coordinated a fun bulletin board idea where each class received a giant heart and the students had to write what they love to read! It has been neat to see students checking out the hearts on the GIANT bulletin board across from the library!

We are looking forward to "Dress like a Book Character Day" . . . next Friday, February 17th!

Today, Felicia volunteered to be recorded by Mrs. Dent Scarcello as she read "Bear Feels Scared". You can listen to it here. The reading has been recorded onto a CD and will be used in the primary classrooms. Thanks for being a great role model Felicia! I know your sister in Kindergarten will be excited to hear your voice in her classroom!