WANTED: #OLDMANWINTER

The day the lesson plan went out the window...

David Kawapit's Journey of Nishiyuu

I (Dawn, the teacher) was at an in-service in Halifax when I saw the news clip speaking of David Kawapit and his journey from Northern Quebec to Ottawa. I was moved to tears as this quiet, shy, big-smiling Cree boy reminded me so much of a student in our class. I immediately knew that his story would resonate with my students.

We had talked about Idle No More before in class; it was a very abstract concept for many. David's journey seemed like a more tangible connection to the message of Idle No More. So, I had them look through newspaper articles covering David's journey. The questioned how fair his treatment was as he reached the Peace Tower in Ottawa. They spoke of his commitment, how he is an inspiration. They looked at his route on Google Earth and Google maps, marveling at the distance. Then they dug deeper into his story; each group being responsible for an aspect of the "underlying" story.

Here are their snippets of the background story.
Here is the work they are so proud of!

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Please share David's story through our eyes.
Please be inspired.
And if you can make this post reach David Kawapit, please share it with him.

-- Grade 5/6 class

Forces All Around Us

We read an article about the forces that are all around us. Each student group was responsible for explaining an everyday force as indicated in the article. Here are some snippets from their presentations:

The importance of wheels.
This group started their presentation by trying to roll the large green box.

"It would be much easier to roll this box if it was circular in shape."

The they explained why the bin table at the front of the room had wheels, showing how much easier it was to move. The wheels help reduce the amount of friction between the item being moved and the surface it's being moved on.

 "When you take a step, your foot is pushing down on the floor."

If the ground is cement, and you just step on it, it's not going to make a movement.

We had to voice record Logan's explanation:

Size matters. Gravity.

This group worked hard to explain and show what gravity does. They demonstrated dropping articles of different sizes and weights to show how gravity works on the various items. The interesting part was when they added a makeshift parachute to an item. How do parachutes work against gravity?

Friction

The girls presenting the section on friction thought this video and song best outlined the concepts from the article.

Push or Pull

A push and a pull is something everyone is familiar with.  Have you ever considered it like this?

Who has the biggest fist in our class?

Disclaimer: It's not as bad as it sounds. This was a non-violent experiment ;) 


We've been looking at volume and capacity in math class. 

Currently we've explored the volume of a cube:

We've been working a lot with unit cubes in the classroom to explore various measurements of volume:

But, perhaps the most fun exploration was using water in containers to see who has the largest fist in the class! (and learning about capacity and displacement)

We try not to be too boring in here...

What is a ______________?

*LD Funky Scribbles font from LetteringDelights.com

We used this quote from our Global Read Aloud book, The One and Only Ivan, to springboard a writing activity. How would you describe an everyday item to a baby elephant... or someone who didn't know what it was?

“What is a lawnmower?” Ruby asked. “It’s a dad thing. You push it.” “It runs by gas. It is really heavy.” “On the bottom there is a sharp blade that cuts grass!” By: Jessie Helen

“What is a headband? Ruby asks” It is a girl thing, it goes in your hair. It holds your hair out of your face. It is like an elastic with soft stuff  or hard stuff on the outside.                                     --Nora 

“What is an eraser?” Ruby asks. "An eraser is a thing that erases things that you wrote in pencil.” Some of the colors of an eraser are pink and white”. The way you work it is by rubbing it on paper.

                                 By: Sam

“What is a toaster?” Ruby asks. “It’s a human thing, a rectangular shaped box with 2-4 slots in the top.”“You can put bread in the top and turn the knob, then you turn the knob and it heats up and turns the bread in to toast.”
                              By: Emily 

  "What is a iPod?" Ruby asks.  A iPod is a thing that is electric machine that you can play games on. It is a human thing .You can listen to music and go online and learn stuff that’s a human thing to. Some of the iPods can take pictures to play with it, too. 
                                      By:Matthew 

“What is a bicycle?” Ruby asks “A bicycle is like a miniature car, you can go anywhere with it. But the difference between a car and a bicycle is that a car runs on gas and a bicycle runs on your energy. A different way to say bicycle is bike, The use for a bike is that you can go on a ride with your friends, go to your community market for a family member or you can just go to the store for a snack. And that’s what a bicycle is.”                 By: Erin J 

“What is a lamp?” Ruby asks. "It’s a human thing, it helps you when your in the dark and it helps you read, write and do homework.”  By: Taylor 

     “What is a Calendar” Ruby asked?
Well it tells you the month, year and date when you read it. You can write down when your busy and when your not. It helps you keep track of everything and it usually is a square that has numbers and at the top is says the month and year. It’s often made of paper. By: Gabby 

“What is a Computer?” Ruby asks. A computer is a device that humans use to communicate with other humans.They also use a computer to look at information that they don’t know. “So is it big or small?” Ruby asks.You can get them in all different sizes! But its better if its bigger because it will be easier to see the screen. By: Emma 

What is a bed? “ Ruby asks “A bed is a piece of furniture that humans lay on. And it has a soft thing that they put on,And sometimes has four legs. By : Neve 

What is a broom? Ruby asks It is a human thing .It has a long stick it is  called . At the end of it , it can be a triangle or a rectangle .At the end of the triangle or rectangle there is little things called brushes. A broom will sweep up dirt. You hold the handle to sweep. By: Sarah

"What is a paint brush?" Ruby asks. A paint brush's a human thing that leaves atail behind itself and it is hairy they also dip it in liquid and slide it across a wall that is a paint brush.-- Max 

“What is a Globe?” Ruby asked.It is round. It is a map. You can use it to find places. It spins. It is many colors. There is little tiny words on it.
 By Cody & Karzen J

“What is a lightswitch?” A lightswitch is a switch that turns on and off  the lights. If it’s pointed up the lights are on and it’s bright if its pointed down its off and dark. It has stuff behind it that gives it power to turn the lights on and off. By Logan 

“What is a laptop? Ruby asked” “A laptop is a gamer thing. It’s a rectangleFlip able thing with a screen. It has keys with the alphabet and numbers on it and when you type letters pop up on the screen like magic”.                  By Innis 

“What is a desk?” Ruby asks. A desk is a thing you sit on , while doing work , It’s square , It’s s place holder. It has a chair/seat part to sit on with 4 legs.Also where you put your supplies in.                              By Shayde  J 

“What is a stove?” Ruby asks It is a human thing . It is really hot and it is square with a little door in the front of it . It has 4 little circle’s on the top, that get hot to cook stuff, It’s in a house. By:Drake

“What is a Bus?” Ruby asks. A bus is a yellow rectangle with lots of windows and seats. It also has 1,2,3,4 black wheels that go round and round. It has a door  and steps that people walk up. A bus will take you around anywhere you want.

 -- Kalen 

“What is a bookmark” Ruby asks. It’s this thing that helps you remember your page, you can bind it, its small but not to small, it can be any color By: Cheyenne 

 

Welcome/Failte

It's the start of a new decade, and the start of a new project for Dawn's classes at Rankin.

As part of the learning in my classroom, students are going to be posting projects, ideas, and news on this site for the world to see.

We hope you enjoy a glimpse into the kinds of things we're exploring in our little nook of the world!

Please be sure to comment on our site, as feedback is what makes most things worthwhile... and allows us to learn from what we are doing!

Questions and/or additional comments can be sent directly to the teacher, Dawn Gillis, at:
macdond36 (at) staff.ednet.ns.ca