This past Friday marked the start of a new and exciting chapter in our program: "Forest Friday's!" After the incredible learning experience last Spring as part of the Ministry of Education's Pilot Project entitled "A Week in the Forest," (click here if you have yet to read that post), I couldn't help but get excited to launch this part of our program every Friday! 

Our students' love for the outdoors is contagious and we are so fortunate to have our magical forest within walking distance from our school. It truly has become a "magical" place for learning and one that our students have a genuine love and care for! 

As a teaching team, we want our "Forest Friday's" to be an opportunity that extends on the learning happening within the walls of our classroom while at the same time, help our students foster a loving connection with nature. From "Sit Spots" and experiments to exploration and more, our "Forest Friday's" continues to be a natural recipe for fun! 

"A Week in the Forest" ~ Inspiring Learning Outside

"It's a good thing to learn about nature in order to share this knowledge with children; it's even better if the adult and child learn about nature together. And it's a lot more fun." 

~ Richard Louv

This quote sums up beautifully the amazing experience and positive impact of the Ministry Pilot Project our class was fortunate enough to be a part of last week entitled "A Week in the Forest." This project was founded by Tanya Murray, an Outdoor Education Teacher and Specialist with Sibbald Point and Forest School Practitioner, with hopes that every child and educator alike could feel inspired to learn outside! Part 1 of the Pilot took place at Milliken Mills Public School in Markham and focused more on the urban school setting. Our school was Part 2 of the Pilot since our landscape was one that promoted a more rural environment and something we will now always call the "magical forest." 

Lights, Camera, Action: Extending our Movie Theatre Inquiry beyond the walls of our classroom!

This blog post is long overdue but one that I'm excited to be sharing nonetheless! Our Movie Theatre Inquiry continues to be an engaging and exciting learning space in our classroom! Prior to our March Break, we had the incredible opportunity of visiting The Roxy Theatre; a historically restored movie theatre located in Uxbridge, Ontario.

Image from Google Images

The planning and purpose of this field trip was to support our students' understanding of what movie theatre's look like and what roles are needed, but also extend their learning beyond the surface to develop a deeper understanding around how they operate! Little did we know as an educator team, that the morning itself would be full of surprises!

A special celebration

How can I possibly sum up the last three years with my incredible, passionate, and caring partner, Heidi Theis, in just one blog post? It's next to impossible...however, I do want to share how our end of the year "Celebration of Learning" was special to our students and to us as a teaching team. 

As Heidi and I began taking down all the amazing memories and learning moments that occurred within the walls of our classroom before the end of the school year, we couldn't help but find ourselves getting very emotional. Over the past three years as a team, we have had the wonderful privilege of coming to "work" everyday and not only being partners to each other, but also partners with our students along their learning journey's. We couldn't feel more thankful to know that we got to work with these incredible, capable and creative young learners at Lorna Jackson Public School. 

As a way of celebrating this incredible feeling, Heidi and I decided to use our Rainbow Inquiry, and in particular Our Rainbow Tree of wishes, as a vehicle for creating this year's "Celebration of Learning" whereby students and their families could come together to help create special memories of their time Kindergarten in their hearts as well as in ours! 

So....we created the idea of a "Rainbow Release!" 

Each child got a balloon to signify their special place in our "class' rainbow" and together with their families, they wrote a wish! 

After tying their wishes to their balloons, we all gathered in the middle of our soccer field and, after sharing a few emotional words, let our balloons go! It was truly wonderful watching them all fly away in the sunlight! Such an incredible moment to be a part of! 

Ready...

Set...

Release...

For us as a teaching team, this "Rainbow Release" helped signify new beginnings for us as both Heidi and I as we venture off to brand new schools in September. Our time together is not over however, but rather just beginning! We look forward to all the new learning, exciting new chapters, and inspiring young learners we will meet along the way! 

A special message to our students' families:

Thank you for taking the time to come and be a part of our special celebration and for helping create magical memories with your child and with us as their teachers. Thank you for believing in us as a teaching team, entrusting us with your child, and opening up your hearts to us as we supported your child as they began their learning journey! We truly hope that the "wishes" have reached the rainbows and we couldn't be more thankful for the time we had with your children. They have helped shape the educators we are today! Wishing you all a safe and happy summer! 

Yours truly, 

Jocelyn Schmidt

"This is my Rainbow Collage!" - J.S.

Last week, we received the most lovely surprise Monday morning! One of our SK students, J.S., had eagerly pulled out of his communication folder his very own "Rainbow Collage" that he had co-created with his family over the weekend while visiting his Grandma and Grandpa!

This "Rainbow Collage" had such a unique connection to our inquiry because J.S. had planted special "rainbow chard" in his Grandpa's garden! Immediately upon presenting his creation, J.S. made reference to the read aloud story we previously read entitled, "Planting a Rainbow" by Lois Ehlert!

"Here I am carefully measuring the spaces with my hand print.
Now it's time to plant the seeds!
In about 4-5 weeks, the "rainbow" chard will be ready to harvest.
Plant stems may be yellow, gold, orange, pink, violent, or variegated
along with the standard red and white. It can be used in your salad to
add colour and tastes yummy!"

The collage depicts the steps J.S. took to plant the seeds and during his presentation, he answered many questions and shared his own predictions of what will happen next!

Thank you to J.S. and his family for sharing this lovely collage with us and for continuing to update our class with photos of the growth and changes in the special "rainbow chard!" 

Here are some updated photos as changes start to happen in Port Dover! 

Notice the different coloured stems? Exciting!

We can't wait to see what unfolds 

in the next couple weeks!

Who are we and where do we come from?

Over the past 3 months, our class has been inquiring about who we are and where we come from! This wonderment around "identity" and what makes each of us special and unique was something Ms. Theis and I wasted no time on exploring with our students. What started from one of our SK students leaving to visit family in Egypt before the holidays and our students wondering where Egypt was on the map, led to a multi-facted inquiry that has branched off into many authentic directions! 

A world map by T.D. (SK)

Our documentation panel 

As we began to explore our "identity," many wonderful learning opportunities began to unravel. This post will sum up in brief some of those wonderful highlights to ensure privacy is still protected for our students' and their families!

We hope you enjoy our "Highlight Reel":

1. An interview with T.B. in Egypt through Skype! 
Here are some of our questions and T.B.'s responses:

What does it look like in Egypt?
T.B.: "Plants are green and I can see the ocean and lots of pools. The weather is summer and I have been making sand castles and see the pyramids too!"

What is your favourite Egyptian food?
T.B.: "I like lots of carrots, beans and rice. It's yummy."

V.D.: "I wonder if you talk a different language?"
T.B.: "Yes, I speak Arabic!"

J.S. (SK - boy): "How many pyramids did you see in Egypt?"
T.B.: "I saw big, medium and small. There's also a guard for the pyramid to control if they're open or closed and who can go in and out and the guard has to say 'yes' or it's not safe."

2. "Whoever You Are" - by Mem Fox:
After reading this story as a Read Aloud on Wednesday afternoon to support our inquiry, our class had a very insightful discussion around what makes each of us special and unique!

"My Dad comes from Poland and my mom comes from Italy."

"My family is from Jamaica and it's hot there!"

"My family is from Sri Lanka!"

"My Dad comes from Cambodia and my Mom comes from China!"

"My family is from Canada."

"My Mom comes from the Phillipines."

"My family comes from Vietnam. I don't see rain or snow in Vietnam but I see leaves on the ground sometimes."

"People's skins are different colours because everyone's countries are different."

"Everyone speaks Indian in my country. That's my language."

"We speak Tamil at home."

"Skin colours are different and they change because of the sun you know?"

Here is a list of some other fantastic Read Alouds that we have used to support this inquiry:

"Skin Again" by Bell Hooks

"This is me and where I am" by Joanne Fitzgerald

"The Skin You Live In" by Michael Tyler, David Lee Csicsko

"The Colours of Us" by Karen Katz

"Who's in a Family?" by Robert Skutch

"Whoever You Are" by Mem Fox

3. Creating our Self Portraits out of clay:
Creating a self portrait was one way we felt our students could be invited to celebrate their identity. It was truly a remarkable experience watching them pay such close attention to the details on their face when drawing their sketches and when crafting their design out of clay! 

4. Our families on the map:
To celebrate the diversity within our classroom, one activity that drew in a lot of excitement was creating "Country Cards" and plotting ourselves on our world map in our classroom! It was so wonderful to see how multicultural our classroom is and how many unique backgrounds create the community within the walls of our learning space! Our students continue to look up and observe each other's family identities and talk about what they see! 

5. Holiday "Think Work":
Over the Holiday Break, we invited our families to share with us some of their cultural traditions! Families could create a "Country Collage" out of pictures that represent their country and/or share a recipe of a favourite cultural dish! We were beyond thrilled with the responses from our students and their families! It was also great to see our families experimenting with technology and creating their collages on PicCollage! Our plan is to create a "Class Recipe Book" including all of those shared with us as part of this Think Work activity! 

6. Our Collaborative "Who is Nobody?" Project:
Read more about this incredible project by clicking on the link:

http://whoisnobodycollaborativeproject.blogspot.ca

7. Designing Flags:
After one SK's response to her "Question of the Day" book based on the question: "If you could design your own flag, what would it look like and why?" - our students jumped at the chance of celebrating their identity by creating a flag of their very own! With the incorporation of water colours, here are their masterpieces:

Artists: D.K., C.S., G.V., E.Z.

Artists: G.B., J.H., J.S. (boy), J.S. (girl)

Artists: J.L. (boy), J.L. (girl), L.M., M.P.

Artists: M.D., P.B., R.K., R.T.

Artists: R.V., S.R., T.B., T.P.

Artists: T.D., V.D., Z.P

The above is just a snapshot into our "Identity" and "Map Inquiry"! We hope it helps to paint a picture around what has been going on inside our classroom these past few months! We truly can't wait to see where the journey takes us so stay tuned!

"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi

Over the course of this past week, many schools across Canada have been acknowledging, promoting, and educating their learners around bullying and in particular, Anti-Bullying Awareness Week's theme of "Stand Up!"

By D.K. 

At Lorna Jackson Public School, our school's Positive Climate For Learning committee and student team worked very hard at addressing key messages, bullying tips and how to be an "UPstander" throughout many school-wide initiatives and during our Good News Assembly.

By G.B. 

By J.S. 

The reason for this post is because, in our class, our youngest learners have truly shown a deep understanding for what it means to be a "bully" and how we can stand up for ourselves, our friends and make a difference. Over the course of this past week, the students in our classroom have taken the profound initiative to want to teach others about what bullying means and how to stand up to a bully. 

By J.L.

By P.B.

Ms. Theis and I couldn't have felt more inspired by our students as they showcased their thinking and made it visible through drawings, writing, small group discussions and during daily read aloud opportunities. Not only were some children able to talk about their own experiences around how they have felt when someone has mean to them, but they were able to articulate strategies, acknowledge each other's ideas and show a true desire to be the best friend they can be to their peers. 

By T.B.

By Z.P.

One SK in particular, decided to illustrate his understanding of a bully through the form of a visual story. It is clear through his story-telling, that E.Sz. has a very important message and we hope that as you watch, you can see that even as young as 4, our students can be the change! 

Similarly, others students in our class took to our iPads and in particular the app called "Doodlecast" to create stories around bullying and how to stand up to them for themselves or their peers. We have captured their videos here and we hope you enjoy listening to their special messages as well. 

(Doodlecast is $1.99 from iTunes)

(Story by E.S.)

(Story by T.B.)

Thank you to our students' families for letting us showcase their work on our blog and setting an example for how our youngest learners have a strong message to give and can be the change we want to see in the world. For more information around Anti-Bullying Awareness Week, please visit: www.bullyingawarenessweek.org.