Monday:
On Monday, we had a short lesson on weaving. I showed the students a "Chumbé" from Peru, which is a traditional woven that a Lamista Quechua (the local indigenous group) woman weaved by hand. I also demonstrated how the wool of an alpaca had to be hand-spun in order to make the thread and then dyed using local plants.
We then talked about how weaving was also a tradition with the Coast Salish people that lived on these lands. We looked at different photographs of different artifacts from baskets, to blankets, and ceremonial robes.
Then we looked at different ways to dye fabric, I chose to use beets and turmeric as two of the colours (as they were available in my fridge) and for the third dye, I had the students collect items from our local wooded area that they thought could tint the water. We took the fabric strips with the students New Years' Resolutions on them and soaked them in the colour of the kids choice.
In the end, all of the colours turned out great! The kids called their colour creation "Earth Colour". Stay-tuned to next weeks blog to see the final product.
Tuesday:
I spent the day at the District Head Office with Mrs. Crnkovich, attending a workshop. It was a wonderful day of learning for me. The kids had a great day with Mrs. Barber. She taught the kids a new math game, read a snowman story, completed their poetry books and prepared a cute melted snowman craft for the students to complete.
Wednesday:
Today we were very lucky to take part in a curling workshop with Claudette. The kids learned the proper technique to sweep the ice in a fun relay, how to throw the stone, and how to score. They cheered their classmates on calling out, "Hurry! Hard!"
We played a fun game where the students received a card with the picture of a animal on it. The students had to keep the animals secret, but go around asking questions to their classmates to try and figure out who had their match. Once they found their match, the kids created a pose to represent their coast Salish animal.
Now that our fabric pieces were dry, we started to weave them onto the loom. The kids can now appreciate the time, patience, and concentration that is required to weave.
Thursday:
We continued our Winter themed story workshop. I am impressed with the problem solving skills that the kids have developed. I observed several tables working together to figure out a fair way to share materials. Many table groups managed to work collaboratively on one story, building off of each others' ideas. Way to go!
We have started a Kindness Ninja project, where we are going to some up with random acts of kindness to perform secretly around the school. The kids seem to really like the Ninja theme so it has trickled into our math stations as well. The first math game we learned is called Ninja Chop. The students took 10 pompoms, they then had to chop the pompoms apart making two piles. They then had to say how many were in each group. Example: 6 and 4 make 10. OR 2 and 8 make 10.
Friday:
We read a couple ninja stories and practiced moving "stealthily" around the room. We then decided on the details of our first mission. The students decided to make our new Principal feel welcome with a note or a card. We recruited Ms. M to be our Ninja Spy and find a time when Mr. Dekerf was out of the office so that we could deliver the anonymous welcome cards in secret. I have never seen a group of Kindergarten students move so quickly and quietly. They even crawled across the office floor going almost completely unnoticed by passers-by. Mission #1 was a success.
We had big buddies. We learned another ninja math game called, "Ninja Slap". The students split a deck of cards (face cards removed) with their buddies. They each flip a card into the centre at the same time. The person with the highest number takes the cards. If there is a matching number the first person to slap the op of the deck and say, "Ninja Slap" takes the cards. The object is to get all the cards. This is a good game for number recognition and understanding quantities.
This upcoming week we will be participating in a primary class teacher rotation in preparation for our Indigenous Residency, which is happening the following week. On Monday afternoon and Friday afternoon, the kids will be visiting 3 different classes for introductory lessons on various Indigenous topics, beading, story-telling, seasons, button-blankets, and more.
I will be absent on Wednesday, as I have a meeting at SFU.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
Books this week:
The Snowman (Wordless Book) by Raymond Briggs
Songs this Week:
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