Potato Prints with a Special Guest

Today we had a visit from a former Brooksbank student who is now in Grade 8.  She spent a good part of the morning with us doing the first step of an art project.  We made 4 potato prints using black paint. Can you guess what they will become?  I took as many photos as I could but I was also teaching while this was going on so I know I missed a few kids (sorry!)

When we were finished working on the "Food" page of our penguin research project, we moved on to math tubs.  I love how the kids are expanding on their patterning skills by using new materials and exploring patterns in new and different ways.  I didn't even ask them to build patterns, this is all self initiated exploration.  Love it!

Back to the potato prints….

At the end of our day we had a little celebration for someone who really gave a great effort today.  We sang "happy best work day to you, happy best work day to you….!" and celebrated her great achievements!  What a nice way to end the week.  

FYI, the school had an indoor lunch today because the rain was falling very heavily.  By the afternoon, the kids were itching to run and play!  They may need some time to expel some of their energy today!  Have a great weekend.  

Looking ahead…next Friday (February 5th) is a Professional Development Day (no school for students) and Monday, February 8th is Family Day (no school for anyone).

Multicultural Lunch

Today was a great day.  We had our multicultural lunch and I was so impressed with the kids.  They spoke about the food they brought, they shared photos of their travels and they tried some foods that they may not have tried before.  They had wonderful manners (lots of yes pleases and no thank yous).  I took a photo of each child with his/her dish.  I don't remember the names of everything, but I'll give you a little description...

pineapple inspired by a trip to Hawaii

sandwiches from Great Britain (cucumber and cream cheese, meat and cheese and jam)…afternoon tea, anyone?

some British biscuits

pork pies from England (from one very specific region of England that I should have written down to remember!)

Irish soda bread

Scottish sweet, yummy treats made with porridge and syrup (again, I can't remember the exact name)

Challah, a braided Jewish bread eaten at times of celebration

A savory cake of African origin….it begins with a B, not much help, I know…sorry

Chinese coconut buns 

Danish rye bread with fig spread

This one starts with a P and it's from Germany, little buns filled with all kinds of yummy goodness!

Irish potatoes 

Persian bread and tzatziki 

European wieners from Germany

French croissants because she couldn't bring the german strudel because it contained nuts…the croissants were a huge hit!

an assortment of French foods: cheeses, meat, olives and crackers

English sausages and apple sauce

Vietnamese spring rolls

Italian pasta

Let the eating begin!

I'd like to send a HUGE thank you to the two moms and Mrs Winkler who came and helped serve all this food to the kids.  Our lunch wouldn't have been so successful had you not been there!

This afternoon, we attended a "Jump Rope For Heart" assembly.  More information will be coming home soon, but Brooksbank will be participating in the fundraising campaign this year and we will be having our "Jumping Event" on February 10th.

Here we are running to get our heart rates up!

I have let the kids know that I will not be at school tomorrow.  I am at a meeting.  Miss Maria will be back tomorrow and the kids will have a TTOC (Teacher Teaching On Call).  

See you all again on Friday.

Penguin Research, Multicultural Lunch and Oo Sharing

Reminders first today:
Tomorrow is Oo sharing day.

Tomorrow is also our Multicultural Lunch.  Please see previous blog post for more information.  Please send a plate and utensils with your child tomorrow (labeled please).  If you would like to bring food items (enough for each child to have a SMALL taste) into the class in the morning that would be great. If you are planning on dropping food off during the morning, please do so before 11:45.  Thanks for the offers of help.  I think we have enough adults to help hand out food.  If you have any questions, please email me and I'll do my best to get back to you.

Here are some photos of the mini research project that we started today about Penguins.  We looked for facts about what penguins look like and showed that information in a picture.  But first, a couple of pictures of a very creative computer!

Here's a look at today's penguin work...