Week at a Glance

Students put skills into practice with this turkey talk! Students have been practicing informative writing and gathering information to make notes. Students were provided a reading passage about turkey. They then had to make notes then go outside to observe how the turkeys behaved. 

It is hard to believe that we have completed our last swimming lesson. I am looking forward to having more time in the classroom to accomplish even more learning, and Christmas preparation. Tis the season of always being so busy!

We have now started to learn about treaties. We are learning that they were meant to be promises. However, promises were broken. We walked through time imagining what life was like before newcomers moved to these lands. This was a time to reflect and think about how different ways of living were to how they are now. 

We ran out of time on Halloween for this experiment. We carved a funny face on a pumpkin then created a chemical reaction using baking soda and vinegar. After, we took turns destroying the pumpkin! 

Remembrance Day is important to our country because it is a day to reflect on the reasons why we are so free. Students collaborated to make a class wreath to lay at the Remembrance Day Ceremony.

Sometimes the best lessons are the ones that aren't planned. We went out to the barn yard to inquire about something that we have never thought about before. Students were asking incredible questions! So many questions went unanswered that we now have to investigate further. While we were out there, we said goodbye to the brooder chickens and the turkeys.

Our Holstein calf lives in New York so we will get virtual visits with her! Her name is Lily and she is very cute. We will learn about cattle and their life cycle. Our class will also adopt a Speckle Park calf when it is born in January! This will be a fun project to watch each calf grow.

Halloween brings so much energy to NHCS. The grade 3's did a 'few' Halloween themed math activities before the fun really started! We watched a spooky Halloween movie and exchanged treats. The best part of Halloween was the science experiments. We made States of Matter floats! We ended the day with a Mummy STEM challenge as well. The grade 3's are pumped for all the fun they will have tonight!

Students always look forward to SEED Day! This one was jam packed and the stations shared the theme of "Thank a Farmer, Thank the Land". Students learned about different apple varieties, learned about different professions in agriculture, and explored natural resources and determined where goods come from. Students also read a variety of books and built a corn catapult out of popsicle sticks! NHCS is so lucky to have SEED Days!

This is the project that I love the most! For 4 years  I have buried undies with my class to test the soil health. This year we are using our farm animal's manure to see which manure helps the soil the most. It will be interesting to see the results because even I don't know how this will play out! Stay tuned as we will unveil the undies in the spring after a long winters nap. 

In science we have been learning about matter. To show changes of state, we made biscuits and butter! It was a delicious snack and a fun way to learn about how matter can change states. We learned that these changes are irreversible.

To learn about the water cycle,  students built their own water cycles in plastic baggies. We are excited to watch the water cycle directly in our classroom!

Students have figured out our swim day routine fairly well now! They understand all of my expectations and are a well oiled machine. We are very fortunate to be given the opportunity to do swim lessons as part of our PE curriculum. 

In health, students are to learn more about what consent means and how to respect it. Students played tag where they had to ask to join the hulahoop and share their "personal bubbles". We discussed different scenarios and how using our words helps us set boundaries for other people.

Students have been learning about Canada in Social. Part of this learning has been about Terry Fox's journey across Canada. Students made an interactive puzzle demostrating their geographic knowledge!

This year our school is trying out some heifers! Meet Rosie and Malibu! Students are eager to learn more about these girls and how to take care of them.

8 weeks of swimming lessons started today! We are so fortunate to be given this opportunity every year. I look forward to watching students grow as swimmers. 

Not many schools will have school photos happening outside right next to turkeys being butchered! We are so lucky to be exposed to such experiences. Students were informed of what they would see and most of my 3's wanted to take part. I am proud of them for being so mature! One cool thing we seen was one female turkey that was butchered had an assortment of eggs at different stages inside of her. One student even connected that it was a 'lifecycle'. So cool!

As part of our science unit, we are learning about matter and different materials. To add in an FNMI tie, we reviewed the 4 scared medicines as well as how the Medicine Wheel provides balance to our lives. I had students create their own Medicine Wheel outlining 4 things that are their own "medicine". 

It has been such a busy month so far it is hard to squeeze all the things in! The corn was ready for harvest and this year the class is going to dry out the cobs to use as feed for the animals and wild birds. 

Prior to students going to harvest the garden, they had to learn about the different parts of a plant. Students labeled diagrams to understand how the reproduction of a corn plant works. Once students had the background knowledge to harvest, they got straight to work!

The grade 3 students have adopted a class pet, the WORMS! We are going to care for the red wigglers living in the worm hotel in the barn. We will feed the worms appropriate foods and investigate the life cycle of a worm. We will make connections to soil health as well as the importance of worms as decomposers. Stay tuned for all the photos!

Being safe is always a priority at NHCS. Students worked with partners to brainstorm a list of safety rules that are important to follow. One of the best rules that a student shared was regarding not playing in piles of grain! This was a perfect reminder for this time of year. 

Mrs. Kohel has taken over social for the grade 3's! To start things off, students designed a barn map using our barn yard as inspiration. Students worked outside to get a good feel for how a map works and where things are located. 

This year instead of making a "Classroom Agreement" poster, we changed things up. We wanted to spread the values of our classroom around the school yard. The class brainstormed virtues that aligned with what we feel are important. We then decorated tree cookies and hid them around the yard. The intention is that these virtues are shared will all students at NHCS!

Working as a team is hard on the best of days, not to mention doing so without using our voices! Students had to work together and line up based on a variety of parameters i.e. letters in the name, birth month etc. It was grueling by students were successful!

Numbers are everywhere! A big focus of the year will be on cows... little do my students know! This was a fun way to start the year!

These students have followed Roz and her animal friends in grade 2. Now, we will continue to learn about the Wild Robot and how she plans to fix the "Poison Tide"! Students were hooked since page one! Be sure to check in with your child to see what is happening in the book so far.