2021-2022 school year

And that's a wrap for the 2021-22 school year!!

*Please scroll down to view pictures and videos of everything we've done this year :)

Here is a very brief glimpse at some of the work we did in the LLC this year! Watch this space as there are exciting LLC plans to come in the 2022-23 school year! Thanks for an amazing year full of reading, learning, and making everyone!!

JUNE 2022

It's the last display of the school year!! How did that happen? This school year ends on the celebration of PRIDE; National Indigenous History; Philippine Heritage; Italian Heritage; and Portuguese Speaking Heritage Month.

MAY 2022

May means another new display! This month focuses on Asian Heritage, Jewish Heritage, the International Day of Families, and the theme of consent to support Sexual Assault and Prevention month at the TDSB.

Partnerships May

Partnerships (and cardboard challenge!) May 16th to May 20th

Here are a few pictures of partnerships from this week and a short video with a sample of some of the amazing carboard creations.

Partnerships May 9th to May 13th

Here is an overview of partnerships from this week as well as some great examples of students' carboard creations for Regal Road's school wide cardboard challenge. Thank you to Mme. Neicov's and Mr Ogden's class for showing and sharing their amazing work with me!

Partnerships May 2nd to May 6th

We had a productive first week of partnerships in the LLC this first week of May, here is a sneak peek!

APRIL 2022

Another new month means yet another new display! Lots to celebrate, acknowledge, and think about this month! This month's focus is on Latin American Heritage, Sikh heritage, Autism awareness, Genocide awareness, Earth day, and the International Day of Pink! Ramadan also starts the evening of April 1st until the evening of May 1st. Our LLC display overflows with books to help support students and teachers in discussing and exploring these important themes! Happy reading!

Partnerships April

Here is the selection of books that Another Story Book Store sent us. Students (and teachers) will select books they'd like to have in their LLC (and classrooms) and we will order/purchase them. Such a great selection! :)

Partnerships April 25th to April 29th

Here is a glimpse at some of what we did in partnerships this week.

Partnerships overview

The students used carrots as part of this Makey Makey circuit using crocodile clips! :)

Partnerships April 19th to April 22nd

Here is an overview of partnerships this week, lots of fun with circuitry! Check out the music students made using our Makey Makey kit and carrots!! :)

Music exploration using a Makey Makey kit and carrots!

The students formed a circuit to make music using our new Makey Makey kit!

Partnerships (1st week of the last round!): April 4th to April 8th.

Here is an overview of the first week of our last round of partnerships for this school year, time is flying!

Partnerships wrap up: March 28th to April 1st.

Here is an overview of the partnerships we wrapped up this week. The last round of partnerships is from April to June so watch this space! :)

MARCH 2022

Another new month means yet another new display! This month focuses on International Women's Day (March 8th) which ties in nicely with the UN' s Sustainable Development Goal: Gender Equality. It is is also Greek Heritage month. Lots to recognize and celebrate this month too!

Partnerships March

Partnerships March 21st-25th

Partnerships from this week

Here is an overview of partnerships from this week :)

Partnerships leading up to March break!

Just before March break, Mme Kreger's class finished their personal recount project. They made animations using https://sketch.metademolab.com/canvas with Mme.Kreger. They then went on to do a gallery walk by scanning each other's QR codes and hearing highlights from their personal recounts which we created using Flipgrid. Have a look! :)

Partnerships March 7th -11th

Students played music using microbits, crocodile clips, and headphones, as well as continued their ozobot communities in both Ms. Linley and Ms. Elango's classes.

Hacking headphones!

Students played some tones (middle C and G) and made music with mircobits thanks to an addition of crocodile clips! I did the coding part but the students will put that code together themselves next partnership period!

Partnerships February 28th - March 4th

Check this short video which gives you a quick insight into this week's partnerships!

The carboard friends were designed by Ms.Ryan' s class as a Forest of Making activity after reading the Blue Spruce Forest of Reading book: 48 Grasshopper Estates.

Mme.Furley's class also worked on making their own simple machines. More updates will be posted shortly!

FEBRUARY 2022

A new month means another new display. Lots to celebrate, commemorate, and recognize this month: African Heritage/Black History month, Lunar new year (the year of the tiger!),and Chinese Heritage month.

Check out this short Wevideo that showcases some of the changes happening in our Regal Road Library Learning Commons!

Partnerships with Ms.Elango's class

Students started to create their cardboard communities using our makerspace makedo kit tools. Once they have finished these, they will code ozobots to explore their communities so watch this space!

Partnerships with Ms.Linley's class

Students continued to code postive messages and images using microbits during partnerships this week :)

This week's partnerships!

Check out this week's partnerships in this wevideo I made! :)

Partnerships with Ms.Elango

Students made blueprints for their social studies (local or global communities) makerspace/ozobot project! I will update their project progression as we proceed!

Partnerships with Ms.Linley

Students coded Valentine's day messages with microbits! :)

Partnerships with Ms.Ryan

Here are some finished samples of our Forest of Reading Malaika's Surprise art activity! I've already hung a few up in our LLC :)

Partnerships with Mme.Buckley

Each group made their blueprints and procedural type plans for their upcoming makerspace carboard creations of their choice. Here is one of the awesome examples. I'm excited to use the new Makedo kit with them too to help bring these ideas to reality! :)

Exciting new changes in our LLC! :)

It may not jump out but if you look closely, there are no more electical panels in the middle of the second half of our LLC! This was a HUGE space consumer! Now the LLC vision can slowly start to take shape. It's a big job but we will get there! The goal is to open up this side of the library more for flexible learning areas and a larger Makerspace! It's super exciting! I will post updates as the vision comes together! :)

Partnerships with Ms.Linley's class

Students in Ms.Linley's class worked on coding dashbots and microbits during partnerships today. Check out the video to see what positive message of encouragement one student coded! :) Some students even added to the Lego wall. Please send old lego you wish to purge our way, thank you!

Partnerships with Mme.Kreger's class

Students from Mme. Kreger's class are currently working on personal recounts in their classroom. To extend the learning in the LLC during partnerships, they will animate their stories and add an audio narration to their drawings. Looking forward to seeing where this collaboration takes us! :)

Library helpers! :)

Look at all the fantastic things my library helpers are doing - I couldn't run the LLC without their valuable help and input! This week, not only did they reshelve books but they decorated their new Lego Wall; sorted all the ozobot equipment; and made bookmarks for the entire school to use (using discarded book sleeves). Many of my library helpers will be taking part in library leaders (to help me weed the LLC collection) so watch this space for updates! :)

Partnerships with Ms.Ryan's class

Students from Ms.Ryan's class are creating art connected to the Blue Spruce Forest of Reading picture book: Malaika's Surprise. Can't wait to see the end result of these colourful creations!

JANUARY 2022

Happy New Year! This month's display focuses on the theme of social and emotional well-being as well as recognizes important dates such as Martin Luther King Jr. day (January 17th) and civil rights. January is also Tamil heritage month at the TDSB. Check out the virtual library page for a Tamil heritage choice board!

Partnerships with Ms.Linley's class

For our first partnership period (which was remote), we read "I am peace" by Susan Verde. We went on to do a brainstorming jamboard with students' wonderings and thoughts around mindfulness and what it means to them to be at peace. Lots of great contrubutions were made. We then went on to explore a choice board around this picture book and it's themes. Our next step will involve coding mindful messages of kindness and encouragement with our new microbits!

Kao I am Peace - Lisa Kao - Earnscliffe Sr PS (1410)

Partnerships with Mme.Kreger's class

Today was partnerships with Mme.Kreger's class. The goal of our collaborative project is to create stop motion videos on the energy cycle. Today students explored a storyboard creator in order to start making their own storyboard in preparation for the different steps in their stop motion movie... More next week!

Book exchange with Mr.Rowles's class

Today we read "The Doll" as part of our introduction to Forest of Reading and the Blue Spruce branch of books. Students made many thoughtful observations and shared ways in which they can show acts of kindness: e.g.: giving flowers to a family member or friend, drawing a picture for soemone, or making a donation to charity. We will continue exploring these books next week! Please visit the recreational reading tab to learn more about the Forest of Reading program.

Snowday leftover fun at Regal Road

Students built igloos, forts, and made snow babies! So much creativity and curricular connections (strong and stable structures) . Lots of global competenices were being practiced too: creativity, inquiry, and entrepreneurship; collaboraton and leadership ...

Pixel art with Mme.Buckley's class

Students explored Pixel art today. They were to create their own video game character. Some studetns had some great ideas. E.g.: They wanted to create a video game and character where you could jump from trees like a squirrel and had to avoid obstacles such as branches and other animals. If you make it to the ground, you win! The students may go on to create their own video games connected to their pixel art characters using makecode.org or CSfirst.

Harder to stack then you may think..

It's a boat, it's a plane! No, it's a boatplane!

A lot can be created from some binders and sticks

A castle tower!

Partnerships with Mme.Furley's class

Students worked in makerspace stations today with the goal of building structures withe their materials: cards, blocks, popsicle sticks and binder clips, and loose parts such as paper plates and cardboard kitchen roll...

Harder to stack than you may think!

It's a boat, it's a plane! No, it's a boatplane!

A lot can be created from some binders and sticks

A castle tower!

Partnerships with Ms.Linley's class

Today we did a workshop with Kids Code Jeunesse on an introduction to microbits. Students started some basic coding which we will continue next week and that they will learn to download/synch to their microbits.

Partnerships with Ms.Elango's class

Today for our first partnership, students explored makerspace stations: yoga, robot mice, structures with popsicle sticks and binder clips, and lastly, mindful colouring. Very excited for what's to come ... next stop, robotics!

Partnerships with Mme.Lau's class

Today students explore the following makerspace stations: mindful colouring, construction, robot mice, and string games. Lots of great making - watch this space for pictures on our upcoming simple machines collaborative project!

International Holocaust remembrance day

Thursday January 27th is International Holocaust remembrance day. A display has been created in the LLC to commemorate this day. As Anne Frank once wrote: 'What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again".

Partnerships with Ms.Linley's class

The students have been exploring how to code with microbits on makecode.microbit.org They will go on to code positive messages of encouragement. Have a look at this example!

Partnerships with Ms.Elango's class

Students explored coding with the dashbots through the iPad Dashbot GO app. Lots of great exploring and observations around the Dashbots were made!

New Makerspace Goodies!

Makedo and makeymakey! I can't wait to explore conducting electricity with fruit with the students. I also can't wait to see all their cardboard creations :)

Squisy circuits! Also looking forward to conducting electricity with the studetns using play doh creations - so much making potential here! :)

New LLC student signage

Students from Mme.Davies's class finished their signage for the LLC - they really brighten up the space. Merci les amis! :)

DECEMBER 2021

Another new month means another new display, the last one of 2021! Lots of celebrations this month as well as important dates coming up such as: the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd) and Human Rights Day (December 10th). I tried to reflect all this in this month's display, happy reading!

Microbit workshop during partnerships with Mme. Irimescu's class

Although students did not have access to Microbits, they were still able to avail of the Microbit workshop from Kids Code Jeunesse. I am in the process of acquiring Microbits for the LLC. Students saved their coding work that they will "attach" to the Microbits down the line so watch this space! Have a look at what one student coded during the microbit workshop in the video below :)

QR codes during partnerships with Ms.Pal's class

Students attached their QR codes to their Barren Grounds descriptions! Have a look at our spruced up LLC bulletin board! :)

Drop everything and STEAM with Ms.Buckley's class

Students continued building on global competencies (collaboration and leadership; creativity, inquiry, and entrepreneurship) and working on their signs for the LLC. Watch this space for the finished product :)

Look what Mme.De Medeiros's grade 5/6 class is doing :)

Students were presenting their science projects for human organ systems this week. Here are a few pictures of their amazing projects.

Ozobot stories with Mme.Irimescu's class continued

Students continued to problem solve and practice global competencies by working together to create and colour code lines that the ozobots would be able to follow. Their ozobot stories are coming together, have a look at what they have done thus far!

String games

One of our LLC's lovely library helpers was showing me how to do some string games to use in our makerspace - so intricate! I have so much left to learn! :)

Bridge

Witch's hat

Witch's broom

Partnerships with Ms.Kingman's class

Today Ms.Kingman's 3/4 students explored the subject guides on TDSB Virtual Library to help them to find information for their People and Environments project in social studies. They were also learning how to properly cite a specific source. Today during our partnership period, they had to find one source and cite it.

More LLC signage!

Mme. Davies's grade 3 class are making French signage for our LLC and makerpsace. They got off to a very productive start today! I'm excited for the end result! Merci les amis :)

REGAL ROAD CLASSROOM WELCOME SIGNS

As part of the student leadership committee art initiative, students created welcome signs for their classrooms. Here are few so far! :)

MAKERSPACE with Mme.Buckley's class

The new LLC signage is nearly complete. Some of the 5/6's also did some spontaneous making today, that's what I like to see! :)

Partnership wrap up with Mme. Neicov's grade 3 class

Students from Mme. Neicov's class shared some of their dialogues that they created with their own settings and characters. Lots of creativity and coding intuitiveness as they worked on this project!

Partnership wrap up with Ms.Kingman's grade 3/4 class

Students continued to peruse the TDSB virtual library study guides for their People and Environments social studies project. They worked in pairs to collect research in order to fulfil the success critieria. Once they have created their posters, they will add an audio description and QR code using Flipgrid.

DROP EVERYTHING AND STEM SCHOOL WIDE PROJECT

Have a look at Mme. Furley's class's paper chain! On Friday December 10th, many classes took part in the drop everything and STEM paper chain challenge. They were to create the longest paper chain possible within a certain time frame, bravo!

Here are some pictures of Ms.Ryan's class working on their classroom paperchain :)

Here are the chains that Mme. Hida's class made :)

Partnership wrap up with Mme. Dumitrita's grade 4/5 class

Students added written narratives to accompany their ozobot stories

Students tested out their ozobot stories with their narratives (written on Google docs)

New projects already underway for 2022 :)

The wooden panel is up for our soon to come makerspace Lego wall!

The Forest of Reading recreational reading program (Forêt de la lecture) kicks off in the new year! :)

Our microbits arrived this week. I am excited to explore them with the students in the new year! :)

Partnership wrap up with Ms.Ross's class

The students finsihed up their Barren Grounds (Global Read Aloud novel study) ozobot story maps today. Have a look a few examples of the finished product! :)

Partnership wrap up with Mme.Irimescu's grade 4/5 class

The students wrote narratives to accompany their ozobot stories (this was the last step for this project).

Lots of collaboration, communication, creativity, inquiry and entrepreneurship as they worked together in their groups

New student made LLC signage completed and on the LLC walls!

Thank you for all the creativity and hard work from Ms.Buckley's grade 5/6 class. This new LLC signage really brightens the place up! :)

November 2021

Another new month means another new display! This month's focus is on anti-bullying and prevention week, Hindu Heritage month, empathy (TDSB character trait), Indigenous Education Month, and Remembrance Day - lots of important dates this month!

Some Green Screen creations that came out of partnerships with Mme. Neicov's grade 3 class

Students posed in creative and fun ways in front of our LLC's makeshift Green Screen last Friday. I added in the backdrops but will show students how to edit their own Green Screen pictures next partnership period. So watch this space! :)

Makerspace with Mme. Davies's class

Ms. Davies's grade 3 class worked in Makerspace stations today. The different stations were: robot mice; building structures using popsicle sticks and binder clips; origami, and lastly: string games.

Partnerships with Ms.Pal's grade 5/6 class

Students from Ms.Pal's class worked on a Flipgrid activity where they were to record an audio response to chapter 15 of Barren Grounds (Global Read Aloud book) in their literature circle roles. The students are working in small groups and will go on to generate QR codes that their classmates and other students from the school will be able to scan and listen to.

Partnerships with Ms. Ross's grade 6 class

Grade 6 students were given choices for robotics in the LLC today during partnerships. Some chose to work with dashbots, others chose ozobots (coding words with ozobots to describe their group), and another group chose the Lego robots.

Students from Ms. Ross's class are in a Lego robot club that takes place every Thursday with Ms. Ross. They can also choose from a sports club or a mindfulness club.

Partnerships with Ms. Irimescu's grade 4/5 class

Students continued working on their Pixton avatars by creating their favourite characters from the Global Read Aloud book "Dragons in a Bag". These avatars depict "Ma' and "Jax".

Partnerships with Mme. Neicov

Students worked on coding dialogues between characters for our collaborative literacy/coding narrative project.

Remembrance Day at Regal Road

Students shared thoughtful presentations and performances during our virtual Regal Road Remembrance day assembly today. The theme of peace was present throughout their performances. A big thank you to the Remembrance Day team for all their work to organize this important event.

A few pictures of student artwork/poppies for Remembrance Day.

Makerspace stations with Mme. Furley's class

Students worked in our Makerspace/laboratoire de fabrication today. In one STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) station, they made spinners (des toupies) using old CDs and marbles. In another station, they made helicopters using egg cartoons, cardstock, and tape. In the last station, they made structures using old Kinder egg toy containers and plasticine. Bravo les amis! Many of these activities are thanks to the Makerspace donations from families. Thank you/ un grand merci!

LLC curiosity box

I loved discovering this particular wondering in the LLC curiosity box! I am looking forward to student created signage and posters for their LLC and having the space more personalized by our students :) Also, so many great student book/genre suggestions to add to our LLC book order wish list!

Partnerships with Ms. Ross's class

Ms. Ross's students were sorting our Lego bots this week. They were dismantling Lego bots and meticulously sorting parts for our partnership periods and for their robotics club which takes place each Thursday in Ms. Ross's class. Some students were coding with Scratch as part of their 'Hack the ROM" program project.

Global Read Aloud Wrap-up

This week, students from Mme. Irimescu's class were wrapping up their Global Read Aloud "Dragons in a Bag" activities (some of which included making avatars of their favourite characters; designing bookmarks using Canva; renaming chapters; discussing the three most important themes or topics of the book, as well as creating an "end of book' quiz as opposed to a book report. Lots of great student work in tune with global competencies such as: communication, collaboration, global citizenship and character etc., bravo les amis!

Impromptu maker type activity with Mme. De Medeiros's class

This week a few of Mme. De Medeiros's students explored a donated Kiwi co kit on the human body. As they have been working on this strand in science with Mme. De Medeiros, it seemed like a fun and engaging hands on activity for them to explore. They added organs made from felt and pompom stuffing which they sewed together with string, as well as created X-rays using plastic sheets, sharpies, and the bone stickers provided. Perhaps they will finish adding to this life sized human body poster next time they visit the LLC!

Makerspace fun with Mme. Davies's class

Today students used global competencies such as critical thinking and problem solving to create and make in our laboratoire de fabrication. Students observed the models of a spinner, felt flower, and sailboat and recreated their own without any guidance (except with the hot glue gun of course!). Students used old wine corks, cocktail sticks, sheets of felt, and elastic bands to create their sailboats. They used sharpies, colourful felt sheets, and party straws to create their fabric flowers. And lastly, they used old CD's, multicoloured sharpies, glue, and marbles to make their spinners. Have a look at the outcome! Bravo les amis and a big thank you to Regal Road families for their Makerspace donations! Students always take home their makerspace creations. Perhaps they can test out their sailboats at home, or time their spinners! Have fun!

Partnerships with Mme. Irimescu

Students from Mme. Irimescu explored Dashbots for the first time. Next stop ozobots for coded ozobot stories, watch this space!

Partnerships with Ms. Pal's class

Ms. Pal's class worked on creating QR codes in response to Barren Grounds (the Global Read Aloud novel study). Next week they will do a gallery walk to scan and listen to each other's responses :)

Partnerships with Ms.Ross's class

Since September, students from Ms.Ross's class have been exploring with various robotics in the LLC: Dashbots, Ozobots, and Lego bots. Today they applied all their learning and connected it to their GRA novel study of Barren Grounds. Students coded Barren Grounds story maps which we will continue and finish next week. Have a look at the video where one group explains what is going on in their Barren Grounds story map and why they coded what where!

Partnerships with Mme. Irimescu's class

Mme.Irimescu's class has also been exploring robotics in the LLC this week. After getting acquainted with the Dashbots, they will move on to ozobots. Today they created their own ozobot stories that they will test out with the ozobots tomorrow so please watch this space :)

Drop everything and STEAM with Mme. Buckley's class

Today, Mme. Buckley's class helped make some signage for their LLC (Library Learning Commons) using lots of crafts and loose parts from the Makerspace. Here is what they started in their groups so far - very excited to see this come to fruition soon and for their LLC space to reflect them more! :)

Ozobot stories with Mme. Irimescu's class continued...

Today Mme. Irimescu's grade 4/5 class continued their ozobot stories. There were lots of global competencies being practiced such as: collaboration and leadership, communication, as well as critical thinking and problem solving. Students had to problem solve in order to make their lines not too thick or not too thin in order for the ozobot to comply with the codes! Lots of critical thinking and meaningful exchanges took place in their groups today, bravo!

Partnerships with Mme.Neicov's class

This week, we continued coding dialogues using CSfirst as part of the students' narrative coding project. We will soon move onto ozobot stories inspired by a book called "Squiggly stories" so watch this space! Students also explored sound effects to add to their dialogues/stories.

OCTOBER 2021

A new month means a new display - yay!

World food day is October 16th and the international day of the eradication of poverty is on October 17th. This month, our LLC book display focuses on the UN's 17 sustainable development goals. The character month for the TDSB also happens to be responsibility :)

It is also Canadian Islamic heritage month and Somali heritage month at the TDSB!

What are the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG's)?

Here is a comic book called: "The Planet and the 17 goals" by Margreet De Heer if you wish to learn more about the 17 SDG's!

https://catalogue.unccd.int/1200_GlobalGoalsComic.pdf

October is Global Read Aloud month! #GRA21

Students will be practicing global competencies such as: critical thinking and problem solving; global citizenship and character; communication; collaboration and leadership; and creativity, inquiry and entrepreneurship with their global partners in the US and across Canada!

Partnerships with Ms.Pal - Literature Circles

Students practiced their roles in literature circles. Roles included: "dynamite discussion director; vocabulary victor; saavy summarizer; cool connector; and imaginative illustrator. They learned about what their literature circle role entails and did a practise run with picture books. They will apply their roles to their novel study of the Global Read Aloud book "Barren Grounds" that they are exploring with Ms.Pal and their global partners.

"Regal road gets caught reading". This bulletin display is slowly growing with staff's favourite book picks. The students will also add avatars with their global read aloud books (which can be swapped out for other favourite reads down the line).

Partnerships with Ms.Ross's class

Today, the students carried out a coding challenge in their groups. They were to do at least 2 coding puzzles from start to finish with their dashbots. This group exceeded the expectations by completing four, go team!

Partnerships with Mme.Neicov

During partnerships with Mme.Neicov, students created their own avatars with pixton

Avatar creation

Students enjoyed adding personal features to their pixton avatars

LLC display

Their avatars will be added to the library learning commons (LLC) bulletin board. Their avatars will be holding their favourite books similarly to this staff one. Students participating in GRA (global read aloud) will be holding those books for now..!

Natural Art!

Today I stumbled across students creating Fall art with Mr. Murtagh

The students were making natural art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, a land artist who creates art in natural and urban settings

The students designed creative and colourful leaf patterns

Students immersed themselves in their natural urban setting

Outdoor education!

Even this well loved stuffy joined in the fun!

Reconnecting fallen leaves to branches :)

Natural art!

Makerspace stations with Mme. Davies class

Students problem solved in their groups by coding instructions for the robot mice to reach their piece of cheese in the maze. Lots of great teamwork in order to reach their goal. Bravo les amis!

In one station, students built structures with popsicle sticks and clamps - lots of creativity in this STEM activity

In another station, students played string games and researched some well-known ones on the chromebooks (cat's cradle etc.)

Students problem solved to help the robot mice reach a piece of cheese in a maze

Another group worked by building card structures although here you can see a student came up with their own string formation - very intricate!

Regal Road's Terry Fox run!

Today (13.10.21) was Regal Road's Terry Fox run - we managed to reach our goal of raising up to 4000 dollars to support cancer research! The students did an amazing job of showing perseverance and staying active for the full period! More pictures and distances/mileage reached will be shared soon! Well done Regal Road! Bravo les amis!

Terry Fox day at Regal Road PS!

Non stop running on Wednesday the 13th here at Regal Road - so much determination and enthusiasm from the students!

Ms. Da Silva's grade 4/5 class

Ms. Da Silva's class was the first of the day to run - they did amazing. Phew! I'm still tired from trying to keep up with them for the whole period!

Design a bookmark contest for Toronto Public Library

Several Regal Road classes are participating in the "Design a bookmark contest" for Toronto Public Library. Students have until the end of the month to create their original bookmark designs. To learn more, you can visit their website: https://kids.tpl.ca/designabookmark/2022

Can't wait to see what the students create! Some bookmark designs will be shared here shortly so watch this space :)

Regal Road classroom bulletin board displays

This week as I walked the halls, I was admiring all the different classroom bulletin board displays. I thought, why not share them with the Regal Road school community at large! Here is a selection of some of the lovely displays around our school :)

Partnerships with Ms. Ross

Today the students continued working in their groups to explore coding robots. This week they worked with ozobots. They coded their robots using coloured markers. They used different variations of black, red, green, and blue markers to code instructions for their ozobots (e.g.: speed, distance, direction).

Check out these videos of the groups in action! :)

EXCITING NEW MAKERPACE PROJECT

STEGOSAURUS MAKERSPACE PROJECT

Mr. Ogden's Kindergarten class started this exciting new project of making a stegosaurus out of old takeout trays to "flesh out" a wooden dinosaur skeleton. This project will be built upon in our LLC's makerspace by any class who wants to build on this exisiting project. If you wish to donate some old takeout trays (that cannot be reclyced in Toronto - so why not upcylce?), please send them to school with your children to drop off in their Library Learning Commons, thank you! :)

Partnerships with Mme. Irimescu's class

Global exchange for Global Read Aloud

Students watched and listened to their global partners' responses on Flipgrid for their Dragons in a bag novel study/collaboration

Dragons in a bag

Students did character based activities for their first Flipgrid tasks alongside their global partners in Colorado.

Partnerships with Mme.Neicov

Students worked in groups in our makerspace collaboration today. One group made a balloon rocket and observed the results of their STEM exploration, bravo les amis!

On lit!

Regal Road continues to get caught reading. Our LLC bulletin board is expanding with staff and students' favourite reads! Mme.Neicov's grade 3 class just added their avatars and favourite books. What's yours? :)

Makerspace with Mr. Rowles's Kindergarten class

Not a box

Students listened to a read aloud of not a box (a Regal Road favourite!) and did makerspace activities which connected to the picture book.

Makerspace Stations

In one station, they could build structures using popsicle sticks and binder clips. This group decided to make shapes and letters. One student came to show me how he made "the last letter of the alphabet, X", well done!

STEM exploration

The students observed that they could create lots of letters with the sticks and clips. One student made a V, W, A, T, and Y :)

Partnerships with Ms. Ross

Ozobot 6 word summary project for Global Read Aloud book: Barren Grounds

Today the students started experimenting with colour coding combinations on letters in preparation for their coded six word summaries for a chapter on Barren Grounds (their Global Read Aloud novel). Students wrote 6 word summaries in Ms.Ross's class on a Barren Grounds chapter and will code their six words summaries with the ozobots during our next few partnership periods.

Check out these videos of students experimenting with ozobot codes on their letters which they will apply to their 6 word summaries

Halloween door decoration preparation :)

Mme. Gaal's class helped Mme. Kahlo and me create decorations for our LLC (Library Learning Commons) Halloween door.

Have a look at Mme. Gaal's Kindergarten class' bulletin boards and door decorations - fantastique!

Watch this space as I will add the rest of Regal Road's amazing door decorations shortly. A big thank you to the parent council for making this possible - so much creativity to be seen and enjoyed :)

A few more doors and decorations... watch this space for a few more additions to be added soon! :)

A few more Halloween doors and some very spooky interiors...!

Partnerships with Mme. Irimescu

Students worked on creating avatars of their favourite characters using Pixton, as well as created "dragons in a bag" themed bookmarks for their Global Read Aloud activities during partnerships with Mme. Irimescu.

Look what Ms.Vasic's class is doing in room 23!

Spooky house listing. This is a persuasive writing project that Ms.Vasic's class is working on in room 23

Persuasive house listing up close...

This is spooky lane 666

The ozobots will trick-or-treat here ... in costumes!

Check out this video of the ozobots in action - the students even made costumes for their trick-or-treating ozobots!

Students from Mme. De Medeiros's class shared their human organ systems projects with me that they paired with their trick-or-treating ozobots. Have a look at what room 28 came up with - such great work went into these projects, thanks for sharing room 28!

LLC updates! September 2021

Brainstorming for our "I am" poems in Ms. Kingman's 3/4 class.

Example of one of Ms. Kingman's 3/4 student's work.

A display of some of our new books ordered last spring.

Mini display of the Global Read Aloud book program which kicks off on October 4th, very exciting!

Our new Makerspace corner is a work in progress - I look forward to building on this as the year goes on.

Here is what we used to make our bee buzzers. Why not try this out at home? Test out your bee buzzer in different rooms in your house or outdoors. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What do you know?

Hello everyone! School is back and it's been an absolute pleasure to hear, see, and greet the students in the hallways as I continue to get the LLC reorganized in order to best serve the entire community. Our wonderful library space needed a little bit of TLC after the closures but I am getting there and I am more than excited to welcome everyone back very shortly! I had the opportunity to visit a few classes this week and meet amazing homeroom teachers and students.

Day 1 (09.09)

Un grand merci/Thank you so much to Mme. Hida and her lovely Kindergarten class for welcoming me. I enjoyed reading " Mon chien banane" by Roxane Brouillard to them!

Merci beaucoup/Thank you very much to Mme. Medieros and her 5/6 class for having me. We read "Parfois je suis un renard" by Danielle Daniel and practised some reading strategies together, as well as made some personal connections.

Merci merci!/ A big thank you to Mme. Neicov and her wonderful grade 3 class for inviting me to read "À chacun son masque" by Marla Lesage. Students made apt observations about this picture book as well as connections to "self" and the world around them!

Day 2 (10.09)

Thank you to Ms. Kingman and her wonderful grade 3/4 class for inviting me in to read "I am every good thing" by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James. Ms. Kingman and I did a follow up activity. Students wrote an "I am poem". We brainstormed "I am" categories and then created a learning goal. After co-creating success criteria, the students went on to write their "I am" poems. Ms. Kingman extended the activity with the students after I left. They are now combining their "I am" poems with a sort of "Joan Miro" line and colour inspired artwork with their picture portraits in the middle. I cannot wait to see the end result! This is the beauty of partnerships and combining teaching styles and perspectives! Our collaboration led to an organic and exciting writing/art project. Ms. Kingman will be sharing pictures of their work for this LLC blog/website. I also hoping to house some of the artwork in the library learning commons for those students who are open to displaying their work! I've included some pictures of the first part of the "I am" poem writing :)

Merci to Mme. Gaal and her lovely Kindergarten class for welcoming me before lunchtime to read "Jabari Plonge" by Gaia Cornwall. I enjoyed mimicking and miming all the action moves in this picture book with them, it was a hoot!

And last but not least, thank you to Ms. Ryan and her very welcoming 2/3 class for having me over to read "What Riley wore" by Elana K. Arnold during the last period of the day.

Although the library wasn't fully ready to receive the students during our first short week back, I was so happy to introduce myself and connect with students and teachers over these past two days back to school! See you all in the LLC very soon!

If anyone likes the sound of these picture books, they are available to check out from our LLC :)

I will be visiting a few more classes next week as I wrap up the library space setup - I have also included some pictures of this work in progress and some of the exciting initiatives and projects that await us!

Day 3 (13.09)

Today I visited Ms. McKenna's Kindergarten class and we read "The King of Kindergarten" to celebrate these past first few days of Kindergarten. We all mimed putting on our very heavy crowns and practised our regal wave because we are all Kindergarten royalty! Especially here at "Regal" Road!

I was also welcomed into Ms. Ross's grade 6 class. We read "Sounds all around" by Susan Hughes and Ellen Rooney. We read and learned about the physics of sound: how sound happens, how we hear sound, and what makes some sounds loud or high pitched and others soft or low pitched. We learned that something like a pin dropping (10 decibels) can barely be heard unless we are very quiet. We also discovered that sounds that go above 150 decibels can be damaging to our hearing such as a nearby jet engine, avalanche, or rocket launch. The students went on to do a STEM activity (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). They made their very own bee buzzers using: index cards, popsicle sticks, eraser caps, string and elastic bands. Students swung the bee buzzers above their heads and observed the buzzing sounds made by the vibrations in the air. Students tested them out in their classroom and in the hallway. They noticed that when they used the buzzers in the halls, they were significantly louder than in their classroom as there was more space and air! I could hear some bees buzzing around our school after my visit that afternoon! BZZZZZZ! :)

Thank you for your patience everyone! The Library Learnings Commons' doors will be wide open to welcome everyone back in very soon!! :)

Student login info for French reading resources

Hello everyone! We have some new online reading resources for French. Please click on the link below to discover the French levelled readers, how to access French resources on Virtual Library (you can also look that up under the TDSB Virtual Library tab on this very website!), and social studies resources from Nelson. The link below will give you a step by step guide on how to access all of these.

Enjoy - Profitez bien! :)

docs.google.com/document/d/1MB_B4q3nc9MUFqBHAat5m2hpsoRP-06CHpbL-_JG7W8/edit?usp=sharing

LLC OPENS MONDAY YAY!

Hi everyone! I am excited to announce that the LLC will finally open on Monday. This week as I continued to get things ready, I was able to visit and read to a few more classes: Mme. Furley's grade 1 class, Mr. Meziane's virtual grade 2/3 class, and Ms. Abbey-Colborne's virtual grade 1/2 class. Check out this fun choice board I shared with Ms. Abbey-Colborne's class after reading "Not a Box" by Antoinette Portis below! Please don't forget to check out my virtual LLC under the tab "Virtual LLC" on this website. It is intended for everyone: virtual or in person students, enjoy! See you all soon in the LLC - à très bientôt!

Primary Read-Aloud Activities Week 1 - Jenn Hall - Ellengale PSNot A Box By Antoinette Portis Visit Antoinette Portis’ website and read about her and her other books. How many things can a box be? Brainstorm a list. Write your ideas on the list. What else would your stuffed animal like to do with a box? Write and illustrate more pages for the book. Recreate ...

Check out this fun choice board! There are more to choose from under "Virtual LLC" on this very website - enjoy!

LOOK WHAT WE ARE DOING IN PARTNERSHIPS :)

Ms.Ross's grade 6 students coded instructions to get their Dashbots to move in certain ways.

This was my first time getting to use the Dashbots. It was great fun exploring them with Ms.Ross's grade 6 class! :)

Students used our new chromebooks to code the instructions.

Lots of great teamwork was going on as students worked in small groups of three.

Lots of STEM exploration around colour with Mme. Gaal's Kindergarten class during partnerships with Ms. Karsemeyer!

After reading a picture book on the theme of colours, we carried out a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) experiment using skittles and water.

The students made lots of wonderful observations: "The skittles are melting"; "I see rainbow colours; "the colours are starting to mix".

Students explored the difference between using cold or hot water with the skittles (carefully handled by Ms. Roucaud!). Some of the observations we heard were: "The skittles are melting faster with the hot water"; "Hot water makes the skittles melt faster than cold water".

The students also noticed that all the colours ended up mixing together and the rainbow type lines started to blend. One student made a great connection by saying: "If you mix all the colours together, the water turns brown like when you mix different paint colours". Such great observations and exploration around colour today. Bravo les amis!!

Virtual Library for Truth and Reconciliation week and Orange shirt day

Thank you to Ms. Elango for sharing her amazing virtual classroom with primary books and resources for Orange shirt day and Truth and reconciliation week. Click on the books to hear read-alouds, or click on the items to learn more about Orange shirt day and truth and reconciliation. You can also find math connections and learn a Powwow dance.

Primary Orange Shirt Day Library

Dashbots are patiently awaiting the grade 6's tomorrow for partnerships with Ms.Ross.

Dash bot charging station

Looking forward to seeing the students explore the accessories that I am unpacking for these coding dash bots!

Accessory bins in our LLC's makerspace/fablab

Partnerships with Mme.Irimescu

Today we had a mystery Google Meet session with another junior class in Denver, Colorado. Students from each class had to ask YES/NO type answer questions to try and guess where their future global partners (for Global Read Aloud - please see the tab recreational reading for more details!) are from. Global Read Aloud starts October 4th and I will be partnering with Mme.Irimescu for a novel study and collaborative activities with their new friends in Denver. We will be reading Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott.

Students in Ms. Ross's class tried out some of the accessories during partnerships

Dash bot accessories included a launcher and bulldozer

Lots of problem solving skills being practiced to attach the accessories properly

Global competencies, here we go: critical thinking and problem solving!

Students will be ready to more fully explore dashbot accessory based activities next week now that they are pros at setting them up!

Collaboration and Leadership, yet another global competency :)

National day of Truth and Reconciliation

Today during Ms. Kingman's partnership period - students arranged their pledges to be housed in the library learning commons

Students' pledges

Students read out their pledges. They made thoughtful and heartfelt pledges. Some of the pledges I heard were: "I pledge to listen to more Indigenous music". "I pledge to find a flower or plant in the area and learn how Indigenous people might use it". "I pledge to write a letter to prime minister Trudeau demanding action to investigate what happened at all residential schools".

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