October 25

My apologies for not sending out a reminder about the Popcorn day today! Good news is that there is another one tomorrow! If your child brings in $2, they can get a bag of flavoured popcorn! It is a fundraiser for the school so the money earned goes to a great cause and students get to eat yummy popcorn- double win!!

This week we have begun learning about First Nations culture and early life in Canada. Students have been doing what we call "Thinking Routines" after looking at pictures of how people traditionally lived and utilized the land. In a thinking routine, students document what they "see, think, and wonder" and then we discuss these ideas as a whole class. It helps children to go deeper with their thoughts and make connections with background knowledge. As a teacher, it also helps me to understand how and what students are curious about or thinking.

We have also been lucky enough to be the first grade 2's to experience our kit from Fort Calgary that is full of indigenous artifacts. Students were so excited to explore and make predictions about how the artifacts were used in the past and what they were made out of. Today we started to learn and find out if our predictions were correct and what all these items are called and their purpose in First Nations early life. I was so impressed with how responsible students were at handling the materials and their thoughtful discussions. It would be great if they shared some of their learning with you. We are in the early stages of this unit but students should be able to share a few ideas with you. Here are some pictures that may remind them.