Surrey Art Gallery Field Trip

Last Wednesday our class got to go on our second field trip of the year.  This term we went to the Surrey Art Gallery for a tour of the gallery and a clay workshop.  The highlight of the day was definitely working with the clay, and there were some very creative and interesting pieces made.  We will show some of the finished pieces later in the week.

Below you see Joey getting into the art display!


April is the talented artist that teaches the students to work with clay and runs the workshop.  Every time we go to the gallery, she comments on how our students are such good listeners and workers.  I was proud of our class again this year.  They were very respectful and interested in what April had to say.

A big shout out to our driver volunteers.  We appreciate them taking time out of their busy schedule to make our trips possible!

Here you can see the students getting some last minute instructions before they head to their clay stations.  

As you can see from the smiles, everyone was very excited to get started.  Each student was supplied with some ideas, a clay slab, and various tools for working with clay.  They were also taught several techniques for properly making their masks--like scoring and making slip.

Here is Sharon making her first cut.  And after a few more directions...it was off to construct their finished product.  Everyone's ideas were so diverse! Even the adults of the group were encouraged to make a mask!!  April circulated the room and offered help and instruction to everyone who needed it. 

After a VERY short hour, some of the final projects began to emerge.  Here we have Jed with his mask.  He has some very cool tusks going on there!!

The rush to the finish! You can do it, Miss D!!

All the final masks were put on the table for sort of a class gallery for everyone to look at.  

Once our workshop was completed, the students were allowed a final walk around the gallery before we met outside for a group photo.  After the 17th try, we got a good one.....ALMOST everyone is looking and smiling! 

...And then there is always the goofy shot.

We headed off to Bear Creek Park for a picnic and games in the park in the afternoon.  It was a bit chilly, but everyone had a great time and enjoyed the wide open spaces!

Of course, no day would be complete unless Gabe climbed some pole, tree, or 

building....See below!

All-in-all a great experience and fun had by everyone! 

--Miss Leonard

2015 BCA Geography Challenge

After a long wait.......The 2015 BCA Geography Challenge is underway!! We went to the devotions room right after lunch, and thanks to the hard work of Miss Alexandar, everything looked great and was ready to go.  Here you see some of the competitors ready to begin!

The contest was long and arduous....but our very own Sharon was second place in the Junior Category. 

AND........The FIRST PLACE CHAMPION was GABRIEL!! Congratulations to all the students what qualified and especially to our winners!! It was a great job by everyone!

--Miss Leonard

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Today we got the privilege to hear (and sing with) the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey.  The Orpheum Theatre itself was breathtaking with the ornate gold trim, chandeliers, and "bathrooms covered in marble".  Here we are posing for a brief class shot.

As you can see Jonah and Silas took time for some "chillaxing" in all the grandeur.  Don't they look right at home!

Inside the Theatre, it was even more beautiful!! Once we found our seats, there was an infinite amount of things to see and food for the imagination.


Here we have our relaxed gentlemen again.  This was directly before they broke into an ear wrenching rendition of "Oh, Canada" full of enthusiasm and patriotic verve......not a hockey game, fellas!

Yes, we waited long enough to get a bevy of pictures, but when the concert started, all was quiet, and we listened to the amazing compositions of Beethoven, Mozart, Gershwin, and even a segment from the Opera "Carmen".  It was hard to pick a favorite, but among the ones I heard talked about were "The William Tell Overture" and Beethoven's 5th.  

In addition to the beautiful sounds, talented musicians, and riveting conductor, another great thing about the music today was that the students recognized almost every piece.  There were lots of over the shoulder smiles to Miss Leonard and whispers of "We know this!" or "The Five Browns play this!"  It made me very proud of them!



After the 1 hour concert, which we all decided was not that long at all, we hustled out of the theatre to beat the hordes of "bus students".  Unfortunately, we didn't get to look at the wall of composers on the way out--this discovered by the bathroom frequenting crowd just before the concert began.  It would have been a great place to explore, but not with a full house of 500 other students!!


On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's for a quick lunch....generally these lunches consisted of a lot of ice cream and french fries....delightful treats before they hit the playland area.  "Yes, Miss Leonard! We are allowed in here! It says 3 to 12! We are 12!"
And so they played.....



I think a good time was had by one and all.  It was a wonderful day away from our normal learning environment with some wonderful music and new experiences.  After all....how many kids can say they sang with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra!!

Thanks to our volunteer drivers and Miss D for their help.  You all were great!!
--Miss Leonard

Student Council

BCA Student Council elections were a great hit! We had four excellent candidates that campaigned from our class.  Anais is seen here giving her speech.

Ella handed out campaign buttons and gave a very confident speech regardless of being the only grade 5 in the running!


Bethany also gave a nice speech with many campaign promises.


And then Super Man showed up....or is that Joey?...Yep. That is Joey.

AND THE VOTES ARE IN!!

Newly Elected Student Council Member for Elementary...

 JOEY

Student Blogger--Bethany

This year we are having a group called the Student Council.  The high school students were voting for President, Vice President, Treasurer, etc.  The Student Council needed a kid from the Grade 5/6 class for an Elementary Representative.  Everyone in 5/6 voted for a classmate they thought would be the best representative for the elementary students.  Eight were chosen.  Four stepped down, and four ran for the office: Ella, Joey, Anais, and myself.  

On Monday we started campaigning.  We hung posters and handed out slips saying stuff like "Vote for Bethany as your Representative".  ON Friday, everyone in Elementary came into the 5/6 classroom to listen to our speeches.  After that, we all voted.  Joey won by one vote!

--Bethany

Congratulations to Joey.  And thank you to all who ran and campaigned hard! Good job, everyone.

--Miss Leonard

Force, Motion, Slope, and Load

In Science we are studying Force and Motion.  Today we did a lab.  The first part of the lab was to explore the effect of slope on moving an object (a Hot Wheels Car).  

The second part of the lab was to discover the effect of various loads moving down a fixed slope (a full and empty can).  

As per usual, we took a little too long with this activity, but we will wrap it up tomorrow and see what conclusions were drawn!

--Miss Leonard