Nerd Day.....'Cause We're just cool like that!

Or maybe not so cool......but we had a lot of fun!!

--Miss Leonard

Cup Tower Challenge

50 cups. 8 minutes.

Who can make the tallest tower......?

The winner....17 cups high....

Which of these four groups do you think was the winner?

--Miss Leonard

Vancouver Aquarium Field Trip #3

Our last field trip this year was to the Vancouver Aquarium.  We left the school early and started our program as soon as we arrived at the aquarium.  In groups, the students got to learn about, touch, and perform some experiments with sea urchins (Experiments with no harm to the animal, of course!). Some students tested whether the creatures preferred light or darkness.  Some found out sea urchin food preferences.  The coolest thing was touching the urchins! Pinkies only, please!
Here, Tory enjoys touching the spiny creature! Everyone expected them to be slimy, but they were not gross at all!

Bible Times Drama--Queen Esther

As you can see we have had a bit of drama going on in our classroom this week!  Above are the ferocious guards of King Ahasuerus.  These men strong-armed their way into the house of Mordecai and took away the beautiful Esther.  

As we finish up our unit on Esther, yesterday we acted out her story in three parts.  Each group had a lot of good pieces.  Some groups really went out of their way with costumes and props.  Some groups spent a lot of time working on the drama and doing rehearsals.  They had time in class, but most of them worked in their spare time (lunch and recess) as well.  They went much further with this activity than I had originally planned, and the results were fantastic.  Good Job, class!  

Below, you see a very pampered king getting fed grapes at his royal party.

Unfortunately, while Ahasuerus was eating grapes, his Queen Vashti was actively denying his request for her presence--Here played by Anais. (Voted MVA--Most Valuable Actor--by her group)

Having done away with Vashti, you can see below the sentries as they knocked on Mordecai's door to capture Esther.

Above, we see the next group as the king and wicked Haman discuss affairs of state.  

Below, the king is read to from the Chronicles because he cannot sleep. 

Ahasuerus: Really, what was his reward?

Reader: He didn't have one.  That always happens around here.

(This was one of my favorite lines! I laughed so hard!)

Here the third group's king displays his royal scepter as he prepares to extend it to Esther.

This was the royal banquet of ....grape juice.  Haman was dragged away and killed at the end of this skit.  

Everyone had so much fun with the story, and we all got a lot of laughs.  All the students begged to do something like this again soon.

--Miss Leonard

Relief Maps of Canada

Salt maps....I remember making a salt map of West Virginia when I was in grade 4.  What a great idea for teaching the major land forms of Canada! We started with amazing parent participation.  Everyone sent in 2 cups of Salt.  THANK YOU!

The students had previously traced the outline of this very complexly shaped country onto a pizza box (Very kindly donated by Panago).  The pizza boxes were then spray painted by each student, covered in an economy sized garbage bag as a smock--don't want a bright royal blue on those uniforms!!  

Miss Leonard supplied the flour, and the next step was to make the dough.  It was a bit of a messy process (upon reflection, I would cover the entire room with a drop-cloth next time!), but we managed to get it all mixed up without any major damage!

The next step was to start filling the outline with dough.  It is not as easy as it sounds and took some of the students a LOT longer than they thought!

But the result was amazing!  Some of the students really took their time and put a lot of effort into this project with great results!

After the pizza box was folded and the map was labled....We are finished! Here is Joseph with his final product.  Great Job, Joseph!! Well done!

--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

Picnic at Don Christian Park

What a BEAUTIFUL day today.  We left for the park just before lunch.  We got there and all picked a favorite spot to eat.  Some of us ate on the picnic blanket....

Some ate under the trees!

And some ate IN the trees....to each his own.....

After eating everyone convinced Miss D to ref a game of Capture the Flag for PE.  As per usual, no one won the game, but a lovely time was had by one and all.  It was a beautiful day to enjoy the sun and the beginning of another fall.

God bless you!

--Miss Leonard

Welcome Back to BCA! 2014-2015 School Year

First day of school picture!  We had a wonderful morning on this first day of school.  This is going to be a great class.  They are fun, energetic, happy, and all want to do well!

Our Theme in the classroom this year is an "Under the Sea" theme....so it is a bit Fishy in our room--right down to our "class pet"....a red, Crowntail Beta which the class voted to named SHERLOCK.



Everyone (including Miss Leonard) came in excited and eager to begin school this morning.  Everyone had bright, shiny faces and clean, new uniforms!

I'm looking forward to a "fin"tastic year with many opportunities to grow in learning and in Christ.  

Class Rule.....Always have a book to read! Miss Leonard LOVES good books.

Look how studiously they are working already! Tomorrow we will work on the logistics of getting our notebooks and spaces ready to learn...Hard work ahead!!

But they don't look like they are taking it TOO seriously!
Looking forward to the great times this year will bring!
God bless you all,
Miss Leonard