Grade 5 & 6 Class Blog: Sharon

Showing posts with label Sharon. Show all posts

Friday, 1 May 2015

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!

This group listens attentively; and below, you can see our instructor and some of the aquarium volunteers reviewing the scientific method with the students.

Jeremiah posed with a magnifying glass, looking very official!

After our classroom experience, we went on to the Wet Lab. Here, there were four tanks, each with a different variety of creature. As the students visited each tank with their aquarium volunteer, they got to learn about and touch creatures in each of the tanks.

All of our volunteers were very good. They were very interesting and kept everyone very engaged in learning about the underwater animals.

After about an hour in the Wet Lab, it was time for the class to explore the aquarium! Each group could pick the parts of the aquarium to explore and what shows they wanted to see. I think the favorites were the 4-D show (Which I loved as well!), the dolphin show, and the beluga show. Here are Zack and Justin in the 4-D show with their awesomely cool glasses!

The Amazon display with all manner of snakes, frogs, and spiders was another favorite. Above, Gideon checks out one of the frog displays.

The day was over all too soon, and we headed back to BCA. Everyone had a great time and wrote the next day in their school journals that it was an awesome day and on of the highlights of our year.

A special thank you to our parent drivers and to the students who were so enthusiastic and represented our school so well.

--Miss Leonard

Sunday, 15 February 2015

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

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Map Design

This week the students studied maps of Ottawa and the major government landmarks there--we are studying the Canadian Government this term. After we had studied the map of our capital city, the students were able to design their own cities with significant landmarks. They were so creative and enjoyed this assignment so much! We spent longer on it than I had anticipated, but they were having such a good time and doing such a great job....I just let them go! You can see some pictures here. Not all the maps are finished yet, but they will be ready to go on the wall by next week. Moms and Dads feel free to come up and see them after school next week!

I'm very proud of all the student's hard work and creativity on this project! Good job, folks!

--Miss Leonard

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

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