Science and Camping
5/10/2019
Thank you to those that came to our last parent event of the year and your continued support throughout the year. Our science expo was certainly an exciting and messy event. From making our own lava lamps, walking water, the mysteries of magic milk and the wet wonders of the leak proof bag it certainly seemed that both parent and student alike had a fun and educating experience. This week we had our overnight camping trip to Birchwood. Our trip started with vitally important research of different playgrounds around town. As we are always looking for ways to improve our playground here at school this was an awesome opportunity to explore and get students perspectives on what makes a playground great. After a picnic lunch it was time to head to camp. Having an end of year trip like an overnight camp is a fantastic way to finish off a long and hard year of learning. It is a celebration as students prepare to move to the next grade as well as it is a chance for students to develop their own sense of self, responsibility and independence and spread their wings. For some students it is possibly the first time they have been separated from their parents for a night and for all students it takes courage to go to a strange new place and look after yourself. Everyone had a fantastic time, it was certainly a great trip and thankfully, though it threatened the rain never quite came making it all the better. Make sure to get plenty of rest this weekend!
Personal Bubbles and Opinions
4/12/2019
Writing is the frame work of our communication. We are encountered with writing every day of our lives. To be able to communicate effectively with each other and to be able to voice your own thoughts and opinions is becoming an increasingly important and a vital skill students learn at PNA to ensure success in their future. In 1st Grade we have recently been working on our opinion unit and learning how to voice our opinions and back them up using evidence. Congratulations to first grade and everyone involved for their hard work in making the play a success. I hope you all enjoyed it. I came to show my support but ended up being roped into sitting behind the chair helping the little ones. I especially enjoyed some of the songs and unfortunately now have "I don't wanna be a goat, nope" on a continuous loop in my head. At PNA, we recognize the importance of social emotional learning. Thus we have continued into our 3rd week of ACE time being dedicated to that and the responsive classroom. Kindergarten to 5th grade students were divided intro three multi-age groups so each can share their unique perspectives and experiences. After exploring inclusion and respectfulness we turned this week to personal and physical boundaries. Personal Space is a very important social skill for children in elementary school to learn, practice and grow. Understanding and keeping good personal space helps children to engage more successfully in everyday interactions and in personal relationships with peers and adults, as well as helping them to stay safe. Everyone feels more comfortable when the person they are with respects their personal space. While there some commonly held beliefs on how much space we should give others in any given situation, everyone has their own, unique amount of personal space that they need in order to feel comfortable. This space changes depending on several factors:
Lots of people refer to the space that one needs to have between themselves and someone else, in order to feel comfortable, as their “bubble.” It is generally accepted that we have a smaller “bubble” with family and close friends, than we do with acquaintances, strangers and authority figures. For children, the bubble can sometimes be the same size for everyone. Also, they tend to think that everyone has the same space bubble that they do. Learning to recognize that everyone is different and has different physical and personal boundaries is an important skill in a child's development. The teaching of self advocacy is also critical. Learning what they as a person are comfortable with or not comfortable with and how to react to and advocate for themselves in those different situations is a life skill. It is also important to stress that if they are not comfortable they can and indeed should say "No". Shocking!
3/29/2019
Early this week 1st Grade had music upstairs. At the end of the lesson as we were lining up to leave the class I heard a loud snap followed by a startled "ow!". These were the telltale signs of static electricity claiming yet another unfortunate victim. What I was not expecting was that after getting shocked once, the student in question tried to figure out how to get shocked again. In very short order the whole class was shuffling their feet or rolling on the carpet then touching something metal trying to give themselves a shock. Not wanting to stand in the way of natural inquisitiveness and curiosity; and realizing there may perhaps be a better way to learn the science behind the shocks then purposely zapping ourselves, we headed back to our class to expand upon this teachable moment. Science loves tricky words and when learning about electricity there is no shortage of these 'technical vocabulary' words to learn. It certainly puts own phonics and reading skills to the test. But learning these words and using them correctly is important for budding scientists. Some words we are using this week are; charge, static, current, atoms, positrons, electrons, neutrons, transfer, circuit and electricity. Our first experiment using static electricity was focused around a simple question with perhaps a not so simple answer. Can you bend water? Expanding on from static electricity we delved into currents and circuits and having a go creating our own circuits. The new technical vocabulary we learned and used was conductor and insulator. Students were tasked with predicting if different materials were a conductor or an insulator and then testing their predictions and recording their results. It is certainly great to see all students thoroughly interested, engaged and enjoying their learning as well as knowing that students are invested in the subject as it has real world substance, something tangible they can use and understand.
So next time we are leaving music and I hear the telltale signs of static electricity claiming another victim I can turn around and say. "At least you know why you got shocked!" Hunting for Rainbows
3/22/2019
After a long 2 week break it is straight back to work for 1st Grade. With a full and busy week of experiments, math, field trips, parties and problem solving. To their credit 1st Grade jumped back into their school routine and work as if they had never left. With spring time certainly on its way, we may start seeing more and more rainbows in the sky. But what causes them and what is the scientific reasoning behind the natural phenomenon? Is there really a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow? 1st Grade went outside to find out. In math we have been learning about measurement and data collection. Using this new knowledge we conducted a survey on the 2nd Graders. Each student created their own survey questions and answers as well as how they would record and measure their results. Counting in either 1, 2, 5 or 10s as well as using tally marks and other methods, students were successful in conducting research, creating a survey and finding information from their work to create pictograms to display results. Sadly, Miss Tabitha left us this week so as a school community we came together to celebrate her time with us at PNA. 1st Grade created their own Thank you cards with a personal message in, as well as presented her with a smile for each day of the week. This week we also took a field trip to the PAC. This time to see 'Moon Mouse: A Space Odyssey'. Judging by the continuous oohs and ahhs, screams and laughter the class loved it. It was a spectacular show of lights and lasers and it is always fantastic to be able to expose students to the many different opportunities and experiences they can have. As part of PNA's mission to educate students to be exceptional learners and independent thinkers of vision, courage, and integrity. This week we put in some work learning about integrity and respectfulness. In multi aged groups we took part in an escape room style activity that challenged students social skills as well as critical thinking. Developing pupils communication, listening and speaking skills, following instructions and outside the box thinking. Using and learning from their peers students were encouraged to find solutions to problems in a positive way in attitude or design rather than the easier negative. Continually developing students abilities to make good choice and progress as an individual.
A Final Flurry
3/1/2019
As the trimester comes to a close there is always a flurry of activity throughout the school as we strive to squeeze in all we have to do. From lessons and projects we have to finish to special days and events. This week we also celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss. I love the Dr. Seuss books for their humor and silliness but also for their surprisingly meaningful messages they convey. In our writing we have been creating our own Dr. Seuss creatures. Based on the Yink who likes to drink pink ink and wink. It certainly was a challenge to create animals and to find rhyming words to describe them. Enjoy your thoroughly deserved break! Parents in the classroom
2/15/2019
This week we had another fantastic parent lunch or really a parent breakfast. Thank you to all those who came and contributed food items and their time. As a teacher, I always become slightly nervous when parents come into class, however the students love it when their parents come into school and they have the opportunity to show off. Not only do students enjoy it but parental involvement in school has been shown to lead to better academic progress for students. Ongoing research shows that family engagement in schools improves student achievement, reduces absenteeism, and restores parents’ confidence in their children’s education. Students with involved parents or other caregivers earn higher grades and test scores, have better social skills, and show improved behavior. Becoming active in a school’s parent group is an important way to increase involvement. Involvement also encompasses:
The most significant type of involvement is what parents do at home. By monitoring, supporting and advocating, Parents can be engaged in ways that ensure that their children have every opportunity for success. There are many ways parents can do this but of the more important ones (in my opinion) are; Be a role model for learning. Pay attention to what your child loves. Practice what your child learns at school. Set aside time to read together. Connect what your child learns to everyday life. Connect what your child learns to the world. Help your child take charge of his learning. Don’t over-schedule your child. This week we also continued making our planets. With the base made it is time to start adding color. We tried adding some glitter into the paint to see if it would give the planets a bit of a sparkle when the paint dries. Next task is to add the rings and any other details needed.
Messy Development
2/8/2019
After the success and enjoyment that creating the bottle rockets gave us I had (what I thought) to be a great idea of creating our own 3D model solar system. Using balloons and paper mache. At PNA, we encourage students to take risks and make mistakes, to expand their comfort zone and grow. It is easy to think that taking risks and having the courage to take risks revolves around big, daunting things such as rock climbing or bungee jumping. However that is not always the case, for some, myself included they would happily climb a mountain before.... For some children and students it is similar. Some students would happily climb on stage and sing but become shy and nervous about answering a question in math. For some students coming to school is a new and scary experience and a challenge For some, raising their hand to answer a question in front of their peers is out of their comfort zone and requires lots of courage, for some even sticking your hands in a bowl of sticky glue and not being afraid to get messy is uncomfortable, scary and out of their comfort zone. However by giving students opportunities to explore and push their boundaries in a safe and encouraging environment, allows each child to individually expand and grow and develop. Opportunities such as field trips, science experiments, crafting and more, means students develop not just academically but as an individual as well. So when we stick our hands in the bowl of glue, (and partially destroy the classroom) we are not just getting messy and having fun, we are constantly growing and developing be it creatively, socially or academically. This week we also celebrated 100 days of school. We spent an hour in the gym taking part in various activities revolving around the number 100 to commemorate all that the students have achieved and the hard work they have been putting in during their time at school.
Rocket Powered!
2/1/2019
Last week we also had our annual Brown Bag celebration. Students are encouraged to come up and show off any talent they might have. It can be daunting standing up in front of your peers and being the center of attention and requires courage and confidence in yourself to be able to perform. However, Madeleine was brave enough to get on stage and demonstrate her skills with a recorder. At PNA we strive to encourage students to take risks and grow. We aim to have students go from 'I'm too scared to try' to, ' still might be scared but I'm going to have a go anyway and I will be supported if I make a mistake.' Students also were given the opportunity to learn about another person who took risks and who encouraged the country as a whole to grow during our annual MLK Jr. assembly and day of service. They can see how having confidence and belief in yourself not only allows you to accomplish great things but also encourages those around you as well. Back in the classroom as part of our current project on Space we have been discussing gravity and how astronauts get to the international space station. We watched an exciting video of astronauts on the ISS and the launch of a space shuttle and discussed how it has to overcome gravity to escape into space. When I suggested we conduct our own experiments and make our own chemical reactions to cause explosions to defeat gravity and make our own rockets to launch there was a lot of enthusiasm. But first we had to collect bottles to use and design and then create our own Bottle Rockets! After we had made our bottle rockets the next step was to gather the ingredients we needed to make our chemical reaction and explosion that would allow us to defeat gravity! For this experiment we used white vinegar and baking soda. The class was tasked with determining the best ratios to use to get their rocket the highest. Would more vinegar get it higher? Or more powder? Was it best to fill the whole bottle or only half or only a little bit of vinegar? How fast does the chemical reaction take place? How tight do we want to plug the opening? These were all questions we asked and tested. The first few attempts unfortunately did not get the best results we wanted, but the more we tested and tried different things the better results we got. We nearly managed to get one stuck on the school roof! Unfortunately I did not manage to get a video of the experiment as I as busy getting covered in vinegar! However, kudos to Alexandra who took on the challenge of being fast enough to create her own 'powder bomb', put it in the vinegar, put the rubber stopper in and turn it over ready to launch all before the chemical reaction took place and vinegar exploded all over her. We definitely had a lot of fun and learned something in the process. The 4th and 5th graders were also very impressed and wanted to stay and watch us setting off our rockets rather then go back to class! 21st Century Skills in Space
1/18/2019
Today's world demands more than Three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic), today's workplace looks for graduates that are also proficient in soft skills. These soft skills are also known as the 21st century skills: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication. These skills are essential for students to succeed in life. Communication often tops the list of desired skills in the STEM field and that today's workplace involves explanation, negotiation, and other forms of intense human interaction. Furthermore, global citizenship requires linguistically and culturally effective communication making it imperative for graduates to know how to communicate clearly and effectively. At PNA we recognize the importance of helping students develop these 21st century skills so that our graduates are better prepared to meet the challenges of their future workforce. So, in the classroom and throughout the school, students are given opportunities to develop these soft skills. In our class one of the ways we practised and developed our 21st century skills was by a blindfolded obstacle course! We created a small course around the classroom and worked in paris to complete it. One partner was blindfolded and had to listen and follow directions carefully whilst the other had to use effective communication. The pairs collaborated and worked together to get each other around safely. It used all aspects of 21st century skills of critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication from the pair to be able to be successful as well as having a lot of fun doing it! This week we have also began looking and exploring one of my favourite topics. Space! I think space is absolutely fascinating and it is still my childhood wish to become an astronaut! The scope of space is massive, so we have focused our current lessons around our solar system and what we can see in the night sky. I have to say I have been thoroughly impressed by the knowledge that the class already has and their enthusiasm and inquisitiveness for the topic and for finding out more. There are a huge amount of technical vocabulary words to learn when discussing space which whilst tricky is great for improving our phonics knowledge. One of the words we have learnt is 'constellations'. When we look up at the night sky we can often see the stars. These stars can be joined together like a dot-to-dot to create pictures in the night sky and are given names to represent the pictures they create such as 'Orion', 'Leo' or 'The Big Dipper'. In class we had a go creating our own 'Constellation Observers' so we could look at the stars and constellations whenever we wanted. Fun Fact: When looking at the night sky you can see about 2500 stars with the naked eye. This Sunday there is a total Lunar Eclipse and it will also be a Super Blood Wolf Moon. We spent some time in class discussing what this means and the scientific reason of why it is caused. Due to the orbits of the Earth and the Moon. The Moon will be passing closer to Earth and as such will appear to be about 10-15% bigger than usual. Hence 'Super'. Also due to the total eclipse, light from the sun will be refracted by the Earth's atmosphere with the red light waves being reflected by the Moon giving it its blood red appearance. It should be a fantastic spectacle and is something we spent time learning about in class this week as well as the differences between solar and lunar eclipses. We constructed a spinning model to help us understand the causes and reasons for solar and lunar eclipses and once again I was impressed with how quickly the class understood the concepts. Fantastic work! New year goals.
1/11/2019
With the start of the new year, many of us decide on goals we would like to achieve over the course of the coming year. A decision to do or to do not do something and it is generally with the aim to improve or better ourselves. A new years resolution. In class this week the new year presents a great opportunity to review where we started and to look ahead to where we want to be. It is also a great time to review of class guidelines and to make sure they are working for all of us. After a period of self reflection, each student was asked to chose something of which they were proud of, something at which they wanted to get better at, and something at which they had already improved upon. After some discussion each student transformed their wish into a goal, with two to three actionable steps. This was a challenge for some. Personally I find it much easier to be critical and find something I can improve upon but much harder to show off and find something I would say I am good at. However it is something valuable and important to be able to do. We have made reading goals in class before, whether it be in reading or math or gym. Where they choose something they could do better, close their eyes, and visualize doing it better. these have often been short term goals as well. Something that can be achieved in the lesson or within the week. However, this was the first time I asked them to write down their goal and the steps they could take to achieve it. This was also a long term goal. Something that could be worked towards for the rest of the year. Setting, making a plan for, and working towards goals is a complex task, but an important one. Achieving a goal takes discipline and perseverance. When we make goals, students become vested in their own education, begin to take responsibility for their learning, and learn an important tool for becoming lifelong and reflective learners. |
Hali TuomiMs. Tuomi has over five years experience in ASD, where she taught first and fifth grade classrooms. An avid skier, Ms. Tuomi is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Alaska Pacific University’s Bachelor of Arts in K-8 Education. Archives
April 2021
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