For a recent media literacy assignment, the students were asked to design a new book cover for their chosen Robert Munsch book. We discussed how a book cover conveys a sense of the story through a combination of text and images and how these elements should be effectively arranged on the page. Here is what the students came up with:
Tomorrow morning, our class will join award-winning illustrator Hatem Aly for a special virtual event from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Hatem will lead a read-aloud and interactive session centred around the book The Kindest Red by Ibtihaj Muhammad.
This event, connected to the International Day for the Elimination of Racism and our character education focus, will include:
A virtual read-aloud of The Kindest Red exploring themes of friendship and kindness
A hands-on art activity led by the illustrator
A Q&A session with Hatem Aly
This engaging session is specially designed for Grades 1–3 students, and we’re so excited to participate!
Our students had a fun-filled day on Monday at the Pioneer Village in the MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre! What a fantastic way to complement everything we’ve learned in the classroom about life as an early settler.
Throughout the day, students participated in a variety of hands-on activities. They experienced early settler chores—parents, you would have been proud! From tapping trees and carrying water and ice blocks to grinding corn into flour and using antique tools, the day was packed with engaging, meaningful learning. One of the highlights was stepping back in time to learn what it was like to be a student in a one-room schoolhouse!
A heartfelt thank you goes out to our amazing parent volunteers and the wonderful MacSkimming staff for helping make this field trip such a success!
Here are some pictures from the day:
This Thursday, March 27th, WEJ will have its sixth Spirit Day. The theme is Famous Person Day.
Just a reminder that we will be visiting the MacSkimming Outdoor Center on Monday of next week! The students and I are looking forward to the pioneer village experience! A special thanks go out to our parent volunteers: Lydia’s mom and Yixiu’s dad. These parent volunteers should sign in at the office at 9:15am and head to our portable (#6). We will be heading out the bus at 9:35am sharp (right after O Canada and morning announcements), so please make sure your child is here on time at the first bell, or he/she will be placed in another Grade 3 class for learning until we return to the school. We will be returning to the school around 2:15pm in the afternoon. There is snow in the forecast for Monday, so students should be dressed according to the conditions (hat, mitts, snow pants, winter coat, winter boots or rain boots, extra socks).
Review the information at the following link before Monday for more info: The Village Field Centre Information Package
Don’t forget to pack your child a litter-free lunch and a reusable water bottle on Monday. We will have a brief lunch break while we are there.
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a fantastic March Break! This is a reminder that the students will give their Robert Munsch presentations this week! I trust that students have been working hard to become familiar with their books! Thank you, parents, for your support and for offering regular feedback to your child.
Here is your child’s presentation date (chosen by the students):
Wed., Mar. 19th: Leo, Alex L., Jamie, Reyansh, Sayesha, Ruby
Thur., Mar. 20th: Lydia, Noah, Emily, Miranda, Mustafa, Yixiao, Yixiu, Alice, Nathan, Logan
Fri., Mar. 21st: Andy, Sarrinah, Ethan, Alex P., Lucas, Vidhun
Recently, the students worked on a cross-curricular activity involving art and science. As part of our Science unit on forces and movement, the students learned that the muscles in your body are attached to bones. Muscles pull on these bones. This is called muscular force. It allows you to move in many different ways. The students were challenged to create a sculpture using three pipe cleaners and aluminum foil strips to show how athletes use muscles! Check out their fantastic sculptures below!
The students have started delving into the depths of effective storytelling and how to captivate an audience when reading aloud. Beginning this week, students have been exploring different activities based on books by the renowned children’s author Robert Munsch. There are reading and listening activities, a media literacy activity, and assessments related to identifying the main idea and examples from the text to support their BIG IDEA claim. The students sampled several books by this author and chose a book they felt connected to, or that sparked their interest.
Throughout this unit, the students will rehearse their chosen book at home with parents and at school with peers, practice their oral fluency, and hone their presentation skills. The unit will wrap up with each student getting up before the class dressed as one of the characters from their chosen book and reading (or reciting from memory!) the story to the class. The students should use the next two to three weeks to prepare for their Robert Munsch book presentations, which will occur AFTER March Break on Mar. 19th, 20th and 21st.
The students have been given a booklet of stapled activity sheets for this project. This booklet will be sent home this Friday (along with your child’s chosen Robert Munsch book), and these MUST come back to school every day starting next week until the presentation date. Parents are asked to fill in the Practice Log at the back of this booklet regularly to indicate that their child has been practicing the reading of his/her chosen book! There is also a spot at the back of the booklet for parents to give their children constructive feedback as the students prepare. Any work that is not completed in the time provided in class at school during the day should be finished at home. (Again, please ensure your child brings this booklet back to school each day next week). You can also help your child plan his/her costume and prop ideas to enhance their presentation.
Here is the rubric for the presentation. A hard copy is also in your child’s booklet.
Here are a few pictures from previous years of students enjoying our Robert Munsch storytelling activity:
This year, Pink Shirt Day, or Anti-Bullying Day, is on Wednesday, February 26th (tomorrow!). Pink Shirt Day is all about cultivating a community of kindness. Like tending to a garden, we can each help nurture a sense of belonging where we live, work, and go to school. It all starts with small gestures— a kind word, an offer of support or understanding. If we plant enough, more will be sprouting up all around us pretty soon! By sprinkling these seeds of empathy and compassion, we can work towards a world without bullying and “Let Kindness Grow” through our community gardens. Pink Shirt Day is a global movement inspired by an act of kindness in a small town in Nova Scotia. It encourages everyone to practice kindness and wear pink to symbolize that bullying is unacceptable. We encourage our school community to demonstrate kindness every day.
Please send your child to school tomorrow (Wednesday) dressed in a pink shirt (and/or other pink clothing) if possible!
Pink Shirt Day resources for students, educators and parents can be found at:
What is Pink Shirt Day? | Explore | Awesome Activities & Fun Facts
Silly socks are so much fun,
You can wear them when you run!
Inside your socks, your toes love to wiggle!
Silly socks make people giggle!
This Friday, wear your silly socks to school,
And you will look very cool!
