It’s spring and a time of plant growth and development. What’s growing around your school or in your school garden?
Here’s some inspiration – look for these books in your school library:
Winner of First Nation Communities Read:
(Books below are recommended by Adrienne Gear)
Teachers:
Visit the Environmental Learning page on Curriculum Connections for a wealth of planting resources, shared by Dewdney Elementary School.
What’s your school community like?
There are many types of schools around the world. Your school library might have a copy of these books, including this one by Susan Hughes:
Listen to audio about “If the World Were a Village”. Teachers: Here is a Lesson Guide to use with this book.
Click on the links below to find resources from the EarthPLAY Toolkit or visit the Earth Day Canada website.
Earth Day Reading:
Visit your school library to borrow books about the Earth and protecting it. Some books to look for are:
For Teachers/Principals/Parents:
Action Ideas from Earth Day Canada:
This Earth Day, take all of that learning and hold an extra or extended recess. Or go all out – host an Adventure Play Day!
Hold an extra or extended recess: Demonstrate your school’s commitment to outdoor free play. Support accessible and inclusive play by bringing out loose parts. Consider setting up a temporary mud kitchen!
Host an Adventure Play Day: Provide an opportunity for students to connect to nature through outdoor play by hosting an Adventure Play Day! Provide a variety of natural and upcycled materials (loose parts), and transform your schoolyard into an adventure playground where all sorts of neat and unexpected things can be created, constructed, and organized.
Set up a play day team
Gather a core group of five to six staff to facilitate this fun day! Put together a team of play champions: two teachers, an administrator, a couple of parents, and maybe a caretaker to lead the collection and organization of loose parts and event delivery.
Announce the day
Let the whole school know! Spread the word via student-made posters, social media, newsletters, and morning announcements.
Start a loose parts collection
Four loose parts per child will likely ensure you will have enough loose parts for everyone. They should be easy-to-source, free, or reusable materials that can ideally be recycled after the day.
Plan to cycle between 60-100 children through 60-90-minute play sessions
Play should not be rushed. The reality of recess and lunch hours will hopefully not have to apply to your play day. Depending on the size of your school, we also recommend mixing age groups!
Assess the space you will use for this event
It’s helpful to designate an adventure play section in the playground – about a baseball diamond size space (excluding the outfield), preferably including sand/mud, and not too far from a water source. Supervision won’t be spread out too far and the rest of the playground will be available for other children during the day. Identify the perimeter of the play area and where loose parts will be placed (e.g. a cardboard tube placed near a sandpit will often become a tool for digging and exploration).
On the big day, consider how you will lay out the loose parts
Avoid creating obvious play stations but spread out loose parts with hints as to how they might be used. Not all of the loose parts need be laid out on the site initially. Try introducing new parts as some things become too worn for play.
Supervising play on your big day
When given the freedom to play with loose parts, students will surprise you with new and creative ways to play! This can be a challenge to supervise, and requires that you balance the opportunity for students to direct their own play with the rules of the playground and risk of injury. Rather than over-policing play, focus on three simple rules: stay within the boundaries, everyone helps clean up, and have fun!
Tidy up
Be sure to include tidy up time in your schedule. Have students re-organize the play field for the next group. Make sure supervisors have transition time between groups to rest and regroup. At the end of the day, sort the waste from the stuff you need to return or store. Be extra nice to your caretakers as they will have the extra work of making sure that waste is properly recycled or disposed. Thank them!
OWL Kids has some new ways to share stories that you might like to try.
Playlist of Animal Stories (Videos):
Listen to Chirp Stories: Audio
Create your own stories with puppets! (Click on the image.)
Chirp Blog (ages 3-6)
ChickaDEE Blog (ages 6-9)
OWL Blog (ages 9-13)
The Mission Spring/Summer 2019 Leisure Guide has been published!
There are lots of opportunities to be active over spring break. Click here to read the guide and find times for swimming, skating and more!
Go Noodle is a great website for encouraging fun physical activity at home or in the classroom. They create videos full of fun movement games and dances. Check out these sample videos and get moving!
Year of the Pig (image shared by UBC)
Learn about the animals in Chinese Zodiac:
Watch this video produced for Lunar New Year 2015 and learn about some of the Lunar New Year traditions from the UBC community.
Teacher Resources:
Mark your calendar: Pink Shirt Day is February 22nd, 2017.
Wear something pink to show that we are all working together to erase bullying in our community.
Portraits of Kindness:
Watch the clip below. What is kindness to you, to your family and how can you show kindness in your community?
Think about this prompt:
“Kindness is……”
Here are some great recommendations for books about kindness. Visit your school library to find even more!
Teacher Resources:
Have a Heart Day is on February 14th, 2017
This message is from the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada (FNCFCS) website:
“Have a Heart Day is a child and youth-led reconciliation campaign that brings together caring Canadians to help ensure First Nations children have the services they need to grow up safely at home, get a good education, be healthy, and be proud of who they are.
Watch “End the Gap – Fair Funding For First Nations Schools”
Listen to the ideas of children:
Activity Ideas:
Explore the Have a Heart Day website to download Have a Heart Day resources, and to order bookmarks and buttons! There is also an information sheet entitled “Reconciliation is all of us”.
Through activities like Have a Heart Day, we are creating a movement where the landscape of Canada is only one of honour and possibility for First Nations children.”
FNCFCS also shared this music video by N’we Jinan Artists “Important to Us”, written and performed by students at Pierre Elliot Trudeau School.
Their message is inspiring:
“No matter where you’re from,
let’s fill our home with colour and love.”
Teachers: More resources are available here
The Riot of Reading Solutions 15th annual Family Literacy Fair is on Saturday, January 28th from 11 – 3 pm at Ecole Mission Central.
The theme for this year’s Family Literacy Day is “Learn at Play, Every Day”.
Exciting events taking place that day include:
How will you participate in Family Literacy Day? Here are some ideas for inspiration:
Activity Ideas:
Source: ABC Life Literacy Learn at Play, Everyday Activities (English and French)
How can art transform a neighbourhood? Watch this book trailer to be inspired!
Teachers: Visit the “Maybe Something Beautiful” website to learn more about the story and for lesson ideas.
Welcome to learning in 2017!
It’s a great time of year to set goals for new learning challenges and adventures. Watch the videos below for an introduction to the idea of using a ‘Growth Mindset’ as you learn new ideas this year.
Winner of the 2018 Caldecott Medal!
This book trailer may inspire you to find winter stories to read over the holidays.
Visit Mr. Schu’s blog “Watch. Connect. Read.” to learn more about the story through an interview with the author, Matthew Cordell.
A right delayed is a right denied.
– Martin Luther King Jr.
Shared by TC2 -Thinking Teacher:
“December 10th commemorates the day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Translated into almost 500 languages, the UDHR details the fundamental rights of citizens around the world. Each year, we are reminded of our collective responsibility to stand up and defend these rights not only for ourselves, but also on behalf of those who may not be in a position to do so.”
The COVID-19 crisis has been fuelled by deepening poverty, rising inequalities, structural and entrenched discrimination and other gaps in human rights protection. Only measures to close these gaps and advance human rights can ensure we fully recover and build back a world that is better, more resilient, just, and sustainable.
Watch the videos below and think about our responsibilities to ourselves, our families and our communities.
For Teachers:
“The resources featured this month will inspire younger students to think critically as active citizens while they examine the concept of fairness as it relates to a situation in a fictional community.”
Free resources:
| Thoughtful Books: Each One Special by Frieda Wishinsky and H. Werner Zimmerman [PDF]
Grade range: Primary View more resources in the Thoughtful Books collection |
From Amnesty International:
“Downloadable activities to accompany the award-winning book ‘We Are All Born Free’ – thirty beautiful illustrations that interpret our human rights for ages 5+.
Illustrators include Axel Scheffler (of Gruffalo fame), Korky Paul and John Burningham. The activities available to download below introduce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) through creative writing and story-telling.”
We Are All Born Free can be ordered from the Amnesty shop.
‘Amnesty’s delightful book We Are All Born Free explains the importance of human rights through truly beautiful illustrations. It is clear, simple and uplifting and makes it very easy to raise difficult subjects, even with young children. It is a wonderful educational tool and I strongly believe that every school should own a copy.’
Actress and author Emma Thompson
The Hour of Code is celebrated in early December each year, but you can participate year round! Watch the videos below to be inspired by the idea of creating and computational thinking.
You can try coding with any type of device. You can try coding without a device! Code.org has activities for trying coding on all kinds of tools and paper activities as well.
Remember, you need your family’s permission if you want to try coding on an app or program that asks you to create an account or for any of your personal information.
Your teacher librarian might even have some books about coding in the school library!
No. We have Hour of Code tutorials that work on PCs, smartphones, tablets, and some that require no computer at all! You can join wherever you are, with whatever you have.Here are a few options:
2016 Remembrance Day Resources
Veterans Affairs:
Information about and significance of the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument :
Song: A Pittance of Time
Interactive Activity: (Ages 10+)
Over the Top: An Interactive Adventure
“An activity created by the Canadian War Museum to help students understand the First World War from a soldier’s perspective. The activity’s interactive nature and its animation-based format will appeal to younger students. Includes a glossary of terms. (Recommended for ages 10 and up.)”
Canadian Encyclopedia Articles:
November is Picture Book Month!
Author Katie Davis produced this video with quotes from beloved and famous authors and illustrators all answering the same question;
“What is a picture book?”
For Students:
What is a picture book to you? Do you have a favourite picture book? Visit your school library to borrow picture books this month.
You might like these books for “Roc Your Mocs” Day in November:
How the Calendar Works
“Each day, an author/illustrator, our Picture Book Month Champion, is listed. On that day he/she has an essay posted on the Picture Book Month website about the importance of picture books. Check back every day of November for a new essay.
Each day is also marked with a theme. Use these daily themes to plan story times, blog about your favorite picture books in that theme, or create themed displays.” (Source: Picture Book Month, Calendar)
For Teachers:
Picture Book Month Teacher’s Guide (Ideas for using picture books in ELA, Science, Math and Social Studies)
Why Picture Books are Important:
“October 31 to November 4, 2016 is Media Literacy Week! This year’s theme is Makers & Creators and focuses on all the ways young Canadians can become more creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial by embracing media production, remixing, maker, and DIY culture and coding.”
Here is a sample video from the ‘Media Minute’ series – a unit of videos and lessons designed specifically for elementary students.
For Families:
Ideas for Families (Tips, Games, Videos, Tutorials)
For Teachers:
Use, Understand & Create: A Digital Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools (“Teachers can access digital literacy classroom resources aligned with curriculum outcomes set out by their province or territory.”)
Digital and Media Literacy Fundamentals
Media Literacy 101 (Media Minute Videos and Lessons)
MediaSmarts Lessons and Resources (Search by topic/grade)
Autumn is a season full of rich traditions and celebrations in many cultures and nations. It is a wonderful time to get outside and use all of your senses to observe changes on the land, in the air, and along our waterways.
Many schools are learning about apples, pumpkins, salmon and other food sources that are ready to harvest at this time of the year. There are wonderful books in your school library about cycles of growing, visiting farms, and autumn traditions.
Here is a song about the life cycle of a pumpkin:
Do you have a favourite fall activity? What do you like about this season? Do you have a favourite autumn meal in your family and/or community?
Better Together BC is a great place to find family-friendly recipes and resources. Here are a few highlights that you might like to use at home or at school:
“Spatulatta teaches children to cook with free step-by-step videos. It encourages children to take pride in their accomplishments in the kitchen and to understand the connection between farm and dinner table. It also encourages children to ask their family members and friends for recipes and to cook those dishes together.” (Better Together BC)
For teachers:
My Seasonal Round was shared by Dewdney Elementary as an integrated unit for elementary Social Studies and Science.
“This unit illustrates the integration of Social Studies and Science. The seasonal round was chosen as a theme for this unit because it lends itself well to integrating the topics of BC First Nations study in Social Studies, and habitat in Science.”
This year’s theme is “Don’t Wait, Check the Date! Replace smoke alarms every ten years.”
Here are some fun ways to learn about fire safety and the importance of smoke detectors:
Teach Fire Safety using resources from the National Fire Protection Association :
Rukhsana Khan
Rob Scotton
Ame Dyckman
School District 75 Elementary Virtual Learning Commons 