Friday, June 10, 2016

A Meaty Sandwich Kind of Week

Bill's "chill zone" during his stay in 6B
While Monday and Thursday were regular ol' school days with the normal schedule and no unexpectedness (the bread of the week...the top and bottom buns), the middle of the week was chock full of "meaty-end-of-the-year-goodness"!  

WECDSB B-Division Track Meet at U of W
Bill found his way to the track and tried the curve at 200m
On Tuesday, just over 40 students represented St Bernard at this year's track and field meet, participating in long jump, ball throw, relays and 100 m - 1500 m races.  These athletes were treated to a slightly overcast day with temps around 16-18 C.  Perfect weather for the track.  Lots of practice paid off for many as they collected ribbons that included some 1st places!  Shout out to Zach for placing first in Gr 6 Boys Long Jump and Evan for his second in Gr 6 Boys Ball Throw.

Border Securities:  Grade 6 Edition
Living in a border city affords us the opportunity of living in the best country (Canada--I'm biased) while enjoying the perks of another (USA).  From our side of the border, if walking along the riverfront, you can see Comerica Park lit up for a night game for the Tigers (MLB) or people ascending the stairs into Joe Louis Arena for a Red Wing game (NHL).

On Wednesday, we cashed in on our proximity to Detroit and took a field trip to Ford Field and Comerica Park for the Gr 6 Year End Field Trip. 

Oh!  Did I mention that we smuggled Bill along for the trip? 
Colton poses with Bill, Jackson and Justin outside of Ford Field
Bill rests atop a Lincoln Navigator seat found in the suites.  Sweet!
Looking down on the field (being covered for a Beyonce concert)
Macenzie, Bill and Aaliyah hang out in the Lion's locker room
Bill on the 20 yard line!
After our tour of Ford Field, we headed to Comerica Park for 1:10 to take in the Detroit Tigers vs Toronto Blue Jays baseball game.  Many of us headed directly to the concession stands for our hotdog lunch and many didn't stop eating throughout the afternoon.  Frozen lemonade, cotton candy, Little Caesar's Pizza, Peanuts, Popcorn, Slushies, Elephant Ears ... where does it end?
Bill sporting a Tigers shirt
Under "Pepsi Porch" in the bleachers 
Canadian team wins 7-2
Luckily, the kids took the bathroom break when it was suggested at the end of the game as the 16 km bus ride took 3+ hours on the way home!  I consider myself a seasoned border hopper and I have never seen traffic like I did on Wednesday night.   The plus?  We took the tunnel over to Detroit and the Ambassador Bridge home.  A pretty cool experience for Bill and the kids who had never traveled one or either of the border crossings.

Every student returned for Friday (except one who had an appointment).  By lunch time, we were more refreshed and alert!

Only 13 school days until summer!

~MissBrooks





Friday, June 3, 2016

Perseverance, Planes and a Platypus


Day 1 of EQAO testing
Day 6 of EQAO testing--same diligence!

EQAO is finished and we survived!

And maybe, we came away from the EQAO testing a bit more prepared for the way high school exams will be administered, a bit more proud of ourselves for plugging away for 6 half days and a whole lot more confident in what we've learned this year and throughout all of our elementary schooling.

Day 5 snack:  ORANGE you glad there's only 1 SMORE day of EQAO?  #BEAR with it!  #Still Going Strong

No matter the results, I was impressed by the integrity of the kids to stick-with-it and show what they know, without letting up or getting lazy.  They appeared to consider answers instead of simply guess just to get it over with.  The kids seemed confident and calm and definitely looked forward to the snacks!

Paper Airplane Competition got underway Wednesday through Friday

Flight Unit Takes Off

A paper plane competition allowed the Gr 6s to design, build and test a flying device while learning about the four forces of flight--drag, thrust, lift, gravity (weight).

I modified the competition from a version I found here.  It consisted of 4 separate events--Middle Man (land in the middle of a path), Target Practice (hit a pylon from a specified distance), Hang Time (stay in the air the longest) and Go the Distance (furthest flying). 
Target Practice
Students worked in partners or groups of three and were allowed only the following materials for their fleet:
  • one standard paper clip per plane
  • 2 staples per plane
  • 15 cm of tape
  • up to 4 pieces of 8.5 x 11 copy paper (which we pulled from our G.O.O.S.e bin.  #always eco!)
Cutting the paper and using more or less than one piece per plane was permitted so long as the fleet did not exceed 4 airplanes or 4 sheets of paper.

You can watch the competition on our YouTube Channel.

Bill Platypus from Australia will enjoy a "homestay" in our class for a week.  We're glad he brought a passport since he's coming with us to Comerica Park for a Tigers vs Blue Jays baseball game!

G'Day 6B:  You've Got Company

A while back, in the cold, dark days of winter, I came across a post on Google+ from a teacher in Australia who was looking to have some stuffies travel to different countries as ambassadors of her classroom.  I thought this would be an interesting opportunity for our class to consider what makes Windsor, ON Canada and our classroom interesting.  This way, we could ensure that our Aussie visitor would learn oodles about us and enjoy his stay.

He's watched different math board games being played, seen part of the plane competition and hung out with the kids during recess.  Follow us on Twitter for updated photos and tweets of Bill's visit!

With only 17 days left before summer, how will you choose to enjoy the last days with your kiddies?

~MissBrooks