Mrs. Jakymyc returned for our third and final art workshop this year. As part of our current Social Studies unit on Interactions of Indigenous Peoples and Europeans, we looked at the paintings of Norval Morrisseau, an Indigenous Canadian artist from the Bingwi Anishinaabek First Nation, who created works depicting the cultural and political tensions between First Nations and European traditions. Using the medium of acrylic paint, students created their own Norval Morrisseau-inspired painting by first stencilling an image on canvas and then drawing geometric shapes within the image before painting it. Black marker was used to outline the finished product. After several months, Mrs. Jakymyc from ArtQuest came back to our classroom for a two-part workshop on Canadian artists. Today, we focused on the paintings of Ted Harrison whose landscapes of the Yukon, one of the “Political and Physical Regions of Canada” (from a previous Social Studies unit), evoke the stark, dramatic beauty of the tundra landscape in vibrant colours and simple, bold forms. Students created a Ted Harrison-inspired landscape using plasticine with a mod podge finish.
Scientist Nini showed us how to design stable structures to withstand a variety of forces. In the first activity, students built structures of different configurations and tested their stability with an earthquake simulator. Next, students identified different ways to keep a tall, narrow structure from toppling over. As a fun side activity, students used popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners to create an object that could balance on one point. Before the last activity, the amount of weight a beam bridge could hold was tested. The final challenge involved building an open frame structure out of narrow cylinders of newspaper that could hold as many math textbooks as possible. Our class record was 10 textbooks! (The all-time record for Scientist Nini was 14 books.) May the Force Be with You(r Structure)!Scientist Natalie worked with the Grade 5s in my class and Ms. LaFreniere's class to explore the states of matter: solids, liquids, and gasses. In the first experiment, students observed what occurred when water was added to different substances and determined what state of matter is hair gel. For the second experiment, the behaviour of different liquids at room temperature was studied. Chemical reactions of different substances were explored in the third experiment. In the final experiment, the physical properties of different substances were recorded.
In the meantime, the Grade 4s practiced the 3 Rs by removing all the tape from our plastic bridge experiment so that the straws could be reused for future design challenges. As part of our "Structures and Mechanisms" strand, students, in pairs or small groups, were given the challenge of building a cube structure, using only plasticine and spaghetti, that could hold at least one science folder. The record was three science folders! Spaghetti & Plasticine Cube ChallengeWe travelled by TTC downtown on a field trip to the Gardiner Museum to take part in the “Early Societies of the Ancient Americas” program. This program started with a gallery tour of ceramic pieces made by civilizations from the Ancient Americas. After viewing the exhibits, we had the opportunity to create an Ancient Americas figure in a hands-on clay class in the studio.
After creating our masterpieces, we went across the street to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) to go on the “Conservation of Energy & Resources” gallery tour. This program allowed students to discover the sources of different varieties of energy and resources, investigate how energy can be transformed from one form into another, and discuss the importance of conservation in plotting a sustainable future in the Dinosaur, Schad, and Teck Suite of galleries. On our trip to the Ontario Centre, we participated in the "Pulleys and Gears" workshop to investigate how these simple machines make life easier by changing force, speed and direction to give users the mechanical advantage. After having lunch, we viewed the IMAX film, Journey to Space. which presented some of the greatest technological leaps in space exploration, including creating structures and developing self-sustaining travel needed to send humans to Mars within a generation. Then, it was time to let our curious minds wander free while exploring the many interactive exhibits! Students built bridges, using only straws and masking tape, as part of our current "Structures and Mechanisms" strand that could hold as many water bottles as possible. Each group successfully completed a bridge that held at least one 1 L filled water bottle! Plastic Straw Bridge ChallengeIntroduction & Opening PrayerOn Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Jesus died, Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. All people glorified him and cheered for their Messiah, shouting, "Hosanna in the highest!". Today is Holy Thursday when Jesus offered the first mass ever. After washing the feet of his apostles, Jesus took bread and wine and changed them into his body and blood, giving them to his apostles to eat and drink. This also happens at every mass when the priest says Jesus' words at the consecration. We do not see the bread and wine change, but they are still really Jesus offering himself to God for us. Tomorrow will be Good Friday when Jesus died on the cross. Many people turned against Jesus and after an unfair trial, Jesus suffered the most painful death to prove his great love for us. By rising from the dead on Easter Sunday, Jesus showed us how his life and love are stronger than anything in the world, even death on a cross. For over two thousand years, people have journeyed to the Holy Land to see where Jesus lived, died, and rose again. The journey is called a pilgrimage, and every place the pilgrims visit is called a station. Many people could not make a pilgrimage. The Holy Land was too far away, or countries were at war. So the Stations of the Cross were created. This way, people who were not able to reach the Holy Land could still make the journey in their hearts. The Stations tell us, in pictures, about the death of Jesus. At each Station, we say a short prayer and study the picture. We think about the love Jesus has for us and how we may show that love to others. Now let us begin our own pilgrimage with the Stations of the Cross. Before we begin, let us pray: God our Father, you sent us Jesus because you love us. Jesus showed us how to live as your children, to love each other as he loved us. We ask you to help us pray as we remember how he gave up his life for us on the cross. We make this prayer to you through Christ our Lord. Amen. The text for this Stations of the Cross is adapted from The Stations of the Cross for Children. The following images of the Stations of the Cross are life-size statues found at the National Shrine for Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Students created a "tableau" or a living statue which represented the modern-day reflection for each station. The First Station: Jesus Is Condemned to Die
The Second Station: Jesus Carries His Cross
The Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time
The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Mother
The Fifth Station: Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
The Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time
The Eighth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
The Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time
The Tenth Station: Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
The Eleventh Station: Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross
The Thirteenth Station: Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
The Fourteenth Station: Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb
Jesus, who suffered wounds for us, have mercy on us.
Field Trip to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (a.k.a. "Queen's Park") and Toronto City Hall4/4/2019
We visited the Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("Queen's Park") today to participate in the Question Period program. We had the opportunity to observe an Ontario provincial parliamentary session during Question Period and participated in an interactive discussion afterward. After our visit to Queen's Park, we walked along University Avenue (with a small detour to Osgoode Hall) to Toronto City Hall to learn more about Toronto’s municipal government structure, the City budget, key services provided by the City, and how people can get involved in the decision-making process. Question Period at the Legislative Assembly of OntarioLook for us in the Gallery from 6:46 - 7:13! We thank Charlotte and Cheyenne from HSBC Bank Canada who facilitated the “More Than Money” program, sponsored by Junior Achievement Canada. JA Canada is the largest youth business education organization in Canada and its mission is to inspire students and prepare them to succeed in a global economy. Students learned how to manage money in order to make smart financial choices. Studies have shown that the earlier students learn how to manage money, the greater their chances of lifelong financial success!
We walked to St. Patrick to view their professionally staged and well-acted production of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure story, "Treasure Island", starring Jayden and Gadion (former Holy Cross students)! Afterwards, we had a taste of the high school life...
Our first of three sessions of the Swim to Survive program in which students learn to roll, thread, and swim 50 metres in the event of a fall in deep water.
We had a special visitor today! Kelsey taught us the importance of treating all living things with respect and to consider the practical implications of owning a pet. Pets are cute, but they need love, attention, and constant care.
Mrs. Jakymyc, from ArtQuest, worked with the students today to create wooden plaques with a Christmas scene of the nativity. First, students painted their wooden rectangular pieces with black and a hint of blue to provide the night setting, Then, with white paint, stars were dotted onto the sky with one star transformed into the famous Star of Bethlehem with a sparkling bead and rays of light. Using stencil and white chalk, students traced the image of the Holy Family in the manger shortly after Jesus' birth. A Celebration of the Christmas Family!We went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) to view their current exhibit “Anthropocene”, a dramatic illustration of how we, individually and collectively, are leaving a human signature on our world. World-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky and multiple award-winning filmmakers, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, created a powerful series of new images, including large-scale murals, film sequences and augmented reality (AR) apps. The artists reveal evidence of human impact on the planet, from climate change and species extinction to extraction and the terraforming of the Earth’s surface. By using innovative augmented reality technologies, students were able to connect with people, places and moments they would not otherwise experience. After selecting the image that affected them the most, students wrote a short reflection about the piece.
The Grade 5s, as part of their current Life Systems unit on "Human Organ Systems", designed a board game on one of the following human organ systems: Respiratory System, Musculoskeletal System, Digestive System, Circulatory System, Nervous System. The board games included a path of 50 squares with instructions and at least 40 question and answer cards that were designed to test and educate players about the board game's organ system. We then tested out the board games in class. It was a fun, educational experience!
Using the pizza boxes and other items, students individually made one of four body parts: legs and feet, arms and hands, torso, and head. Students were then randomly assigned to groups and put together their body parts as best as possible. After hours of "surgery", the monsters were alive...
For Halloween, we will be making monsters using found or recyclable materials. First step: collect as many pizza boxes as possible!
We volunteered at New Circles, a not for profit agency that provides clothing to low income families through the GLOW (Gently Loved Outfits to Wear) program. Some of us made sure that donated clothes passed New Circles's rigorous standards while the rest disentangled jewelry and sorted other accessories. |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2023
|