Deirdre Bailey and Jenna Callaghan We began a recent investigation into Light and Shadows in Grade 4 by posing the question “What is Light?” to our students. Before beginning the conversation, we reminded students that the world is not nearly as concrete or easily-understood as over-simplified statements of “fact” might often imply. We talked about how… Continue reading On Light, Shadows and Experience
Kathryn Desrochers ~ Grade 5 Math/Science Student Teacher University of Lethbridge Just before spring break, our grade 5 students (and teachers) had an opportunity to learn from an expert. Emily Marasco is a University of Calgary student working on her Graduate Degree in Electrical Engineering. As part of her Master’s research, Emily has gone around… Continue reading Grade 5 Electricity Collaboration
Jenna Callaghan and Deirdre Bailey Deirdre Working with a student teacher these past few months has been an exciting and rewarding experience. From our first meeting, it was evident that Jenna and I shared a similar pedagogical philosophy; with a strong focus on reflection and discipline-based inquiry. Jenna’s early ideas and questions were guided by… Continue reading Student Teaching: Mentorship and Collaboration – A Video Reflection
Erin Couillard- Grade 5 Math/Science Big Question: Are we seeing a dangerous shift in climate? Or just a natural stretch of bad luck? This question was inspired through question brainstorming with students at the beginning of the Grade 5 weather unit as well as a National Geographic article I read in the fall. Supporting Questions… Continue reading Grade 5 Wild Weather Inquiry
by Deirdre Bailey Cross-posted on Savouring the Ish I’ve got a novel on iPads in the grade four classroom waiting to be written. Lots of discoveries, ideas, struggles and triumphs. I just need to find the time to document it all properly. This brief gem, however, is too awesome not to share. Earlier this year, our… Continue reading Crowd Sourcing Fourth Graders
Jaime Groeller & Ivy WaiteIn August 2012, at the beginning of our second year teaching together, Ivy and I took the plunge and started “team teaching.” We had seen a successful example just down the stairs from us (Park/Bailey) and modeled much of our initial approach on those ideas. Furthermore, we had been doing a… Continue reading Team Teaching – Our Vision
Candice Shaw- Grade 7 Math and Science In Grade 7, simple mathematical operations are not often a focus of instruction. If they are, it is in relation to operations with decimal numbers. Extending addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division processes to decimal numbers does not seem like a difficult task to the math savvy person, but… Continue reading Alternative Methods of Multiplication
Kathryn Desrochers~ Grade 5 Math and Science Student Teacher University of Lethbridge On Friday February 8, 2013 all four grade 5 classes had the opportunity to Skype with George Kourounis. George is a storm chaser, most well known for his TV Series “Angry Planet” in which he chronicles his adventures chasing storms and exploring the… Continue reading Grade 5 Weather Wise With a Storm Chaser
Stakeholders in the Leave it to Beavers project met recently to reflect on fall visits and to plan ahead for spring and beyond.Rachelle Haddock from the Miistakis Institute summarized the fall program including the great news that a few ‘nuisance’ beaver were located and trapped to be introduced to the reservoir. http://www.rockies.ca/blog/?p=697 New Resident to Goodwin… Continue reading Leave it to Beavers Project Update
CSS will be holding our annual Science Fair on Wednesday, February 6, 2013, and we are looking for volunteers to help judge this event. There is no experience necessary and it is a lot of fun. This is an important CSS event as it provides a forum for students to showcase their understanding and passion… Continue reading Science Fair Judges Needed!
