Riddle of the Week

A boy was at a carnival. He went to a booth where a man said to the boy, "If I write your exact weight on this piece of paper then you have to give me $50, but if I cannot, I will pay you $50."

The boy looked around and saw no scale so he agreed, thinking no matter what the man wrote he would just say that he weighed more or less.

In the end, the boy ended up paying the man $50.  How did the man win the bet?

Just a quick reminder:  In the comments section, you may post yes/no questions to help you gather more information before making your guess.  Good luck!

Potlatch

On Friday, March 9, we held a potlatch in celebration of our Social Studies unit on the Aboriginal groups of the Northwest Coast.  It was an fun-filled day enjoyed by all!

Before the potlatch there were various preparations to be done.  Ms. Wood, the Grade 6/7 teacher across the hall who grew up in Haida Gwaii, came to teach our class a traditional potlatch song and dance that we would perform right before feasting.  Thank you, Ms. Wood!

We also needed to prepare the traditional potlatch stew to be eaten at the feast later.

Finally, it was time for the potlatch to begin! Chief Roy gave the welcoming speech to the Wolf Clan (Ms. Sutherland's class) and the Bear Clan (our class).

Each clan presented a legend.  Our class, performed "Little Bear's Vision Quest".

Each class wore "button blankets" featuring crests of their clan in traditional red, white and black.

Giftgiving is another important part of a potlatch.  Here, Chief Roy presented the Wolf Clan's chief with a traditional copper.  Each guest at the potlatch also received a bookmark with an Aboriginal design.

Finally, at the end of the potlatch we feasted!  Each student brought a dish to share.  We had traditional Aboriginal food including salmon, berries, quail's eggs, stew and bannock, along with  a lot of other delicious fare. 

In the afternoon, we invited families to come and visit our "Longhouse Museum" and to watch the play that we had performed in the morning during the potlatch.  We had a great turn out and were really excited to share our learning with so many parents!

Thank you so much to all of the families who sent delicious food for our feast and who came to our "Longhouse Museum".  It was a wonderful day of learning and a great way to end our Social Studies unit.

Student of the Week - Jordan

Jordan is this week's student of the week for his amazing longhouse project! His model was detailed and creative, and he could explain each part of the model clearly. Great job, Jordan!  Here is a picture of his model:

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Longhouses

In Social Studies this term, we have been learning about the traditional cultures of Northwest Coast Aboriginal groups. We have learned how groups such as the Haida, Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw:

-used natural resources, particularly salmon and cedar, in many different ways
-met their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, transportation
-created technologies for fishing and hunting, food preservation and making clothing
-developed rich cultural traditions such as wood carving, storytelling, dancing, singing and drumming

While we did a variety of activities in class to build our understanding, students were also busy working on a big project at home - making a model of a longhouse. Students had five weeks to create a model that demonstrated what they had learned about Northwest Coast Aboriginal culture. As we learned new things in class, students were encouraged to add these details to their longhouses. A special thanks to all of the families who helped students successfully build their models. We really appreciate your support! Check out the video below to see the results.

Weather Instruments

For the last two months, we have been studying weather in Science. A lot of what we have been learning about are weather instruments and how they are used to measure different weather elements. These are the different weather tools we have learned about during our unit and what they are used to measure:

thermometer - temperature
rain gauge - rainfall
snowboard & metre stick - snowfall
cloud cover chart - amount of clouds
weather vane - wind direction
anemometer - wind speed
Beaufort scale - effects of wind
barometer - air pressure

For many of the instruments, we made our own versions after using the standard ones. As often as I could, I took pictures of the students hard at work, but I didn't do such a good job of posting the photos regularly on the blog - oops! So instead, I've created a video to summarize some of our science activities over the last little while. Check it out below.

Student of the Week - Franchesca

Franchesca is this week's student of the week for the initiative she shows around the classroom. If there is something that needs to be done, Franchesca does it, without even waiting to be asked! Her effort makes our classroom a better place for all of us. Thank you for your hard work, Franchesca!


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Riddle of the Week

A boxing match was scheduled for twelve rounds, but ended after six because a boxer was knocked out, yet no man threw a punch. How is that possible?

Pink Shirt Day

Yesterday at our school it was Pink Shirt Day, which is an annual anti-bullying event.  You can read more about the history of Pink Shirt Day here.  At our school we work hard to prevent bullying every day, but this event builds even more awareness about the importance of stopping bullying.  Students and staff throughout the school wore pink to show their support.  Here are a few pictures of us in our pink clothes and our anti-bullying badges.

One of our class members, Aero, found a great anti-bullying video on YouTube and posted it on his personal blog.  The video he posted is below.  Thanks for the great video, Aero!