Monday, June 22, 2015

SSES 4th Annual Super Run

 
SSES hosted their 4th Annual Super Run on Friday!
 
Thank you to the families of our runners for coming out to support them on this special day!  A big thank you to the children at SSES for making posters for our runners and cheering them on....as one of the runners said, "I felt like a rock star!"
 
Thank you to Sobeys for providing our runners with post race refreshments and snacks!
 
A special thank you to Mrs. Magnusson for organizing our Running Club and the Super Run each year....it is an amazing group to be a part of!  Thank you to Mrs. Cuthbert and Mrs. Chapnick for running with our runners and for providing encouragement along the way!  To each of the staff members who help out with running club throughout the season and on the day of the race...thank you!
 
To our coaches from Dr. George Johnson Middle School....thank you for dedicating your time to our grade 3&4 runners and for joining us on race day!  You are a very important part of our Running Club...we couldn't do it without you!
 
And finally....to our runners....you have shown determination and perseverance.....and always ran with a smile on your faces....we are so incredibly proud of each of you!

Friday, June 19, 2015

A trip to the farm!

 
The grade 1 and 2 classes visited Mission Trails Farm yesterday!  We toured the dairy farm and learned about milking cows by machine, where the milk goes and what dairy cows eat.  We also got to see baby goats and calves.  When our tour was finished, we got to eat milk and cookies!!!  Delicious!
 
A special thank you to Jason Porteous and his family for welcoming us to their farm for the past 10 years!  We are so grateful for this learning opportunity for our grade 1 and 2 children!  Thank you for taking time out of your very busy work day to spend it with us!
 
 









Our Trip to the Assiniboine Park Zoo ~ Grade 1&2s

written by Sophie, Eva, Olivia H., Mitchell & Ryan
 
Last week, the Grade 1 & 2 classes went to the zoo.  We saw things we weren't expecting to see, like snakes!  It was really fun because I got to see the tigers.  You could go into the kangaroo enclosure.  It was cool to be with them, but you couldn't go too close.  When we looked closely, there were babies in the mama's pouch!  We got to see the polar bear swim.  It was like you were swimming with them when you were in the water tunnel.  When we first got there, the polar bear was just sitting on the glass.  You could see his paw through the glass roof.  The seals played tricks on us in the water tunnels.  Some of us went to the polar bear playground.  If you stepped on the ice blocks, you could smash them!  There are slides in the playground, one comes out through a polar bear's mouth!
 
We got to see bats and cockroaches.  There were meer cats and snow leopards.  Lots of the animals were sleeping because it was a hot day for them.  We got to go into the theatre at the Journey for Churchill.  You could watch the video everywhere!  Some kids got to go on the snowmobile, helicopter and boat.
 
We've been building zoos in our classrooms this year.  We use gems, blocks, animals, loose parts, nature building, lights, mirrors and beautiful things to create the animal spaces and enclosures.  We take lots of pictures to capture the zoo and we also make Adobe Voice videos sometimes to tell the story about the zoo.
 
It was such a fun day....and so interesting!!!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Music Explorations at SSES



written by Jasmine, Parker, Ava M. & Zachary

During Music Explorations, we can play and explore music!  We don't just create songs, we use music in other ways.  It's not always about using your voice, but sounds from instruments and percussion, too.  You can always add dancing, too!

Sometimes Mrs. Isfeld gives us tasks or must dos during explorations.  One day, we had to use space notes (FACE) in our explorations.  You could use instruments, gems at the mirror table or the music notes at the light table or any other way that you could show that you understood space notes.  We can also use the carpet to show music notes.  We make puppet shows set to music.  The puppets are really cool, they tell a story.  Sometimes it's free explorations.  That's when you can explore beats, rhythms, shows, dance, songs, singing, composing and stories.  You just have to use music in your explorations!!!

At the end of Music class, kids share their music, compositions or whatever they have explored.  Kids always want to share their explorations!  Sometimes we get to make comments about kids' performances.  We learn about our rhythms when we create our own AND when we listen to our friends' performances.  Some kids are really fascinated by what we do and want to try it.  We inspire each other!  Sometimes kids take musical notes that we have used and change the order or play the notes backwards to create a new composition.

We love music explorations!  It makes us feel free!


 

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

A day of celebrations....



We had many celebrations at our monthly assembly today!  Five groups of students shared their music videos that they had composed and performed with Ms. Milne!  Our dance club (inspired by two children) performed their self-choreographed routine!  It was amazing!!!  We are so proud of each and every one of the children at SSES!

Two children received sailing scholarships for the summer!  We can't wait to hear about their sailing adventures!!!

The Kiwanis Club of Gimli joined us for our assembly today to present $5000 to our Natural Playground Fund, the first of five installments over 5 years.  We are so grateful for our ongoing relationship and collaboration with the Kiwanis Club.  They are extremely supportive of our school!
The Kiwanis Club also honored our Terrific Kids members with certificates for their hard work and dedication throughout the year!

Our Terrific Kids executive presented Heida with a cheque for $320 from our garage sale.  Heida is part of the executive for the Evergreen Student Council (composed of senior years students across the division.)  One of the council's initiatives this year was to continue providing support to the school in Nicaragua that they raised money to build last year.  Our donation will go towards supplies and materials for the children of the school.  We are proud to partner with the Evergreen Student Council to make a difference in the world!








Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Outdoor Explorations ~ Kindergarten

 
On Thursday, both Kindergarten classes at SSES spent the day enjoying our time learning through play in the outdoors!  We explored using mud, water, sand, sticks, rocks and bark.  We played with oobleck, bubbles, paint and more!  Together we climbed, jumped, ran and smiled.  It was a day well spent creating wonders and exploring our outdoor environment!
 









Our WAG field trip ~ Grade 3&4

written by Autumn, Nolan, Olivia J. & Kieran

Last week, we went to the WAG....the Winnipeg Art Gallery!  It was filled with real art!  There were nice statues of Greek Gods and Goddesses.  Some of the art was from ancient Rome.  We have all been exploring ancient Greece in our classrooms!  
It was neat because the statues were of real people.  They were carved from marble.  All of the statues and pots were over 2000 years old!  There were masks, too.  Most of the art pieces were over 2000 years old.  Some kids got to dress up in robes.  There was a gold colored rope to go around our waists.  We took pictures with our iPads.
Ancient Greeks created the Olympics.  They used the vases for the Olympics and wrote the atheletes' names on them.  They loved to drink wine, too!
When we got there and looked up, it looked like we were on the ceiling.  The ceiling was made of mirrors.
There are special lights in the museum and it has to be at a special temperature to preserve the art.  We couldn't have flashes on because it would damage the art.
Each class got to make a background for a story.  We also got to make the characters.  We used oil pastels and water paint.  The water paint resists the oil and makes the oil colors stand out.  You could create any story you like.  We are going to create the story to share with our friends.
A few of our favorite moments.....I loved playing the drum.  We got to play the drum like the girl in the statue.  I liked seeing the feet.  There were two feet, one from Europe and one from the United Kingdom.  We think the foot was from Athena.  Everything was my favorite ~ all of the art!  I also liked listening to the picture stories.  I really enjoyed seeing the Gods and Goddesses.  The pottery was very interesting!

The new LEGO Exhibit at the WAG opens June 21st.  We saw the places where the exhibits are going to be.  We can't wait for the unveiling!!!


Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Muffins for Cancer Research!



the children of Room 113 ~ we can change the world!

A special thank you to everyone that made our muffin sale a huge success!  We raised $217.30 for Cancer Research.  Today we walked to the post office to deliver our donation and special letter to Cancer Care Manitoba.  Our hearts are full!





Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Terrific Kids Garage Sale

We had our annual garage sale today!  This year the Terrific Kids is raising money for a school in Nicaragua.  The garage sale always brings an excitement to the school....all while supporting a wonderful cause!
 







Our Kindergarten Field Trip to Oak Hammock Marsh

written by Ms. Lewis's Kindergarten class
 
We were at Oak Hammock Marsh for our field trip.  We went critter dipping.  We saw bugs in the water.  They were fast, but we caught some!  We went on the roof.  It was made of grass.  We saw beaver homes with a telescope.  A beaver was on top of it.  It was amazing!
 
written by Mrs. Gibson's Kindergarten class
 
We used nets to go critter dipping.  We found water bugs, exoskeletons, a big snail and water tigers.  We learned about birds like the red-winged black bird.  We learned that birds have different beaks and feet to use for different purposes.  The woodpecker's tongue goes around the brain to protect it when it is pecking a tree.  We each got a stuffy and went outside to find a habitat that it could live in.  The most exciting part was when we went on a walk and saw ground squirrels going in and out of their holes.  We enjoyed our field trip!
 


Friday, June 5, 2015

Artist in the School 2015

 
Artist in the School!!

written by Jayden and Sawyer

Over the past few weeks, a clay artist, Mr. Bud, came to create tiles with our whole school!  Over the week, we went step by step with our tiles.  Before he came to our school, we made sketches inspired by nature.  First, we had to put grey paint on our clay tiles.  Then we had to dry the tiles with hair dryers.  After that, we traced our sketch on the clay tile.  We used the chicken claw tool to etch the design.  Mr. Bud taught us about black & white spaces.  Then Mr. Bud took all of our tiles home and put them in a kiln to fire them.  He brought the tiles back to our school and we got to paint them with liquid glass.  The colors were a little confusing because some of them were dark, but actually bright.  He took them home again to add a final glaze.  When he brought them back to the school, we got to put them on the wall with this sticky stuff that looked like melted marshmallows!

We think the art looks beautiful!  We're glad that it will stay there forever!  Making our tile was a beautiful journey!




Thursday, June 4, 2015

Jump Rope for Heart 2015

 
 
Last Thursday was Jump Rope for Heart at SSES.  We were raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and exercising our hearts!
 
A special thank you to Mrs. Einarson and her grade 6 class for being leaders during the event and taking each of the groups through the stations!
 
Thank you to Mrs. Chapnick for organizing this event and for inspiring & encouraging us each and every day to be heart healthy!!!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Harry Potter party in Room 131



written by Anika and Leif

Last week, we had a Wizard Party.  It was to celebrate the end of the first Harry Potter book.  We had to dress up like wizards.  We got to do special activities and we were put in four houses.  They were Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff.  We also had special items like the Philosopher's Stone, bat blood, the Elixir of Life, unicorn blood and spell books.  Finally, we watched the movie!  It was fun!