A Friday in Pictures

Brainstorming what we already know about Ancient Egypt.

The Grade 3 students learning about multiplication.

Enjoying some play time outside on a gorgeous Friday afternoon!

Have a wonderful weekend!

How Do You Get Twenty Kids to Eat Lots of Veggies?

By having a classroom salad bar!

For the past couple of days, we have been learning about how humans interact with plants.  One of the main ways that humans depend on plants is for food.  We spent some time brainstorming lots of different plants that we eat.  We then sorted these plants into the different plant parts (stem, roots, leaves, etc).  By doing this, we realized that we eat every part of the plant!

Today, we had our very own salad bar!  Students could choose from a variety of different vegetables to make their own salad from.  They could choose lettuce, spinach, carrots, cucumber, celery, red pepper, and tomatoes.  If they wanted they also could add salad dressing.  While eating, they drew a picture of three plants that they had chosen.  They had to state which plant part it was and if they liked it or did not like it.  Many students came back for seconds (and some even had thirds!), so it's proof...they do like their veggies!

Amate Bark Paintings

To tie in with our study of Mexico, we learned about Amate bark paintings, which are a type of painting found in Mexico.  Traditionally, Amate paintings were painted on amate, which is a paper produced from fig trees.  They were used as a form of communication.  Now they are used as a colourful decoration.  

We looked at several examples and discussed what all of them had in common.  We decided that: 

~ They all used bright colours

~ The pictures were made of of three common themes-animals, birds, and flowers

~ Most backgrounds were left unpainted

To replicate the bark, we used paper bags.  We then crumpled them to give them the proper texture. Before we did this, we drew out our picture (of birds, flowers, and animals) first, then traced over our pencil lines using black Sharpie.  Once our papers were crumpled it was time to paint.

Here are a few examples of the finished products.  They turned out lovely!