World Water Summit

Today, the Rainbow Eggheads had an absolutely AMAZING culminating project to end off our Social Studies unit. We had the first ever World Water Summit attended by (mock) members of the Canadian levels of government, international organizations and charities.

Most exciting, we live streamed the whole event via Google Hangouts on Air and many of our parents and friends tuned in, even submitting questions for the panelists.

Sara and I could not be more proud and impressed with the work the Rainbow Eggheads did and their amazing, confident, knowledgable sharing. 
We debriefed the Summit and talked about some other issues related to water that were raised at the Summit. One viewer asked if bottled or tap water was better. We had varying opinions, and watched this video to learn about "Manufactured Demand".

We were so inspired by the ideas in this "Story of Stuff" video that we have our next art project idea...Honest Advertisements!

A HUGE thank you (many hip-hip-yeahs) to our AWESOME student teacher, appropriately named Sara Awesome for her guidance on this terrific project!

Third Annual Living Musuem

Time Travellers take a few minutes to read and get themselves focused before the big event.

 Many of you followed along with our Living Museum on Twitter again this year, so these photos will be familiar.

Just three of the Time Travellers, Leonardo DaVinci, an early European boat salesman and an Aboriginal.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring and a European Artist.

Gabby the archaeologist teaches young potential explorers about her adventures.

The Maori and Ojibwa Time Travellers tell young explorers about their lives.

Madi and Hannah were pretty tough Maori warriors!

The inside of a Mayan pyramid. 

Some of the Time Travellers made sure to Skype with our friends in California and share what they had learned.

As always, our very own Genius Baby made an appearance to soak up some knowledge.

Photos From Living Musuem

Kate Settle, our amazing Artist-in-Residence, took some great shots of the Living Museum last week. Check them out! 

If you haven't seen them yet, check out the tweets from the Living Museum with the hashtag #churlivmus.

Reflecting on our Living Musuem

Yesterday, before being dismissed, each student made a comment about the Living Museum. Here's what we thought:

-I really liked it but it’s kind of a bit loud, so I couldn’t really hear people that were talking -Aaron

-I didn’t get to see much of it because I was doing other things, but I’m guessing that it was a really good time -Camden

-I really liked it, I agree with AAron that it was a bit too loud and I think that next time, we should have a bit more time making groups and having more time for research -Clara

-It was fun. On a bun. Sharing.-Ellis

-I agree with Aaron, it was really fun, but when we Skyped with Miss Robin’s class it was a bit loud -Erika

-I really liked doing the Living Museum this year and I didn’t find it was insanely loud for four classes. I think it was a really great experience for our audience as well. -Fiona

-Gabby

-I think it was really fun and a bit too loud, but it’s funny because you always think you hate the Living Museum until the day of - Hannah

-Next year, there is a bit of room for improvement - maybe two classes like last year, because it was way loud and too overcrowded. -Hunty

-I thought it was fun, but I thought we had too many classes, that’s why it was so loud, we should go back to two classes-Jack

-I like sharing my information with other people even thought it was very tiring and stressful -Johnny

-I thought it was fun, but maybe next time we should share with the teachers that if you press a button you should stay -Kaleigh

-I think next year, I’d really like to see things and I only got to see one station in my short break - I learned something from the audience and it was really fun but I really lost focus - Laryssa

-I think it was really fun, it was a little overcrowded, but I didn’t think it was that bad. More time to research and rehearse -Madi

-having the grade 6s made it too crowded -Mel

-I thought it was fun on a bun and it was pretty loud-Miguel

-I honestly was really impressed with everybody’s presentations - just looking around, i could see that everyone was engaged in their work. Four classes was a bit much-Milie

-All I can say is that I thought it turned out really well and we should have less classes  -Molly

-I think that we should have once you’re in grade 5/6, you do the Living Museum, not grade 4s -Nat

-I agree with Nat. I think it was a little too loud, it was super super super fun presenting it -Nils

-I think there should only be a few classes -OC

-When I’m 20 and I look back on this, this’ll be one the things that I remember. I wish I could do it again,but I’m in grade 6. Next time, a bit more time for research. The dancing of another group distracted people at my station, maybe separate those groups -Pat

-It was a very good learning experience, and next time I’d have more classes in at a time, because I was not doing my presentation -Skye

-I thought it was really fun and I think that the audience enjoyed it. Next time, we should do it a bit later in the year, it would be a fun way to end the year. I think we should stick with two classes. -Vickie

-I think it was fun and it was cool that we got to share the thing that we wanted to share with other people-Yaro

-I thought it was really fun and I enjoyed it and I liked taking breaks to see other groups. MAybe make more attractive buttons and cool noises or the title -Thomas

-It was very loud. Molly was stressed out last night but she shouldn’t be, because she was over prepared -Barrie

-I also think it was very loud and it was hard to hear people at times even if they were projecting. I was impressed with the difference even from yesterday and I think everyone worked really hard. -Laura

What did you think? Please feel free to let us know in the comments below!

Looking Forward to Working with Miss Robin's Class

We have started to work with Miss Robin and her grade 5 class in Los Altos, California to share about our similar Social Studies projects.

Her students blogged about our first Skype chat. They explained about our Mystery Skype call. They were really interested in the degus. They learned about how much we love to eat Beaver Tails.

It will be great to Skype more with them in small groups and to share our ideas!

Check out their class blog posts and leave a response so that they know we were there.

Our first meetings will be starting next week.

Living Museum Kick Off

After our amazing Timeline Activity, the Juniors got together in two groups today to kick off our third annual Living Museum! The discussion was rich and engaging and the Curators (Owen, Tiiu, Andrew, Ray and Shauna) can't wait to see what you come up with!

Students are to start deciding on groups and topics and to work on their Proposals. Proposals are due by Thursday, December 18th, but will be accepted and even possibly approved before that! Please share your proposal with the homeroom teachers of all group members.

For your proposal, you will need to refer to the curriculum.
Grade 4 expectations - Medieval Times
Grade 5 expectations - Ancient Civilizations
Grade 6 expectations - European Explorers and First Nations

Inspiration from last year's topic selection!

Possible topics to get your started from today's discussion:

Daily Life

-I’m wondering how much the life of Haida people has changed over all of that time. - Millie, Sharky

-What was life like in the Industrial Revolution and in the heyday of a civilization - Ben

-I am wondering how the jobs compared between civilizations?

-Marin is wondering what life was  like before the Haida civilization?

-What happened in other places when the Dark Ages happened in Europe - Madi

-William is wondering why Christopher Columbus and all the European explorers are so famous if others found America first?

-Heather is wondering why the Aztec civilization was so short

-Cayley is wondering what things would have been like if the Dark Ages had never happened.

-Quinn is wondering what makes a successful civilization?

-Bexster is wondering how some civilizations were around for a longer time

-How was life in the Dark Ages and Medieval times? - Gabi

-

Structures

-Xavier is wondering how  the buildings in Ancient Rome held up in comparison to those of the Mayans?

-Kenny is wondering what was the tallest Mayan building - Johnny, Kenny

Geography

-Melodee is wondering what our current geographical location might have been like when we were inhabited by First Nations People

-Gavin M is wondering where the Haida are and who they are?

-Anna’s wondering when they realized the world wasn’t flat?

-Braeden’s wondering when Galileo made his discoveries, why did other people have other beliefs?

Inventions

-I’m wondering about why the Ancient Mayan calendar came to an end?

-I’m wondering about different inventions that came from different civilizations

Weaponry/War

-the Chinese invented gun powder but the first firearm wasn’t invented until much later. I wonder what they used the gun powder for and what happened between those two inventions until they met

-Sohail is wondering how the weaponry during medieval times compared to that of ancient civilizations?

-Jamie is wondering what is the most common medieval weapon

Religions/Belief Systems

-I’m wondering about religions and how so many people can find faith in symbols like a person or a book?

-Sharky is wondering about Native Storytelling and if the stories have changed as time goes on

Art

-Kaleigh is wondering if the First Nations and European Explorers did art

Transportation

-Pat and Colin want to compare European and Viking boats and how they changed how they made them and the general construction

-Kenny was wondering which ancient civilization had the biggest ship

Food

-Ethan is wondering how the Haida got their food and resources

-Hunter is wondering if Australian natives actually cannibalized

Personalities

Fiona is wondering about names and figures of famous Natives

Homes

-how did they built their houses before they had nails? - Leo

Today's Tasks in the Computer Lab

Hello Room 209 students,

Welcome to the Lab! I hope you're having a great day with Eric. Andrea and I are at a workshop at Confederation today and we're looking forward to hearing all about your day!

Please use your time in the Lab effectively today. Here are your tasks:

1. About the Authors 

-finish writing your About the Author on the Google Drive. Make sure your work has your name in the title and that you have shared it with me

-Check out the rubric we collaboratively created below before you say to yourself, "I'm done." (You can also go to the rubric and suggest other addtions!)

Criteria	Neon Green	Green	Yellow	Red
Details -include interesting, relevant information	-pizazz -totally unique voice	-a lot of details -juicy -tying things together: making connections	-some listing is there -connections are unclear	-listing “I like...I like...” -using the words stuff/things -squeezing the juiciness out of your writing
Structure		-sentences are varied and interesting lengths
Conventions		-spelling is correct -proper nouns are capitalized -end punctuation is used
Written in third person	-it really sounds like someone else wrote it!	-name is used often, or “she/he”, “his/her”	-using your name and sometimes using “I” -repeating name over and over and over	-”My name is...” -”I” -excessive details used
Layout		-computer typed -looks professional
Image		-photo or drawing includes: message, symbol, space, colour/hue

-Share your About the Author with a classmate and have him or her share his or hers with you

-Go through and make comments on your partner's work

-Return to your own work and make any corrections or edits needed

2. Human Poster Research - you may continue to answer the questions you need to discover for your Human Poster. Make sure you have the list of requirements in your Social Studies duo-tang

Have a great, productive time in the lab today!

The Living museum

So what we are doing is the grade 4s are doing medieval
times and the grade 5s are doing ancient civilizations.
We are doing it on June 11th and we all worked so hard
So if you are a parent you should come.

Selecting Our Topics for the Living Museum

 We got together with Owen and Andrew's class in Room 312 to look at a sample proposal for our Living Musuem exhibits. Isaac, Ivy, Norman and Iggy had filled one out so that everyone could see what was expected by the "curators" Shauna and Owen.

 It was great to see all the students excited and grouping up with other students who had similar interests!

For the next step, students will be working collaboratively on the Google Drive to complete their proposals for approval by the curators of the Living Museum.

Map Show What You Know Coming Up!

In Room 209, we have been practicing with the world map and Canada maps.

Next Friday, March 8th, we will have a Show What You Know. Students will get two blank maps. One with the continents and oceans (see a filled in version above), and another one with the provinces/territories and capital cities.

Sorry these maps are upside-down. Isaac was doing a head-stand! You have your own copies to practice from in your Social Studies duo-tangs!

 

Here are some study tips we brainstormed:

-take it home, practice without looking!

-practice writing out the list, check it in your book

-write all the words down, try to memorize

-look at the map for a while, try to familiarize yourself, test yourself to see if you can memorize it, practice

-work with a friend or family member

-make up tricks (mnemonic devices)

-colour code to help you remember which is which!

My Atlantic Provinces Presentation - by Haydon

It all started when I picked New Brunswick, in the Atlantic Region, for my poster. Then, after a few weeks, maybe seventeen weeks, I finished my poster, and this is me showing them the poster. I wish I had a different image. My degus had my poster as a midnight snack! It was not fun. Or funny.

-by Haydon