spuds in tubs update

The potato plants are growing full and strong in front of the school!

Wednesday, April 18 2012
~Ms Novakowski

storm boy

This week the primary classes enjoyed listening to the beautifully illustrated book, Storm Boy by Paul Owen Lewis. Although not a traditional aboriginal story, the author drew upon extensive research of aboriginal stories of the Pacific Northwest and utilized features such as a hero leaving on a journey, participating in a personal transformation and then returning home.

This is an award-winning book and proceeds from the sale of the book are donated to a Haida youth organization.

The students enjoyed acting out the story!
(photos from divisions 8 and 11)

The chief son's was out fishing by himself when a storm arose.

The boy fell down through the water and found himself outside of a village with big buildings and big people and a strange sky above. The people welcomed him to their village.

The chief of the village taught the boy their songs and dances.

And then the boy taught the people the songs and dances from his village.

The boy began to miss his home so the chief gave the boy his staff and asked him to hold on tight and close his eyes. The villagers transformed into orcas and carried the boy back to his village.

The boy woke up on the beach in front of his village. 

His mother leaned over him and welcomed him home.

The villagers all danced and celebrated the return of the chief's son!

~Ms Novakowski

the potato parade

This morning, the students of division 10 topped up the spuds in tubs with soil.

The potato plants have grown so big and strong. They range in height (from the top of the tub) from 15 centimetres to about 40 centimetres. It was time to move them outside! 

Wednesday afternoon some students from division 5 helped the students from division 10 to take the tubs out to the front of the school. We had a bit of a potato parade through the school!

The tubs have been placed at the front of the school around the flagpoles. We're hoping they like the fresh air and rain and that the community helps to take care of them!

~Ms Novakowski

aboriginal feltboard stories

Our early primary classes have been enjoying two feltboard stories from district kits created to support aboriginal cultural awareness. Both of these Pacific Northwest Coast stories involve highly detailed and culturally accurate felt pieces.

The first one we read was the Haida story of Raven and the First Peoples and introduces the students to the aboriginal connection to the environment as well as introducing cultural artifacts and customs.

The next story is called The Gathering Day and focuses on seasonal activities and how food (berries, plants and salmon) are preserved for the winter.

~Ms Novakowski

the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy

April 15th commemorates the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. This was and continues to be an event that fascinates, partially because of the emotionally gripping stories of those who survived the tragedy. There are so many books published on this topic, both factual and fiction based on the event. A large number of our students are particularly interested in the Titanic so several new books were purchased this year (many new books have been published because of the anniversary) to replace some of our very well-worn books.

A small group of students put together a paper model of the Titanic to add to our book display.
~Ms Novakowski

Scary Stories book launch

In the fall, division 3 wrote some scary stories after reading a "scary story" in the library and discussing the elements of the genre such as suspense, imagery and foreshadowing. The students worked hard to peer-edit and then wordprocess and proofread their editing. Ms Choo compiled the students' stories and we sent them off to an online publisher. I was so excited to open the box when the books arrived and see these amazing anthologies the students created.

Today, the we held a book launch in the library to introduce the students' published writing. Three teachers and their classes from the school attended along with some parents, Mr. Hoath and some special guests from our school district offices.

Two students from division 3 explained the writing process we used for these stories and then three student authors read their stories from the book.

The division 3 students seemed genuinely proud of their publication and were seen reading each others' stories in all parts of the library and as they walked back up the stairs to their classroom.
Two copies of the book were ordered for our library collection and will begin circulation next week. I had them out on the counter today and there is already a long waiting list!

 ~Ms Novakowski

spuds in tubs: hilling

The potato plants have grown so much again in a week. Students that have been coming in and out of the library this week have enjoyed checking in on their progress.

Today, students from divisions 5, 7 and 10 helped to do another round of hilling our potato plants. We used up all the bags of soil that were provided to us so it looks like I'll need to go and get another bag or two to top up the tubs before we take them outside.

~Ms Novakowski

Musqueam: People of the River Grass

We have borrowed an education kit from the Richmond Museum that focuses on the Musqueam which is the First Nation that's territory encompassed and continues to be a part of Richmond's history.

This week all the intermediate classes wore the "museum gloves" to carefully handle and observe several artifacts used for fishing by the Musqueam peoples. Some of the artifacts are very old and represent historical and cultural ways of fishing and some of the artifacts are the contemporary versions of the older tools.

The students were asked to make careful observations and record what they noticed about the artifact/s at their tables. They were then asked to make inferences as to what the object might have been used for or why it had changed over time. Finally, the students were asked to consider inquiry questions they had after looking at and discussing the artifacts.

Our discussions focused on the use of natural resources to create tools that were functional and served a specific purpose. The examples we had from the kit showed the students how the many different parts of a cedar tree (outer bark, inner bark, branches, main part of tree) were used to create tools, baskets and canoes. A bone net needle led to discussion on how all parts of an animal were used if it had to be hunted for food. The students had lots of interesting questions and hopefully there will be opportunities over the next few weeks for students to investigate their questions further.

~Ms Novakowski

the little hummingbird presented by division 6

We read The Little Hummingbird as part of our Chocolate Lily program and the students of division 6 made hummingbird stick puppets last week to retell the story. One of the students asked if she could make "other things" from the story and we thought, sure, why not?! The students began gathering materials and creating sets/scenery to present the story.

This week the students completed the final touches on their trees, fire and streams and as I read the story, each group acted it out with their puppets and set.

~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: iPad illustrations

Divisions 7, 8, 9 and 10 had the opportunity to use the iPads in March to re-create illustrations from their favourite Chocolate Lily picture book award nominees. The students used the apps Drawing Box and Doodle Buddy to create their artwork. Can you recognize what books they are representing?

The illustrations the students created were saved and used to create an photobook on Shutterfly. It arrived during spring break and the students were so excited to see their artwork in a book!

If you would like to access our Blair Library share site on Shutterfly, email me with your email address and I will add you to our list!
(blairlibrary@gmail.com)

~Ms Novakowski

the raven's call

This past week, all the intermediate classes (divisions 1-5) were introduced to some foundational concepts and language regarding aboriginal peoples and culture in Canada, particularly in BC. This is going to be a school-wide focus in the library this spring and will address learning outcomes in Social Studies, Science, Language Arts and Fine Arts.

After discussing the terms "aboriginal", "First Nations" and "Metis", I had the students share what they knew about aboriginal peoples and culture in BC.  We talked about the Coast Salish First Nation of which Musqueam is the group of aboriginal peoples that is most closely associated with area we live in. I talked about some of my experiences visiting and working in Haida Gwaii and shared some information about the Haida artist Bill Reid.

Each class viewed the a short video which is an animation based on a story written by Bill Reid. It is called The Raven's Call but is also called The Unfinished Story, as Bill Reid intentionally left it unfinished so that the reader would think about possible different endings, as seen from different perspectives. It raised some social justice issues for the students to think about (a totem is taken away from Haida Gwaii by "strangers and put in a museum) and introduced the students to some key elements in aboriginal stories  - the inter-relatedness of animals, people and the environments, spiritual beings and transformation.

You can view the video HERE.

There is currently a new exhibit about Haida language at the Bill Reid Gallery (click for link) in Vancouver that the students might be interested in visiting.

~Ms Novakowski