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The class has been reading an Athapaskan legend by Velma Wallis called Bird Girl and the Man who followed the Sun. Although the main culture in the story is Gwichin', the traditions and lifestyle from the past are similar to those of the local First Nation.
Students have found evidence of this lifestyle and organized the information into a web. They will then compare the way needs were met in the past, and how they are met in the present.
Posted by Ms. Wissner on 6/4/07; 2:00:47 PM
from the * News * dept.
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The class has enjoyed learning about some our Canadian Astronauts. They have watched videos about them, read about them and researched them. They chose an astronaut that they would like to meet. They drew a picture of that Astronaut and then wrote about their imaginary lunch session. Students were to include two questions they would ask the astronaut as well as two things they would share about themselves.
Posted by Ms. Wissner on 2/22/07; 11:55:35 AM
from the * News * dept.
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Students are participating in the National Marsville program. They watched a video about the hiring process of 4 Canadian Astronauts in 1992. Students took notes about the qualities and qualifications of the applicants. They then wrote resumes and filled out job application forms for the Marsville 2007 Mission.
Posted by Ms. Wissner on 2/16/07; 2:56:16 PM
from the * News * dept.
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It has been very cold here for the last week. Yesterday, Mayo was officially the coldest place on the planet. With the students that came to school I decided to do an art/writing activity about the cold.
We started with a painting project. Students did a sky watercolor wash and then painted trees with artist gesso (they turn the paper upside down to paint the branches).
Then we brainstormed ideas about what it is like outside when it is very cold. We sorted the ideas into categories and came up with sensory groupings; smell, see, hear and feel. Students then used these ideas to write a free verse poem.
These pictures of the sun burning through the ice fog were taken at noon.
 
Posted by Ms. Wissner on 11/27/06; 1:54:07 PM
from the * News * dept.
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I like to use poems for handwriting practice, and some of our writing is inspired by the poems that we use. This piece of writing started with a poem called "Witches' Menu" by Sonja Nikolay. The next writing class, we read through the poem and found all the words that describe a way to cook something. Students then added more to the list, some of them consulting a thesaurus. We talked about the words in the poem that appeal to taste. Students talked about other things that Witches might eat. They then created their own restaurant and wrote a menu. Feast your eyes!
Posted by Ms. Wissner on 10/25/06; 8:57:31 PM
from the * News * dept.
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Halloween is a great time to do mini-theme days with the students. They always have great ideas and are motivated to do great writing. These poems came from our Skeleton mini-theme day.
I posted chart paper around the class, each one with a heading or question. I used the following: What do skeletons do, What do skeletons look like, Where do skeletons go, What do skeletons eat, How do skeletons act, Where do skeletons live, What sounds do skeletons make, What do skeletons wear and Who are the friends of a skeleton. The students got markers and circulated to write their ideas on the chart paper. I gave them about 15 minutes to do this.
Together with the whole group, we wrote an acrostic poem, trying to use one idea from each chart. Students then wrote their own skeleton poems.
Students made paper skeletons to display on the bulletin board and we learned the song Dem bones, Bem bones. To wind up the Skeleton theme we made meringue cookies in the shape of bones!
Posted by Ms. Wissner on 10/20/06; 2:25:50 PM
from the * News * dept.
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This piece of writing started with a vocabulary mini-lesson on synonyms and homonyms, using Thanksgiving theme words. The students then did a quick write- writing the directions on how to dress a turkey. I told them they had to write good instructions that we could follow, as we would be dressing a turkey the next day.
They were amused the next day, when I showed them their art activity - cut out a turkey head, arms and legs, and "dress" the turkey. Students then wrote a character sketch for their turkey.
Posted by Ms. Wissner on 10/16/06; 8:26:23 AM
from the * News * dept.
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