Blast Off

Recently, our Green group has been very interested in launching a rocket.  Our attempt to launch a vinegar and baking soda rocket was not very successful. This week we tried a different rocket, using Alka Seltzer tablets and water put into a film canister.  First, the film canister was changed to be more aerodynamic.

Our rocket.

The look on their faces after a rocket has launched is priceless!

Revised book order date

The book order flyers were not available when I sent home the February calendar. I have sent home the flyers tonight, and if you wish to order a book, please return it by Friday, February 26. Please note that I have registered with scholastic, and you should now be able to complete online payment if that is of interest to you. 

Pizza anyone?

Our dramatic arts centre has changed yet again. We have put away our doctor's set and have introduced a pizzeria! Students can take and record orders and bake and serve a pretend pizza.

Aeronautical engineers in the making!

We continue to talk about space and planets. The students are completing a variety of activities using this theme. Recently, we have put out a variety of materials as well as books about rocket and shuttles for ideas and inspiration. As you have may have seen, there have been some pretty unique creations made. 

A Rolling Inquiry

Very "spur of the moment" this morning, several boys began rolling and forming plastercine balls and then rolled them on the floor. This led to an inquiry as to what kind of ball would roll the farthest.

We made big, small and medium sized balls. Some were soft, some were hard, some were bumpy and some were smooth. Tyler predicted that "the small ball will roll the fastest because it is the lightest and the big one, because it is big and fat, it won't move that fast".

We then very excitedly tested their predictions in the hall.

We discovered that the large, hard, bumpy  one did not roll very far.

However, the medium, smooth soft one went the farthest!

Subway day

Due to the cancelled buses today, the Kindergarten Subway day originally scheduled for today will be tomorrow, Feb. 18. If your child ordered subs, they will be delivered tomorrow.

Video from the Retirement home

I managed to finally get the video so that I could post it.  Please go https://youtu.be/9bVz6Y95rGs if you would like to view it.  Many thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers for the afternoon...without whom our trip would not have been possible!  Thanks Abby, Laila, Elizabeth and Patty!

What a great day!

Today was the day that the students from the blue group visited the retirement home. We began with some of the grade 6 students introducing and thanking them, then a couple older students did a few magic tricks.

Next, we sang our song. (Bear with me as I try to figure out how to post the video on the blog).

We then shared our cards and our cookies with a senior.

Some of us even got a "snuggle" from the staff (who just so happened to be an aunt!)

Finally, we presented our collaborative quilt.

It was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn to give and bring happiness to others is a valuable endeavour.

Lots of work!

Today, our grade 6 buddies came and worked with the blue group students to prepare for our visit to the retirement home. We made cookies. They are old fashioned sugar cookies with jam filling.

We made tissue paper flowers to give away.

We also worked collaboratively on a paper quilt using our hand prints.

We are practising singing the old song: Stand by Me. We had previously made Valentine's Day cards to give away to a senior. It should be a great day on Wednesday when we visit Chartwell Retirement Home.

Don't forget....Grade 7 Cake Raffle Fundraiser

Grade 7 "Cake Raffle" Fundraiser

Money raised will be used to offset costs of the

Grade 7 June camping trip

On Wednesday, February 10th, the Grade 7 classes will be holding Stonecrest’s second Valentine’s Day cake raffle- just in time for the long weekend! The proceeds from this raffle will help with the cost of their camping trip in June.

Tickets can be purchased at a cost of 25 cents each, or 5 tickets for one dollar.

Please remember:

1.Chances of winning depend on number of entries.  Each ticket purchased counts towards one entry.  Participants can purchase multiple tickets to increase odds of winning.

2. Students can put their tickets towards a specific cake or spread them out among many cakes. A maximum of one cake may be won by participants. However, students will be given the choice of their favourite cake.

3. A random drawing will be held on Wednesday, February 11 at 3:00 p.m. and the winners will be invited to collect and bring home their cakes. Containers will be provided.

Thank you for your continued support,

The grade 7 students

Oops!

Please note for students in the blue group, I have misspelled one of our student's names. It should read: Kohl W. My apologies to Kohl!

Out of this world experiments

Some of the students in the green group discovered a number of space experiments in a book. They became excited about trying out some of these. 

The first was an experiment using baking soda and vinegar in a confined container and thus launching it. 

We first tried using a plastic base with a sponge type plug. Unfortunately, the chemical reaction seemed to fizzle out before the rocket could launch.

Next we used an old film canister. Even it didn't work as well as we had expected. Back to the drawing board!

Next, there was some excitement about completing a space simulation. We found 6 gloves in the lost and found (3 for each hand), got some large paper clips and a few students challenged their fine motor skills by trying to attach the paper clips using the bulky gloves.

Definitely a tough task!