Author Terri Mack visists Randerson

Author Terri Mack joined us at Randerson today to share her new book Mouse Celebrates Winter Solstice.  I joined Mrs. MacDonald and her Gr. 2/3 class to learn why Terri wrote this book and the meaning behind it.  We learned about winter and summer solstice, about the 13 lunar moons each year and why Indigenous Peoples call North America Turtle Island.  Students showed keen interest in Terri’s lesson and loved looking at the detailed pictures drawn by artist Bill Henin.  We really liked how Bill included the constellations exactly how the stars will align in the northern hemisphere on December 21^st, the winter solstice.  We are going to look closely to try to find the crab that Bill hides in all of Terri’s books.

Author Terri Mack @ Randerson

Did you know the Bill is the first and only artist whose work has travelled to space?  Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk took Bill’s art up to the International Space Station.  Wow we thought that was pretty cool!  Thanks Terri Mack for coming to Randerson.

 

 Comments from the students included:

“I am very impressed with this book.” Aana

“The detail is so good it made me want to look closely at each page.” Natasha

“I like the story telling.”  Dylan

“I like how the sky and moon have First Nations art.” Sam

“I like how the snowflakes move with the wind.” Anu

“I like how she talks about everyone coming together.” Hirsh

Shelfies & Book Talks

We used the Pic Collage app for our shelfies

Mr. Nixon's Gr. 5/6, Mr. Rosenau's Gr. 4/5 and Ms. Burnham's Gr. 4 classes shared their shelfies this week, prompting a run on certain books in our library. Top books reviewed include Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne,  A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass and Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney. Students book-talked their favourite books and discussed why their classmates might enjoy them. They shared their shelfies using the Pic Collage app on the iPad.

 What are shelfies?  Shelfies are a picture of

• three great books you have read recently
• stacked up like a book shelf
• in alphabetical and/or dewey order
• a picture of a book you want to read

Students led discussions on favourite authors like Wendy Mass and Kenneth Oppel, favourite series like Warriors and DOWK, and favourite genres ~ comedy, adventure, drama. Other students introduced their classmates to the mysteries of The Hardy Boys,  Inkheart and Conspiracy 365.  Various non-fiction books were also shared including 365 Things to Make and Do by Usborne and The Audubon Field Guides.

DEaR Nanaimo Clippers join Randerson kids to Drop Everything and Read

We are loving pajama day

 

 

Randerson students and staff once again took part in the annual Drop Everything and Read event.  DEar celebrates the importance of reading and the enjoyment of free reading.  Six members of the Nanaimo Clippers dropped by to read with us.  A fun time was had by all :)

This provincial wide event sees more than 70,000 students province-wide Drop Everything and Read. 

Randerson part of DEar 2014 Provincial Literacy Ev

 

Thank You Nanaimo Clippers for taking part in DEaR

 

 

Drop Everything and Read at Randerson has become a tradition kids and teachers love!  Not only do we get to read with the entire school but we get to wear our pajamas :)


Mrs. Jones taking part in DEaR

                                                                       Mr. Mazzei reading during DEaR (in his pj's)

Halloween @ Randerson

It's a spooktacular week at Randerson with lots of ghostly & ghoulish activities filling our classrooms and seeping into the hallways....

Mr. Nixon's Gr. 5/6 class is hosting a pumpkin carving contest with proceeds going to UNICEF.  Be sure to enter your pumpkin....if you dare.....

 

 

 

 

Gr. 2/3's using Explain Everything for Math problem solving

Randerson's school wide goal this year has been to work on math problem solving.  Students from k-7 have been taking part in weekly problem solving activities.  Each class then submits their solutions to Mr. Mazzei.  Every week a student from each division is recognized for their problem solving skills. 

With our school goal in mind, Gr. 2/3 students in Mrs. MacDonald's worked on problem solving using the iPads. 

We used:
- math problem solving question(s)
- math manipulatives - today we used blocks                             
- iPads (1 per two students)
- app - Explain Everything

Our super-fantastic, energetic kids used the manipulatives to work through their problem. At each stage they took a picture and put it into a slide in Explain Everything. They then recorded their voice, explaining how they worked through the problem and what their thinking was to solve the problem.  While voicing their solving strategies, their partner used the pen in the app to circle the area the student was speaking about.  Teams completed three slides per problem.

Author Marty Chan visits Randerson

Randerson K-3 students and teachers welcomed Marty Chan as part of Bookfest 2014.  Marty is an Edmonton author and playwright who has written numerous books from picture books, to YA and adult books. Marty entertained our primary students with stories, jokes and his inspiration of how he became a writer.

Marty Chan visiting Randerson



Our grade 1's talk about Marty's visit.

Marty Chan made me laugh.                        by Addy

I liked it when Lilly hit Marty Chan with  her hair.  She was very funny and silly. She even stepped  on Marty Chan's foot. I like Marty Chan.    by Haohao

Marty Chan is funny. I liked it when Lilly went up. 
                                                                     by Jessica

Marty Chan has written a story.  It was funny because the cats were silly.  My other favourite part was Lilly performing something funny.       by Esmee

How many books have you written?  My favourite part was the little stage thing. I also liked the jokes. You are very cool Marty Chan!        by Alex

Picture by Alex

Have you heard of Marty Chan? He came to my school.  What I liked about him is he told funny stories.                                                         by Daniel

What I liked about Marty Chan was that  he picked me for a story.          by Lilly
PS You are very funny Marty Chan.

Marty Chan came to our school.  He is funny. He told us about his cats. One of the cats stole 39 pens.                                                              by Lucas

Marty Chan is cool. He rites funny books. Good job Marty Chan.  By Madison

I like wen Lilly went up with Marty Chan.  By Michaela

I was happy he came to our school because he tells funny stuff.   By Yash

Grade 3 & 4's talk about Marty's visit

 

 

Marty's books :)

 

I liked how he acted out how when he told his mom about him making fun of his mom was funny.

 

by Alex

 

Marty Chan is silly and fun and also he is very creative.   by Faith

 

I liked Marty Chan because he was really funny.   By Liam

 

I liked Marty Chan because all his stories are funny and interesting, like the story of Frozen Brains.  by Oliver

 

I think he does good magic tricks that are funny.

 

Rule #1 he is not allowed to pee in the tent! Marty Chan is a great author.  by Luke

 

Have you ever had Marty come to speek at your school? He describes him and his books.  He is a funny man.  I like Marty.   By Jenna

 

Marty Chan came to our school.  He was SUPER funny!!  He told us how he came up with some of the ideas for his (some of) books.  Like how he got his idea for Frozen Brains.  It was HILARIOUS!!!  And his idea for his bigfoot series when he went camping with his best friend Jay.

The #1 rule was NEVER pee in the tent!!! They ended by getting so scared.  Jay broke rule #1. 

 

by Samantha

 

 I liked Marty Chan because he can do majic.  By Courtney

 

Marty  Chan has a good sence of humer.  I think he has a good imagination.  By Serena

 

Marty Chan came to our school he was so funny he did funny jokes his books are really cool my favourite book was frozen cow brains.     by Avary

 

Marty Chan was hilarious.  He enspired me to read a lot since last week.  I recommend it for all ages.

by Trey

 

Have you heard of Marty Chan. My favourite part was his card tricks.  By Carson

 

Marty Chan's book is all funny I like the book 'frozen brains'   by Hannah

 

Marty came to our school he was very funny and I learned that big foot is real.   by Maren

 

I think Marty Chan was awesome and I like his self stories.

 

Marty Chan is a really funny guy.  My favourite book was the Big foot ones and how he told us the story about when he went camping with Jay.  And he thought it was Big foot that was chasing him.  I also liked how him and Jay found frozen cow brains in his freezer.  by Leah

 

Have you heard of Marty?  I liked him he was really funny.  by Kiana

 

I like Marty Chan's attitude.  He's really His books are awesome!!   by Jaden



Beautiful Breeze

Beautiful Breeze

      A gentle breeze was caressing the flower petals of every color and creating small ripples across the clear blue water. As the breeze swept through the air it whispered through the trees. It carried dandelion seeds in its arms and sprinkled them through the fields. It combed its fingers through the tall blades of grass. As night fell, the breeze fell into a soft, warm drift and lay down to sleep.

Delaney, Gr. 5

 

April Book Club - A Big Success!

Gr. 5, 6 & 7 students joined me for a long recess of snacks and discussion in this months book club.

Running Dream by Wendelin van Draanen was our April book club chosen book.  Due to the popularity of this book we had to postpone book club a few weeks to ensure all students who wanted to, could read it.  Book Club was worth the wait.  The students loved the book!  We had great character discussions about Jessica, Rosa, Fiona and Gavin. Students felt Jessica's story was portrayed realistically with some set backs and triumphs.  We talked about Jessica's strength and determination, along with her frustration.  The discussion was lead by the students and boy did they have some great insights.  One discussion was around the important role Jessica's dad played when taking away the pain killers. Students spoke of how easily she could have become addicted to the pain killers and by taking them away, her dad was helping her.  One student mentioned that she probably had to go through pain in order to heal.

Students really liked Gavin as he was genuine and honest to Jessica about his feelings.  Rosie was also a favourite among students as was Jess' supportive friend Fiona.  One thing that hit a cord with students was when _______ mom sat with Jessica at the track meet and apologized at first for her daughter and then (paraphrasing) "no I apologize for myself for raising her that way".  This admission really resonated with the book clubers, feeling it was the right and brave thing for that mother to do. 

All and all we had a very enjoyable long recess discussing Running Dream.  The food was yummy, the discussion in-depth and the students were eager to take part.

Life as a TL doesn't get any better than that :) !

Gr. 7 Poetry

I’m a Police Officer

 I am not a Tim Horton’s donut

   I am not a German shepherd

         I am not a smooth blue

I am not a pair of handcuffs

I am not full of anger

Because actually I am a police officer

Josh

 

Mrs. Radcliffe

I am not an apple

I am not a barking dog

I am not a prickly green

I am not the Eiffel Tower

I am not a red pen

I am not heavy with sadness

Because actually, I`m a teacher

Mrs. Radcliffe's Gr. 7 students

Darkness

 

I am the darkness.

I live all around you, and fill all your nightmares.

My favourite colour is black, for it represents me, all the fear in the world, the dead, the grief.

My job is to scare you, to take away hope, to engulf you in blackness, and let no light shatter my cloak.

I have no friends, but I do have a brother whom I hate with all my heart, for he is my enemy, the light.

I move with the fear, turning dreams into nightmares, and wherever there is grief, I shall be there too.

Catherine

 

 

Storm clouds swirl above

Huge and intimidating

Rain starts to pelt

 

In the morning sunlight

Horses sprint across the land

Powerful and strong

 

Catherine

 

 

The Auto Hairstylist

It brushes, it blow-dries, it braids, and it combs!

It stands on the counter, and is about 30 cm tall.

The base of the Auto Hairstylist looks like a metal spider, but the top of this clever machine doesn’t really have a shape, for the top is what makes all hair look nice.

The Auto Hairstylist reminds me of a hair dresser, only smaller and portable.

It moves like a spider, crawling along, and to get on the counter it hops real fast.

The Auto Hairstylist sound like a blow dryer, buzzing and blowing as hard as it can.

Catherine

 

 

 

 

Poetry by Mrs. Radcliffe's Gr. 7 class

Sandwich Maker Anator:

by Liam Gr. 7

 It gets the lettuce, mayonnaise, tomatoes and buns too!.

It stands at 6 feet tall and rolls on two.

The Sandwich Maker Anator reminds me of my mother.

It moves by rolling around the kitchen like a car in rush hour.

The Sandwich Maker Anator sounds like a happy chef that’s humming on a good day

 

Imagination

 

I have a place for imagination in my mind

We have a place for creativity in our classroom

She has a place for playfullness in her heart

He has a place for happiness in his school

They have a place for dreams in their souls

Our family has a place for love in our lives

Our school has a place for friendship in our playground

Our world has a place for everyone in unity

Where is your place for life?

  

This poem was written by Mrs Radcliffes grade 7 class.  

 

 

International students join Randerson students for a Day of Science

Three grade 6 students share their day.

 

Hi! My name is Melina and on February 5th 2014 my class (Mrs. Epps 6/7) had a group of international students from across the globe came to OUR CLASS and we did a few experiments. There were 9 students. There were 2 from India, 1 from Brazil, 1 from Turkey, 1 from Mexico and 4 from China.  All the students are studying for their masters degree. Since Chinese New Year was on Friday January 31st the four students from China brought some traditional food from their country (rice crackers, coconut crackers, white rabbits, fortune cookies)  Before we ate we had a circle protocol.

Circle protocol is an activity that we do in our class. Everyone sits in a circle and we first acknowledge the traditional territories of Snuneymuxw and Snaw-Now-As. Then we pass the talking stick (a mini totem pole) around in clockwise direction from the teacher. Then we share how our week is going and how we think about how our inquiry and our learning is going. After we have passed the totem pole around the circle we are done.

So we did the usual in circle protocol, Mrs Epps assigned a few questions to a few students to ask the exchange students. After that we shared the snacks.

Science experiments:

Our science group asked “What happens to water when it is mixed with a bubble formula?” Our group leader was a lady from China.

The materials we used where:
v Big bucket of water
v Dish soap
v Glycerin
v Straws
v Pipe cleaner
v Plastic pipe
v Hanger formed in a shape
Our method was:
v Add a third cup of dish soap to a quarter cup of water
v Stir gently
v Glycerin already added
v Dip rim of glass into the bubble formula
v We made a homemade bubble blower with a pipe cleaner and it didn’t work so well
v Then we just used our finger and it worked really well
In the afternoon we taught our buddies our project and they loved it!

Conclusion: I learned that the bubble formed after we dipped the rim of the glass in the formula. But it would pop after a few seconds. So we added a little bit more of the formula to the water. And when we moved the glass around it changed colour. We found out that the smaller shape worked better.

Melina Gr. 6

 

 

Learning about school in the world

This Wednesday was our science experiment day; we had international students from around the world who now learn at VIU come into our classroom. It was quite an experience for all of us there were people from Brazil, Turkey, China, Mexico and India.  We got to ask them questions about their homeland and how it’s different or the same to our school. We learned that in China they just sit in their desks row by row and listen to the teacher teach them, the students would sit and listen and take notes. We also learned that in Brazil the air is much more polluted and even though they have the rainforest they don’t use it wisely. We learned very interesting things about very interesting places.

Science experiments

We got set up in groups of 3 or 4. Our leader’s name was Kim she was a student from China. Our group was learning about frost and dew. We learned that you rarely see dew and frost together because when the temperature is below zero there will usually be frost and when the temperature is above zero there will be dew.

The reason there is dew and frost is because when there is moisture in the ground it freezes in below zero temperature but if there is moisture in the ground and it is above zero it turns into dew. That’s why you might walk through a patch of grass with dry feet and come out with wet feet.  We got to teach our little buddies our experiment and share our learning with them. I liked how we got the experiment about water and how there is liquid, solid and gas.

Halle Gr. 6



We had a really cool learning experience this week when International University students studying at VIU came to visit our Gr. 6/7 class to do science experiments. We started with a circle meeting (something our class normally does to check in and see how the 5C’s are going). We got to ask questions about their culture, homeland and sustainability in their country.   I learned some really interesting facts.  In China you just sit in your classroom and take notes all day.  I found this really surprising because in our class it is the exact opposite!  In my class we all get a say we all listen to each other.  We learn from each other and we teach each other. 

Kaylin Gr. 6



Wab Kinew visits Randerson

Randerson Ridge had the pleasure of hosting Wab Kinew. Wab was named by Post Media News as one of the "9 Aboriginal movers and shakers you should know." He is a dynamic speaker, passionate about issues affecting Indigenous Peoples.  Wab is the Director of Indigenous Inclusion at the University of Winnipeg. He has won numerous awards for Journalism and as a hip-hop artist.
We would like to give a huge thanks to Mr. Pavan and Mrs. Epps for this opportunity.  We would also like to thank the students in Gr. 6/7 who worked hard on creating meaningful questions for Wab. 

Wab with Randerson students

Three students offer their reflections on Wab's visit.


I learned from Wab Kinew that the Aboriginal People’s couldn’t keep doing their trapping and fur trade, so they moved to work in the Oil Sands in Alberta. The Oil Sands are also affecting Aboriginal Peoples up stream, with no clean drinking water, causing them to have rare cancers.  I also learned that Aboriginal Children get less support than other Canadian children if they are going to school on a reserve or if they are in foster care.  We should be more aware of the lack of equity towards Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and fight for Social Justice.  Some things we can do are, write a letter to a politician (1 letter=500 emails), advocate for Social Justice, and attend more Aboriginal ceremonies open to the public.

Emily Gr. 7           

Enjoying a visit with Wab

       

Visiting Wab was a very interesting experience.  Wab is a great advocate for both social justice and sustainability issues.  One of the major things I learned that Aboriginal children get LESS money than non-aboriginal children do in foster care for their care.  This is absurd, as the Aboriginal children NEED more money than non aboriginal children do.  Usually people think of equality as a good start to our future, but equity is the way to go.  

The First Nations peoples have had extremely hard times, and their poor children have to still suffer the consequences of residential school… Dreadful stuff.
Another thing I found interesting was is that there are no black or white answers to the Northern Gateway Pipeline.  Being extremely environmentally minded or industrially minded won’t do the trick.  Many of the Aboriginal people are fighting against the pipelines and the oil sands, when they aren’t doing much to change our Earth either.  We have to mind the common ground in the middle, and it will prove to be one of the toughest decisions to make in our country’s history.

I think that doing smaller things like Wab said could make a difference.  Being an advocate, writing letters to politicians and participating in Aboriginal culture is a very good place to start.  I enjoyed Wab visiting us, and I hope he enjoyed the work put into organizing our artwork and the food.

Ryan Gr. 7               

Gift for Wab created by the Gr. 6/7 students in Mrs Epps and Mr. Pavan's class

 
Wab was very knowledgeable about reconciliation and sustainability.  I enjoyed his sense of humor.  He liked the gift we gave him.  We gave him a drawing of a thunder raven flying over a ridge.  I learned that there are more than 2 sides to the pipeline.  Like some of the Aboriginal leaders starting working for pipeline companies because of the money even though it was bad for the environment and you must meet in the middle.  I also learned that Aboriginal children get less support than other kids if they go to school on a reserve.  Aboriginal kids get less money than other children.  We can write letters to politicians, advocate for social justice and take part in aboriginal events.   

Branden grade 7