Fitness Morning Photos

Fitness Morning has been a wonderful success. The kids are moving, planning and managing! I love it when they bust out our Grade 5 signals and routines to help them teach completely on their own. Skye and I also got to teach them fantastic old school games like Red Light/Green Light, Mother May I? and Red Rover, which they are all loving. Other than the glares we are getting from our colleagues about us coming to school in fitness clothes for 3 mornings a week, all has been good! Thanks kids for doing such an amazing job!

  

Body System Models

During this last PYP Who We Are unit, the kids worked together in art to make body system  models. Check them out!

Stomach Muscles in Action

 Last week, we learned all about the digestive system. One of our activities showed how stomach acid helps break down the food in the stomach with the help of the stomach muscles. We "chewed" up our food, put it in our "stomach," added some "stomach acid" and used our muscles to break down the food. The kids saw how the liquid helps break down the food into smaller pieces and enables it to be passed down into the small intestine through a valve. They also found that some foods break down more quickly in the liquid and others take more time.

While there were some "eww gross" faces and comments, overall, the kids were excited to give the activity a try. Check out the pictures!

 

Human Body Models

 During our Human Body PYP Unit, the kids worked together to create models of the different body systems in art class. We shared these with families during our PYP Unit share. The kids worked so hard on them and they turned out wonderfully.

 

Student Action: Class Riddles

 At recess, a few of my girls have been making up riddles for the class. This is a basic, yet really cool student action and I wanted to share some of them on the blog. These relate to our Body Unit from last month. Enjoy!

I am very small. You need water to make me move. What am I?
Answer: blood

What is your sixth sense? It ends with sense.  
Answer: common sense

 

Stop Motion Animated Body Video

 I am so proud of my kids! They worked together successfully and completed a stop motion animation video that takes you through the circulatory system and explains where blood cells go within the body. Check it out and leave a comment. The kids would love to hear from you!

 

Bake Sale Results!!!

Thank you to all of the families and students who helped bake goods for our CCBRT Bake Sale! It was a wonderful event. There were so many tasty treats and one of my girls even made some earrings to sell! The kids were thrilled to sell their goods and watched as their blue frosted cupcakes, chocolatey brownies and homemade breads slipped through their fingers in the name of a good cause.

Overall, we raised 422,500 Tsh for CCBRT. One generous grandmother from the US even sent a donation all the way across the oceans right into our collection can! After the baked goods were sold, Yuna and her mother took the left overs to CCBRT and gave the patients and their families some treats as a surprise. All in all, it was an amazing day and I am happy to be part of such a fantastic student led event. My class is truly.... electrifying!



 

Unit Video In The Making

3R has been working extremely hard over the past few weeks putting together a stop-animation video all about the circulatory system. The video will be unveiled soon (thanks to our film producer, Mr. Mikey) but I realized that I had not shared the photos of us hard at work creating.

The kids decided what part of the film they wanted to work on and divided into groups. Some students wrote the script, others designed the human body and a few broke up into small groups and created the prop body parts and diagram labels. The kids have worked so hard on this and I can't wait to share it with everyone very, very soon!

Writing the Script

Creating the Blood Cells

Drawing the Heart (by Hand!)

Working on the Lungs

Designing the Set (the Body)

 

Thank You Doctor Erwin!

Last week, we had another parent come visit and share with the entire grade 3 team what he does as a doctor in Tanzania. Dr. Erwin runs the CCBRT Hospital here in Dar es Salaam. CCBRT is a hospital that specializes in helping individuals with disabilities. The students were fascinated about his job and the commitment he shows to patients and the community everyday.

The students were interested in all aspects of his job and loved looking at the x-rays and prosthetics he brought in. He told us about a child named Santino who was born unable to walk upright. At CCBRT Santino had treatment on his legs. Santino put in large amount of effort and commitment to strengthen his body. Through his hard work and persistence, Santino can now walk upright. The students were so surprised to hear that not only will braces and prosthetics help people walk, but after a while, some people can even play football!

After watching the video below, some of them even made a plan to take action by raising money for surgeries. Say tuned to hear about the plan that is in the works. Hopefully some time soon, 3R can help people in need with a donation for some surgeries.

Thank You Dr. Roland!

3R was lucky to have Dr. Roland, Louise's dad, come in and teach us more about the human body how the body systems are interconnected. He also talked to us about what doctors and nurses do for you when you are sick. He brought in some medical tools for us to explore and left a friend with us in the classroom. Harry the skeleton, our newest addition to the classroom, has fit right in and has been a gracious guest. He has helped us to learn about the skeletal system and given us a tool to use when determining where organs are located in the body in relationship to the bones. He has been keeping us company and watching over us as we learn. Everyone is happy to have Harry visit for a few weeks!

Each student got to go up and use the medical tools and learned what each specific tool was for. The faces they made when the first heard a beating heart or saw the inside of the ear canal was priceless!

Overall, the morning was wonderful and 3R sends a huge "asante sana" to Dr. Roland for giving us an hour of his time. Each student took a moment to write a thank-you letter to Dr. Roland to show our gratitude and appreciation. Below I included a wonderful letter showing lots of enthusiasm and creativity. Check it out.... all I can say is "WOW."

Thank you again Dr. Roland!

Bodies PYP Unit

Can't...stop...working....
luckily I have my mom's warm comfy couch and some great T.V. on demand that I have missed this past year in Tanzania.

I have joined a few professional reading groups via my "blog sisters" and have been working away on my mac, mostly getting files organized and such.

But, gearing up for the next year, I have been creating some documents to use in the classroom, possibly with my new interactive whiteboard!!!! Can you tell I am a little excited?

So here is a health Can-Have-Are printable for you to download. I use Can-Have-Are charts a lot in my teaching, often as a formative assessment tool during teaching.

 Enjoy!
  
"Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com" 

Snack Party Photos!

Last Friday we had an end of unit Healthy Snack Party. Each student was assigned to one of the five food groups and had to bring in a healthy snack to share. Some of the highlights were fruit kabobs, vegetable salad, plantains and sauce, yogurt, popcorn, barbequed chicken and sausages.

Thank you to the families who provided snacks and for the parents who came in to help. Another thanks goes out to Amanda and Vicki for taking photos.