This month in Social Studies we’ll be learning about the country of Peru! Peru is the third largest country in South America, and the class will get to learn about the Amazon rain forest, Machu Picchu, llamas, the Inca, and lots more about the culture and land in Peru. 3B is gradually becoming a class of full-fledged global citizens! We had a great time learning about Lunar New Year this week! We learned from books and some online research about this special holiday, and the students were especially interested to learn about their Chinese Zodiac sign and learn how to do some Chinese calligraphy. Our class learned about the history of the Lunar New Year celebrations, and we got to partake in the celebrations with our own Hongbao (red envelopes) and special New Year candy. Happy Year of the Tiger! Gong hei fat choy! Millgrove had a special guest, Felice Gladue, this week who taught us all about her Métis heritage and culture! She was a very dynamic guest, and the students absolutely loved the hour we spent with her. We got to try a jig with her, pretend to go paddling as voyageurs, learned about the many uses of a Métis sash, played tug of war, and got to interact with all of the amazing materials she brought with her. Mrs. Gladue was full of energy, and we loved learning about her Métis culture! This week we learned about Asian elephants in India and how they are a part of the Indian landscape and culture, along with some problems with their survival. Today we made art inspired by elephants and how they were traditionally decorated in Indian culture. The students did some lovely work--you can see your child's elephant art piece on Seesaw, and watch the videos below to learn more about elephants (the second video isn't from India, but it's too amusing not to share). Today we celebrated Ukrainian Christmas in 3B! We pretended to wait to eat lunch until we saw the first star outside (as some Ukrainians would do to remember the wise men following the star), and learned how to say Merry Christmas in Ukrainian (Veseloho Rizvda or Веселого Різдва). We decorated our classroom with a Didukh that symbolises the large wheat fields in Ukraine and means 'grandfather spirit' to signify people's ancestors being with them in their memories. The students went caroling like many Ukrainians do (singing “'Koliadky”), and we listened to the famous Ukrainian carol “Schedryk” (it has the same melody as “Carol of the Bells”). We set up our own class nativity scene like Ukrainian families would often do, and made our own spider web decorations like Ukrainian children sometimes make to decorate their houses at Christmas. We read the beautiful book The Christmas Spider’s Miracle to learn about why spiders are so important to some Ukrainian people at Christmas and why there are often spider decorations on their Christmas trees. Finally, we drank some apple juice to pretend we were having uzvar, which is a national Ukrainian beverage, cooked with dried fruits and berries. Веселого Різдва! In Social Studies this month, we began a new unit on the country of India! With 1.3 billion people, India has so much for us to learn about. We’ve been talking a lot about the geography, climate, wildlife and resources of India, and are looking forward to learning more about India’s languages, customs, traditions, and celebrations. You can click on this link to see some of the places we’ve explored in India, and watch the videos to learn more about this amazing country! To remember the important sacrifices of our soldiers this Remembrance Day, our class made magnified red poppies that would have come from Flanders Fields. We made these flowers in the style of Georgia O’Keeffe, who we learned about this Mondayin Art. Georgia O’Keeffe is famous for her magnified, detailed approach to portraying flowers. You can watch the videos below to learn more about Georgia O'Keeffe and her flower art. We celebrated Diwali in our class today, which is one of the most celebrated festivals in India! It is a Hindu holiday that is usually observed for five days, and we learned about some of the traditions and activities that make Diwali special. We made our own paper versions of rangoli and cleaned our classroom because many Indians believe that the Goddess Lakshmi only steps inside if your home is clean. We played games, enjoyed some sweets, and enjoyed lunch with some special lights (because Diwali is the festival of lights). You can watch the videos below to learn more about Diwali! Our next Social Studies unit is about children’s rights and global citizenship. We will study the basic needs and rights of every child and how agencies such as the United Nations and Doctors Without Borders help children around the world.
This week, we talked about the rights to food, water, a healthy life, and a home. Students reflected on the rights that we have as citizens (and children), and the responsibilities that accompany those rights. We thought about children who don't always have those rights guaranteed, and on Friday we wrote letters to refugees through the Red Cross as we reflected on the right to a home. We will be discussing rights, responsibilities, and roles of citizens in communities around the world, and considering whether they are the same as or different from those of Canadian citizens. Students will also learn how individuals and groups contribute to positive change in the world. They will also be thinking about how their actions might affect people elsewhere in the world and how the actions of others might affect them. The respect for and equality of all human beings are central to our lessons. During this unit, I encourage you to ask your child about children’s rights and basic needs. Ask them to share with you the stories we are studying in class, and share with them examples of how you and members of your household have helped others in a time of need. We commemorated Orange Shirt Day today to remember and recognize children who were affected by residential schools in Canada's past. The students showed great compassion and respect, and we had excellent conversations about how we can ensure that children are never treated like that again in our country. We spent the day watching a Peace Pipe Ceremony, listening to Elders, learning about mikiwahp (tipis), making some reflective art, & planting tree seeds to honour Indigenous people impacted by the tragedy of residential schools. You can watch the videos below to learn more about Orange Shirt Day.
Today was Millgrove’s infamous Tacky Tourist Day for grade three classes, and the students did not disappoint! To celebrate the year ahead of learning about countries around the world, students dressed up in their cheesiest traveling gear. Our year of global learning is off to a great (and hilarious) start!
Grade three has one of the most exciting curricula of all the grades because we get to learn about places all around the world! Our Social Studies units in grade three are built around the theme of “Connecting with the World.” We will focus on communities in four countries:
In our first unit, we've been locating the communities on maps and globes and working on reading maps and making maps. We’ll be studying life in the selected cities, towns, and villages in each of the countries. We will learn about:
This unit will help develop an understanding and appreciation for people in other parts of the world. We're looking forward to "traveling the globe" this year in grade three! Over the last couple of months we were privileged to hear from some different speakers about their experiences traveling the world! Our school librarian has traveled to many different countries around the globe, including a few of the ones we learned about this year, and she showed us all sorts of artifacts from those places including their clothing, currencies, animals, and traditions! Mrs. Sebastian, who spent several weeks in India, taught us so many fascinating things about that country, and brought a ton of interesting items for us to explore. We got to see Indian newspapers, money, food, and lots of clothing! We're lucky to have such a cosmopolitan staff at our school!
The students have been thrilled by our recent learning about Ukraine! Miss Careless has taught us about mysterious ancient coins, the story of Chernobyl, the history of Ukraine in the Soviet Union, along with many other interesting aspects of Ukrainian culture and quality of life. Recently each student researched a different Ukrainian dish to add to our class' Ukrainian Recipe Book! Because this year we can't sample Ukrainian food, it was a fun substitute to learn about these cultural foods and how they're made. You can see our recipe book below!
For the next couple of months in Social Studies our class will be focusing on the country of Ukraine! So far the students have noticed that Ukraine has some features in common with Canada, and the class particularly enjoyed learning the game "Tzurki Palki" from Miss Careless this week. Ukrainian sports, industries, and communities have been interesting so far, and in the next week we'll get to learn lots about Ukrainian culture. ми не можемо чекати (we can't wait)!
Now that we've wrapped up our learning about Peru, this week we celebrated Easter Ukrainian style by decorating eggs (or “pysanky”). The students used kitskas and beeswax to create designs on their eggs, and we used real Ukrainian dyes. It was very exciting to see how they turned out after we’d melted all the wax off. з Великоднем! (Happy Easter)! We were hard at work on our research skills this week as students used paper and Internet sources to create travel brochures all about the country of Peru! The class was thoughtful about what details about Peru might entice potential travelers, and showcased Peru's culture nicely. A few of their favourite Peru facts included information about Carnival, llamas and alpacas, Christmas celebrations, the Inca people, and the three different regions in Peru. Research is hard work, but it paid off with this project! We were very lucky this week to take part in Meet Your Rep Day hosted by CIVIX, a non-partisan charity dedicated to building the skills and habits of active and engaged citizenship among young Canadians. We were able to connect with our M.P. for Sturgeon River--Parkland, The Honourable Mr. Lloyd M.P. The students worked hard learning about Canada's House of Commons and coming up with questions linked to our Social Studies learning this year. They did a marvellous job listening attentively, asking interesting questions, and demonstrating respect to our special guests Mr. Lloyd, our Parkland School Division's Board Vice-Chair Mr. Cameron, and our wonderful principal Mrs. Madge. The students have a stronger understanding of what democracy looks like in our country, and Mr. Lloyd was very flexible answering our questions and encouraging the students to become active citizens!
With our learning about Peru recently, we’ve been talking a lot about the importance of llamas to the culture and economy. This week we made art based on the bright contrasting colours of Peruvian textiles and the llamas that live in the Peruvian mountains. We learned about shepherds and Inca traditions with llamas, and the students did lovely job depicting the llamas and textiles |
Mrs. BarkerMrs. Barker is a grade three and literacy teacher at Millgrove School. She loves science and reading, and lives in a little brick house with Mr. Barker and her kids Jack and Ellie. Archive
May 2024
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