All Middle Years – Groups

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Today we had the exciting opportunity to join naturalist Drew Monkman in Jackson Park. We spent a fun-filled morning observing birds such as the song sparrow, chickadee, and cardinal. We also found a red squirrel midden and learned how to drum on a tree like a pileated woodpecker and yellow-bellied sapsucker.

The One Two Crew – March 29, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

After watching Drew Monkman’s Pathway Project video a few weeks ago, our class decided to take on his challenge for Landmark #12 and find 5 birds, 5 mammals and 5 trees. We set up a bulletin board in our classroom and have been adding to it every time we observe a new species, either outside in the schoolyard or when out on a nature walk. Many students have brought in nature items to match our findings which we have added to our board, including a spruce cone chewed by a squirrel, a pine cone, a cedar branch, willow leaves and branch, and a blue jay feather. While this board is a work in progress, so far we have learned about 7 birds (chickadee, blue jay, Canada Goose, cardinal, robin, crow and mallard), 3 trees (pine, willow and cedar) and 2 mammals (chipmunk, eastern grey squirrel). We can’t wait to keep adding to our board over the coming weeks!

The One Two Crew – March 25, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Over the past few weeks we have been observing signs of spring. To display these findings, we set up a bulletin board in our classroom with pictures and descriptions of each sign that we have found so far. We are looking forward to adding to this board as spring continues to unfold!

The One Two Crew – March 25, 2021

Landmark 13 (Travel a Familiar Route)

We love walking The Great Trail near our school. We were celebrating the change of temperature and activities we can do in the spring!

Immaculate Conception – March 23, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

We listened to bird calls in class (Thanks to Nature Nancy!) before heading out on a walk. On our walk, we stopped multiple times and sat quietly to listen and look for birds around us. Boy did the students love this!

Immaculate Conception – March 25, 2021

Landmark 14 (Celebrate each Season)

After a rainy night, our class went on a water walk. On our walk, we took some time to notice where we saw water and take a closer look at each. We took some time to take a closer look at the trees that were illuminated by droplets of water, or the reflections in puddles. We even noticed the number of worms we saw! This was a great lead us to the Water Cycle as part of our science unit.

Immaculate Conception – March 24, 2020

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

When learning online we needed to get creative! Our class participated in the live streaming of World Zebra Day from the Toronto Zoo!

Immaculate Conception – Jan. 29, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Our class has been very interested in birds, especially those that are migrating back to the area. Today we talked about why Canada Geese fly in a ‘V’ formation and then trying it ourselves across the schoolyard (with lots of honking)! We discovered it is harder than it looks to stay together!

The One Two Crew – March 19, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Our class has been eagerly looking for signs of spring over the past few weeks. After talking with naturalist, Kim Dobson, she suggested our class hold a ‘battle of the season’ game to decide which season was currently winning. As a class, we brainstormed a list of signs of winter and signs of spring. Armed with our lists, clipboards and pencils, we headed out on our weekly nature walk and students checked off each sign that they observed. When we tallied up the checkmarks we decided that spring was winning!

The One Two Crew – March 19, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Picked up garbage in our school yard.

Ms. Shelley Lawson’s Grade 2/3 – march 23, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

The after school program had our first beautiful spring day on March 22nd. We were able to stay outdoors the entire length of our program. The children had many opportunities to run and enjoy the nice weather. They all played happily between playing catch with the new baseballs, a game of soccer, or using the logs to play “the floor is Lava”. The younger children were picking up new skills for some of the older after school kids. We had a group teaching the smaller children how to throw a baseball properly and our one educator was showing some of the children new skills in soccer as well as perfecting their kicks to score a goal. Each child was happily engaged and loved being outside in the fresh spring air.

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – March 22, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Off on an adventure to explore our whole wide world! First stop-this grassy hill we love to visit. I love watching as the friends move up and down in such different ways-always in search of the perfect way to get back up to the top. Keeping our balance while running down this steep incline can be just as challenging as climbing up. Thank goodness for friends to pull us up! “Look!! This creature’s footprint does have claws. That means it might be a fox.” said Brookey. “I think it went this way, should we follow it?” asked Everett. These friends love footprints and notice details like claws and size…thankfully we haven’t seen any prints “without claws” lately. That would mean a cougar with fancy retractable claws was prowling for chickens!

Babbling Brook Daycare – March 22, 2021

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

Our class is taking part in the Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program-Classroom Hatchery Program. This program is delivered to us virtually through the OFAH this year. We are learning about the life cycle of the salmon and watching the whole process through video conferences. We will hopefully have our own aquarium with eggs next year, to have a chance to take care of the fry, watch them grow, and help release them into Lake Ontario. We have learned about many careers that serve the community and the environment through our educator, Ben. We are also studying the 17 Global Goals set out by the UN and within that-one of the goals is Life Below Water. We are learning about the importance of clean water to take care of all living things that depend on clean water. Ben has taught us a lot about fish and Lake Ontario, so it’s great to learn about our own community and then link it with what others are doing to take care of water, globally. What an excellent program!f

Gr. 2M – March 22, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

We have been monitoring the Seasons as we visit Jackson’s Park with our class. Signs of Fall, Winter, and Spring were recorded and discussed.

Ms. Shelley Lawson’s Grade 2/3 – March 23, 2021

Landmark 12 ( Nearby Plants and Animals)

While in our favourite wooded area, we took a close look at the different holes found in the trees and tried to figure out who might live there. For reference, each student had a copy of the ‘hole patrol’ cards from Camp Kawartha (found in the ‘Activity Resource’ section on their website).

The One Two Crew – March 5, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

We celebrated the start of Spring. Our teacher candidate Ms. Lancashire led the lesson. We started with a discussion of changes in nature such as more rain and the return of animals from hibernation and migration. We then learned more about local animals they might see and hear in the spring through seeing the animals and listening to an audio recording of their call and another animal to see if we could hear it correctly (we did a robin, cardinal, and spring peeper frog). After the lesson about spring, the students were introduced to a checklist of signs of spring. We then went on a community walk to see if we could find any signs of spring on the checklist.

Ray’s Explorers – March 19, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

We had the pleasure of having Mr. Neil from Camp Kawartha come to our school and lead some activities and games for our classroom. We learned about animals that live near us and the different adaptations they have made over time in order to survive. Mr. Neil showed us all of the special body parts that beavers have and the uses for them. We also pretended we were squirrels trying to find food and escape predators. We had SO much fun with him!

HH LLS A – March 3, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

During a recent forest hike, our class talked about ‘coniferous’ trees. Each student got a printed picture guide of many common coniferous trees. We then used this guide to help identify a variety of trees around our nature area. The most common one we found was cedar but also a few pine and spruce.

The One Two Crew – March 5, 2021

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place)

Today our class had a visit from Neil, who works at Camp Kawartha. Through the program ‘Tracking and Trailing’ he taught us all about the different animals in our community and showed us the tracks that they make in the snow. We also learned how to move like each animal and even tried our hand at camouflaging like them in the forest!

The One Two Crew – March 10, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Today was our first warm day, which means our first puddle day of the season!! We were so excited to explore puddles again. We excitedly are welcoming spring!

Compass Early Learning and Care-Home Childcare Program – March 9, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

A small group of our afterschool program engaged in making a fort using materials throughout the play yard. The group had started with traditional snow to make their fort and started to make their structure. They quickly spotted the tree stumps and asked if they were allowed to use them to create a bigger structure which I was able to watch them create. Using teamwork with the smaller kiddos they were able to create their Winter Castle and played inside it for the rest of the afternoon.

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – Feb 25, 2021

Landmark 4 (Favourite Place Weekly)

Back again at Jackson Park! This time we just went to get some fresh air and exercise our legs for a bit. A couple of months ago we found a really cool natural slide in Jackson Park that we always go back to. This week, we slid down it but it wasn’t as fun and slippery as normal so we made our own slide. Even the teachers enjoyed going down! 🙂

HH LLS A – Feb 25, 2021

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

Today we went to one of our favourite places, Jackson Park! We all tried something new for the very first time, too…snowshoeing! We had an absolute blast. All of the kids did amazingly well on their snowshoes, even the boy in our class who is legally blind. I haven’t heard the kids laugh and have fun like that in a long time. It was awesome!

HH LLS A – Feb 19, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

We went on a birdwatching hike with a naturalist (Dave Milstrom) with our class. He brought some different seeds to show us. He also brought his bird recording to play to attract the birds. We saw a mourning dove, many crows, a sparrow, and lots of chickadees at our feeders. We tried feeding the birds from our hands, but they were too shy. Before this hike, we had watched the live birdfeeders at “Cornell University” and were able to identify 5 types of birds (blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, siskin) and squirrels as they visited the feeder over 2 weeks (3 times per day). We tracked how many birds we saw in 2 min. each time we watched the feeders.

Ray’s Explorers – Feb 25, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

For many of the primary students at Apsley Public School, snowshoeing is a new activity. Many of the students spend time outside playing at school and at home but snowshoeing was a activity that many had not tried before. In the school yard, the snow was extra deep and really made snowshoeing hard work but it was a great opportunity to see how effective the shoes could be. Spending time playing games and singing songs is a great way to get used to a new skill which is what we did as we explored the huge yard.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – Feb 24, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

This afternoon we found a magical trail of feathers. We carefully picked these up and marvelled at how we could make them move in our breath…they were so whispy and soft. We spent our afternoon wandering and looking for who created such a wonderful scavenger hunt for us.

Babbling Brook Daycare – Feb 18, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

What are snow days for?
When you get this much snow you have to do something fun with it! Using a recycling box we filled it with snow and and began to create snow blocks. We piled the snow blocks on top of each other to create walls. Once we made three walls we places a sheet of wood on the top to make a roof. We then used water and food colouring in squirt bottles to paint it. When we were finished painting we enjoyed sitting inside our now fort drinking hot Coco and eating a snack.

Crazyfornature – Feb 16, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Outside games with Nature Nancy to learn about predators and prey.

Ms. Shelley Lawson’s Grade 2/3 – Feb 16, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Our class did an author study of Jan Brett. Jan Brett is known for colourful, detailed depictions of a wide variety of animals and cultures. Her books are a wonderful way to celebrate the winter season!

Immaculate Conception – February 15, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Each of the Grade 1 through Grade 4 Classes at North Cavan Public School explored and played games on their snowshoes this week! We enjoyed playing games in the sun and snow and taking a little break to stop and listen to the sounds of the day. We heard the wind blowing and several different bird calls from the area near feeders at Mr. Heuval’s class window. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful couple of winter days.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – Feb 9, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Today, Mrs Lawson’s Grade 2/3 class from Highland Heights explored the most glorious winter day with games and activities in the snow. They pretended to be mice trying to stay away from the hawk. As snowshoe hares, they found hiding spots in the forest and they discovered a vocal cardinal sharing his joy for a sunny winter day. This lead to a discussion of why a cardinal may be calling on this sunny morning. Finally, they created snow parks for any snow fleas that might be looking some fun.

Think Outside with Nature Nancy – Feb 4, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Nature structures for fleas.

Ms. Shelley Lawson’s Grade 2/3 – Feb 16, 2021

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc)

We thought that our bird friends might be a little hungry this time of year, so we made some DIY bird feeders! We used toilet paper rolls, string, honey and bird seed. The class wanted to give you the directions on how to make your own: First, you need to cut two holes into your toilet paper roll and put the string through to make a loop so that you can hang it from the tree. Next, spread honey onto the entire outside of the toilet paper roll. Then, roll it around on a plate covered in bird seed. At the end, go hang it up on the tree for the birds!

HH LLS A – Jan 28, 2021

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

Today we went and spent the afternoon in Jackson Park. We love to go and walk and explore in the forest. Last week we went and walked along the river on the path that runs on the right side of it. To switch it up today, we went and walked along the path that is on the left side of it (over the bridge). When we were exploring, we found an ice slide that the kids really enjoyed sliding on.

HH LLS A – Jan 21, 2021

Landmark 13 (Travel a Familiar Route)

In our class, we have a boy who is blind. He has a special teacher who comes in for him once a week to help him learn to use his cane properly, and how to walk in the community safely. We as a class like to support him each week by going on the walk with him! We follow our same route each week. We point out things that may have changed along our route each week, and while we are on the bike path behind the school, we will duck into the little clumps of trees to explore and see what we can find!

HH LLS A – Jan 20, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

The Pathway program was an incredible resource to connect our class with areas of interest in the community at a time when classrooms were isolated. The coordinator connected the Peterborough Zoo with our class virtually so students could enjoy seeing animals and explore the habitats these animals need to survive.

Immaculate Conception – Jan 19, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

Today we immersed ourselves in our wonderful trail. We followed rabbit tracks, breathed in deep the smell of cedar, tossed snow into wet ditches to make slush, listened to the birds…we are so lucky we get to visit this space every day to connect with Mother Earth 🌍

Babbling Brook Daycare – Jan 14, 2021

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

Off we go, on a marvellous adventure! The snow sparkled on our Christmas tree and we pretended to be the bunny who made the prints we found. Hughey accidentally fell into the soft powder as he was jumping which created a wonderful new inquiry. We all laid in the snow-it was so soft and the sky was perfect to look at. “Move your arms and legs!” Brookey said. How delightful! Everyone was so joyful as they made beautiful snow angels. We are investigating all kinds of way we can move in the snow. We checked on the ice rink today but forgot our shovels, which meant we had to use our hands and feet to dig down to the slippery layer. There are just so many things to learn about and do on our trail!

Babbling Brook Daycare – Jan 11, 2021

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

We are really excited to report on our five new winter outdoor activities: ice skating, snow shoeing, fire building, cross country skiing and the most exciting one…Mollie Harness Pulling! It’s really fun to move in the snow in all these different ways. Toddlers and preschoolers can learn new outdoor skills too, and we sure do thrive on a good ski down the trail as we listen to the birds and use new muscles.

Babbling Brook Daycare – Jan 12, 2021

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

Today the children wanted to bring the bird book which sits at our bird watching window out onto the trail with us. They found chickadees, blue jays and looked for a cardinal. We also saw a hawk, swooping into the cedar tree which we think may be his home.

Babbling Brook Daycare – Jan 8, 2021

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

We built bird feeders from popsicle sticks and fed the birds recording what we saw at the feeders.

Ms. Shelley Lawson’s Grade 2/3 – Dec 16, 2020

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Our Wild Ones had the opportunity to use hand saws during program this week. They were given the challenge to cut wood and build a boat to race down our bubbling creek. Learning to use real tools is such an important skill and our group excelled at the challenge!

Compass ELC TimberNook Peterborough – Nov 11, 2020

Landmark 20 (Plan and Conduct a Project)

We are taking care of the needs of our plants and trees for an extended amount of time. We planted this tree in September and needed to plan a way to protect it this winter from the elements. We also take care of the garden we planted around our outdoor classroom.

Immaculate Conception – Nov 20, 2020

Landmark #15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

Last week we ventured back up to our garden! Since it is clear that we adore working and growing in the soil so much, we decided to use some recycling to plant some seeds to try and grow inside! Will these tiny plants sprout in our window? I can’t wait to find out. I was enchanted by our engagement and our sense of community as we worked together to fill tiny green houses. The seeds of our greens were spiky and fit perfectly in the palm of our hands. What a great sensory experience! Today our classroom exploded with squeals of wonder as we spotted a few sprouts of our greens, just beginning to emerge from the soil we brought inside from our garden. We will continue to lend these sprouts light, songs, water and a warm place to grow. We are eager to see how our experiment of growing our own salad inside goes!

BabblingKids – Nov 3/20