As an educator I have always noticed that when as I teach a topic, I become very aware of that topic outside the classroom, as well as inside. This year through our school focus on mathematics, many of us have undergone a change in our beliefs about what math is and just how critical it is in the world. Some of these connections are obvious, like street signs, distance and time. Others are equally important but less obvious; like the relationship between pinecones, your fingers, your face, and the pyramids of Egypt. (The Golden Ratio) This week one of our grade four students created an amazing maker project using Lego that he said was inspired by a Youtube video that he found on Quirkology. Skeptical? Click on the images to visit Ms. Ramsay's tweet with a video. When I saw it I was amazed and inspired to think deeply about what his work demonstrated. To me, this is a great demonstration of something we hear a lot about - STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics); the term used to explain the way these topics overlap in our world. It demonstrates the elements of design, perspective, visual spatial awareness, relationships between objects, art, and possibly most important - creative thinking. In order to create his "perspective art", this student had to experiment and persist through frustration to be successful. Recently Mrs. Ramsay and I had conversations with students about math. One of most exciting things I learned was how excited our kids are about math, and how creatively they see math, as proven when they talk about number talks and math challenges in their classrooms. Math isn't about equations and memorization. It's about recognizing how important it is to our everyday life and the many ways that Math makes our world work. Where do YOU see Math? The video below shares one artist's creative mathematical perspective. School UpdatesThank you Volunteers! Last week and this week students in our school have been swimming. The YMCA Swim to Survive program was provided at no charge other than the cost of bussing, which was a great opportunity for our students, but it couldn't have happened without the generous donation of time by our many volunteers. We rely on our volunteers to be able to continue to offer your children many educational experiences. Often it is the same folks who volunteer for every event, and we greatly appreciate the gift of their time, but we need more help! Some of our volunteers come even when their own children are not participating! We have been given the opportunity to take Kindergarten to grade 6 students to Children's festival on Friday, May 26. This event will need ALL possible volunteers and it will be a fun morning downtown for everyone. Sadly, there have been missed opportunities because we didn't have enough volunteers, and we would hate to lose out on this chance for our students. If you haven't completed your volunteer clearance, please complete this form and bring it in to the school, or just come in and we will get you started! It's easy - you can even do it online once you have your letter from the school. It's FINALLY Camp Time for Grade 5/6! On Tuesday, our grade 5/6 students and their teachers will head off to Camp Chief Hector for their amazing adventure. We would like to thank our generous donors who have made it possible for all of our students to be able to attend camp ~ Strong Kids Foundation, Education Matters, the Williams Family, and Pizza 73. We would also like to thank everyone who has donated cans and bottles to help keep costs low! Students - stay safe, have fun, learn lots and represent Douglas Harkness well! Special thanks to our grade 5/6 teachers for donating their personal time for four days and three nights to make this possible! Upcoming Dance Residencies We have just booked a four day dance residency for our Kindergarten to Grade 6 students with Sound Kreations on June 12, 13, 14 and 15. It is called Around the World 1 (African/Hip-Hop/Caribbean) and all students will have several opportunities to work with the instructors. In addition to the lessons, there will be a performance on Friday morning, June 16, and professional development for teachers in the afternoon on that Friday! Our EDC students will have movement and dance instruction from Dubasov Dance and Wellness Inc. for three days at a different time in June. Kindergarten UpdatesWhat an exciting two weeks for Kindergarten! Students had the pleasure of visiting Fort Calgary to learn about a community helper from the past… The North West Mounted Police (NWMP). Students were interested to learn that the NWMP were the first police officers in our city and the interesting fact that they rode horses! Students handled different artifacts from the past, including a saddle, horseshoes and handcuffs. Jaisha was interested to learn, “horses wear shoes? I didn’t know that!” Fort Calgary is located in close proximity to the downtown core. It was very exciting to see the Calgary Tower and the Bow building so close! Mouhammad commented, “The buildings are giant! More giant than a GIANT!” After our educational visit to Fort Calgary, we made our way over to St .Patrick’s Island where we were challenged to find numerous objects in nature. Students worked together in small groups to find heart-shaped rocks, pinecones and sticks of various sizes. A big THANK YOU to our fabulous volunteers who came along and supported these early learners on their first field trip! We would also like to thank Equal Access Calgary for funding this trip for our students. Morning Kindergarten students participated in RBC’s Active For Life Program this week. Students had the opportunity to engage in physical literacy including swimming and cooperative games in the gymnasium. The confidence and perseverance that students demonstrated in the water was incredible. Alexa was proud of her ability to “float like a star fish” and Zeina was excited to learn that a life jacket “keeps me safe!” Mrs. Emilsson is looking forward to playing more games in the gymnasium that the lovely staff at the Genesis Centre introduced to students. Thank you RBC Active For Life! We are very grateful for this wonderful opportunity! Afternoon Kindergarten will participate in RBC’s Active for Life program next week (May 1st – May 4th). All afternoon students will need to arrive at school at 12:20pm. Please note that this is 15 minutes earlier than the regular drop off time. Please wear a bathing suit under your clothes and bring a towel. Regular pick up time at the school will remain at 3:25pm. We are very excited for the afternoon class to enjoy the incredible experience that was enjoyed by the morning class this week. Math Challenge from Mrs. DhillonMrs. Dhillon and Mrs. Rose are counting the rectangles that make up the windows on the first floor of an office building. The figure below is made of different rectangles and rectangles of different sizes. How many rectangles can you find in the figure above? Show and explain how you found all of them. Extensions:
Assessment: K - Traffic light & doodling the amount of rectangles they can find. 1/2 - 5/6 - Traffic light & Reflection Time Weekly UpdatesPE FOCUS - Swim to Survive program - be sure to have your child wear their bathing suit and bring a towel and underwear to change into.
Remember to check us out on Twitter for updates and important information. -@DHarknessCBE or search for our hashtag, #DHSCBE.
Don't forget to check our school website - schools.cbe.ab.ca/b347 We welcome your feedback on this blog. Please let us know how we are doing and what you'd like to see here.
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Remember to check out our school website - http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b347
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