Some Pictures

Our new friends in Mrs. Cheeks class in Arkansas asked if we could put some pictures up of our school.  We had a really busy day, but we were able to take a few!

This is the sign on the front of our school.

This is part of our playground

This is a panoramic shot of the corner our school is on.

Welcome Primary Blogging Community Friends!

We always love having visitors to our blog, but this week we would like to extend a very special welcome to our Blogging Community friends. Welcome Mrs. Andrada, Mrs. Cheek and Mrs. Mastin's classes.  We are so glad you dropped in, and hope you enjoy your virtual visit to the Primary Learning Room at Eastwood Public School in Windsor, Ontario Canada!

Our Wagner's Orchard Field Trip

On October 16th, it was a beautiful day, and we got to go apple picking! We had a lot of fun, and ate a lot of apples! Click the link below to see a quick video of highlights from our trip!

Our Wagner's Orchard Field Trip

Our Trip to Wagner Orchards

The kids had a great time on our trip today. Check back for pictures soon, we are just ironing out some technical difficulties...

It's almost Thanksgiving!

We are gearing up this week for Thanksgiving! We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our students and families a very Happy Thanksgiving! Many people associate Thanksgiving with Pilgrams, but that is actually part of the history of Thanksgiving for our Southern neighbours in the USA.  Canadian Thanksgiving actually has a history all of its' own... Here's a little history behind Canadian Thanksgiving!

Canadian Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day

Harvest Season

How It Began

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

Official Holiday

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed." Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week.

The 49th Parallel

Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October. So what are the differences between Canadian and American Thanksgiving, other than the date? Not much! Both Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with parades, family gatherings, pumpkin pie and a whole lot of turkey!

Have Your Say

What will you be doing to celebrate Thanksgiving this year? Do you have any family traditions that you're looking forward to? Let us know all about your Thanksgiving plans!

Read more: Canadian Thanksgiving | History | Tradition | Harvest Festival | Thanksgiving Day | Holiday http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2614-canadian-thanksgiving#ixzz2gzKsBKHt

Community Read

Starting next Monday morning (September 23), and every day after that we would like to invite parents, grandparents and siblings into our classroom for a short 20 learning time with your children.  Each child in our class has their own book box, and we’d like them to share with you the books that they are reading at school.  Siblings are welcome to listen to their big brother or sister read too.  It will run from 8:35-9:00am at which time we will continue on with our day, and the parents and other visitors can continue with theirs.

There is also further incentive from the school.  Mr. Cowper will be giving out cards for you to bring with you when you come to visit, and for every 10 stamps you get for visiting, you will be given a $20 gift card to Indigo.

We look forward to seeing all who are able to attend.

Dot Day

On Monday, September 16th we were lucky enough to participate in International Dot Day.  We began our day by reading the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds.  After we read the book, we were able to create our own dots on special paper that was brought to life in 3D on the iPads!  For art, we looked at works by Georges Seurat, and learned about the technique of Pointalism.  We even got to try some of our own. In math, we even used dots to create patterns.  It was great to see even some of our friends dressed in dots!

We're getting ready for dot day!

Well, our first big day is coming up.  We will be celebrating "Dot Day" on September 16th.

What is dot day you ask? It is a day that we will read, talk about and celebrate the book “The Dot” by Peter Reynolds.  This inspiring book celebrates individuality and encourages children to “make their mark on the world” through the message that every child can make their own small difference.  The day will be filled with fun activities to reinforce this theme. To help the children feel part of the day, they are encouraged to wear articles of clothing that have dots on them if you have any (please don’t buy anything special) Look forward to pictures being posted on the blog!

Welcome Back!

Well here we go! We would like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone back to school.  We had a wonderful first day together and look forward to a great year of fun and learning.  If at any time you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call.  We will be sending home schedules shortly!

We're almost ready!

Mrs. Belanger and Mrs. Chartier have been hard at work getting our room all ready for you! We hope you are all rested up from a great summer vacation and ready to do some wondering and learning.  We can't wait to see you!