Tuesday 19 March 2013

Resurrection Rolls

Each month we try a different cooking activity, called Snazzy Snacks, and this month our snack tied into Lent and the story of Easter. 

We began by dipping a marshmallow in melted butter and rolling it in cinnamon and sugar. 


Then we wrapped the marshmallow up in a crescent roll. Students were careful not to leave any little holes!


Then the little roll was dipped in melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. 



We popped the rolls into the oven. 

When they came out, they smelled AMAZING! As students bit in, they discovered that the roll was empty inside! What a surprise! 


These Resurrection Rolls are more than a tasty snack. They represent the empty tomb that was left on Easter morning. Jesus died, was wrapped in garments and placed in a tomb, much like our marshmallow was wrapped up. After three days of waiting, the tomb is empty! Jesus is alive! He is risen!

These rolls are a really delicious and simple way to retell the Easter Story. Why not make them again at home, and have your child share the Easter Story with your family?

Recipe can be found at Empty Tomb Marshmallow Delights.

Monday 18 March 2013

1, 2, Skip a few!

We are crazy for skip counting!

Over the last few weeks, as we have explored numbers to 100, we have practiced skip counting:
  • by 2's to 20
  • by 5's to 100
  • by 10's to 100
Learning to skip count helps us count large groups of items accurately and efficiently.

The skip counting chains we made on our 100th day have been very helpful!

The blue and red chain shows skip counting by 5's.
The yellow and green chain shows skip counting by 10's.

Today students were given bags of manipulatives and were asked to count the items. Part of the challenge of using skip counting is figuring out how to count leftover items. 

We tried the challenge as a class with this pile of items:

We collaborated to group the items into 10's:
10, 20, 30, 40 ... 41, 42!

Then we tried counting the same pile of items using skip counting by 5's:
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, ... 41, 42!

Students got into pairs to count their own pile of manipulatives! Here are some groups hard at work:

This group counted by 5's.
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 ... 36, 37!


This group counted by 10's.
10, 20, 30 ... 31, 32, 33, 34!


These students counted by 5's.
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 ... 41!

The students are on their way to becoming skip counting experts, but please continue practice at home. These skills need to be automatic before being successfully applied in counting situations such as these. Why not practice in the car or in line at the grocery store? 

Happy counting! 


Tuesday 12 March 2013

God is Love: Lenten Cross Project

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit, Amen."

We are learning about the Easter Story, and have focused on a very important symbol in our faith; the cross. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for each one of us. The cross is a powerful symbol that reminds us how much God loves us.

With the help of our Grade 7 buddies, we were able to make beautiful matchstick crosses as a reminder of God's love!

This activity was a perfect way to spend an afternoon! The older buddies patiently guided their little buddies through the craft. There were many opportunities for the Grade One's to count out matches (already lit, cooled and very safe to touch, of course), and the buddies were very helpful in assisting with the glue and double-checking the intricate pattern.


Thank you, buddies, for all of your help! We had so much fun working together with you!



After leaving the crosses over the weekend to dry, we were able to cut them out. Here are a few of the Lenten Matchstick Crosses!



Be sure to stop by our hallway bulletin board to see all of the finished crosses!