Week of February 23

Hi all

Wet'suwet'en Protests
We will be weighing in on the Wet'suwet'en protests all week. What are the issues? Who are the stakeholders? What is the Coastal GasLink? Where are the blockades? Where is the Wet'suwet'en land? What is the difference between elected band councils and hereditary chiefs?

I acknowledge that I am not an expert on Wet'suwet'en and, as an ally, I come to the table with my own opinions but we will work hard to lay out the issues with an open mind and with a view to understanding.

Five Circle Round Dance at Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday.
Image from Toronto Star, February 23, 2020.

• Scientist in the Classroom and Light Workshop on Monday afternoon. I've invited Phinnemore's Grade 4's to join us. We'll have a big class in tight quarters but I know we can all work together to make this a great workshop!

• Continuing on with Geometry and measuring angles. I LOVE  how our Grade 4's have had a growth mindset as we learn how to use protractors! You guys ROCK! 

• Working on our online research skills (using Canadian Encyclopedia on the TDSB Virtual Library), taking dot jot notes and then writing our paragraphs in our own words and citing our sources - Celebrating Black Canadians is in full swing! 

• Our Canada unit for Social Studies is on hold for this week - we'll ramp up in March. 

Looking forward to a fun and very busy week!

Clairlea School Council

http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com/

• Check out Recipes In A Jar on our School Council's blog. What a great initiative! 

Ms Vincent

Week of February 17

*** Measuring Angles booklet has gone home (with protractors). We are learning how to measure angles so be patient with yourself as you continue learning and getting better with this new skill.  Also, this booklet is for YOUR practice. Take your time completing it. I do NOT mark homework. ***

Hi all

This morning, we had dental screening - all students saw a dentist - reports will be sent home as needed.

Geometry
We've started working on angles, this morning. We have not completed enough to send home practice work. We will get through more learning and practice tomorrow and students will be able to practice what they have learned, at home.

STEM 
This afternoon, we used Dash and Dots and students applied their math learning about angles.
They programmed the robots to move a) in four 90 degree angles, b) a geometric shape that has an angle of 120 degrees, and c) a triangle (angles always adds up to 180 degrees).

Underground Railroad
We worked on shared reading and mapping the Underground Railroad for slave movement from Slave States to Slave Free States and through into Canada. Key vocabulary included: slaves, abolitionists, prejudice and racism.

This week:

• continuing on with Black history;
• Geometry - angles
• Researching Black Canadians who have had an impact in Canadian Society (using Canadian Encyclopedia) - to lead into a writing assignment. 
• Guided Reading all week

If no settlement is reached by Friday, there will be a Provincial Strike Day and subsequently no school for students. Thank you all for your continued support. 

Looking forward to a busy week. 

02.02.20

02.02.20 - Happy Palindrome Day!

This Week

February is African Heritage Month.

In Room 206, for the month of February, we will focus on celebrating achievements and legacies of Canadians of African descent across many areas of life: law, engineering, health, science, writing, sports, activism, education, and journalism. 

As always, if you or your family has anything to share, I most welcome whatever your bring to the table. 

Phase 5 Strike Action

Provincial Strike Day is Thursday. Clairlea teachers will be walking outside Christina Maria Mitas' Constituency Office on Lawrence Avenue East

TDSB Strike Day is Friday. I believe we will be in the Clairlea neighbourhood, stationed at the back parking lot. 

As always, thank you for your support through coffee, donuts, muffins, hot chocolate, bathroom and warm up places, words and emails of support.

Please visit https://etfocb.ca/ to remain informed on ETFO action.

The Week That Was

This week, we built elevators and moving sidewalks to support students with disabilities at Clairlea. As we are all Engineers and Scientists in Room 206, we work hard to understand how our knowledge of small machines, such as pulleys and gears, can be used to make positive change in our world.

We know that Clairlea needs an elevator or a moving sidewalk 😃, so here are a few of our designs. More pictures to come as our Engineers are still busy fine tuning their structures, and drawing and writing up their designs.

Engineers George and Nicholas made a wheel out of yoghurt container lids that lifts the elevator car. The elevator car has a drop-down ramp that allows a wheelchair to roll on. Their LEGO wheelchair (not shown) has a motorized computer screen!
So 21st Century!!

As you can see, the "Transporter" allows students (or people with heavy suitcases and backpacks) to travel effortlessly through the building. Our Engineers, Ewan and Nayab, designed and built a sidewalk that actually moves in a forward and reverse rotation, effortlessly. The LEGO bricks provide stability and you can see handrails for mounting and dismounting.
Hello, TTC! We're doing it in Room 206! 

In this compact and clever design, our Engineers designed an elevator car that actually rotates forward and backward to help people get on and off. 

This design is rather excellent because our Engineers, Nazara and Sanjna, attached the wheel and pulley system to the projector cart, thereby allowing more height to their design. The cable system runs through the top of the cart to allow maximum leverage.

Universal Design - What you can't see in this picture is the "Emergency" and "Floor" buttons that allow students with a limited range of functional ability to travel effortlessly throughout the building. Engineers Selena and Eirini thought of everything! 

Engineers, Gabriella and Hibbat, built a "double car" elevator that transports people and animals because really, what's a school without horses on the second floor?

See you all Monday. 
C. Vincent