Observing, Peace, & Remembrance

Our first week of November has seemed to fly right by! We began our day with Phys.Ed., calendar meeting, and snack. We then went into a Science lesson on observing people. We've been focusing on observing plants (pumpkins), so it was time to switch gears. I used the boy on the cover of the book No Excuses by Wayne Dyer to practice how we would observe someone and describe how they look. Then I drew a few examples on the white board and got student feedback on what I could do better.

 

Then, students had to choose someone in the classroom to observe and draw a picture of that person. They were to then tell me two details that they observed about that person (ex: "They have brown hair.")

With Remembrance Day coming up, I wanted to focus on peace. We discussed how the soldiers fought in the war for our freedom and for peace. Then, we read the book Peace Week in Miss Fox's Class, which is a story about a class that is always squabbling. The teacher declares it Peace Week and every day of the week after that, each student stops and thinks before they act and when they remember that it is Peace Week, they make a good choice to create a peaceful situation.

Students then brainstormed about what peace means to them. They recorded their thoughts on paper; printing "Peace is" at the top of the paper, then drawing a picture to show what they feel peace or a peaceful situation is, and finally explaining it to me so that I could write it down.  

 

It was a great lead up into the weekend, with next Tuesday being Remembrance Day. In addition, we ended off our day with the school Remembrance Day Program. Our class recited the poem Little Poppy with the Grade Ones and Twos and also took part in the laying of the wreaths with their Grade 12 partners from Tuesday. It was so sweet watching them walk up the center isle next to a Grade 12 student during such an important event.

 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend and that we are all able to take a moment to reflect upon the meaning of Remembrance Day and, perhaps, also on how each one of us can bring more peace into our own and others' lives.

 

:)