Critical thinking

http://tc2.ca/fr/accueil.php

The critical thinking consortium has several resources for students from K-12 to develop critical thinking.  I have used those resources especially in social studies.  They provide lesson plans, unit plans, videos and graphic organizers.  Many are available at our library or can be purchased.

Here is an example of a simple lesson complete with purpose, instruction, graphic organizer and assessment to critically analyse an image.

http://www.tc2.ca/pdf/InvestigatingImagesSample.pdf

For example, my grade 3 students were wondering what was an inference.  We can look at a picture of someone wearing winters pants and a big sweater in a classroom.  From looking at this we can infer that it is winter and that it is quite cold outside.  Every picture can be analysed in this way.

 

 

 

Behavior is most important

It would be impossible to work in a classroom or school where no one respects the other one.  Students cannot learn and teachers cannot work.  Such a pattern is set to failure.

The following book: La classe en harmonie provides activities and strategies to create the right climate in the classroom.

http://www.librairieducentre.com/Products.aspx?title=la+classe+en+harmonie

I selected one of the many activities from the book where it discusses the effects of bullying and I turned it into an example of Hopscotch code.  After a discussion of the people involved in bullying:  the bully, the victim and the bystander, students are to place each shape (circle, triangle and square) in relation to each other.  Here is what it looks like in Hopscotch.

intimidation

 

The grey triangle is the author, the pink circle is the victim and the blue square is the by-stander.

 

Une autre découverte!

We never know when students are going to do a discovery.  In a rich surrounding, students learn even when the lesson was not planned at the time.  Right before the end of the day, I noticed that one of the leaves of the Aloe Vera plant was bent.  So we just looked at it right then and put the oily liquid of the leaves on everyone’s fingers to touch.  We discussed it was a medicinal plant.  Some students also made the connection that there are Aloe drinks.  DRRRING.

decouverte1

 

 

Grade 3’s feelings towards coding

In just about 20 minutes, right after DPA listening to the YMCA song, our class wrote this song.  The ideas were both from Madame and the students.

Air : YMCA

Mots : Classe de 3e de Madame Boulanger

 

Moi, j’aime coder!

Hé toi, nous travaillons ensemble

C’est amusant avec Madame Boulanger

C’est amusant parce qu’on nous donne la chance

De coder avec Hopscotch

 

Hé toi, il y a une place pour toi

C’est amusant pour les filles et garçons

Je suis certaine qu’il y aura du travail

Et c’est intéressant!

 

Moi, j’aime coder!

Moi, j’aime coder!

 

Madame nous dit comment faire

On s’amuse tous les jours

Et je sais que c’est vraiment important.

 

Moi. J’aime coder.

Equity: women in technology? #KidsCanCode

It is very rare to see women working in technology, perhaps 5%.  How can we help?

http://techno.lapresse.ca/nouvelles/201111/19/01-4469647-technologie-ou-sont-les-femmes.php

http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_195920/lang–fr/index.htm

What prevents them from joining this profession? Lack of role models?  This article indicates we need to find more role models, and we need to tell their stories.

http://techno.lapresse.ca/nouvelles/201111/19/01-4469650-technologie-peu-de-modeles-a-suivre-pour-les-femmes.php

Perhaps we also need to encourage our young girls to learn coding at an early age when coding is just play, before they set negative images of computer scientists as “nerds” or otherwise.

From LOGO in K-2, Hopscotch in grades 3-4, Scratch in grades 5-6, Scratch with Raspberry Pi in grades 6 – 8 or whenever their time is ripe.

People who would like to help in this area can follow on twitter the hashtag:

#KidsCanCode

 

French Search Engines

http://www.toile.com/

La toile du Québec is a fine francophone search engine that has many sites that have been selected by francophone librarians.  When we search La Toile, those sites are searched first.  If nothing is found, the search process towards the Google search engine.

google

 

Using Google, we can search websites, videos, images, maps, books and many more.  An excellent choice of French resources exists on the Internet.  We can find everything under the sun.

If that is not enough, there is Dogpile meta-search engine in the French language.

http://www.dogpile.com/

Dogpile search websites, images, videos, news.  What is interesting about a meta-search engine is that it uses several search engines to do its search including Google, Yahoo and Yandex to come up with the results.  It might help find a rare pearl of information.

 

New Ontario FSL curriculum’s first order: Speak French

Here’s the link to the new Ontario FSL curriculum that teachers will need to implement next September 2014.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/fsl18-2013curr.pdf

Its vision:

Vision
Students will communicate and interact with growing confidence in French, one of Canada’s official languages, while developing the knowledge, skills, and perspectives they need to participate fully as citizens in Canada and in the world.  In order to achieve the goals of the elementary and secondary FSL curriculum, students need to:

acquire a strong oral foundation in the French language and focus on communicating in French;

Teachers need to model in class what it looks like to speak consistently in French, understand French people from all Canada and the world and use French resources from around the world as well.

 

Peel’s the Future we want

isms

 

The Peel District School Board includes everyone and respects everyone.  The mandate is to give equity to everyone, students and staff.  The following document: The Future We Want  provides several resources to achieve this goal.  The main way to achieve this goal is to model equity in every interaction we have.

http://www.gobeyondwords.org/The_Future_We_Want.html#intro

 

Research into algae plants

I know that algae can be used to create green petroleum but it just dawn on me that I frequently see students eating algae at recess or at lunch and they like that.  I was collecting the plastic containers to put in my aquarium in order to grow seeds as an experiment.

In Quebec, there is CEVAM who has for mission to encourage initiatives linked to the exploitation, aquaculture and transformation of marine macroalgae in Quebec. They share information about development and transformation of algae in both French and English.  The seaweed and algae have a lot of potential for future development.  They even have algae recipes.  I cannot wait to make algae bread.

http://www.cevam.qc.ca/fr/index.aspx