| COUGAR CONNECTION
May, 2008
Maple Madness
..... an excerpt from Mikal B.’s report of his class field trip to the
Little Cataraqui conservation Area on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008.....
We went with Heather (the lady who took us around) to the first station: the
Sugar Shack. The man working in there was Don. We learned that maple syrup
was 97% water and only 3% syrup plus it takes 40 quarts of sap to make one
jar of syrup. We learned a little about the evaporator, then went to the
next station which showed how the natives made syrup and how syrup was first
discovered.
It is quite an interesting story: a hunter walking through the forest
spotted a deer. He threw a spear but it missed and struck a Sugar Maple
instead. Then, he saw a thick substance dripping out of the tree. Curious,
he collected this substance and boiled it then served it to his family for
supper. It tasted really sweet and the family loved it so much they started
to collect more and more of this stuff and that’s how syrup was discovered.
After the story, Heather showed us how the natives made syrup. First, they
would throw a spear and pierce the tree, collect it in a birch-bark basket
and pour it into a hollowed-out log. Now, since logs are wood and wood
burns, they would heat up rocks in a fire beside it and drop them in. Next
they would put the syrup in containers and some of it was boiled more and
eaten as candy.
We went to a lot more stations and learned advancements in syrup-making,
like metal boxes, giant iron pots, sleighs, barrels, plastic tubing and last
but not least horses and oxen. We got back on the wagon and rode from the
bush to the bus and back to school.
The extremely bumpy wagon ride was probably the downside - I’m not surprised
I got wagon-sick. Maple Madness was fun and interesting.
Drumming
This year Ms. Bernert’s and Mr Arniel’s classes in our school enjoyed their
unit on bucket drumming. It is just as it sounds – turning over a bucket and
drumming on the top. They learned about rhythm, keeping a beat,
improvisation and working together to perform their numbers. The students
had a lot of fun.
Following this, the CBPS was entertained by a performance from the students
at Odessa Public School, on Thursday, April 17th. Odessa students had to
practice for a very long time to learn all of the great songs they
performed. At the end of the performance, they surprised us with special
lights, and glow-in-the-dark drum sticks.
It was a great show for all CBPS students, and even more interesting for the
5/6s and 7/8s who had studied bucket drumming.
Piano Lessons
from Dan DeSantis
I am pleased to announce that I will be continuing to offer piano lessons
during school hours in September. If you have a child who is interested in
piano lessons please contact me at 613 388 9247 or e- mail me at
desantissongs@ihorizons.net to discuss registration and policies. Please
note that due to limited time new students will be taken registered in a
first-come first-serve basis.
From the folks at Community Living...
Kids belong together!’
Education is a cornerstone of a person’s lifelong citizenship – and being
included in regular classrooms in neighbourhood schools alongside their
friends and neighbours is essential if children who have an intellectual
disability are to have an opportunity to participate in and contribute to
the community for the rest of their lives.
May is Community Living Month in Ontario. Community Living promotes the
right of all children to be welcomed and to learn in a school and a
classroom with their peers. It also highlights the overwhelming evidence
that inclusion at a young age provides people with the opportunity to
develop the skills and social relationships they need in the natural
settings where they will use them. Find out more about inclusive education
and the campaign at www.communityliving.ca
Inclusion of children who have a disability in regular classrooms benefits
everyone, providing all students with invaluable lessons in cooperation and
respect for others.
STANDING PROUD
Calling all:
Students and Families of Aboriginal Descent
Are you of Aboriginal descent: either First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or a
combination? Including Status, Non-Status, or non-affiliated? No proof
required.
You are invited to a Public Session to hear about exciting new initiatives
in our schools. These include: strategies to improve knowledge about
Aboriginal peoples; supports for Aboriginal students; and self-
identification policy.
Please join us at one of these sessions to hear more about these initiatives:
Monday, May 26th, Sharbot Lake High School, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 28th, Queen Elizabeth Vocational and Collegiate Institute,
7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 4th, J. J. O’Neil Separate School, 6:30 p.m.
Please RSVP, or get further information, from Madeliene Tarasick, at 613 544-
6925, Ext. 220, or email at tarasickm@limestone.on.ca so we may plan for
refreshments and seating.
ALL ARE WELCOME!
Book Talk
Ontario Early Literacy Specialists
Have you ever wanted to peer into the future to see how your child will
learn and grow? Crystal balls and magic mirrors, though helpful to fairy
tale characters, are not so reliable to parents of young children.
Research shows, however, that PEERing into the future is possible with a
specific way of sharing books with children. PEER is an acronym for a
strategy that, when used regularly, boosts young children’s spoken language
skills and their ability to understand meaning in print as they grow older.
What does PEER stand for?
Prompt your child with questions, comments and wonderings as you share books
together. Rather than read a story straight through, pause to talk about the
pictures, words, ideas and feelings throughout the book. (e.g. “I wonder why
that elephant is looking sad.”)
Evaluate the responses your child gives so that your child knows you are
listening and feels his or her ideas are important. (e.g. “I think you’re
right. He is feeling lonely.”)
Expand your child’s responses (e.g. “That elephant is feeling extremely
lonely.”)
Repeat the new word you have introduced and encourage your child to say it
aloud. (e.g. “That elephant is… and pause for children to chime in with…
extremely lonely.”)
Studies show that when adults encourage children to talk about the books
they love, children’s ability with language and reading both have a better
future.
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