Fiddler on the Roof Session 3

Session 3 for Fiddler on the Roof was all about theme and critical thinking. Followed up with opinions and group work based on their opinion of the play.

I started out by having our students yell out the themes that they felt were in the play. We made a list of themes and some of our students needed some coaching to get to the deeper themes.

Next I had our students answer several questions in groups.

1. Is it possible to preserve tradition? How?

2. Is change inevitable? Why?

3. Do events change people, or do people change events?

They then returned to the large group and we discussed these questions. Here is the worksheet we used.

Finally, I had the students answer these questions in groups.

What were your favourite characters in the play?

What was your favourite scene?

What were the impactful parts of the movie?

Based on the above, they were to make a commercial (trailer) to sell us on going to Fiddler on the Roof. Here is the worksheet we used. This was so fun to see the creativity coming out in the students. They only had a few minutes to prepare for this - so it was a real exercise in Improv!!

After this the students got all dressed in their costumes and performed Fiddler on the Roof for us!! What a treat!! 

Blessings, Natalie

Fiddler on the Roof Session #2

Our second session of Fiddler on the Roof was all about Character. 

First of all I had our students focus on which characters were Round, Flat, Dynamic, Static etc. They yelled out which characters they came up with in each of the categories. 

Next we were onto these note booking sheets and working in pairs to fill out the Character Analysis and/or Character Transformation. They chose the characters that they wanted to analyze and then filled out the pages. We then discussed some of the characters, with the emphasis on the traits and evidence of those traits.

In the final exercise I had them take these paper dolls and draw a representation of one of the characters. They had to add both a speech bubble and a thought bubble to their character and then share them with the group. 

The students then went to practice the play for a second time! It was great to hear them having so much fun!!

Robert Bateman Centre

We once again took advantage of our Pass it Around Victoria passes and went to the Robert Bateman Centre. What a great experience! Not only to see the incredible paintings and marvel at the talent that it took to paint them, but to see the heart of this man Robert Bateman and the love between him and his wife in the many love letters on display.

The Gallery has lots of light and the paintings are hung with maximum impact. I came around one corner and saw two paintings and thought, wow, Robert Bateman was a photographer too! Then realized as I got closer that no, they were paintings that were so well done that from a distance they looked like photos.

I loved the variety of sizes of the paintings. The gallery added small boxes under many of the paintings where you could hear the song of the bird that was painted. That made the paintings come alive even more.

I loved the section of Bateman's early work, and the different painting styles the experimented with. Having a daughter that experiments with a by different mediums and styles, this section really was encouraging! 

There was also a great explanation of a variety of prints, numbered prints and originals. 

We were there about an hour and it was well worth the time spent! I think we all walked out in awe of this amazing artist!

Co-op - Canadian History - The CPR

We are so blessed each month to be able to start with an amazing pastor teaching our students Hermeneutics. Each month there is detailed lessons on some aspect of learning about the bible. This month was no different with the lesson being focussed on “Using the Bible to Interpret the Bible”. This first hour seems to fly by and then we are on to Social Studies.

Our Social Studies study this month was focused on the CPR and Chinese Canadians. Our teacher used this resource for leading our session and it was a great one!

She had them do the first lesson in this outline with all of the chairs lined against the wall and each student representing some group in Canada. This was excellent. It was both visual and thought provoking!

She had the mom’s in the group read the short bio’s on those who were influences in Confederation and Annexation… the group then voted on what point of view each person was coming from.

The students also looked at political cartoons and their messages as well as the maps in this package.

Finally, a large portion of the Co-op time was spent discussing the lessons, Chinese Labor Conditions and Chinese Labor Policies. The had group discussions based on the above lessons. Our mom’s read the poetry that is in these lessons to further point out the points of view about Chinese Canadians.

Finally, they watched these two videos:

Not Welcome Anymore

Stephen Harper's Apology to the Chinese Canadians

This was a very full 2.5 hours! 

In the afternoon our students ran through the first reading of the second drama they will be performing for us. 

Finally, it was off to the gym for Volleyball! What amazing days these Co-ops are!

Blessings, Natalie

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria - Field Trips in British Columbia

On the same day as going to Craigdarroch Castle, we visited the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria with our Pass it Around Victoria passes. 

The main reason for going to the art gallery was to see the Emily Carr exhibit. We didn't know that several of her paintings had been removed and are now in London. Emily Carr seems to be taking London by storm right now in the world of art!

What was interesting was, they replaced the missing paintings with ones of her students and her contemporaries including Lawren Harris and several others.

We didn't have a docent for the whole gallery, but she did introduce us to Emily Carr and her life which was very interesting. She asked questions of the students and she gave information about how the paintings in the gallery reflected Emily Carr's life.

The rest of the gallery housed a wide range of Chinese and Japanese art.

Craigdarroch Castle - Field Trips in British Columbia

We are so blessed on Vancouver Island to have so many field trip opportunities for our students. Our Co-op purchased the Pass it Around Victoria passes for our students to take in a wide range of field trips this year.

Our first stop was Craigdarroch Castle. For $15.00 they were able to provide us with an excellent docent that really made the castle come alive, including all of the history and context of the time frame. We learned a great deal about the Dunsmuirs themselves, but also about Victoria in the late 1800's and even about what was happening in the world at the time the Dunsmuirs lived there. 

This gave perspective to our students and our parents, of the Victorian time frame, and that Victoria, BC was part of that era. The fact that they had servants and servant's quarters, put things in perspective. The fashion, the amenities and the overall building of the castle all brought this time frame into a more tangible era for us all.

There was much irony in the whole building of Craigdarroch and our docent really helped us to understand that irony. His explanations about the Dunsmuir family were very interesting!

If you are wanting to visit Craigdarroch I advise having a docent and enjoying a tour, I truly makes the castle come alive! Blessings, Natalie

Confederation Co-op

 

What a great day we had in our Co-op session on Confederation. 

First we had our study of Hermeneutics. It is great to see all of the students bibles open and them studying. This session was all about - what is the bible and can it be trusted? I am so thankful that we have such a great pastor leading our children like this every co-op - what a great blessing!

Next it was on to Confederation. The first thing that I had the students do is draw a very "out of scale" map of Canada - they then worked together and added when their province joined Confederation and why from this site. 

I only had long thin paper to use so our Canadian map - good thing a scaled map was not the purpose of the exercise ;)
They then presented for their group each province and why they joined Confederation. There were definitely some reoccurring themes the students recognized.

 
After this the students broke out into groups of 3 or 4 and I gave them one of the reasons for or against Confederation  on this page, on this one, this one and this one. They then did a newscast skit based on their points. 
At the end of the class we then watched a video about before, during and after Confederation to reiterate the main points and review what we had learned. It was from Discovery Education.

 
The kids (and adults) enjoyed lunch and then it was off to art! The students finished up their Picasso based collages. It is so great to see them enjoying art!

They work together, chat together and enjoy each others company during this quieter time.

 
Wrapping up the day was PE with soccer at the indoor arena. It is so great that we have access to such a wonderful facility. 

A long wonderful day filled with learning and fun!! 
Blessings, Natalie

Movies as Literature - Gods and Generals

This morning was our next Movies as Literature session and we were discussing Gods and Generals which is about the US Civil War. This was a 6 hour mini-series which some of the students watched. We watched the movie version that was a little over 2 hours. Anyway that you watched it, it was very heavy! 
I wouldn't say that it was our student's favourite, but there was lots to discuss!
There were quotes and poetry within the movie so it was great for the students to look at these elements of literature. There were many verses as well as biblical application. Many situations in the movie, I felt, led to moral dilemmas, exploring irony and lots of critical thinking. These students really were able to really think about the implications of their opinions and how it applied to today.
I continue to be challenged by this group of students! 
Here are the questions for Gods and Generals for you to use with your Movies as Literature class.

Fetal Pig Dissection

For the past two days Elizabeth has had the benefit of taking part in a fetal pig dissection. Though this, for me as I remember, happened in Grade 12 Biology class it was a "carpe diem" kind of choice to go and be part of the class. 

The instructor, a retired 30 year Biology teacher, guided the students through the process of dissection and examining the parts of the fetal pig. They had alot of freedom to explore over the two days, but it was rushed to learn about all of the parts of the pig and each section of the dissection process. 

Some of the students were adding on a third day, which would have been great, but we had to head home. 

It was great to see Elizabeth and her lab partners work together on this project. It became Dr. Jonah and Nurse Elizabeth forging ahead with their patient "Leonard". 
I think they all learned alot about anatomy from this, as well as many of the processes and skills that this type of lab work provides. It was a great opportunity and well worth the drive!!