Winter in Ontario

this year our winter weather has been very inconsistent. We have snow for a few days and then it melts. Here is a winter book we created that shows some deep snow. We wish the snow had stayed so we could have played in it longer, now we have a slushy yard. What has your winter been like this year? Can you share? We would love to have some comments about our book or hear about your winter 2016 experiences.

Thank you,
Mrs Harrison and Mrs. Poste's  Kindergarten class

Chapter Three We Can See Outdoor Spaces

Welcome to a new project! 

Chapter Three of "We Can See" has begun! 

The slant this year is to harness the outdoors and to take our learning beyond the four walls of our classrooms! We encourage classes to go outside and look closely at their natural environment and take photos of their outdoor areas since they too are a canvas for learning. 

Do you have an outdoor classroom? 

Is there a forest nearby? 

Do you walk to a local pond? 

Can you see a lake from your yard? What can you see?

We invite you to meet with your class and share the ways you use the outdoors as a learning space! The opportunities are truly endless. We have a Google Drive Folder available for sharing and we will post some of our new books on this blog.

Let's make it simple. Create a five page book to share. Google Slides is an easy way to create a book. Create five slide, share and export as a PDF. You might create your book using SMARTNotebook and export as a PDF. You might choose to use an app such as "Book Creator." There are many ways to create short books or pages to share with others.

We have two learning goals for this project:

One
Learning Goal: Create and share a book to show your outdoor space.
Success Criteria:   A short five page book
                            Use simple language for primary learners to read and read
                            Show different parts of your outdoor space
                            Ensure privacy of learners, no faces in photos
                            Use a format for all audiences to view (.PDFs or YouTube videos)

Two
Learning Goal: Share and connect with other classes
Success Criteria:   Read the blog regularly and make comments with your class
                            Connect on Twitter, Google Hangout, Skype or email
                            Ask questions and model how to interact as responsible digital citizens

Resources: PDFs can be imported into "Explain Everything" (app) then exported as a movie. Movies can be uploaded to YouTube and embedded in this blog. Or you can contact us and we can add you to the Google Drive Folder. If you wish to simply view other books, here is a direct link to the drive . 

If you need more information, post a comment and either of us will gladly get back to you as soon as we can. Be sure to also use and follow the hashtag #WCSOutdoors!

Let's get outdoors and connect our classes!

Thank you,


Angie Harrison   &   Jocelyn Schmidt
@Techieang             @MsSchmidt_YR
               #WCSOutdoors

Here are two books to get us started. 

Chapter two

Last year some classes joined together to participate in an extended What Can You See project. The slant was What Van You See? How Can You Help? The blog is posted at http://www.whatcanyouseehowcanyouhelp.blogspot.ca the connections grew and through Twitter and emails classes shared but not a lot was documented on the blog.

Some classes shared their schoolyard photos and talked about ways they helped in the community by doing food drives, participating in Kindness Elves projects and through helping in their own schools.

We Can See in Winnipeg

We are a Kindergarten class from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

 Today we decided to create a "We Can See" book. We walked all around our school yard and talked about all of the things that we might want to share with other students. The students decided what we should take pictures of. Then, once we were inside, the students wrote all of the text to go along with the photos.

We are really proud of how our book turned out.



If you would like to see more about our class, you can check out our blog here.

We would love to see what your class can see!

We Can See...almost summer

Here is an updated pond book. Take a look at the way the milkweeds begin their life cycle. We saw a lot of birds on our pond walk.

 June Pond Video click link to view


What changes do you notice? Mrs. Harrison's and Mrs. Coombes K class

We can see... Florida!

This week we are wrapping up our last week of school. Since joining this blog project in the fall, my students have conversed with students near and far.  I marveled at how quickly students began to think of their audience when writing or making videos. Not only do students understand that their works are being seen by peers and other followers, such as parents and Kindergarten teachers in Ontario and beyond, they also enjoy writing back to their far-away friends about the projects they see on the blog or on twitter. Together we have learned about different types of responses, and as such students offer a comment, a connection, or ask a question of their friends in other participating classes. Social media is such a prominent part of our lives, so it made perfect sense to introduce students to responsible internet use (netiquette) while also sharing our stories.

My students are used to me taking two types of photos or videos: firstly, those that may be used within the class, which may include names, faces, and identifying features of those in the photos; secondly, those which exclude all identifying features so that they may be shared with twitter followers, our classroom site, my blog, or other forms of social media. Students are well-versed in my safety protocols and even remind me when I'm taking video clips to be careful around showing names on artwork. It has lead to some interesting conversations, then, when we see students in other classes creating their own personal "I Can See" books with very personal details included. Taha's book about his trip to Egypt connected with so many students, not the least with several students in both the morning and afternoon classes who are also from Egypt and have had the chance to visit there, too.
I loved how they connected with the familiar images, but also how they noticed these differences.  We talked about the fact that in those particular cases like Taha's post, the teacher wasn't making a decision to break the rules. We read the "fine print" in those posts, and in each of those cases the teachers thanked the families for taking part in the project and allowing for their personal photos to be used. This lead to a conversation about "informed consent". Big ideas for young students, indeed!

We can see Toronto! Photo graciously shared by Tijana's family.

When our friend Tijana took a trip with her family to Florida during the first week of June, I asked her family if they would share any photos they took while away. Once back at school, Tijana showed the trip photos as a slideshow to her classmates, using the long pointer to point out interesting details from her trip. She did a wonderful job retelling her exciting days spent with her family. Then, inspired by the "I can see" books shared on this blog, and with her parents' permission, we set about creating her own "We Can See" book to share with our larger Kindergarten community and families. She and I worked together, a bit each day, to select photos, type messages, and record her story. Here is Tijana's Voicethread book: "We Can See... Florida!" (click to play).

What Can You See? and Egypt!

With the "What Can You See?" project, our students at Lorna Jackson Public School have been able to not only develop a great understanding about the world around them, but in fact, the project has grown to the point where our students can learn about and appreciate different cultures around the world.

As part of this new and exciting chapter of "We Can See" books, one of our JK students (T.B.) recently got back from a trip to Egypt where he was visiting family. He was very excited to share his pictures with us and tell us stories about what he saw there and where he had visited. We had offered to compile his photos and create a digital book to share as part of the project on his family's behalf.

We thank T.B. and his family for collecting these wonderful photographs and for letting us put them together into a digital book to share with all of you!

This video, along with our video from A.C. and her family in China, has generated lots of discussion in our classroom as students have begun to see connections from these "We Can See" books to other books found in our library and at home. T.B. is very proud of where his family comes from and his ability to teach us new things about his culture and country!

Even though the end of the year is approaching rather quickly, we still encourage our families to participate in this wonderful learning opportunity well into the summer months!

What do you see, think, or wonder?

Today one of our inquiry groups created this to share with you:

Butterflies, Blossoms, And Natural Beauty: An Environmental Inquiry by joanne_babalis

Thank you to Z.A., L.N., E.H., J.A., M.Y., and R.J. for your help in selecting the format for this blog post.

Our inquiry group would like to know what do you see, think, or wonder about when looking at these images?

We Can See by division 9 in Richmond, BC

The grade 1 students in division 9 and their teacher Ms Quan, went for a spring walk in our neighbourhood noticing the natural world around them. The students used the school cameras to take pictures of things that interested them. They walked through our school park and to the pond at the community centre down the street. When they returned, the photographs were printed and the students wrote captions for their images.

We put the images and captions together in a short Animoto video. We hope you enjoy seeing what we can see in our part of the world right now!


~Ms Novakowski, on behalf of the division 9 students

We See Nature Walk - Milliken Mills PS

We went for a nature walk this week, on that very brisk Monday morning. BRRR it was chilly.

We had a wonderful walk through our park where we were looking for all things beautiful in our surroundings. We found so many cool things, and would like to share them with you in our movie.

We hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=camSqBx6CoI

Ms. Clark and Ms. Blundell's FDK Class
Room 109
Milliken Mills PS

We Can See... Birds!

My AM and PM kindergarten friends have been very interested in birds, ever since we started noticing the return of migrating robins and blackbirds this spring. One day I suggested it might be time to make our spring version of the "We Can See" books, like we had done in the fall and winter. This idea did not catch on in either class. A few days later, however, a morning friend suggested we could make a "We Can See Birds" book instead. This idea was met with a cheer! Our Voicethread book is growing each week, but the kindergarten friends are ready to share what we have seen so far.

We Can See Birds! by our AM and PM Classes: (click here to view Voicethread)

Note: If you wish to read more of the story about our inquiry, you may see the way it unfolded at "this kindergarten life" blog: (click here for "we can see birds...everywhere!)

By Ms. Fynes's Kindergarten Friends

P.S.: We wonder: do you notice birds when you go for walks around your school grounds? Do you listen to their songs and watch them fly?

We Can See and Hear Spring in Richmond, BC

Hi there-
Here is our first contribution from Blair Elementary in Richmond, BC near the Vancouver International Airport and walking distance from the Olympic Oval. It is cherry blossom season here and we have been enjoying going outside and observing all the changes that spring brings. Today as we were making observations of "our tree" some spring sounds caught our attention.

From the Kindergarten students in divisions 10 and 11
c/o Janice Novakowski

We Can See - Spring at Milliken Mills

Wow! Today was such a beautiful day we had to spend more time outdoors. The kiddos were very excited to take pictures for our next "we can see" movie. At our Focussed Learning time, they all seem to understand that the snow has melted and it is now spring - but to see their renewed excitement at really observing their surroundings was priceless.

The kiddos bounded outside and used their eyes to really look for changes from our last "we can see" Winter movie.

Please take a look and see if you have some of the same things around your school. We would love to hear your comments!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGDTpo7DrXM

Maybe our next movie will include more observations using our 5 senses?

Ms. Clark's Kindergarten Class
Room 109
Milliken Mills PS

kimclarkkindercritters.blogspot.ca

Point of View- We Can See videos

This project as exploded as spring has arrived. I'm delighted to announce that Miss Dunsiger's grade six class has completed their We Can See Videos. In their class they are learning about different points of view. Watch their videos and see if you can figure out which point of view each book/movie is written in.

Click on the link to see the grade six blog.
Point of View We Can See

Please comment on their videos.
Thank you,

Mrs. Harrison

We Can See Project - Milliken Mills PS

We are so excited to be a part of this great "learning about my community" project. We have created our own We Can See Project and would love to hear your comments and/or questions.

Enjoy our winter world.

http://youtu.be/S7O0nYwuZAo

FDK Kindergarten Class
Room 109
Milliken Mills PS

kimclarkkindercritters.blogspot.ca

We Can See Project - Part 2 Bonaccord Elementary, Surrey BC

Today created an update version of our We Can See Project that we created in the fall.  We reviewed our first book and picked out then things we thought would change the most between the fall and the spring.  Since we are learning about living and non living things we knew our playground equipment wouldn't change over the seasons.  With cameras in hand we headed back outside to replicate some of our pictures from the fall.  Here is what we created. What differences do  you notice?

We can see. Our Schoolyard...Spring is Coming?

Our kindergarten class went for a walk this week and we searched for changes in items such as the milkweeds, our pond, the soccer field, our trees and the ground. We looked at the pictures of these items in winter searched out similar items during our walk. Spring is slowly coming to Ontario. Today we had a bad weather day and our buses were cancelled. It's been a long winter, we are awaiting spring. Here are some signs of spring.

What does spring look like in your town?
Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Coombes' K class

We Can See... Winter Book by Ms. Lowe's class in Winnipeg

This post is by Connie Lowe, a teacher in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

We Can See: Winter Edition

Even though it is officially spring, here in Winnipeg, it still looks and feels a lot like winter. Last week when we were busy saying goodbye to winter we realized that we had never written an official We Can See book for winter.

We decided to use the photos that we took in the winter and write the words using interactive writing. That means that the students got to take turns printing the letters and words on the Smart Board.  Then we recorded our voices reading the pages.

Enjoy!

To see Connie Lowe's class blog go to www.room8.adventuresinkindergarten.blogspot.com

"We Can See" a Front Yard Makeover!

It is with great joy that I share tonight's post with all of you!  

One of our students M.Y. and her family just recently were involved in a front yard makeover project by SNAP: Sustainable Neighbourhood Retrofit Action Plan.  

M.Y. so proudly shared the project with our class today, and we eagerly watched the YouTube clip (see below) that her mom emailed us.  M.Y. asked if I could post it onto the blog for everyone to see.  After having approval from her family, I also learned that they created an entire powerpoint (M.Y. and her mom) that they wanted to share. It's absolutely beautiful and documents the experience so elegantly. When reading through it, I found myself tearing up... 

M.Y.'s mom did a wonderful job capturing her voice and honouring the photographs that M.Y. took as an equal participant in the project.  What a powerful message that sends to M.Y.,  that her ideas, images, and contributions really matter.  I hope that this blog post also further commends M.Y. for the important role that she played during this wonderful makeover...

We hope that you enjoy the powerpoint made by M.Y. and her family and consider leaving them a response: 

(If you click on the photos below you can see them in a slightly larger format)

"The following YouTube video showcases two Front Yard Makeovers that were demonstration projects for the Lake Wilcox SNAP.  It tells the stories of the Makeover homeowners and the transformation of their lawns into beautiful, colourful gardens designed for families and busy professionals.  These made over gardens need less water, fertilizer and time to maintain, and will help to keep Lake Wilcox healthy"  (Taken from the "About" description from YouTube, published on December 19th, 2012).

M.Y.'s family also shared the following link from their experience with SNAP:

SNAP Lake Wilcox Front Yard Makeovers

As I responded to M.Y.'s mom, I thought that their family did a wonderful job speaking in front of the camera.  The girls already looked like they were having fun, and I'm sure are anticipating Spring's return for more outdoor exploration.  We hope that they continue to make exciting discoveries in their new eco-friendly yard, and that M.Y. shares with us "what she see's" during our class meetings!

Thank you to M.Y. and her family for sharing this wonderful project with us, and giving us the opportunity to write about it for an even greater audience!  What a dream yard!

I Saw....March Break

Our Kindergarten students are thrilled to be writing more books to post on the blog.

Cayden illustrated his own story and made his book in iMovie.
What did you see on your March Break?
Check out our class blog to see Ryan's photo book of his March Break.
http://mrsharrisonk.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/ryans-i-can-see-book/
Did you visit any family members on your March Break?
From,
Mrs. Harrison's class in Ontario