One Teacher's Adventures

I've been inspired by the Flipbook Fairy!   In the past week, I've created three flip book projects for primary students and posted them in my TpT store . COMMUNITY HELPERS   My Community Helpers Flipbook is a 14-page book that asks students to give information about what each helper does, what tools they use, and how they help their communities.  Click here or on the pictures to see more.   PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES   The Provinces and Territories of Canada Flipbook includes a page for each province or territory with a map, flag, and space for students to fill in the capital city, population, bird, flower, and tree.  Click here or on the pictures for more information. SYMBOLS OF CANADA The Symbols of Canada Flipbook includes space on each page for the students to write about why the item symbolizes Canada (or anything else you'd like them to write!).  Click here or on the pictures for more informa...

While my first day back to school with the kids is tomorrow, the staff had our official start day last Thursday.  In our district, we have a School Planning Day built into the calendar, usually in the second or third week of classes.  This year, it falls on September 21.  Most schools, however, decide to do the planning day before classes start - which makes a lot more sense! I'm switching schools (again) this year, and my new school decided to hold our planning day off site at a salmon enhancement centre.  Although the majority of the day was spent in grade group meetings, part of the day was dedicated to touring the facility and taking in the beauty of the surroundings.  We took a walk through some of the trails and breathtaking doesn't begin to describe the beauty.  These pictures do not do it justice! This is a salmon ladder.  It has run dry because our summer was so dry.  Hopefully, we will have more rain and the stream will connec...

I live in Victoria, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island in BC.  We have had hot, dry weather for weeks, which has caused many wild fires to blaze around the province.  Here is a map with active fires in BC. With so many fires blazing for so long, the smoke has gathered in the atmosphere and has settled over Vancouver Island.  Residents of the southern island woke up this morning to an orange haze filling the sky.  It was so bad that NASA took this picture from space showing the smoke. Here are some photos that I took today as the smoke got heavier and heavier. This is the sky when I first woke up The sun had a ring around it. There were crows circling around the park, which gave off a scary movie feel to the day. The smoke became so thick that the sun could barely shine. My sister and I took my nephew to the park and it was really creepy with the orange haze. I'm wondering if anyone in Washington State, Alaska, or in other parts of...

As a wrap-up project to a lesson on stereotypes with a Grade 7 class, I decided to have the students create travel brochures for our great country, but they were only allowed to use typical Canadian stereotypes to bring in tourists. Each student had to include information on food, accommodations, sights, and activities to try.  It was hilarious to read what they came up with!  I was very impressed with their final projects!  Some students included typical Canadian advertisements, as well! So, what do you think? Would this work in your classroom? Have you done something similar? Let me know in the comments below. Looking for more great tips and ideas for middle school? Subscribe to my email list and receive an exclusive FREE sub plans resource. It includes plans for math, ELA, science, social studies, and Core French. Click  here  to subscribe.

I'm in the middle of my "Symbols of Canada" unit with my Grade 1's.   It has been a learning experience for me, as I haven't taught Grade 1 since I was a student teacher, but it has been really fun!   I'm enjoying bringing in resources for my kids all about Canada and British Columbia. Last week, I showed them "O Canada" from Ted Harrison, a Canadian painter who recently passed away.     I love Harrison's paintings.  They are full of colour and his style is so distinctive.  As a class, we discussed the images in the book and pointed out Canadian landscapes and symbols.       This week, I brought in "S is for Spirit Bear" by G. Gregory Roberts and Bob Doucet.  While Ted Harrison's book has a lot of images of Northern Canada, "S is for Spirit Bear" focusses on British Columbia.      It is an Alphabet Book of B.C. with beautiful illustrations b...

Happy C A N A D A Day! To my fellow Canadians, I hope you enjoyed your day and celebrated it in a special way!  I spent the morning with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew at Fort Rodd Hill in Victoria, BC. Fort Rodd Hill is gorgeous!  It's an artillery fort built in the late 1890's to defend Victoria and the Esquimalt Naval Base - Canada's Pacific Fleet.  It has gun batteries, magazines, underground bunkers, guardhouses, and beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains!  The park is a National Historic Site and it also features the Fisgard Lighthouse. The view from the top of a gun battery. The flag on the lighthouse was MASSIVE!  I don't think I could even comprehend how big it actually was. There were thousands of people enjoying the gorgeous 29 degree weather (that's 84 F for my American followers), celebrating Canada's 147th birthday. My nephew is very interested in Canada right now, and when my sister explained that Ca...