Eating Crickets!

After reading Step Gently Out written by Helen Frost,  photographs by Rick Lieder, we collected insects, listened to crickets and took magnifying glasses outside to look for insects.  One of the main ideas of the book is:  we share the world with insects-- do we know they are there?


One of the most interesting things we discovered is people eat insects too!

 Each package contains

about 7 or 8 flavoured crickets!

You can buy these for less than $4!

I thought it would be easiest if the winner of the lottery, 

just tipped the cup into the mouth 

instead of picking it up with fingers.  

The crickets were fragile and 

you can see one of the legs broke right off!

 Rachel said it was good! 

Amy came prepared with her water bottle

 ready to wash it down!

Anahat said she was proud of herself for doing it!

Jeremy doesn't look nervous 

but his sister in the hat and pink shirt does!

 "It tastes better than my mom's cooking!" Jeremy exclaimed. 

Others said it crunched like potato chips.

Rose threw back the cricket in one swoop!

"It's crispy!" she said.  

Jenny looks like she is trying to decide if it is delicious or not.

The audience was very appreciative and applauded after 

each "snack".  What an exciting day!

Ms Leko took all of these photographs except the cricket boxes which she found at
wayfaringchocolate.wordpress.com

Creative Eagles Club: Jenga

While the chess board and pieces are out of the room, 

these three boys are playing Jenga!

Observation, coordination and steady nerves are necessary!

Come to the learning commons on Wednesdays at lunch to try it. 

We also have the game Connect Four, checkers and pick up sticks!

Do you have a game to donate?

Drop by and chat with  Ms Leko

Workers install new fire alarm system

We do all kinds of reading at Erma Stephenson Elementary.  This man is reading a schematic drawing for the electrical and fire alarm system.  The workers were in the building for a few days.

New Blocks!

This photograph captures some of the cooperation, team building, imagination and language skills needed to create a complex structure.  It looks like play but so much more is involved.  Who is the teacher and who is the student?  Everyone!

Even the grade 7's like building with these blocks.

 The building team said it was ET.  

I think it looks like a Frog, what do you think?

Kindergarteners Write Stories and Share Them

After reading "Ralph tells a Story" by Abby Hanlon, we wrote our own.

 We decided pictures and words would be good to tell our stories!

The stories are on the coffee table 

in the learning commons for everyone to read.

Here's a link to news from Abby Hanlon.

LiD Kid Club Ice Cream Sculpture

It's hard to resist a bowl of ice cream!  I learned I should have asked students NOT to eat their creations until after I took a photo! We had lots of fun imagining how mini M&M's, liquorice, gummy worms and penguins, chocolate chips and cookie crumbs could be used with our vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream.

This is Michael's helicopter.  Do you see the liquorice as spinning blades and rotor?

The Learning in Depth Club is taking a break.  I hope kids will continue to explore their topics over the summer with their families and I look forward to working with every one in the fall.

Ideas in Chalk with Learning in Depth Kids Club

Linda, our generous Learning in Depth helper, brought pink chalk to our Monday lunch meeting a few weeks ago.  The chalk was a gift from her geologist friend who uses pink chalk to mark rocks when conducting research.  Apparently this pink is a good contrasting colour and hot pink rocks do not occur naturally in the environment.

We loved using the pink chalk to show our ideas! Thanks for sharing, Linda!

Can you guess Chantel's topic?  It lives in water!

Daniel's chose to draw his frog eating lunch!

 Ella is concentrating on the next part of her bird.

Did you know big birds lay fewer eggs than small birds?

Gavin is interested in Lego.  

It is a big topic and he is wondering 

just how many Lego people have been created so far.

There are 4 layers in rainforests 

as Shelby's drawing shows:  

emergent, canopy, understory and forest floor.