Tuesday, December 14th marked the second Science Discovery Day at Epiphany as a success. Students and staff shared in learning and fun as they explored the Energy and Control Strand of the science curriculum.

Staff at Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Academy have de-cided their Year Long Plans so that each grade will receive instruction in the same strand, changing strands every two months. This has allowed teachers to share resources and classroom instruction ideas, as well as facilitate the introduction of the Mary Ward Partnership and Science Dis-covery Days.

The second Science Discovery Day built upon the scientific in-quiry skills and knowledge the students learned on the first discovery day in November. Fol-lowing the process of the scien-tific method students found a PURPOSE to their experiment, HYPOTHESIZED an outcome for their inquiry, DESIGNED their

products, gathered MATERIALS and followed

a PROCEDURE to come to a RESULT which

they tested and drew CONCLUSIONS

from.

Mrs. McMurtrie’s grade one/two class investigated Energy sources, through discussions and looking around their class-rooms and school, and created pinwheels to demonstrate how wind energy causes an object to move.

Mrs. Wojnowski’s grade two/three students learned that a force is a PUSH or PULL, and made tops to show how a force can cause an object to change direction.

Mrs. Ricetto’s class hosted a battle of the Bands where stu-dents created instruments to demonstrate how sound is cre-ated. Students also made pin-hole cameras and investigated properties of light.

The grade five/six students looked at electricity and the flow of electrons through a circuit, and demonstrated their knowledge by designing and building flashlights.

Mr. Piccione’s grade seven students learned how heat is transferred through objects and how the arrangement of particles that make up an object effects the rate of heat transfer.

The grade eight student’s looked at light, lenses and mirrors and investigate how convex and concave lenses effect how an images ap-pears. Student’s shared their learning by creating peri-scopes, as used in subma-rines.

All told the staff and students involved had a great time learning and sharing their knowledge.

The day can be “chalked” up to another huge success, and as further proof that collabo-ration between students and staff creates an unparalleled learning opportunity for every-one involved.

“Energized” Students Share Their Learning.

Science Discovery Days

E p i p h a n y o f O u r L o r d C a t h o l i c A c a d e m y Volume 1, Issue 2

December 14th, 2004

Assembly Showcases Student Learning

2

Mary Ward Students Reflect

2

Heat Me Up Song 3

Pictures 4

Combined Grade Math Workshop

5

A Look at Your PLN 6

Epiphany Students Reflect

7

Inside this issue:

Kate Skillicorn and Chris Pereira watch as Mary Ward students teach grade eight students about light.

Page 2

Epiphany of our Lord Catholic Academy stu-dents spent the afternoon of Tuesday Decem-ber 14th teach-ing their fellow students what they had learned from the Mary Ward students.

The assembly of students in the

academy’s gymnasium creates an opportunity for students to share and talk about their own learning while seeing the learning that takes place in other classrooms. This is important to teach students about the continuum of learning

and to make life long learners of all our students. The assembly began with Ms. Paine recognizing and thanking the staff and students fro their sup-port and enthusiasm in the morning program. Following introductions, each grade had the op-portunity to share with the entire school what they learned. Learning was displayed through student readings, demonstrations and song.

Wesley Montalbo began the assembly with an introduction to sources of Energy in our environ-ment. Other highlights included the song “Heat me Up” written and performed by the grade seven class, (The song is sung to the tune of “ Say my Name”, and it’s lyrics have been included on page three); and Grade eight students: Raphael Okezie, Joel Jeyarajah and Nathaniel Miller leading an entertaining presentation on periscopes.

• “Teaching isn't as easy as it looks. As students, we have never experienced the challenges of teaching a large group of younger students. Some students grasp concepts very quickly while others take a longer time. When teaching, we must keep this fact in mind, allot-ting enough time for everyone, yet having extra activi-ties for those who finish early. Our activities also need to develop numerous skills, such as teamwork, com-munication, as well as the concept being learned. This then challenges all students to develop their weaker skills. A form of incentive greatly helps the students become eager to learn. From this amazing learning experience, we were able to see things from a new perspective. We also got to meet a group of interesting and bright young students, whom we would definitely like to meet again in the near future. The group of staff with whom we worked were extremely supportive, making us feel welcome and comfortable in the new environment, and guiding us with their helpful advice. We are very glad to have had this opportunity, and will use the new skills we have developed in our future endeavors.” (Natalie Tong, Lily So, Sharon Yeung)

• "The smiles on their faces, and the laughter that could be heard is sure to describe a job well done. Although teaching the Grade 1/2 students was a bit of a hassle, they were great to work with and this experience was an excellent way to introduce ourselves to the stressful job that our own teachers must face each day. Each of our activities worked out great, and I am glad that I had this wonderful opportunity." (Rochelle Albert)

• “Learning about science is one thing, but teaching it is a completely different experience. My group

dressed up as characters from the popular cartoon show Fairly Odd Parents. It was a miracle that the kids didn’t make fun of us for that. The best part was when we had a contest called “the battle of the bands”, where the kids perform in front of the class with the music instruments that they just made. I was so impressed by their creativity and enthusiasm. This turned out to be a memora-ble learning experience for the kids and me as well. “ (Colette Leung)

Assembly Showcases Students Learning and Enthusiasm

Mary Ward Students Reflect on Their Day as a Teacher

Mary Ward Students lead a discussion on Optics with the grade eight students.

“ More importantly,

every single Mary Ward

student … learned

something more about

themselves”

Raphael Okesie and Nathaniel Miller explain how a periscope works.

Section A

Heat Me Up (to the tune of Say My Name)

(written by members of the Grade 7 class)

Conduction, Convection and also Radiation Are ways that we can heat things That is what we heard and that this is what we learned Chorus Heat me up, Heat me up When I’m feeling cold I don’t mean to be bold Like hot chocolate in cup In the morning we met Joseph and Michael and also Tim The were really nice and kind to us They came from Mary Ward and taught us a lot of stuff Chorus Listen closely to what we have to say This is what we learned the first part of the day Convection is the movement of particles, when heated they rise because they become less dense Chorus Let us tell you ‘bout conduction It is the transfer of heat by collision of particles in a solid that’s practically it Chorus Radiation waves gives us a heat sensation And recently it has been heating our nation The reason for our world’s creation is because Of the sun’s radiation

Page 4

Science Discovery Days December 2004

Page 5

A PLN Teacher’s Perspective Section B

“ The result will be a

resource that has

been directed and

created by teachers,

and addresses real

life classroom con-

cerns and issues.”

and needs of the classroom.

It soon became evident that this planning opportunity was needed and worthwhile. Teach-ers shared real life scenarios and experience, bounced ideas and strategies off of their divi-sional partners and took advan-tage of the time given to them to learn from another teacher’s expertise. The need for profes-sional collaboration and discus-sion surrounding planning, in-structing and assessing for com-bined grades became more ap-parent as the morning pro-gressed.

As a result the math depart-ment, led by Kathy Kubota-Zarivnij, will facilitate future workshops around that very idea. Members of the math de-partment will be writing “unit plans” for an upcoming chapter in Nelson Math. Teachers at-tending the workshops will re-ceive a copy of their plans, and discuss how it was written, and how it meets the various needs of teachers, and students. The plans will then be used in their own classrooms, and in Febru-ary teachers will discuss their experiences with the plans; what worked, and what did not and how to improve the plans.

Wednesday, De-cember 8th marked the first of Epiph-any’s monthly PLN Workshops on teaching Combined Grades. The work-shop was attended by nine teachers from local schools, including Holy Spirit, Epiphany of Our Lord, St. Syl-vester and St. Maxi-milian Kolbe.

Led by Math Coordi-nator Kathy Kubota-Zarivnij, and math resource teacher Aggie Nemes, the workshop provided teachers with the time and outlets to voice concerns about teaching combined grades, and share ideas and expertise for opti-mizing student learning.

The day began by looking through the Combined Grades Manual: Strategies for Suc-cess, put out by the Catholic Curriculum Cooperative. The manual offers a realistic and practical perspective on what combined grades are, and how to best manage within a combined grade classroom. As participants read through the manual and shared their own experiences, they gained in-sight into the classrooms and lives of their peers, and realize that we all share some com-mon experiences, as well as have unique abilities and ex-pertise to offer one another.

Teachers then had an oppor-tunity to plan a combined grade lesson using Nelson Math. Sharing resources and experiences, teachers of the same grade or division looked at Teacher’s resources, stu-dent text books and the cur-riculum to create a lesson that best fits the learning goals

The plans are being created to facilitate discussion and pro-fessional develop-ment for our class-room teachers. By introducing a com-mon combined grade lesson plan, teachers have a starting point to work from and build upon, without having to feel as though they are rein-venting the wheel.

The creation and dis-cussion of unit plans

will continue through out the upcoming year in order to assist classroom teachers in writing their own lesson and unit plans, as well as to pro-vide teachers will a bank of resources and knowledge upon which they can grow as professionals. The next work-shop will be held in the morn-ing on January 27th, 2005.

To become involved please contact Erin Paine at Epiph-any of Our Lord Catholic Acad-emy via email: painee@tcdsb.org, or by phone: 416 393 5378.

Combined Grade Mathematics Workshop Calculated to be a Success.

Teachers share ideas on planning for a combined grade classroom.

Page 6

Combined Grade Math Workshop

Decem

ber 20

04

A term has passed since our community was officially recog-nized as a Professional Learning Network. A lot of work and time has been spent building the net-work and developing Profes-sional development opportuni-ties.

Along with the combined grade workshops already held in Octo-ber and December, relationships are being built between Mary Ward and five elementary schools: St. Aidan, St. Henry, St. Sylvester, Holy Spirit and Epiph-any. These relationships with Mary Ward will support curricu-lum objectives at both the secon-

dary and elementary levels, and facilitate establishing

connections between divisional teachers, and pathways for our students.

A Professional Learning Centre at epiphany is being created to house a supply of math manipu-latives and teacher resources to support our classrooms and stu-dents. The centre will also serve as a local connection to your Math resource teachers, as I am in regular contact with the Math department. Resources and ma-nipulatives are currently being ordered, and requests can be made be emailing me at work, with the ISBN number, product name and manufacturers name.

To facilitate collaboration and professional development an e-class website is being built. E-class is an online tool for chat-ting with fellow teachers, asking questions, anytime of day, and browsing for teacher chosen and approved websites and informa-

tion. Members may request re-sources, discussions and post questions for fellow teachers and resources personnel.

As all of us, the PLC/PLN is a work in progress, and will con-tinue to be as it develops and changes with the population and demands of our profession. Should you have any requests, questions or comments about the PLC or PLN, please contact me anytime, and I will answer your questions as best I can, and use your suggestions to better the learning community we all share.

Happy New Year and God Bless. Erin Paine, PLC/PLN Teacher

A look at Your Professional Learning Network

Next

Workshop:

January 27th

Life Is an Advent Season CONNECTIONS, 11-28-93

"Life is a constant Advent season: we are continually waiting to become, to discover, to complete, to fulfill. Hope, struggle, fear, expectation and fulfillment are all part of our Ad-vent experience.

"The world is not as just, not as loving, not as whole as we know it can and should be. But the coming of Christ and his presence among us—as one of us—give us reason to live in hope: that light will shat-ter the darkness, that we can be liberated from our fears and preju-dices, that we are never alone or abandoned.

"May this Advent season be a time for bringing hope, transformation and

fulfillment into the Advent of our lives."

Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Academy 3150 Pharmacy Ave

EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD CATHOLIC ACADEMY

Phone: 416-393-5378 Email: painee@tcdsb.org

Students and Staff Reflect on a Day of Discovery

• I liked learning about the sun…..Matthew, gr. 1 • I liked learning about fossil fuel…Alexia, gr. 1 • We got to make pinwheels out of paper and pen-cils…..Alvin F., gr. 1 • The Science discovery day went really well. The Mary Ward Students put a great deal of effort and preparation into their presentations. They incorpo-rated drama into their lessons on Light and Sound which really got the students interested. Also, stu-dents were enthusiastic to take part in the many hands-on activities such as making pinhole boxes and musical instruments. Overall it was a positive experi-ence for both myself and the grade 4 and 5 students. - Mrs. Ricetto Gr 4/5 Teacher

• The Mary Ward students conducted a workshop on Electricity in my classroom. Their

many hands-on activities and well thought out visual demonstrations enhanced student understanding of this very abstract science topic. The Grade 5/6 students and Ms. Almeida appreciate the tremendous effort the Mary Ward students expended on our be-half to provide such a fun-filled learning experience. Thank you very much Derek, Jason, Lori and Velanni. - Ms. Jennifer Almeida Gr 5/6 teacher

• I learned you could change direction of pouring water by putting a blown up balloon be-

side the water coming down….Michael P., gr.3

• I learned that you could use Force for gravity and other kinds of forces….Candia N., gr.3 • We learned that forces can change the direction of the object, and that a force is a push

or a pull. We also got to make spinning tops…. Chelsey E., gr. 3 • I learned about the sun. I was the ‘heat’ in my presentation…..Nevine, gr. 1 • I pretended to be a windmill in our presentation….Bernadette, gr. 1

Students share their ideas with Ms. Paine