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Page A=$ - Tuesday, Hebruany 2, I993 - The Sqasarrptotska rimes
he book is only ten pages
long, but it contains 21 sad
T Tstories a l about e s lost dogs -
dogs that strayed up mountains,
got confused in the bush, or were
carried away by rivers. They were
frightened by stormy winds and
thunder; and they met bears and
skunks and witches and robbers.
Luckily, every story has a happy
ending, because the authors, in
Ms. Leach’s Grade 3 class in
Brackendale Elementary, could
not bear it if the puppies were lost
for long. With happy disregard for
the rules of Plot Manipulation, an
incredible turn of fortune re-unites
each one with its human family, in
no time at all.
Kelsey’s story is typical; and it
is told with an economy and simplicity
that many a more experienced
writer might envy.
“One dark and cold night, a
dog named Kyle went to this bed,
and he froze into an ice cube. The
Templetons were so sad that they
kept the dog. One day, the ice
cube melted, because it was so hot
that all the ice in town melted, and
everyone was sweating to death.
The heat wave caused the dog to
unfieeze and lead a normal dog’s
life.”
The book is attractively produced
and decorated with dog pictures;
and the students are justifiably
proud of their fmt publication
for this year.
Measurements
The same class is learning
about perimeters, or, as Cody said,
after he had got his tongue rather
tangled around that word, the chil-
dren are “measuring the distances
round things.”
First, because there are not
enough yard or metre sticks for
one each, they made their own
“rulers’? out of thick paper, care-
fully using their “pinkies” to mark
off equal distances along the
edges. Then, they measured
around the doors, the computer
screens and books - and a very
business-like job they did. Some-
thing about the new teaching
methods does seem to encourage
children to work co-operatively in
groups and to get caught up quick-
ly into serious activity.
Brackendale’s Bear
Brackendale Elementary
School is going to keep its distinc-
tive emblem of a bear; but Rick
Harry is going to freshen up the
stylized design, add significant
details, and make it more colour-
ful. Instead of a plain, black sil-
houette on a yellow ground, the
bear’s features will be emphasized
1 Sound Schools
BY
Constance
Rulka
in red, and he will stand out’ from
a red backdrop.
Learning by Collecting
Children in Ms. Laviere’s
class at Garibaldi Highlands Ele-
mentary were very excited one
Friday recently because they had
brought their various collections
to school for a display. Before
they could settle down to busi-
ness, though, there was a very
demanding squeak coming from a
box in the comer of the room.
This was made by Jackie, the pet
guinea pig, who was asserting her
rights to both attention and food.
Laren therefore picked her up in
her quilt and fed her a large carrot
while all the activities got under
way.
First, to get everybody into the
spirit of the thing, Ms. LaRiviere
(who is very much involved with
Brownies), showed the class a
blanket poncho and a hat she had
worn at campfires as a Girl Guide.
Both are covered with proficiency
badges, as well as buttons, and
souvenir crests from Guide camps
a11 over the continent.
James also collects buttons and
pins; and he had his collection
attractively displayed on a cloth
background inside a large frame.
He has pins from Disneyland, the
Dinosaur Park in Drumhcller, a
visit to “The Phantom of the
Opera”, and one form a perfor-
mance of the Moscow Circus. The
class discussed why a souvenir
such as the last one is likely to
become very rare in the fitwe.
They decided that it is not kind or
fair to wild animals to keep them
confined in a circus or make them
do tricks, so that kind of show
may soon become a thing of the
past. James has pins from other
countries, too; and he can keep on
adding to his collection wherever
he goes.
Ashley’s collection started
when she was just a baby. She has
charms made of many different
materials, including gold, silver
and jade, each one commemorat-
ing an important event in her life.
Terry has a fascinating collec-
tion of robots of all shapes,
colours and sizes, the favourite
being one that starts out as a car,
then transforms itself dramatically
into a monsler. Here is science fic-
I[fs fun QQ explore the library at Graribaldi Highlands Elementary.
tion looking into a mechanical
future, while Rena’s collection of
unicorns looks into fantasy, a deli-
cate never-never-land of the past.
She has a Pegasus-like hat with
wings and a globe whose “snow-
fall” whirls around a Unicorn. Her
calendar of unicorn paintings and
many books about unicorns were
put on display near the black-
board.
Christopher, Bryn and Scott
have all been busily collecting
hockey cards, which they have
arranged in albums. After some
lively discussion, it was decided
that a card of Gretzky as a rookie
could have increased in value 300
per cent by now.
Megan has a collection of coins
from many different parts of the
world, including Kenya, China,
Britain and various European
countries, as well as a complete
set of U.S. coins. her classmates
were intrigued by the size and
weight of coins from other coun-
tries compared to those used in
Canada. It is surprising how much
history and geography can be
learned while collecting.
Jessica added some geology
with her display of rocks -beau-
tiful rose-quartz crystals, a slice of
agate, sparkling granite and a
piece of jade, among many others
that we could not name.
Angie has a library of “Beauti-
ful British Columbia” magazines;
and Jenna is collecting anything to
do with “Beauty and the Beast”.
Shale did not bring a collection
that day; but he was still display-
ing his tan from a long visit to
Costa Rica with his family. He
had already shared a lot of his
experiences with his classmates
on his return.
Valleycliffe P.A.C.
Diane Rowell, chairperson of
the Valleycliffe P.A.C., expresses
the hope that families throughout
Squamish will make good use of
the unique play area recently
opened in Valleycliffe - unique
because of its special access for
physically challenged parents and
children. It was made possible by
a lengthy fund-raising endeavoh
and a donation from MacDonald’s
Children’s Charities, as well as by
the driving force of Linda
McHale.
In December, the P.A.C. had a
visit from Assistant Superintendent,
Jim Spencer, who gave the
members some fresh insight into
the Year 2000 program as it concerns
the Intermediate grades. In
effect, the Year 2000 has arrived
and is flourishing among the Primary
grades at Valleycliffe. Barents
and staff are confident that
the intermediate section will be
implemented just as smoothly.
The P.A.C. is looking forward
to a “Healthy Schools” workshop
in April - to establish an “action
plan” for Valleycliffe Elementary.
All the P.A.C. members firmly
believe that a successful school is
the result of teamwork among
staff, parents and children.
COLLECTIONS-Students at
Garibaldi Highlands Elemem-
tary show their baseball and
unicorn collections to classmates
(above), while their teacher, Ms.
LaNviere displays her own col-
lection of patches from all over
the world on a Girl Guide camp
blanket. Children learned about
history, geography - and shar-
ing in the process.
Spreading the Good Word
Mrs. Wisnia was acting as pre-
senter last week at a workshop for
teachers in Coquitlam. She was
telling them about the methods
she has devised for assessing read-
ing and writing development in
primary students - a subject that
she discussed with the School
Board in the fall.
18a&$ and HhtQly
It was a day late for Burns’
birthday, but Mrs. Rea’s
“enriched” class (drawn from sev-
eral schools) sampled haggis last
week and learned the historical
background of its wide consump-
tion in Scotland. Poor crofters
could seldom afford a roast, or
even a stew, as their mutton was
sold across the border. They made
do with the leftover bits, boiled
with oatmeal in a sheep’s stom-
ach. Mrs. Grant also told the class
something of Scottish history and
the move to Nova Scotia.
Kristen was the only one who
had tasted haggis before. A few
were afraid to try it - but some
students came back for more!
Sushi and Socials
Something similar happened in
Ms. L’Hirondelle’s Grade 6 class
at VaIfeycliffe. They made sushi,
in connection with their study of
Japan. Once they go past the idea
of seaweed, they enjoyed it, but
they decided that “sticky” rice
really means what it says!