International Day of Play
According to playday.org: "Play is essential for physical and emotional growth, for mental, intellectual and educational development, and for acquiring social and behavioural skills."
For that reason, we took an entire morning and dedicated it to free play. Students were given tips and tricks on problem-solving and inclusion and then spread their creativity throughout the class and even outside. There were forts, box races, board games and more. Students were given the chance to take charge of their day and PLAY.
Day of Silence
Our entire class participated in the Day of Silence - being silent for one day to spread awareness and empathy for those who are not heard. We wrote down questions, invented hand signals and moved throughout the day using videos and a pre-planned Smart presentation as our voice. The videos tackled subjects such as bullying, oppression, human rights and making a positive difference.
Day of Pink
Students stood-up against bullying and showed off their fashionable pink colours. We had discussions and watched videos all to promote the elimination of bullying in our school and beyond.
Festivale du Voyageur
Hé! Ho! Students had the chance to celebrate Festivale here at VW. We had stations including weaving, bannock, taffy, snowshoeing and voyageur songs.
Day of the Holocaust
Students came to school ready to spend one day learning about the Holocaust. We began the day with a lesson and discussion where students could better understand what the Holocaust was. Afterwards we dove into the story of Anne Frank and then read a letter from a Holocaust survivor. At the end of the day, students were asked to write a letter to a Child of the Holocaust in order to given them a venue to express their feelings, ask questions and describe how fortunate we are and how, through understanding, compassion and acceptance, the Holocaust will never happen again.
Canadian History Museum
As a finale to our Book Club, students worked together to build a museum exhibit based on the Canadian History topic of their Book Club novel. Topics ranged from The Great Depression, to the World Wars, to Louis Riel. On the day of the museum, we invited students from other classes to visit. All in all, there were over 200 students that came through the museum doors to visit the exhibits along with over 15 staff. Students did an incredible job showing their expertise of the historical content and engaging their audiences. Well done!!!
