Otoño-Fall/Autumn

MacSkimming

Despite it was raining, I went to MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre with the Second Graders. This time, we went to a different place: Beckett Creek Bird Sanctuary. One more time I had a wonderful time with the kids, and even though I had already done the same activities with the kinders, it was as if I had never practised them before. It is amazing how different groups of children respond to the same activity!

Sens vs. Leafs

It was the National League debut, and we were there. It was my first ice hockey match and it was awesome. On top of that, the Senators won 5-4. The Canadian Tire Centre was full of Ottawa Senators supporters but you could also see many Toronto Maple Leafs ones.

Soccer

Lady Evelyn competiu contra outras escolas de primaria nun torneo de Soccer, o noso fútbol, vaia. A verdade é que as rapazas e os rapaces non tiveran moito tempo para adestrar, pois non é unha actividade extraescolar. De feito, só levaban adestrando tres semanas durante o recreo. Todos o fixeron moi ben. Ademais os rapaces quedaron de primeiros na competición, o que lles fixo moita ilusión porque levaban sen marcar un gol varios anos xa.

Aparte das medallas, este día foi memorable para as nenas e os nenos que pasaron o día fóra compartindo emocións con compañeiras e compañeiros doutros cursos.

Today's Planning at Dannielle's

Thanksgiving/Acción de Gracias

El día de Acción de Gracias, que se celebra el segundo lunes del mes de octubre, a diferencia de los Estados Unidos que se celebra el cuarto jueves del mes de noviembre, es día festivo en Canadá. Normalmente, este día familiares y amigos se reúnen para compartir una cena.

Tradicionalmente, la fiesta se celebraba para agradecer la buena cosecha y para celebrar junto con el resto de la comunidad después del duro trabajo de recolección.

Los alimentos que se sirven para la cena incluyen pavo asado o roasted turkey, relleno o stuffing -que suele consistir en pan rallado o en dados, pan frito, cebolla, apio, sal, pimienta y otras especias-, puré de patatas o mashed potatoes con gravy -salsa procedente de la gastronomía del Reino Unido, preparada con extractos procedentes de los jugos de la cocción de carnes y verduras-, boniatos o sweet potatoes, salsa de arándanos rojos o cranberry sauce, maíz dulce o sweet corn, y otras verduras de otoño.

No hay un postre único sino que se comen diferentes tipos de tartas o pasteles, como por ejemplo la tarta de queso y calabaza o pumkin cheesecake (en la foto de la derecha), cualquier otro tipo de postre hecho con calabaza y otros productos de otoño (pastel de manzana en la foto de la izquierda).

Cuando viajas, una parte importante de las costumbres de un país es la gastronomía, y eso lo sabemos bien los gallegos y las gallegas. Por eso, no podíamos dejar de degustar la cena típica de Thanksgiving. En mi caso, lo celebré con otros colegas del Programa en las Cataratas del Niágara. 

La verdad es que estaba todo riquísimo!

Toronto's Taxis!

Canadian Breakfast

First thing in the morning: breakfast. Traditional breakfasts in Canada include cooked eggs, fried sausages or bacon, deep-fried potatoes, and toasted bread. They can also eat pancakes and syrup, cereals or hot oatmeal.

MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre

Since founded in 1967, the primary focus of MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre has been to provide an opportunity for students to explore, experience, appreciate, and learn about natural science and outdoor activities in an outdoor setting.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) operates two outdoor centres:

• Bill Manson Centre in Ottawa's west end.
• MacSkimming Centre in the east end.

Both Centres provide high quality, hands-outdoor education programs that are designed and delivered to complement classroom learning in several sections of the Ontario Curriculum.

I had the opportunity to go to MacSkimming with the Kinder. It was fun. 

In the morning, we explored the fauna and the flora in the forest; we looked for animals and other living things such as mushrooms, plants and trees.

After lunch, we talked about the birds that live at MacSimming. The kids were birds for a while. They built their nests, looked for corn to feed their families and flew to arrive to their homes.

Hi-Ho Mistahey!

Este documental se inspira en la historia de Shannen Koostachin, una adolescente Cree, que se transforma en una activista a favor de los desechos de los niños a recibir una educación justa.

Shannen nació y se crió en Attawapiskat, una comunidad aborigen de las Primeras Naciones de Canadá, situada en el Distrito de Kerona, al norte de Ontario. Ella experimentó en carne propia el tener que asistir al colegio en edificios tóxicos con recursos educativos bastante limitados. Pronto se dio cuenta de que el gobierno de su país no financiaba las escuelas aborígenes de las Primeras Naciones canadienses con los fondos apropiados. Fue entonces cuando su sueño/movimiento empezó. El sueño se Shannen es simple: que todos los niños y niñas en Canadá merecen un acceso justo a la educación en escuelas seguras y bien equipadas.

El sueño de Shannen (Shannen’s Dream) es uno de los mayores movimientos juveniles de los últimos años que se inició a través de las redes sociales y que consiguió llegar a las Naciones Unidas para recordar y defender ante las autoridades el derecho de todo niño a recibir una educación digna dentro de su propio territorio.

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Dogs

It has always been said that the dog is man’s best friend. It might be true. Some dogs look like their owners. In fact, you may know who the owner of a dog is just when you see it. It seems that they also behave alike. However, it is not only about dogs that I want to talk about but how they are involved in Education.

This morning when I arrived to school I saw some dogs at the main door. Since there is a park round the corner I thought that it had something to do with friends taking the dog out and just passing by our school. Then, I went in and I went straight to Miss Kim’s classroom. To my surprise, after listening to O Canada, someone knocked at the door and when the door was opened Clare was there standing with Nelly, a white and brown collie.  She asked Miss Kim if she could take one of the children to the reading room. As that was something unknown for me, I wanted to share the experience with them and I went to the reading room, too. So there we were, reading to Nelly. The children took their favourite tale and they read it to her aloud. It was amazing how these kids that have troubles with reading were able to relax and read (at their pace) a tale to Nelly.

This is the Ottawa Therapy Dogs whose therapy dog teams provide health care and education facilities across the National Capital Region. In Education, they have a Reading Education Assistance Dogs program in local schools and libraries helping students make enormous strides in reading and communication skills while building self-esteem and confidence.

O Canada

O Canada is the National Anthem of Canada.

Every morning, the National Anthem is played in each Canadian school as soon as the pupils are in their classrooms. Everybody has to stand up, stop doing whatever they are doing and listen to it. Singing it is optional.