Fusion Power!

This morning we had the pleasure of a visit from Mr. Josh Ray in our classroom instead of going down to the maker space! We started investigating the states of matter and how to change them. Today’s topic was “melting” and we remembered that there used to be a TON of snow and ice on our playground and then it melted because hot temperatures are here! Our activity is creating a masterpiece using our many skills. To name a few: fine motor, 1 to 1 correspondence, matching, patterning, and… PERLER BEADS!!!

We’ve still got a lot of work to do on our creations before we fuse (melt) them together (with high temperature!) but here is a sneak peek:

Upcoming events

Shalom JK families!

We had such a lovely time yesterday with all of our special visitors yesterday morning for generations day, we hope they come back and visit soon!

We have a busy schedule over the next two weeks so here are some important dates and reminders:

  • In honour of Shavuot, OJCS is compiling a recipe book. JK is responsible for desserts so please send in/email your family’s most favourite dairy or pareve desserts! Cite your source if it’s from a website or cookbook!
  • Friday, May 19: Dress down day! JK has decided to have a PJ day, so wear your cozy pjs, bring a stuffy (as long as it fits in your backpack), and some friends even want to wear their slippers as indoor shoes!
  • Monday, May 22: NO SCHOOL Victoria Day
  • Thursday, May 25: DAIRY DAY in honour of Shavuot we are having an assembly with a special dairy treat! We are also collecting donations of food items for the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank. Please see flyer below for more details.
  • Friday, May 26: NO SCHOOL Shavuot

Please remember to send your child dressed appropriately for the weather, which includes a light jacket or sweatshirt, rain gear if needed, a sun hat, and please consider applying sunscreen in the morning. You can also send in sunscreen for your child to reapply before we go out later in the day.

This week at OJCS…

Please read about our upcoming events:

On Tuesday, April 25, we ask that each student wears a white shirt in commemoration of Yom Hazikaron.

On Wednesday, April 26, in honour of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s 75th birthday, we will be dressing in kakhol ve’lavan (blue and white)! We have many special activities planned for that day, including tasting falafel, and some other special snacks. Please note that this is just a taste and does not replace snack or lunch.

On Friday, April 28th, we have a dress down day, and are collecting tzedaka for JNF.

Innovation Day 2023

What an awesome morning we had, continuing our explorations of density and our sink or float investigations. We kicked off our week by following the scientific method. We asked a question (Will it sink or will it float?), made predictions (hypotheses), conducted experiments, made observations, and discussed our conclusions (what we learned).

We then started discussing density: What is it? Can we see it? How does density make something sink or float in water? We used bingo stampers to show what density looks like: lots of dots very close together means more dense, and dots that are farther apart are less dense.

We experimented with all kinds of objects that we found around our classroom. This morning we got to test out our hypotheses/predictions with our guests!

Then, we progressed to asking if we can change the density of water so that an object that previously sank would now float. We tested it out with an egg (an egg-cellent egg-speriment, if you will). We discovered that eggs will sink in water. We talked about how we can try to change the density of water by adding something to the space between the “dots” (from our density art). We poured in some salt, and let it dissolve and the egg… SANK! So we added more salt. LOTS. And the egg still sank! Because we are great scientists, we didn’t get discouraged, and we didn’t give up! After our guests left, we added EVEN MORE SALT and finally…. The egg FLOATED!!!!

If you’d like to recreate the egg-speriment at home, we highly recommend using a tall glass.

The inspiration for our experiments came from learning about the story of Passover, when baby Moses floated in a basket along the river. We also noticed that we were using salt water for our egg-speriment, just like we have salt water at our seder! JK didn’t want the experiments to stop, so, tomorrow they will be bringing a package to use at home. Send us your photos or comment below so we can share with the class!

École Enchantée – La Craie

This afternoon, during outdoor learning, we experimented with “la craie” (chalk) on pavement and in snow/water. We had a variety of chalk sizes/colours, mixing containers, wood tools to crush the chalk, and face molds to create colourful snow forms. We explored what happens when chalk gets crushed, mixed with snow and ice, and we asked can it colour the same way on “la neige” (the snow) and “le trottoir” (the sidewalk)? Check out the photos to see what we discovered – including some unearthed/excavated sculptures from winter fun day!

We celebrated la semaine de la Francophonie by writing chalk messages and playing hopscotch — en Francais! The students also enjoyed a traditional French café experience in the Makerspace (facilitated by the Middle School students et Mme. Wanda!)

We will see you tomorrow for our school wide show. Students are asked to come dressed in blue jeans, a white shirt, and sneakers. We will meet at 6:20 pm in our classroom and walk to the gym together. À demain!