It's "Carnaval" week! What is "Carnaval"? … a week-long festival in Quebec that celebrates winter, culture, and tradition with all kinds of fun activities. Madame asked us: "Where is Quebec?" And we had all kinds of answers, ranging from England to Australia to France. We were shocked to learn that Quebec is actually a part of our own country of Canada, and that we may even get to travel there on a "field trip" when we're in Grade 7! We had fun finding it on Google Earth and seeing how far away it is from where we live. One of the most important symbols of "Carnaval" is the "Bonhomme Carnaval" (the official snowman of Carnaval) and the "ceinture fléchée" (the sash worn around his waist). These sashes used to be part of the outfit French-Canadian fur traders wore on trading missions, but even before the French arrived in Canada, Indigenous people were using finger-weaving to create belts such as these which could be worn not only as a belt, but also as a scarf, or used as a rope, a tool belt, etc. Madame had us learn to do our own finger-knitting, and with the help of our big buddies, we created our own "ceinture fléchées". It was a tricky craft to learn, but some of us managed to produce some incredible pieces! We had so much fun with it that Madame kept the yarn in the classroom all week for us to try out more creations during our free time. On Wednesday, as part of a team challenge, we created our own "bonhommes carnaval" and got to put the "ceinture fléchées" that we made around their waists. This was actually a very difficult task because it required a delicate touch… something most of us 6 to 8-year-olds do not possess. Too much pressure and the whole thing would fall apart. Madame pumped us up ahead of time with the message that we are a TEAM and we need to help and encourage each other. The most beautiful thing to come out of this exercise was not the snowmen, themselves (as impressive and adorable as some of them actually were!), but mainly that not a single group fought or yelled at each other during the process. Madame actually did hear words of encouragement coming from us. We cheered each other's successes and helped each other when our snowballs fell apart rather than blaming one another. In September, this would not have been our reality. Thursday was ice sculpture time. One of the coolest features of the real "Carnaval" is the incredibly ornate ice sculptures that adorn the landscape. We decided to create our own using sugar cubes rather than ice… another delicate and difficult task that didn't always go according to plan, but we adapted and worked well together! Extra non-ice-resembling accessories may have been added along the way, too. ;-) And to wrap up our "Carnaval"-themed week, we harnessed one of the most fun aspects of the festival and had a snowball fight! Now we know Madame must be certifiably crazy! We also found a pocket of sunshine this week to head to Eagle Park! It was fun to switch up our nature walk location and discover another local park. And it was especially fun to come across this special Valentine's Day tree!! Thank you, Nana Kesler, for giving us hand-made bookmarks after going for a walk with us!! Normally our class pets, Biscuit and Pépite the guinea pigs, stay in a cage on the back counter of our classroom, but on Monday Madame let us have them on the floor for most of the day! This allowed us to interact with them so much more than normal and we loved seeing them run through the tunnel and play. Some of us even managed to pet them.
Comments are closed.
|
Archives
June 2024
Categories |