Posing right questions to understand how was your child's day at school

Questions a kid will answer at the end of a long school day:

1.     What did you eat for lunch?

2.     Did you catch anyone picking their nose?

3.     What games did you play at recess?

4.     What was the funniest thing that happened today?

5.     Did anyone do anything super nice for you?

6.     What was the nicest thing you did for someone else?

7.     Who made you smile today?

8.     Which one of your teachers would survive a zombie apocalypse? Why?

9.     What new fact did you learn today?

10. Who brought the best food in their lunch today? What was it?

11. What challenged you today?

12. If school were a ride at the fair, which ride would it be? Why?

13. What would you rate your day on a scale of 1 to 10? Why?

14. If one of your classmates could be the teacher for the day who would you want it to be? Why?

15. If you had the chance to be the teacher tomorrow, what would you teach the class?

16. Did anyone push your buttons today?

17. Who do you want to make friends with but haven’t yet? Why not?

18. What is your teacher’s most important rule?

19. What is the most popular thing to do at recess?

20. Does your teacher remind you of anyone else you know? How?

21. Tell me something you learned about a friend today.

22. If aliens came to school and beamed up 3 kids, who do you wish they would take? Why?

23. What is one thing you did today that was helpful?

24. When did you feel most proud of yourself today?

25. What rule was the hardest to follow today?

26. What is one thing you hope to learn before the school year is over?

27. Which person in your class is your exact opposite?

28. Which area of your school is the most fun?

29. Which playground skill do you plan to master this year?

30. Does anyone in your class have a hard time following the rules?

http://parent.co/30-questions-to-ask-your-kid-instead-of-how-was-your-day/

Science Day coordinated by Maskwacis Library for the Schools on March 11th

Feedback from Host

March 12

 

Hello Manisha,

 

It was a huge success and went over very well with the teachers, the U of A people and the students. We appreciate the way Montana conducted themselves and they were very respectful and assisted and participated. ​Thank you for the opportunity.

 

 

Kevin L. Buffalo

Principal- Kisipatnahk School

P.O. Box 1290

Maskwacis, Alberta T0C 1N0

 

 

Feedback from Volunteer coordinator

Hi Manisha,

Generally my volunteers and I had a positive experience delivering hands-on chemistry to the students of both schools. As I indicated to you, in future I would try to bring more volunteers to such a large event. Thanks again for this wonderful invitation!

Best regards,

William

Feedback from Collaborator

Science day went really well. Our students really enjoyed the day. Over 200 students particiapted. THANKS, Alison
Montana School

Maskwacis Library spreads interest in Science

January 28, 2015

 

Hi! This is Alison Peoples. Both myself (grade 4/5 Mrs. Peoples) and (grade 5/6 Ms. Kimeda) would like to come and do something related to grade 5 chemistry as one group. There would be about 30 students and 4 staff. If possible so that it would take up the day and if you can accommodate us it would be great to do two experiments and participate in the other activities that were around last year like visiting the library and the COW bus.

 

Let me know,

Thanks

Alison

Connection: March 11th science stations will be set up at the school for Grade 4-6.

This Christmas, give a book as a gift. Pick your FREE book from Maskwacis Library on November 25, 2014

This Christmas

Give a book as a gift

Pick your FREE book

From Maskwacis Library

On November 25, 2014

Free Book pick up time: 12-1 pm

Call 780 585 3925

Ask for Manisha for the Christmas gift book giveaway

See you on Tuesday, November 25

Young Children’s Numeracy Development on November 21 at the Maskwacis Cultural College

Young Children’s Numeracy Development on November 21 at the Maskwacis Cultural College

Young Children's Numeracy Development

Friday, November 21, 2014 from 10 to 11:30 am at the Maskwacis Cultural College.

 

Numeracy Development

There is one single predictor of children's school achievement at high school level: Early numeracy knowledge! Many factors influence children's numeracy knowledge and skills in early childhood such as culture, language, frequency of teaching, and home numeracy experiences.  Parents and caregivers can make a significant contribution to children's future school achievement through informal and formal numeracy experiences early on.   This speaker will focus on explaining why numeracy knowledge before Grade 1 is very important, which numeracy skills children should master in early childhood and how to teach those concepts. 

Facilitator: Dr. Ozlem Cankaya is an early childhood development expert specialized in literacy and numeracy development.  Her past research focused on the effects of language, culture, and home experiences on the acquisition of early numeracy and literacy skills.

After finishing her M.A. in Cognition and Instruction program at McGill University she spent a year teaching kindergarten children in Thailand.  Ozlem received her PhD in Cognitive Science at Carleton University (Ottawa, ON).  She also worked as a research consultant at the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP) provided the diagnostic information required in monitoring and improving literacy skills in different counties.

Currently, Ozlem is a Research Scientist at the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research in the Child Youth Data Laboratory (Edmonton, AB).  She is a part of a research team working on issues, policies and practices affecting Alberta's children and youth, by linking and analyzing cross-government, administrative data.

Three things that participants will take away from the session:

1. Learn about factors that influence early numeracy development.

2. Find out about how culture and language influence early numeracy development

3. Learn skills to support formal and informal numeracy experiences

 

Early bird registration fee  $55 per person includes refreshments, Library in a Box, hands on craft making sessions,  community engagement, and numeracy program handout for indigenous communities.

Registration

·         Early bird registration deadline: October 15, 2014.

·         Registration fee after the early bird deadline is $95.

·         Cheques to be made/mailed in the name of Maskwacis Cultural College, Box 960. Maskwacis, Alberta T0C 1N0.

·         Call us at toll free: 1-866-585-3925 or by email mkhetarpal@mccedu.ca

Invitation to holistic approach learning outcome by Rainbow woman

Nurture Spirit, Heart, Mind and Body

Presented by Rainbow Woman

Learn to apply a holistic approach to life, which means recognizing and nurturing the Spirit, Heart, Mind and Body and all areas of life and relationship. Ningwakwe will present a learning outcome for each of the four aspects and a practical way in which Aboriginal educators facilitate that learning outcome.

Presenter Facilitator: Ningwakwe (Rainbow Woman), aka Priscilla George, is a Deer Clan Anishnawbe Kwe from the Chippewas of augeen First Nation.  Ningwakwe has been involved with cultivating indigenous training from the grassroots and international levels.

Ningwakwe advocates for the holistic approach to life, which means recognizing and nurturing the Spirit, Heart, Mind and Body and all areas of life and relationship. This is the foundation for developing positive cultural identity, which gives us the skills to walk successfully in two worlds – the aboriginal and the non-aboriginal.

Target Audience:  Community organizations, Schools, Families, Recreation Managers, Literacy Programmers and Practitioners, Social Workers, Family Support Workers, Teachers, Education Assistants, Learning Coach, and Residential School Survivors.

Date: Monday, September 8 from 10 am to 3 pm. Networking begins early at 9 am.  Please bring indigenous materials, your organization profile and any other information which you would like to share or display.

Location: Maskwacis Cultural College, Alberta

Registration

·         Early bird registration fee is $85 per person includes refreshments, lunch, and a tour of the library and learning spaces.

·         Early bird registration deadline is August 25, 2014.

·         Registration fee after the early bird deadline is $125.

·         Certificate of Participation will be provided and professional category A credits for social workers.

·         Digital badges of participation will be provided to all participants

·         Cheques to be made in the name of Maskwacis Cultural College, Box 960. Maskwacis, Alberta T0C 1N0.

·         Online registration page http://ezreg.memlink.com/mccedu/

·         Call us at toll free: 1-866-585-3925 or by email mkhetarpal@mccedu.ca

Collaboration Bulletin: Indigenous School-College library collaboration

September 3, 2014, Pigeon Lake Regional School novel study book club and resources for the library:  http://setuppubliclibrarywithfncommunity.blogspot.ca/2014/09/list-of-books-distributed-on-september.html

 

 

August 29, 2014, Library in a Box and relationship development with Samson K4 to Grade 2 school, Linda Okeymow picked up the books

http://schoollibraryservices.blogspot.ca/2014/09/linda-okeymow-librarian-from-samson.html

 

 

August 21, 2014, Louis Bull School, Classroom Library in a Box service for teachers.

http://communicationsprogress.blogspot.ca/2014/08/classroom-library-in-box-service-for.html

Wilma Okeymow librarian from Samson School, K4 to Grade 2 uses the library

 

Ms. Okeymow picked up 300 books and reading program materials on Friday, August 29, 2014.

 

 

Thank you Save the Children Canada and TDSRC.

New e-learning website for school staff supporting students with FASD

New e-learning website for school staff supporting students with FASD and other disabilities

Positive Behaviour Supports for Children (www.pbsc.info) was developed by Mount Royal University with support from the Government of Alberta. This series of related websites is designed to enhance the capacity of families, aides and school staff in promoting positive behaviours and managing challenging behaviours, and to support students' learning and success.

The site has added two new portals:

1.    Through a Child's Eyes, to help parents and professionals talk about different diagnoses and how they affect children's perspectives of the world; and

2.    Planning for Success, to help families, service providers and Family Support for Children with Disabilities workers develop effective Individualized Service Plans. 

 

Please feel free to share this information with your stakeholders.
For more information, please contact Marni Pearce, Director, School and Community Supports for Children and Youth Branch, at marni.pearce@gov.ab.ca or 780-422-5045. Dial 310-0000 first for toll-free access.

Sarah Fergusson is running a reading program in her classroom

Reading program

Teachers please drop off the Notebooks for draws by September 15, 2014.

Draws will be conducted on September 26, 2014, Reading is an Essential Skill Day celebration

School principal and literacy coordinator are the reading ambassadors

Content from newspapers learning resource available at Maskwacis Library

Ethan Raine, summer student at Maskwacis Library digitized Bear Hills Native Voice newspaper and created learning resources.

http://communicationsprogress.blogspot.ca/2014/08/ethan-raine-helps-by-building-literacy.html

How do I use this use resource?

Can we used in English language arts/social studies. Give it to your students to read. Let the students answer the three questions after reading, and then the students can check the answers in the answer sheet. Please note one of the questions involves using a dictionary.

For more information contact the Maskwacis Cultural College Library

Reading Program open house on August 21

Summer learning activities in Maskwacis

• Youth development:  http://www.slideshare.net/ManishaKhetarpal/summer-students-at-work-building-community-library-mcc-july-152014

• Science day: http://setuppubliclibrarywithfncommunity.blogspot.ca/2014/07/engaging-learning-opportunities-part-of.html

• Library Tours for Summer Camps:  http://www.slideshare.net/ManishaKhetarpal/weaving-library-service-in-summer-camps-for-fns

• August 21, 2014 Classroom Library in a Box service launched.
  http://setuppubliclibrarywithfncommunity.blogspot.ca/2014/08/library-in-box-service-development.html

Please fill a parent/caregiver survey for the 2014 TD Summer Reading Club

Please fill a parent/caregiver survey for the 2014 TD Summer Reading Club.  The survey is available online and can be accessed via this link: http://www.tdsummerreadingclub.ca/parents/survey. Kindly consider promoting the link through your organizations social media pages.  

Engaging learning opportunities brought to Maskwacis community on July 16, 2014

160 people registered for the reading program on July 16, 2014. Bring your reading notebooks to the library and receive a surprise gift.

Engaging learning opportunities brought to Maskwacis college

Westin Strongman, 6, experiments with his finished project — a basic weather vane — at the Maskwacis Cultural College’s Science Day, July 16.

Photo by Amelia Naismith

Share this story

By Amelia Naismith - Ponoka News
Published: July 23, 2014 9:00 AM
Updated: July 23, 2014 10:44 AM

Maskwacis Cultural College hosted a Science Day on Wednesday, July 16 to mark the efforts undertaken by the college staff, in particular librarian Manisha Khetarpal, to engage not only the students but also the larger community.

Invited by Khetarpal down from Edmonton was the Let’s Talk Science team, an outreach science organization affiliated with the University of Alberta, to engage the community in several topics.

“We grabbed activities that encompasses all the areas of science we cover,” said site lead Shakib Rahman.

Let’s Talk Science uses simple household items to further interest kids in learning. “The biggest thing is, if you make science approachable to the kids . . . you find a lot of them coming out,” said Rahman.

He says teaching children science isn’t about intimidating them with every detail but about fostering an interest and a passion. “It’s about self-discovery.”

He wants approachable science to break down barriers and attract students of all ages to learning.

Sociology class

In the spirit of furthering their education and knowledge, the students of the college are exposed to a sociology class taught by Yun-Csang Ghimn.

Ghimn joined the college almost six years ago and began teaching a course equal in value to those at the University of Alberta, making the course transferable and providing more post-secondary options to the students.

He also teaches sociology at the University of Alberta and feels the smaller classes are more beneficial in readying the First Nations students for other schools and experiences. “Academically, I would say they’re more than ready.”

The small size also allows for more emotional interactions between the students; heated arguments and debates are common, says Ghimn.

Ghimn focuses on social structure and inequality with a First Nations perspective.

“(It) seems like the last five years, my students have had some organic exposure to non-white ethnic people,” said Ghimn. “I believe it’s an important thing for native students to have.”

The open dialogue of the class deals with customs, traditions, and truths and myths behind stereotypes, both for First Nations people and the rest of the world. “That’s a quite unique Maskwacis sociology class,” said Ghimn.

“I believe the college has to work as a window for them to the outside world,” he added.

Unlike most academic courses, where one lesson segues into the next, Ghimn’s class jumps from one topic to another depending on what the students wish to discuss.

He finds some of the topics closest to students’ hearts include race ethnicity and the hierarchy of “white” people, which refers to immigrants and other styles of people in a traditional western secular society, such as Hutterites.

“Students tend to find a few or several topics they love to talk about and they’re on fire,” said Ghimn.

Maskwacis Cultural College, 40th anniversary

Maskwacis Cultural College is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a year of cultural ceremonies and celebrations.

The college was provincially sanctioned in 1988 and has graduated more than 2,000 students with degrees, diplomas and certificates. “We’re a provincial private institution,” said president Patricia Goodwill-Littlechild.

“We hire the finest faculty; highly qualified faculty and teach courses approved by the government of Alberta,” said Goodwill-Littlechild. Maskwacis Cultural College’s courses are transferable to many universities, including Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge.

http://www.ponokanews.com/news/268295092.html

Did you pick up your reading packet prepared by Maskwacis Youth?

Next pick up date for Library in a Box and reading packets is July 16 at the Maskwacis Cultural College.

Calling everyone;

We need your time as support for the Flash Mob cataloguing. Our goal is to catalog 200 books in 2 hours. We are using Soutron Global software. Training and instructions will be provided. Books are sorted in categories such as teen fiction, children's books, resource kits for schools, Library in a Box for early and adult literacy organizations,  etc.

 

If possible please bring your own laptop and extension bars.

 

Refreshments, cultural understanding, social time and a Certificate of Participation are the perks in appreciation of your time. Thank you. Your presence is a present.

Could you write a book for children?

Enter the New Children's Author Prize 2015 and you could win a publishing contract with Bloomsbury

Are you an aspiring author? Have you got a great idea for a children's book? Could you create a magical world for 8 to 12-year-olds? Enter the New Children's Author Prize 2014 for your chance to become a published children's author 50% off entry fee until the end of June with code NEWAUTHOR  Pay now and submit your entry later The prize includes: A contract with Bloomsbury Publishing, the distinguished publishers of J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman and Louis Sachar A printed edition of your first novel, made available in bookshops nationwide Ebook version of your novel available to download Tickets to an exclusive awards night revealing the prize-winner, attended by key industry contacts and with press coverage Use of the "New Children's Author Prize 2014 Winner" logo on your website, social media and publications All short-listed authors will be invited to the awards night to meet agents, publishers and press, and discuss their futures in children's literature. They will also receive exclusive writing tips from multi-award-winning children's author Katherine Rundell. Submit your story of between 20,000 and 40,000 words, aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds by midnight on 30 September 2014. For more information and to enter, please visit www.literacytrust.org.uk/newauthor

Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge

The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge™ is a free online reading program for children.
Join today and let's set a new reading world record for summer 2014! (May 5 - Sept 5, 2014)

http://www.scholastic.com/ups/campaigns/src-2014