"Welcome to Room 12"

The grade two Social Studies program is based on families - families of long ago, families of today, and families in the future.   Our study of families long ago was centered on pioneers.

This is the mural we made in our classroom!

First we visited Dalnavert Museum and learned how the John Hugh McDonald family lived 100 years ago.  We learned how they made butter, how they stored their food in pantries instead of refrigerators, and how they flushed their toilets by pulling a string. 

Our visit to the Museum of Man and Nature taught us how the pioneers lived.  We saw mud houses and log cabins. 

We learned about the pioneer's food, clothing, furniture, and tools.  One student remarked that their bathtub looked like a hat.   Another noted that buffalo horns were used as legs for a stool.

In the classroom, the students have been working on a pioneer Hyperstudio project.  Here are some samples.

The students also did some weaving on cardboard looms.

Last, but not least, the students made butter.   It was delicious with crackers.  Mrs. Singer and Mr. A. Krahn, who happened to walk into our classroom at the time, said it was delicious too!

Click "Back" on your browser to return to the Student Projects Page or go to [Earl Grey's Homepage]

This portion of our page is from last year!

(Cl ick on the picture to read Matthew's book!)

Matthew is a grade two student who enjoys writing and working with computers.  Matthew wrote the rough draft for his story at school and then spent an entire weekend at home drawing his illustrations and typing his story.  With his father's help, Matthew inserted his pictures and printed out his story.  Matthew returned to school with his completed work and proudly shared it with his classmates and teachers. 

Way to go Matthew!

Before Christmas Mrs. Huebner's grade2/3 class went on a field trip to Dalnavert Museum as part of their study on families of long ago.  While at the museum the students explored the home built for Sir Hugh John McDonald and his family in 1895.   The students had the opportunity to make butter and buttermilk.  They especially enjoyed the fresh butter on crackers.  Some of the students dressed up in clothes from days gone by.  All of the students were introduced to "calligraphy" and had an opportunity to try their hand at producing the ABC's with pen and ink.  They soon discovered that feather quills do not work very well.  

The students learned that pioneer life was very different from today.   The students were all surprised to learn that ladies wore gloves at formal dinner parties which were not removed until all of the guests were seated at the table.   They were also surprised to learn that crackers or bread could not be broken into soup, and that it was considered very impolite for a child to twist their feet around the legs of a chair. 

The students recorded their visit to the museum using a digital camera.   The pictures were used to enhance the students reports of their visit which were then displayed outside their classroom.  The pictures were also used to help the students identify and then draw many of the "old fashioned" things in the house such as kerosene lanterns, ink pots and feather quills, cradles, etc. 

The students enjoyed learning about the pioneers.   Dressed for the part, the students also had the opportunity to share their learning with their peers and their families at an early years assembly.  Some of the older members of the audience especially enjoyed hearing the students sing songs from "long ago".  

We went through an old fashioned house. I saw porcelain dolls with long dresses and tall socks. We were in different groups. I was in the clothing group. We dressed up in olden day clothes. We wrote down what men and women wore in the olden days. I wish I lived in that house a hundred years ago. I had lots of fun!

- Kristen

Drawings Below: A Candle Lantern by Aaron, A Cook Stove by Chris, An Ink Pot and Feather Quill and an Olden Day Iron by Cody, and an Ink Pot and Feather Quill by Keith

Mrs. Huebner's students love to draw. When they came back from a visit to the Museum of Man and Nature they drew mud huts and long cabins to show how the early pioneers lived. Many drew tipis, depicting how the native peoples lived a long time ago. The wrote paragraphs to go with their drawings.

The class also had two visits from the wonderful people at the Duguald Costume Museum. The students again wrote and drew about what they had learned - rug making, rug beating, shoe lacing with a hook etc. One of their favourite items was an old fashioned skate that arrived in a surprise box from the Museum of Man and Nature.

Click "Back" on your browser to return to the Student Projects Page or go to [Earl Grey's Homepage]