Volume 1 Issue 6

Potato Peels
By Marcie Mcrae

On March 17th Room 105 made potato peels. First Mrs. Barr asked a group of students to go and help her wash the potatoes, cut them into fours and place the cut potatoes on a baking sheet. Then they helped her sprinkle shredded cheese overtop. Then they baked the potatoes in the oven at 450 Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Then they took the potatoes out of the oven and cool them. They put on bacon bits and sour cream. The children enjoyed them.

Easter Egg Decorating

During the month of March children at Ralph Brown School took part in the tradition of making Ukrainian Easter Eggs. Below are the instructions.

Pysanka Instructions

1 - Lightly draw the basic design on the egg in pencil. If you make a mistake do not use an eraser on it. Remember that light pencil lines will not show up in the final design, so mistakes are OK

2. Heat the head of the kistka in the flame of the candle for 20-30 seconds. Then scoop a little beeswax into the funnel of the kistka. Reheat the kistka in the flame until the wax is melted. If you leave the kistka in the flame too long it may catch on fire. If this happens, slowly blow out the flame.

3. Especially in the beginning, test the wax flow from the kistka on the newspaper before writing any lines on the egg. Occasionally the kistka will let out a blob from overfilling. If this happens there is nothing that you can do. The wax bonds instantly to the eggshell: even if you try scraping the spots will still appear in the final design. Try to incorporate it into the design.

4. Apply wax using the kistka to the egg. The dye will not go anywhere you

apply wax. You don't need to reapply wax every time you dip it in dye just apply the new lines for the colour. Leave the eggs in the dye 10-15 minutes, or until desired effect is achieved. Remove eggs with a spoon and dab dry. The dye sequence goes from light to dark.

5. After removing the egg from the final dye, it's time for the fun part. Take the egg and hold it near the side of the flame. Do not hold it over the flame because the carbon will collect on the shell and darken the design. Wait until the wax looks wet and wipe off with a clean tissue.

The Assembly
By Dat

On April 19 at 2:30 p.m. there was an assembly in the gym. All the children from the school attended. The choir sang songs that they had been practicing for the Music Festival.

The Advice Column
By The Advisors

Dear Newspaper Group,

I was wondering where you get all your ideas for your newspaper group?

From Anonymous

Dear Anonymous

We get our ideas from many places. When we first start a monthly newspaper we all sit around the Chief Editor (Karly) and discuss the events in the school. We only do events we had been at or know lots about. We mostly write about things happening in our classroom. So you can write us and tell us about an event happening in your class and we will be there to write about the event in your class!

From B.F.#1!

Bridges
By Shannon

On March 17 Room 111 was assigned a project where they had to make bridges out of popsicle sticks, straws, clay and spaghetti. The bridges had to be based between 2 chairs that were 30 cm apart and would be able to hold 200 grams. Most of Room 111’s bridges could hold up to 4 staplers. Every student had to be with a partner.

The Ukrainian Easter Breakfast
By Karly and Dat

On April 15 Ralph Brown School had an Easter Breakfast for the bilingual Ukrainian classes. Our principal, Mrs. Adams, invited Room 111 and the grade 6’s from Room 105. When the classes arrived to the gym their teachers sat their students at the table assigned to them. When everyone was settled in three priests came to bless the food and us. One father came around and blessed us and the food with incense. The other fathers sang while he did that. The fathers sang for a few minutes while we listened quietly. After the food was blessed we ate the food on the table. We had ham, bologna, eggs, bread and food provided from ourselves. The breakfast was over at about 11 o’clock.

The Plays
By Justin

On March 18 and 19 the school had a couple of plays done for them. One of the plays were done by the Manitoba Theater for Young People and the other was a French play. The play that the Manitoba for Young People put on was called "Square Eyes". The play was about two best friends and one of the best friend’s dad. The dad couldn’t read. He was illiterate. He lost his job because he couldn’t read things that he needed for work. The play was very good. There were some parts that were funny and some that were very sad.

The other play was a French play. It was called La Chasse le Dinosaur (The Dinosaur Hunt). It was about two people that were looking for their dog in a cave. In the cave they found a dinosaur bone. But there were already people in the cave. They were spies that were looking for the dinosaur bone. After a ghost came and scared off the spies. At the very end we played a trivia game. The play was excellent. The blue team won by 8!

Puppets
By Arlene

On March 17 room 105 made puppets. The puppets were supposed to be leprechauns because the day we made these puppets was St. Patrick’s Day. The first thing we did was get a piece of block foam either white or yellow in color. Then we cut off little pieces to shape the head. Then we took two googly eyes and stuck them on with a hot glue gun. Then we took fabric to make the body. If some of the kids wanted they added glasses or other accessories.

The Scavenger Hunt In Peanut Park
By Mandy

On Friday, March 26 our classroom had a scavenger hunt at Peanut Park. Our class enjoyed it a lot! We needed to find Easter eggs and Easter chocolates. Mrs. Barr and Ms. Goldberg made it so everyone received a goodie. There was one pot of gold that was hidden well. The child who won the loonie was Devin. He was generous and shared with the class.

Spring
By Kasia

On March 21 something started ... Spring started! One week ago we had a big snow fall that was supposed to fall in Toronto. On Wednesday snow started to melt and we saw grass. I planted flowers and I saw roots from the flowers then I saw a little green sprout. Everyday when I get home I always look at my little flowers that are growing in my garden. Yesterday I saw lots of people riding bikes and roller blading. I went to our school ice rink and instead of ice I saw slush. It scared me so I said bye Winter and hello Spring. Yesterday I saw a mother bird feeding its baby birds. I said to Ardelle isn’t it a little too early and a little cold for baby birds. I said to myself I think they won’t survive! Spring is the season between Winter and Summer a very beautiful season because you can see the flowers grow and see beautiful birds coming back from the south!

Dissecting Cow Eyes
By Shannon

On April 21 Room 111 got to dissect cows eyes. First they would cut through the rubbery layer surrounding it. Then they tried to find a hard object named the lens. Then they just looked around. When they were done they placed the dissected eye in a bag. At the end they learned what it felt like, what it looked like and the names of the various parts of the eye. They got to keep the lens if they found it.

Champs
by Shannon

Over the winter Shannon Manitopyes and Erin Schultz wanted something to do. So they got their parents to sign them up on a local hockey team, the Tyndall Park Thunder. GIRLS ONLY. It would be Shannon’s third year and Erin’s first year. At the end of the season we came out champs. We started off in a league with 12 teams with about 16 girls on each team. At first we would play bigger teams, then they split the league into 2 groups, A1 and A2. We were put in A2 so we would be against smaller teams. We were getting better. We won all our games for the rest of the season and playoffs. Shannon got 54 goals and Erin got 12 shutouts. We kicked but. At the end of the season we were better hockey players. We got stronger, smarter and best of all we had a fun time.