We spent a lot of time problem solving during our weekly class meeting. We also had our school counselor come in a teach an amazing lesson on friendship and inclusion. From that discussion, we created anchor charts for our classroom.
I also did some research and found a wonderful idea called a Buddy Bench. A buddy bench is a place to meet if you are feeling alone and want to meet up with a friend.
http://buddybench.org/
We found that the buddy bench was really working for us as a class, so we approached out admin team to see if we could implement the idea from grades K-4.
We were lucky enough to team up with Betsy Burys who has been responsible for funding peace projects around Saskatoon. It started when Eli, a grade 8 student at Brunskill, helped John and Betsy at a Remembrance Day Service and struck up a conversation with them. Betsy was so impressed with Eli that they contacted the school. Betsy had recently been awarded the Joanna Miller Peace Prize for her outstanding work for years on peace issues. She decided to donate the money to our school for a project to promote peace. Joanna was an active supporter with project Ploughshares, The World Court project and the Saskatoon Peace Coalition. The award is also supported by Saskatoon city race relations and cultural diversity, SIGA, United Nations Saskatchewan Division, Multifaith Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Peace Coalition.
https://saskatoonpeace.wordpress.com/
Here are some wonderful words from Betsy:
"I
am very interested to see peace studies similar to the League of Peacefull
Schools organized as conflict resolution to avoid bullying and aggressive
behaviour. As a veteran of the 2nd World War I believe peace will
only come from the young people who have had a chance to learn there are other
ways to solve problems than a military one.When my husband and I were
awarded the money gift for our years of peace work I decided that I would
like to see a school take advantage of my award,When I met a young student at
rememberance day service who thought a peace project would be a good idea
I was inspired. I shall give $500.00 which I hope will bring joy to the
students and those who see the project.I congratulate the teachers who have
been involved..Thank you Betsy"
When I told the class that we were going ahead with a buddy bench for the school, they were so pumped! Our inquiry begins!!
We started by brainstorming all of the things we needed to consider to make the buddy bench project a success:
1. Take a Look at the Playground
We went outside and had a real good look at the playground and came up with 4 spots where we would like the buddy bench to go.
We created detailed maps in the classroom that we got ready to present to our Admin team for approval. We held a super duper official meeting with Ms. Ford and Mr. Giesbrecht and discussed our 4 choices for buddy bench placement.
Once our map was approved, it was on to the next step!
2. Create a Bar Graph
We learned what a bar graph was and how people use it to collect data. Next, we created a bar graph of our own to help us gather data from the classrooms.
3. Get Ready to Teach and Present
Once we had our graphs prepared, we decided we needed to create anchor charts that would teach the classrooms from K-4 what a buddy bench is and what it is not. Each learning pod created their own anchor charts that they would take with them to classrooms for teaching purposes. The pods also recreated a larger version of their maps so they could explain to the classrooms the four possible placements of the buddy bench before voting.
Allison from our class also created a writer's workshop story about our buddy bench idea. We decided to include that into our teaching.
http://itunes.apple.com/app/story-creator-pro/
Benie boo friends.
4. What Did We Find Out?
After presenting to every class, we compiled all of our data to see which bench was the winner. This was very complicated and took a lot of time!
Finally we had a winner!
We let the school know where the bench was going to be by having a super important meeting with Ms. Ford and Mr. Giesbrecht. We then made an announcement to the school!
Olive's dad and grandpa spent a weekend cutting, measuring, rounding and smoothing pieces of wood to create our buddy bench!!
Each student is going to be given a board to design and paint. We have been working hard in the classroom on our designs so they can be just right for our bench. They are thinking hard about the message they want to make on their board and the colours they would like to paint with.
Sarah Oosman, Olive's mom, also threw the idea to me about yarn bombing the tree. She showed me google images of trees that have been yarn bombed and I was sold!! These trees are easily visible from afar, and they look stunning!
https://flic.kr/p/qEJ5mh
We quickly began a plan to teach 29 students how to finger knit. Olive and Charlotte's grandmas came for a morning to teach finger knitting. By the end of the morning, we were finger knitting like crazy! Our objective is to knit enough pieces so that Olive's mom can attach them together to create a 'warm hug' for our buddy bench tree. The class thought this was be a nice way for the little children at our school to identify the buddy bench tree from the other trees out on the playground.
Once we became experts, we taught our grade two buddies how to finger knit also. We enlisted their help to make the last couple of links we needed to finish off the 'sweater'.
Here is what we ended up with:
We will be wrapping the tree very soon! I can't wait to see what it looks like!
Today we are wrapping the tree! The students are very excited to see what it will look like once it's up.
Now that the finger knitting is done, we have returned to our buddy bench boards. With the help of some amazing parents we spent the afternoon painting our boards. The students were so careful and they turned out amazing!
Betsy and Eli came and they each painted a board also!
Here are some of the final products!!
The bench is ready for installation. I put out an all call for parents to come put the bench together on a Friday afternoon! A group of wonderful parents stepped up and started assembling. It didn't take very long to put together! We were all so pleased with the final product!
I couldn't wait for the kids to see the bench Monday morning!
I think it was a hit! Now getting back to business...
The students needed to review with the classrooms how to use the buddy bench. We set up our buddy bench patrollers. They are the students that stand near the buddy bench and help the students find a buddy!
We have had very positive feedback about the buddy bench! The students were all very curious at first and wanted to sit on the bench. Now we are finding that students are using it for its purpose.... to find a buddy.
We are happy to report that very few people have been on the bench this week! That makes our class very happy because our motto is...
"A good buddy bench is an empty buddy bench:)"
We have even had a principal from another school come visit our classroom to ask us about our buddy bench because he would like to install one in his school in the fall!
Stay tuned for the official unveiling of the buddy bench!
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