Wicoie Nandagikendan

Week 31

ogi.mpls — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:45:46 +0000

This week we started learning about aanakwadoon (clouds) and aaniin ezhiwebak agwajiing gimiwang (how it is outside when it rains). We started our fourteenth coloring book, Niminwendaan Ezhiwebak Agwajiing (I Like How It Is Outside), to review how weather changes what it looks like outside and which activities we can do outside.

We also studied pictures of aanakwadoon (clouds) and learned that ayinaandewan (they are many-colored) and come in all kinds of shapes. Nigii-kanawaabandaamin aanakwadoon wezaawaagin, meskwaagin, mekadewaagin, miinawaa maanaandegin. We saw yellow, red, black, and purple clouds. Nigii-kanawaabandaamin aanakwadoon ezhinaakwak dibishkoo-go moozhwaaganan, anishinaabeg, miinawaa memengwaag. We saw clouds that looked like scissors, people, and butterflies.

In art class, we painted our own aanakwadoon (clouds) with water colors, and then cut them out later in the week, adding raindrops underneath with yarn. Gimiwan! It’s raining!

We also did a lot of moving this week – in and out of gym class. Nigii-niimimin da-gikendamaang iniw enaandegin. We danced to learn the colors. Weweni nigii-noondaamin anooj nagamonan mii dash gaa-izhi-mamaajiseyaang aaniin keyaa noondamaang iniw nagamonan. We practiced making shapes using our bodies. We learned it takes niswi abinoojiiyag (three kids) to make nesing-gakakaag (a triangle), and much, much more!

In gym, listed to different musics and then moved ourselves how we heard the songs. For fast songs, nigii-pimibatoomin (we ran). For slow songs, dibishkoo-go memengwaag na’egaaj nigii-pimisemin (we flew slowly like butterflies.) This was a first-time activity for us teachers and for the students and we hope to have cameras present during our next gym class so we can share a bit of our experience with you! It was truly amazing to be a part of. Nigii-kichi-minawaanigozimin! We really had a good time!

Such a fantastic week!

Note: Our sincerest apologies that there have been no new photographs on the website lately from our past two field trips. There is currently no free memory space available on our Picasa account for photographs. We are working to secure more storage space and hope to have the photographs up for you to view as soon as possible. Miigwech for your patience!

Week 30

ogi.mpls — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:16:31 +0000

Refreshed from spring break, we had a wonderful first week back imaa gikendaasoowigamigong (at school)! We continued with our theme on manidoonsag (bugs) and had fun practicing our enaandegin (colors) and asigibii’iganan (numbers) recognition as well.

Imaa adoopowining (at the tables), we finished our Manidoonsag Niwaabamaag (I See Bugs) book and played a lot of manidoonsag (bug) dominos. After a discussion about various waakaa’iganan (homes), dibishkoo-go wadiswaanan, asabiinsan, aniibiishan, mitakamig miinawaa-ge ishpiming (such as nests, webs, leaves, on the ground and in the air), we also drew pictures of endaawaad Anishinaabeg miinawaa-ge manidoonsag (where people and bugs live). The drawings will be coming home soon!

In art, we made ezhinikaazowin-mooseg (name-caterpillars). The mooseg are as short or as long as each student’s name. They are hanging in our classroom windows for the time being if you would like to come by for a visit! Gichi-daajiiwan. They are very cute.

In gym, we had fun running manidoonsag (bugs) relay races again, and we finished off by going outside and playing in the sunshine. It was a very good first week back!

Note: The ikwe-manidoonsag imaa aniibiishing (lady bugs on leaves) art projects we did before spring break will not be coming home soon, as mentioned before. We were informed by the art teacher, Ms. Lackey, that a student art gallery is being planned for early May and we needed to submit some art pieces in order to be included in the display. Apologies for the inconvenience! Other, equally adorable art projects will be on the way home to you from your child shortly!

Week 29

ogi.mpls — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:52:58 +0000

Short week before spring break! We talked about manidoonsag (bugs). Aandi endanikiiwaad ingiw manidoonsag? Where do bugs live? Aaniin keyaa ezhi-maajisewaad ingiw manidoonsag? How do bugs move? Aaniin ezhi-bakaanak anishinaabeg miinawaa-ge manidoonsag? How are people and bugs different? We even started our thirteenth book: Manidoonsag Niwaabamaag (I See Bugs), a counting book about different manidoonsag (bugs) and where they live.There’s a lot to know about manidoonsag!

For art we drew and cut out paper ikwe-manidoonsag (lady bugs) and glued them onto leaves. They will be coming home after spring break. In gym, we ran manidoons relay races – dibishkoo-go moose nigii-pimoodemin, dibishkoo-go memengwa nigii-pimisemin, dibishkoo-go asabikeshiinh nigii-pimosemin, dibishkoo-go bapakine nigii-kwaakwaashkwanimin (we crawled like caterpillars, flew like butterflies, walked like spiders, and jumped like grasshoppers).

We also had an all-school assembly at the end of this week. Every classroom was expected to present something about how they had been learning about and practicing following the seven grandfather teachings (wisdom, love, bravery, humility, etc.) For our presentation, we read our book Nininjiin Indaabajitoon (I Use My Hands) to the whole school, acting out the safe and fun things we do with our hands and saying together “gaawiin” when we talked about hurtful and unsafe ways hands can be used. You should be very proud of your young Ojibwe speaker – gigichi-wawiingeziwag! (they have mad skills!)

Weweni! Take care during spring break!

Week 28

ogi.mpls — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:51:07 +0000

In another discussion about miinikaanan (seeds), we compared miinikaanan for planting to miiikaanan for eating. We looked at giizisoo-waabigwani-miinikaanan (sunflower seeds). We talked about how some seeds are alive, and some are dead. We talked about cooking and eating seeds. We talked about how cooked seeds aren’t alive and wouldn’t grow like the miinikaanan we have already planted. We even compared the packages of planting miinikaanan – an envelope – and edible miinikaanan – a bag. The seeds were a little tricky to open, gii-minopogwadoon dash (but they were tasty).

Miinikaanan (the seeds) we planted are growing! Especially the bean plants – gichi-michaawan (they are big)! We went for another walk around the neighborhood and noticed which plants outside are waking up. Some of the buds we saw are leaves now. Agaawaawan dash. (But they’re small.)

In gym we played with hoola hoops and in art we drew pictures of underground tunnels and glued yarn worms into the tunnels. We also finished up our twelfth book, Maple Sugaring Moon. Too bad our field trip to Porky’s Sugar Bush Camp had to be cancelled. Hay’.

Miigwech and thank you to our family members and friends who were able to join us on our field trip to Como Zoo and Conservatory! Photographs from the field trip will be up soon!

It’s time to go home

Jarydd — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:12:57 +0000

It’s time to go home in Dakota.

Wanna unhdapi iyehantu (wah-nah uuhn-hda-pi i-ye-hahn-too)

Week 27

ogi.mpls — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:39:40 +0000

To start off the week, we finished up the coloring book: Miinikaanan Nimiijin (I Eat Seeds). We also studied our celery stalks and discovered that the celery drank the food coloring we placed them in – gii-miskwaawan, gii-ozaawaawan, miinawaa gii-ozhaawashkwaawan iniw aniibiishan (the leaves were red, yellow, and blue).

In art, we glued miinikaanan (seeds) on paper, and drew waabiwaniin (flowers) and gitigaanensan (vegetables) we imagined might grow from them. Gichi-wawiingeziwag ingiw abinoojiiyag! The kids got mad skills!

For gym, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and looked for signs of ziigwang (spring). We found mashkosiins (grass), manidoonsag (bugs), zayaagibagaag (leaf buds), bineshiiyag (birds), detibiwebishkigejig (bicyclists), miinawaa anooj mayaajiiging (and various new growings).

We reviewed some big questions: Aaniin ezhinikaazoyan? (What is your name?), and Aaniin ezhi-ayaayan? (How are you). We also talked about aaniin keyaa ezkigamiziged anishinaabe (how our people did sugar bush/maple sugaring). There sure is a lot that goes into turning ziinzibaakwadwaaboo (sap) into zhiiwaagamizigan (syrup)!

For small group work, we started our twelfth book, Iskigamizige-giizis (Maple sugar month), practiced writing “M”, and reviewed the sequence of growing miinikaanan (seeds).

Wiisinidaa!

hopeflanagan.flanagan — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:38:35 +0000

Our classroom has been learning about different types of food, how they taste and smell.Newsletters March 15

Wicoie Nandagokendan Facebook Page

Cassandra — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:36:18 +0000

Please visit our new Facebook page, “like” us, and share!

http://www.facebook.com/WicoieNandagikendan

Week 26

ogi.mpls — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:17:06 +0000

This week we continued to talk about miinikaanan (seeds) and gitigaadang (planting). We reviewed the sequence for planting miinikaanan, and we spent some time sorting miinikaanan we learned about last week. Makadewaawan iniw eshkandaming miinikaanan. (Watermelon seeds are black.) Gichi-agaasaawan iniw ode’imin miinikaana. (Strawberry seeds are really small.) Waawiyeyaawan iniw ozhaawashki-bebaa miinikaanan. (Green pepper seeds are circular.)

In small groups, we planted new miinikaanan. We planted gitigaanensan (vegetables) and waabigwaniin (flowers). We also started our eleventh coloring book: Miinikaanan Nimiijin (I Eat Seeds). We are learning a lot about miinikaanan (seeds) – where they come from, which we eat, and how to plant them.

We are also beginning to learn about the other parts of plants. We conducted an experiment with celery stalks and food coloring to investigate how plants drink. We will let the experiment rest over the weekend and study what happens to the celery and food coloring next week. Gidaa-gagwejimaa giniijaanis da-waawiindamawik. You should ask your child to explain it to you. :)

In art we cut and pasted paper plants with leaves which provide instruction for propagating miinikaanan. In gym, we practiced music activities using our mitigoonsan (rhythm sticks) and “dewe’iganag” (drums created by placing kickballs into buckets).

Such a fun, busy week! Nigii-minawaanigozimin! We had a great time!

Week 19 – Handwashing

ogi.mpls — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:58:47 +0000

Handwashing Flashcards
Clicking the link above will open a new window so you can study the handwashing vocabulary flashcards. The flashcards will help you learn the following terms:

Giziibiigininjiin! – Wash your hands!
Webaaba’odoon! – Rinse your hands!
Giziibiiga’igan aabajitoon! – Use soap!
Zinigonikebinidizon! – Scrub your hands together!
Bengoninjii’odizon! – Dry your hands!
Nibi gibaakobii’an! – Turn the water off!
Gimazina’igan webinan! – Throw your paper towel away!

Follow these steps to begin studying Ojibwe using the flash cards.

1. In order to begin using the flash cards, click the “Start Study Session” button.
A new, smaller window will pop up.
2. Select “Ascending” as the Order, then click the “Begin” button.
The image displayed on the first flash card is what you will need to identify in Ojibwe.
3. In order to see if you correctly identified the image in Ojibwe, either press the space bar on your keyboard or click “Flip Card” once.
You will then hear a recording of the term in Ojibwe playing on a mini-player on the flashcard.
4. If you want to hear the recording again, click the play button on the mini-player. The play button is shaped like an arrowhead pointing to the right.
5. If you would like to review the card, you can click “Repeat Card Now” or press the “N” button on your keyboard. You will be able to review the card right away.
6. If you would like to review the card after going through all of the other flash cards, you can click “Repeat Card Later” or press the “L” button on your keyboard. You will be able to review the card after you view all of the other flash cards in the study deck.

If you review 3-5 times a week, you will learn the vocabulary words in 3-4 weeks. Study hard and study often!