Healthy Snacks

Our healthy snack component is based on the Canada Food Guide. 

Our Volunteer Nutritionist creates a rotational snack menu.

Menu items include fruit and/or vegetables,
 mini pizza, bagel, nacho & cheese,
 grilled cheese, yogurt parfait
 just to name a few.
 
Our lead volunteer prepares snacks according to the planned
schedule and places them on tables ready for students to eat.

 

Our volunteer would need to:
  • Communicate with the coordinator regarding leftovers.
  • Evaluate the snacks on an ongoing basis and communicate with                                                                  the coordinator if changes need to be made to the menu.
  • Develop relationships with other volunteers at Larch.
  • Help develop self-esteem of children
  • Develop skills related to working with children
  • Develop own skills in food handling
    
 

Number Talks are short discussions with one or two of our tutors and a small group of students about how to solve a particular mental math problem. The students do not use a calculator or paper & pencil. The idea is to solve the problem in one’s head! The focus is not on the correct answer, but on all the possible methods of finding the answer. Each student has a chance to explain their method and everyone else will learn from other people’s methods.
 
 
 
To start a Number Talk, the tutor(s) gives the students a SHORT math problem to solve, by writing it on a white board. 
Each student is given time to come up with the answer in their head.
Once they figure out an answer, the student places a “thumbs up” on their chest. 
Doing this avoids other students being distracted and /or uncomfortable that they have not yet figured out the answer as well as eliminating a competitive atmosphere.
 
 
Once all the students have their “thumbs up”, the tutor(s) goes around the group asking for their answer.
If the tutor(s) notices a student struggling, he/she will move on and start the discussion.
The tutor writes all the answers on the whiteboard. Each student is then given the opportunity to share with the group how their brain figured it out, and the tutor writes it on the board.
At this point some answers may be wrong, that is okay!
Once every student gives their strategy, the tutor may choose a few more strategies to add to the board.
 
 
The tutor then asks each student: “Other than your method, what way is the easiest for your brain.” We do this to help each child expand their strategies. We then wipe the board, leaving the equation and answer on the top of the board and go to the next equation. There is usually 4 to 6 equations that build on each other – leaving all the equations on the board helps the students see the transition.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Guided reading is an instructional approach that involves one or two tutors working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can all read similar levels of texts. The book is easy enough for students to read with your skillful support. The book will offer challenges and opportunities for problem solving.
 
 
At the beginning of each school year, we separate our students into groups, and select a book/series of books for each individual group according to their reading level/abilities. Groups may vary in size from one to four students. Many of our bigger groups have two tutors.
During our guided reading time, each student and tutor read a portion of text. This may be a sentence, a paragraph or a full page depending on their reading/comfort level.
 
 

While reading is taking place, our tutors guide the students to address these concepts as they come about:

Predicting text

Visualizing

Questioning

Drawing inferences

Identifying main ideas

Context clues
 
 
 
 

 

We are in our ninth  year of our ‘Young Authors’ Project’.

Our goal for this project is for each student to write at least one story that will be published in our finished work at the end of our school year.
 
 
At the beginning of each school year, we separate our students into groups, and make a plan for each individual group according to their writing level/abilities.
 
 

We review basic writing skills: parts of speech, setting, character and plot.

Then each student is given the opportunity to create their own story.

They work for the rest of the year completing their story on our Google Classroom.
 
 

Every few weeks, we evaluate and edit their stories with them. In late spring, we compile each story into a bound book called ‘Larch Young Authors’ Project’.

 At our year end party during our closing ceremony each student receives a copy of our Young Authors’ Project. Students are honoured to receive their copy of the book from their own principal and/or teacher.