Coyote Explorations at ÉSCS
ÉSCS staff is so happy to share that we will once again be offering “Coyote Explorations” to our Grade 1-6 students.
What are Coyote Explorations?
Coyote Explorations give Grade 1-6 students the choice to pick a topic that interests them and gives them an opportunity to learn about that topic over three different sessions. Students from different grades (students from grades 1-3 are combined in various sessions while students from grades 4-6 are combined in other sessions) from both the English and the Immersion programs will come together, based on their interests, for three fun sessions of Coyote Exploration. Coyote Explorations give students a chance to pursue a passion, get to know new people, learn more about something that interests them, all while having fun. To prepare for this initiative, staff have selected one of their passions or interests that they want to share with students. Our staff has prepared two menus (one for Grade 1-3 and the other for Grade 4-6) of exploration topics and students will be able to select, based on their own interests and passions, from the list of varied fun exploration topics. Students will then be placed into an exploration group with students from other classes, grades and language programs (French Immersion and English). Students will be meeting with the same exploration group three different times and working and learning together with the same teacher (not necessarily their typical classroom teacher) and the same group of students in the topic selected.
Why is student choice important?
Why is letting students select their top choices so important? It is obvious that when a person has options and makes a decision related to what they will be doing, they will be much more engaged in that activity. If we "force" someone to take a "3D printing" activity but that student is more interested in art, cooking or photography, the student will not be as engaged 3D Printing activity! When students have choices, we are empowering them to take ownership in their own learning. Their interest and excitement for the activity makes all of the difference.
Because we know the importance of focusing on relationships, the sessions will start with ice breaker activities to ensure that students and staff (who don't usually work together) begin by getting to know one another. These activities help build trust within the group, to ensure that students and staff could take risks together. Although we already do various activities where classes collaborate with other classes from different grade levels (reading buddies, math buddies, etc...) this gives students another opportunity to meet and interact with students and staff that they may not have worked with until this point. This building of community and sense of belonging is so important to a school's culture of learning.
Different options:
It is interesting to see the varied topics covered in the different sessions being offered. To view the menus that were shared with our students, please click on the following links:
Exploration Menu - Grade 1-3 2024.pdf
Exploration Menu - Grade 4-6 2024.pdf
The goal is for students to be engaged, learn new skills and have fun, all while getting to know new students and staff. I would like to thank our amazing staff who are offering the different topics that answer our students interests and who will prepare awesome activities that engage our students in their learning.
