KES Haunted House 2014

Ender started doing the haunted house with the grade sixes in his first year. Since then we've been putting this thing on annually and getting better and better every time. Because it's our last year at Kistiganwacheeng Elementary we wanted to give it our all. While the process has left me completely exhausted I also feel really proud of what we did this year. Let's take a tour...

We wanted to change the overall layout from last year. In the past years guests went through the haunted house and were chased out the way they came after they got their candy. This made the whole thing go very slowly. So we hung the tarps differently to create a one way route which streamlined the whole performance.

Lead by Mr.A dressed as a demon, guests were lead through a "spooky forest." We took down the ceiling tiles to make it seem less like a classroom, and then hung branches, cobwebs and purple lights. As you walk through the "forest," students on the other side of the tarp wall reached out to startle guests.

We set up the mask wall (Or as Ender called it the 'Wall of Things I've Killed') at the end of the forest. While wearing a mask, students put their heads through the holes and held perfectly still until people got close enough to scare.

We created a claustrophobic tunnel called the Terrifying Tunnel of Darkness ('And we call it that because nothing bad ever happens in there') using garbage bags to make a low ceiling. Again, the students reached out for feet from underneath the tarps.

At the end of the tunnel is the dragon with glowing eyes and a smoke machine inside. Ms. Jordan, dressed up in scars and a cloak, offered the kids a story about her dead husband (played by a student in a coffin on the floor) and candy for the road. When the kids reach for their candy a hand pops out from the bowl. Once the kids get their candy, they are told to hurry out before the spirit of Jordan's husband gets them.

On the way out there is one final scare from a student dressed as a scarecrow. We stuffed their outfit with newsprint so that if anyone poked them they would think it was just a dummy.

We had so much fun putting on the haunted house this year. We were able to raise enough money to cover the new instruments we bought for the school in October. I really hope that we can continue to do big projects like this at the next school we work at.

5 Days of Halloween

Monday  

We began the week by taking apart my classroom and setting up Ender's classroom as a work space for both classes. Table space was the name of the game as students finished the final layer of papier-mâché on their masks and set them all out to dry. 

Last week we all wrote epitaph poems about our grisly deaths which we displayed in the hall. 

  

  

We started to cover my walls with black paper, moved some of the ceiling tiles to make a creepy open space, and hung some branches we collected earlier to create our spooky forest.

Tuesday  (Orange Day)

Today was the last day of observing and recording for the bacteria plates. Ender knew that a science representative from MFNERC would be visiting the high school at that time, and asked her to swing by our classroom that day to join in the fun and to take the disgusting plates back to Winnipeg with her to be disposed of properly.





































             

Last week we made posters for a contest to help promote healthy eating. We didn't win but they're still pretty great.

Students (finally) finished the papier-mâché step of their masks. We let them dry overnight in Ender's classroom so we could paint the next day.

Wednesday  (Silly Hair Day)

We finished decorating the door, set up the structure of the haunted house with tarps, and began painting the masks.

The masks needed a solid base colour which then needed to dry before any dry-brushing or detailing can happen. This was a new and frustrating concept for some of the kids. They wanted to paint everything at once (like you would with tempra paint on paper).

Thursday 

We continued to decorate the haunted house. We finished painting the masks, and with the help of grade two teacher Miss Jordan, we were able to get all the final details glued on. The masks look outstanding this year! I didn't take any pictures of the kids working because I just didn't have time. I think I sat down once and it was at 2:40.

Friday  (Costume Day!) 

We finished up some final details on the haunted house and then watched "Blink"(an episode of Doctor Who).

Ender told scary stories in the haunted house, and in the afternoon we had snacks and played some games.

After a long,but fun day we hurried home to get ready for the haunted house (which I will go into detail about in my next post).

Tricksters

I've done a terrible job of updating these past few weeks and I really have no excuse for it. I guess I just haven't felt like writing anything. But things have been happening and I have photos to post so better now then never I suppose.

Last Friday the grade tens performed the the story of how the crow became black. They worked for two weeks with three performers from a program called the Trickster Effect. Trickster Effect is a partnership with Breakfast Canada and performers from Cirque du Soleil. The program goes from community to community visiting First Nations and Inuit schools, working with the students to tell traditional stories through acrobatics, juggling, dance and costume.

For two weeks the students learned how to tumble, juggle and perform in front of their community and peers. They also explored ideas of identity making, creativity, collaboration and belonging.

The final show was really great. The kids were focused and professional, the music was well chosen and they were really proud of their accomplishments. They performed the show twice, once for the elementary and once for the high school.

They got the story from Charlotte Monias who is one of the community elders. It was a story her kookum told her when she was little. The crow used to be the most beautiful bird in existence, but he wasn't satisfied with his beauty. So he asked Nannabush (the Creator) to change him. First he asks to be blue like a blue jay, then red breasted like a robin and finally yellow like an canary. At this point Nannabush is getting annoyed and warns the crow that if he asks to be changed again that's it, he'll stay that way forever. The crow agrees and while flying around the Earth he sees a peacock and asks to be transformed a final time. Nannabush agrees but instead of becoming like a peacock, all of the colours blend together and the crow becomes black. it turns out Nannabush is also a trickster and felt like teaching the crow a lesson. The theme of the show was to be satisfied with who you are and your own talents rather than being jealous of others.



I volunteered to help make the costumes after school with the kids and the guys form Quebec. We had simple felt masks for the birds and larger masks for the crow and Nannabush (Who can appear as anything and any gender which made things tricky. Eventually so we went with bear.). I am keeping the crow and bear masks as examples for an Art/English project my class will be doing in March.

While working on the masks one evening, three girls from the elementary school came to visit and brought a kitten with them! They were taking her to the 't.v. station' to sell her because their mother no longer wanted a playful kitten running all through their house. It took all of my will power not to buy her from them. As nice as it would be to have a kitten here, it would make coming home and traveling in general very difficult. Besides, we're dog people.

Those eyes!