We Are The BRAINS Behind These Biographies!

Fab Finalists!

Here are our Junior Boys Basketball Division Finalists!

Their good sportsmanship make them worthy examples to represent Nelson Mandela Park anywhere they go!

Premium Team!

Send our team your words of encouragement!

Em POWER this HOUR !!! Earth needs our help!

What if YOU did NOTHING, when there was something
you COULD do?????

How will you feel, when you look out your window in Regent Park at 8:31pm - see all the windows dark around you, and know that yours is showing dark back at them all?!!!

Earth Hour, by M and R, grade 5, room 20 and 16

For Earth Hour this year, Nelson Mandela kids will go Global! We will be shutting off our lights in school on Friday, and at home on Saturday night. We will be showing the world that every LITTLE BIT each person does can contribute to the BIG change the world needs if we are going to survive.

Global warming is ruining the earth. If our climate gets warmer, the polar ice will melt, our coastlines will shrink, our barren deserts will grow, and people and animals will die without enough food and water.

People need to be much, much more careful with their energy. We can't keep burning so much wood, gasoline or coal that dirty the air and trap the sun's heat IN our atmosphere.

Earth Hour is on March 28th from 8:30 to 9:30. Governments and people all over the world, more than 84 countries, have promised to take part! Now, again, TORONTO's big buildings will go dark.

Go ahead, look out your window, and you will see the lights go off.

Will you turns yours off too?

Check out these links to learn more about climate change, and the reasons why observing EARTH HOUR is so urgent!

Earth Hour in Toronto

Greenhouse Effect - Junior kids (easier)

Polar Bears - Junior kids (harder)

Climate Change - Junior kids (harder)

Global Warming - Big kids, see presentation

Detective Game/Climate Change (a lot of reading)

The Event of the Season!

RETHINK: What you drink #6

These guys are going to the store.... what will they choose???

Special thanks to our movie "extra" who agreed to be cast as the cashier at the last moment!

RETHINK - What You Drink #5

Sometimes a RAP is worth a thousand words....Let this one persuade you to make healthy choices!

Let them know you heard their message!

RETHINK - What You Drink #4

When you go shopping for things to quench yur thirst, stay away from these!

RETHINK - What You Drink # 3

Here's what water can do for you! Choose it when you are thirsty....

RETHINK - What You Drink #2

Hop on Pop Soda Pop Company executives want to sell you their goods!!!
But is it GOOD?
Will you fall for their wily advertising????
Listen to what they have to say about their "wonderful" product....

What would you like to tell these guys about their hard-sell advertising?

RETHINK - What You Drink! #1

Eltaydon, the cow, persuades you to drink MILK! Click on the pic to hear "him" speak!


Do you recognise this cow from his voices?

FAIR, where? There, at NMPPS, that's where!

Follow the examples of "Team 15" as they show you how fairness makes everyone happier and safer at our school!

A podcast about an incident to be aware of.....

These articulate students express their feelings about a danger that happened recently in their neighborhood. They write in prose and read dramatic poetry. They give thoughtful ideas to other youngsters about how to stay safe when an unsavoury and possibly dangerous man is following children. To listen, click on this photo.....

Photo from Royalty free iStockphoto.com

Who knows what we can achieve....?

Mr. Ng's grade 6 students are ready to move mountains. Listen carefully to the lyrics they so beautifully sing, and hear their commitment ring out loud and clear.



If you would like to let them know how their song affected you, click comments, below, and leave your message. Remember to use your first name in the "name/url" window

Be safe in winter and don’t forget to have fun!!!

Hi. I'm Mahara, and I have some tips to follow if you want to stay safe during winter weather.

Click on the picture, and then click play, to hear my podcast!

The Birth of Change: Quote Contest and Watch Obama's Inaugural Speech

"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so we can all fly."
by Jay-Z

From the text and your own ideas, using RASER, explain what the quote means to you.
Ballot buckets for every grade division are located in the office on the front counter for students to drop off their answers.
Elizabeth will announce winners at the end of the week!
Thanks everyone for your participation!

The department of our own school board who want to make sure that own schools become more and more equitable are encouraging us to see Barack Obama's inaugural speech.

It is said, on their website:

"The events south of the border give us cause to celebrate the triumph of human decency over personal attack, social justice over implicit bias, and hope over fear. I believe that out of this unique experience comes an appreciation that difference is the lifeblood of a dynamic society. We do not merely tolerate diversity, but accept, respect, and celebrate it, recognizing that in an increasingly global society, it is our diversity that will be the underpinning of our social and economic success. Are we up to the challenge of addressing the attitudes, beliefs, and actions we know create barriers for certain segments of our population in order to inspire success in our most marginalized students? ---YES WE CAN!!"

To link up to this website, and to view the speech, click on the post title, above. Please leave us a sense of how this speech affected your thinking about your life, here in Regent Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - or wherever you live in this global village. Click on comments, below to join our discussion.

Mandela kids observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day

To view students' I Have a Dream Poems!

.........click comments, below

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established to honour Martin Luther King Jr. because he worked to make sure that the rights of African-Americans and other minorities were put into place.

After his death, legislation was put forward to make a day to honour King. Many people liked the idea but lots of people didn’t because they felt he should not be the only person who was honoured for fighting against racism.

When the day wasn’t made, many people protested by signing a petition. Six million signed it!

The first Martin Luther King Jr. Day was on January 20, 1986. Arizona only approved the holiday after a tourist boycott to protest because Arizona did not have the day.

Why don’t you make a poster about Martin Luther King Jr. to display in our hallways?

by Nadia and Aisha

Speak Out! in Poetry

Writing a poem is a powerful way to express your thoughts - quickly, persuasively, dramatically and uniquely. As we learned, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child absolutely gives you the right to think for yourself and speak out when you have something important on your mind. It says you have the right to be heard.

Here, you have a forum, which means a discussion space.

In my mind, 3 things make a mockery of the rights of children in many places in the world:

1] Poverty
2] War
3] Devastation of the Earth

Use your own VOICE, "loud and clear" to make others understand what one of these issues means to YOU.

Or choose another world concern that you feel passionate about.

Post your poem here for others around the world to read.

Room 4 and the Peace Tree

A Special Visit to Room 8!

We were reading a story called The Mitten.

There was a hedgehog in the story.

We didn't know what a hedgehog was, because there aren't any of them in Canada.

So WIMZ brought us two hedgehogs, Ruby and Roscoe, to visit.

We touched them, and they felt like hairbrushes!

We get to do cool things in our class!

Click on the post title to find out facts about hedgehogs.......

Children Everywhere Have Rights

In 1989, the United Nations (see video) decided to officially decree that children everywhere in the world have the same indisputable rights.
Click on Nelson Mandela's picture, . Read his words.



Click on this poster to read what CHILDREN reported in 2005 about the world's progress on their behalf.


Get together in pairs. Using what you have just learned, talk to each other and
1] list the rights you remember
2] decide the most important part of what Mr. Mandela said....
3] recount what the CHILDREN say still needs to happen....

Write these things down in a way that suits you both.

------- ------- ------- -------

Now, it is 2008. You are a thoughtful, intelligent student in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Compose a note to Mr. Mandela and adults all over the world. (Remember, you are speaking to the whole WWW.) In it, state what is most important to you, what your own experiences have made you believe, and what you think needs to happen. (Remember to use R.A.S.E.R. as you reply.)

Put this note in "comments" below. Make sure to proof your note, and use you first name only.

Through Shaka's Lens: Gym Time, Fall '08

Catch a glimpse of the fun and spirit of Mandela Kids (kindergarten to grade 5) as they learn and play during phys. ed. with Mr. Abdul-Rashid.

"Rising Every Time" Get your issue here!!

85 fabulous authors in one issue!

Read about the changes coming to Regent Park, our annual Film Festival, life in Kenya, water conservation and much much more! For best viewing, click right on the front page image, below. Then click the 4-way green arrows at the top of the screen to see the full screen view.

Get your own - Open publication

Leave your opinions about articles that pushed your buttons, in the comments section (click below)

Forest of Reading..... Best on the Bookshelves!!

This year, there are some great books on the list under the Blue Spruce, Silver Birch and Red Maple trees.

Our librarians can help you find the one you want to start with.....maybe you'll read them all, from now through April. Go have a good talk with the teacher who has read that same book, and compare notes on everything you liked and didn't. Get yourself registered so you can vote at the end of the program. Then talk about your book right here: click comments, below. Influence your classmates to read your favourites!

Cozy up in the cold and stormy weather months with popcorn and a good book!

Click on the title of this post to explore the FOREST online!

Come on, Teddies!

See anyone here you know?



Please let us know what you liked best about this funny, fabulous, family time! Click comments, below. Make sure to include your first name.

Future Technology!

In the future, people might invent environmentally friendly transportation that is faster and better, or something to help global warming from coming. Right now, people are trying to not waste electricity. In the future, people are trying to make a windmill to give electricity. Here is how it works:
1. The wind blows to the windmill.
2. The windmill conducts energy to the generator.

3.The generator turns it into electricity.

4. The street wires connect to the homes.
5. The homes get electricity.
In my opinion, I think this is a good idea because it saves a lot of ELECTRICITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Madeeha

Room 13's Mysterious New Friend!

Hi, its Nahin and Emily from room 13. We just wanted to tell you about our teacher Ms. Burton. She is going to have a baby! Do you know what it will be? It’s going to be a girl! We love Ms. Burton because she is a very nice teacher and she lets us have free time sometimes! We wish her a happy time with the new baby, and we hope she comes back soon!

A (Not Really) Green Holiday Season?

A lot of children usually get gifts in the Winter Holiday season. Gifts cause garbage and so many things we buy this time of year cause pollution in some way. Here are some tips (from Andrew Nisker) about how to be more environmentally friendly this year:

1. Forget wrapping paper. Use newspaper from the recycling bin so you're not killing more trees, and you're causing less pollution. Put the gift in a box, wrap it in old clothes or an "old" bag.

2. Goodbye to Xmas trees. Instead of using a lot of water and fertilizer to grow the tree, and then having the tree shipped to where you buy it...don't buy the tree and hide the gifts around the house for a fun Hide 'n Seek/Scavenger Hunt game!

3. Don't use paper plates and plastic cutlery. While it makes more tidying up and water pollution to use real china and cutlery, it cuts down on the waste and garbage that ends up in landfills.

4. Be selective. Instead of giving toys/gifts, how about gift cards, subscriptions to a cool website, tickets to a concert or movie, a meal at a favourite restaurant, or giving a book or DVD that you really liked?

5. No cards. There are lots of websites where you can send free e-cards, and there are no trees being killed or factories running to print the cards.

6. A greeting tree. A tree in a common area (school, community centre) where families put up one card for everyone, instead of cards for each friend in the neighbourhood.

7. Shop online. Instead of driving around, polluting the environment and getting stressed, sit down in front of the computer to do your shopping. Wear your pyjamas and stay warm at home. Often shopping online costs less than being in the store to buy it. No lineups to check out either!

8. Buy local. Buy homemade products from a local farmers market. Shop at local stores instead of driving far away to buy a gift. Try not to support items being shipped from far away, causing lots of pollution along the way.

9. Holiday lights. Sure lights look great around the home or tree, but they're wasteful and not environmentally friendly. Replace older lights with newer energy efficient ones. Put your lights on a timer, so they're not going 24 hours a day - when you're out or asleep.

10. Give a gift to somebody who really needs it. Find a charity that does good work and feel good about making a donation to them, and someone who may need the gift more than you.

Mahara, Hana, Aisha and David AKA Mr. K.

What thoughts or suggestions do you have about how to be more "green" this jolly golly holiday season?

Kindness thrives at NMPPS!

December 's Character Matters theme is kindness and caring.

Room 25 shows you what this looks and sounds like around our school

and in the world outside our doors.

When you've looked at their presentation, send them a comment - click below.

Mandela Kids "remember" Dec. 6

We commemorate the fourteen young women engineering students who were murdered at École Polytechnique in Montreal on December 6, 1989
and
all women who are victims of violence
on our National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

We will all attend our school's annual assembly this Thursday, Dec. 4.
We have completed a Webquest, and we know quite a bit about the issues. Here are our responses.....