Our Terrarium

This afternoon we created a terrarium. We put gravel and soil into a container and then went on an exploration of things to put inside. We found some worms, centipedes and other insects. The students are looking forward to further observing what happens in our terrarium.

Looking for some insects.

Finding some insects.

Putting the insects into our temporary container.

Our terrarium is now at our Science Table for students to explore and make observations and predictions.

Meet Our Beetle

Ms. Blakely brought in a larva for our students. We put it into an empty container and before the students knew it, the larva hatched into a beetle! There was much excitement within the classroom and many of our students became little scientists who recorded what they saw, what they thought and what they were still wondering.

Our Beetle - he seems to like to spend a lot of time on his back - but he is alive!

M.C. recorded what she saw, thought and wondered. She said "I see a beetle on it's back, I think beetles move slowly and I wonder if the beetle has any friends". 

We spoke about the life cycle of a beetle and left some books about insects at the Science Centre for the students.

Using a magnify glass to see the beetle better.

Taking a close look at our new friend, the beetle!

Some More Math

Although we extend and build on the interests of the students, we have begun to do some instruction with patterning. We began by using the students to make patterns (sitting, standing up, sitting, standing up or boy, girl, boy, girl etc). Today we used some manipulatives to make patterns.

Students were given unifix cubes to make patterns.

R.T. said that her pattern was "red, red, brown, brown, red

, red, brown, brown".

S.M. explained to some of her friends that she made pattern that was "blue, red, red, blue, red, red".

G.F. said that his pattern was "white, yellow, white, yellow".

Soon we will do some school and neighbourhood walks to discover the patterns that are all around us.

Reading Buddies

The students have become reading buddies with the Grade 4/5 class. We have partnered one or two kindergarten students with a Grade 4/5 student. Each week we meet with the Grade 4/5 class and the students enjoy reading with their buddy. This is a great opportunity for everyone. The kindergartens get to know some older students in the school and are so happy when their reading buddy sees them throughout the day at school. It is also a great opportunity for the Grade 4/5, as they take a leadership role and it builds their confidence when reading to the younger students. We look forward to not only reading with our reading buddies, but also participating in various activities with them throughout the school year.

The Barber/Beauty Salon is Very Popular

The Barber/Beauty Salon was open for business early this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     The students were busy taking appointments that they received on their phone. We are encouraging students to write down the appointments.  

  

Some customers finally arrived. They had their hair and nails done.  

 Another customer arrived and had her nails painted. Here she is getting ready to get her cape on for her hair appointment.

Another customer was getting her makeup done by one of the stylist!

At the end of the day, the students wrote a letter from the class to Mrs. Fernandez asking her to come and visit their salon. As you can see there is a lot of learning taking place at our drama centre.

Math

The students are engaging in math all around the classroom!

 Some students have been busy sorting materials left at the math centre. A.K. enjoyed looking at the books at the math centre. Afterwards, he found some buttons and sorted them using an ice cube tray. A.K. said "I sorted the buttons by size".

We found G.D. sorting plastic circles at the light table. She told us: "I sorted the circles by the different colours".

 

L.M. made a pattern using glass stones that she found at the writing centre.

  

When we asked S.M. what she was making with the stones she said "It's 1 + 2 = 3". When we looked more carefully she had one stone, made a plus size using the stones, had another 2 stones, made an equal sign and then had 3 stones! So clever!





So as you can see the students have been very creative in the ways they have been exploring math around the classroom.

Barber/Hair/Beauty Salon

Our students opened their Barber/Hair Salon today! It was very exciting.



















Appointments were made. 

Some students went to the nail salon to get their nails done.

Other students made appointments to get their make-up done.

Some had their hair coloured. 

 

A few were provided with all the services from the salon!

 

 In the next few weeks we look forward to expanding our Barber Shop/Hair/Beauty Salon. Please let us know if you know of a barber and/or hairdresser that could come in to speak to our class about their job. Thanks!