Our next Unit of Inquiry is all about caring for the living things in our environment and in general. We have not yet formally introduced the unit however we have slowly started to introduce the students to ideas and concepts related to the unit. This is our little vet office, there are doctor's tools, animals, x-ray images. Before taking this picture, I asked the students what they were doing to the dog. They informed me that they were cutting the dog, so a surgery was happening, because the dog's stomach hurt due to a key being in his stomach. They had been closely observing the x-rays that are on the board and came up with this on their own! They are really enjoying playing pretend in this dramatic play center! Lots of learning is happening here, and by observing their play, I am able to assess some of their knowledge around the topic. They are also learning to cooperate, communicate and problem solve as they work together to help the sick animals.
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Yesterday's English class was full of a phenomenal amount of learning, questioning, observations and connections. Now all this seems like a lot, especially when I tell you that most of our English class was reading the book pictured below. The evidence of all this learning not only comes from the thoughtful discussion interwoven through the pages of this book but also from the following day where students applied their learning to a completely different activity. Three sight words were added to Mme Andrea's sight word chart but whether or not each student recognizes the sounds that form the word and can then read it is not the important part, it is the understanding of what those words mean that is of greater value here. Ask your child about hibernation, adaptation and migration...they'll have something interesting to say I'm sure! This morning, after our regular circle time, we embarked upon our most grueling task yet, cleaning the fish tank. This is no exaggeration! Everyone played an essential role in this task and worked so incredibly well as a team, I am very pleased and as were all the kids once our job was done. Everyone was happy to help, which is great as the tank is part of our class and, together, we have the responsibility of keeping everything in our class clean, organised and in good condition! The most exciting part of this was the new fish we got!
We already have classroom responsibilities and the fish and their home will now be added to the list. It is a great way to learn about caring for living things. Unfortunately, in this process, we lost the fish that was living in the tank, I'm sure you'll hear about it at home! I'm not sure we are all in agreement on the names of our new fish, but once we are, we'll let you know!
A fantastic morning spent at the Canadian Nature Museum! The first part of the morning was spent in a workshop all about beavers and their habitats. We reinforced some things we already knew about beavers and learned some new things as well. Did you know that a beavers four front teeth have an orangey yellowish colour? Ask your child why that is!
After our workshop, we decided to explore some of the exhibits and displays in the museum, why not?! We had a chance look at the mammal exhibit, which was perfect since we were just talking about mammals! Then, we took a look at some pretty awesome dinosaur displays. A great morning, I'm sure the drive there was fun as well, everything is fun when you're 5 and 6 years old! After talking about the different animal categories and, more specifically, what makes mammals, mammals, the kids got to work looking for animals in the books in our class. They wrote down the name of animals they found in the books and placed them in the appropriate category. When they were unsure, they analysed the animal, looked at what was written about that animal in the book and determined where it should be placed. We talked about some of the characteristics of the animals and how that could determine their habitat. We definitely knew that animals with lots and lots of fur and fat probably lived in a cold climate!
What better way to understand how a polar bear stays warm in the arctic cold! Before starting our experiment, I asked the students how they think polar bears keep warm. Some of the answers included lots of fur, moving around and staying in the sun. All great answers! Now, how about that thick layer of fat?
The question before we started: Can fat keep you warm? We covered one hand with lard and then stuck both hands in a bowl of ice cold water. How long do you think we were able to keep the uncovered hand in the water?! Not very long at all but the hand covered in fat was as warm as can be. It was pretty exciting to realize just how warm the fat kept our hands! |
Welcome to the daily life of Académie de la Capitale's Junior / Senior Kindergarten class! We hope you enjoy this window into our classroom as much as we enjoy sharing it!Archives
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