We have been talking about ourselves and what makes us unique. We talked about our names, and then moved on to what we love most about ourselves.
We read the book, The Best Part of Me - Children talk about their bodies in pictures and words by Wendy Ewald.
Then we drew and wrote about what our best part of us was!
We learned a lot about spiders over the past weeks!
We surveyed our friends to find out if they were afraid of spiders.
We learned how to tally and to count our tally marks. We also learned how to analyse and interpret data.
Most students in our class are not afraid of spiders! Yay -- because spiders are very helpful!
We then read the book When We Were Alone and we talked about how some children had to leave their families to go to schools. We talked about the unfairness, and how we would feel if we had to wear the same clothes every day and never got to wear our own clothes. How would we feel if a teacher cut our hair off? If we weren’t allowed to say hello to our brothers and sisters at school?
We finished by talking about what every child needs and deserves.
First we learned about Terry Fox, and then we wrote about why we think Terry is a hero!
Firstly - we apologize to the parents for sending your children home with so much mud on them this week. But we have had SO MUCH FUN! Not one child has complained about playing in the rain this week. (We really try to monitor the wetness and come inside before they are cold). The only time we are a bit cold is when we are hand sanitizing before we put our masks on to come inside, but that can't be avoided. Maybe when it is colder, the children will want to keep their masks on to keep their faces warm?
Our mittens are on and off multiple times when we are outside. Please make sure that your child can put on their own mittens!
We explored the "rivers" the water was making as it flowed off the pavement into the yard. We explored the mud and found it fascinating that it could be piled up, but it was still "ooey gooey". We found that if we pulled our feet quickly out of the mud, our boots might stay in the mud, but if we pulled our feet slowly, the mud "let go". We discovered that mud with sand and woodchips in it is less "dirty" than the mud near the trees. So much learning has happened this week!
A less muddy day :) The sand bucket line up (our repurposed sand buckets are much more durable than any "real" sand buckets that we have purchased). We are each responsible for our own sand bucket. If you leave it outside, it might disappear and you won't have one to use the next day.
Thank you parents for sending extra clothes (extra socks and mittens are so helpful)! We are so impressed with the flexibility and adaptability that our whole class shows.
The importance of outdoor play!
(click on the above image to see it larger!)
We have been listening to, reading, and acting out Going on a Bear Hunt with Ms. Lilakos (who has been replacing Mr. Drew for the past month or so).
(watch it on Safetube HERE)(no ads)
We did some "unplugged" coding of the story.
The concept that we are learning here is sequencing. The students can already tell the story in sequence. Now they have to explain how to get from Home to the Cave (and back again!) by using arrows to show the directions they need to go. We can go left, right, up, or down (up and down are easy - we don't expect them to verbalize left and right, but they should be able to point the arrows in the proper direction). The tricky part is when we have to change direction - up, then right, for example. We can use two arrows on top of each other, or use the turn cards.
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ABOVE -- we created our sequence code in a pocket chart. We left home and traveled 2 pockets to the right.>> . Then we were at the Long Wavy Grass. We left the long wavy grass and turned upward to the Deep Cold River. We left the Deep Cold River and traveled up and turned left and then went one pocket left to the Thick Oozy Mud. Then we went up and turned left toward the Big Dark Forest. We went one more pocket to the left and reached the Big Dark Forest. Then we went up and turned right, and went right one more pocket to the Swirling Whirling Snowstorm. Then we went up and turned right, and went one more pocket to the right, and we were at the Narrow Gloomy Cave. YIKES! A BEAR!!! Run!
BELOW -- we did the trip in reverse! But note: our path on the way home was different than our path on the way to the cave. The children chose their paths (both are correct)
We will continue coding some maps (and just drawing maps). Maybe we will find treasure!
