Bird Inquiry

Last week the students of Room 108 were thrilled to see the birds flying in the sky which started our BIRD inquiry!

We began by brainstorming ideas of what we know about birds.

We then began watching a few YouTube video’s on Birds creating nests and taking care of their babies. We documented how to build our OWN nests! The students were FASCINATED and cannot WAIT to find out more! Check out National Geographic Kids and YouTube to find out some great video's on birds!

We went for a nature walk and collected items that we can use to create our very OWN nests in class.

Branavan brought in a birds nest that he had found in his backyard this winter and the students loved checking out and observing how it was structured. 

Stay tuned as we will continue our exploration of Birds and transform our Dramatic Learning Centre into a Bird Inquiry Centre.

Start the discussion at home – talk to you student about what we are learning about birds, what they want to learn and try to find some resources/books that they can read/watch to tell us about in class!

CHECK out OUR WRITING

The SK students have been focusing on WRITING and have been working on writing words and sentences by sounding out each letter. Here are some examples of how our writing is developing!

Introduction to Measurement

Measurement:

The students of Room 108 have been exploring different forms of Measurement such as: length, height, capacity and weight. Our introductory lesson we brainstormed various Math Words to describe size, the students came up with: Huge, big, tall, short, ginormous! We have been focusing on Non-Standard Units for the last few weeks.

Books that we have read to support our learning:

In-Class Activities Included:
-Measuring length using our feet
-Measuring objects in the classroom using various materials such as markers, blocks etc…
-Measuring our own feet using various materials such as stickers, marshmellows etc…

-We have been exploring capacity in both the Sand and Water Tables (containers, comparing big with small containers)

-Comparing each other's heights and trying to estimate how much we weigh

-Organizing each other from tallest to shortest

Curriculum Expectations: 

M2.1 compare and order two or more objects according to an appropriate measure (e.g., length, mass, area, temperature, capacity) and use measurement terms (e.g., hot/cold for temperature, small/medium/large for capacity, longer/shorter or thicker/thinner for length)

M2.2 demonstrate, through investigation, an awareness of non-standard measuring devices (e.g., feet, hand spans, string, or cubes to measure length; hand claps to measure time; scoops of water or sand to measure capacity) and standard measuring devices (e.g., measuring cups at the water and sand centre, balance scales at the block centre) and strategies for using them (e.g., place common objects end to end to measure the length of the classroom; use cubes to plan the length of a road at the sand table or the block centre; use footsteps to measure the distance between the door and the sink)

M2.3 demonstrate, through investigation, a beginning understanding of non-standard units that are the same type (e.g., straws, paper clips) but not always the same size

Our Letter to Robert Munsch

We are excited to be writing a letter to Robert Munsch who we had e-mailed a few weeks ago. When we e-mailed him he contacted us asking for a class letter! Branavan is a HUGE fan of Robert Munsch and showed great interest in contacting him to express how much Room 108 loves his books! We are hoping to get a response soon (and hopefully an unpublished book about Room 108). 

STARTING OUR SPRING SCIENCE INQUIRY

Last Tuesday, Shemar from Room 108 asked if we could plant his plum seed. This sparked some GREAT questions and we decided to use this opportunity to begin our SPRING INQUIRY focusing on planting seeds and watching them grow. We brainstormed ideas of what is going to happen to the seed and what we need to do to take care of the seed.

How does the seed feel? 
"Prickly and Hard"
"It's not smooth"

What we know: 
"The seed needs SUN" -Leah
"The seed needs dirt [soil]" -Marquis 
"TIME" -Stella

What we want know: 
What will it look like? 
How long will it take?

The Empty Pot is a great story that not only focuses on the importance of Honesty (Our Character Trait for the month) but also on seeds and how they grow. 

Room 108 continues PATTERNING:

Creating Patterned Necklaces....The students of Room 108 have been working in a centre creating a patterned necklace as their culminating task for patterning. This was a great activity for not only patterning for the fine-motor development as the students were required to carefully thread the yarn into the hole of the button.

Our Success Criteria:
-I can pick out different shapes/colours
-I can find my core pattern
-I can repeat my pattern more than 1 time
-I can carefully thread the yarn through the buttons
-I can explain my pattern to my friends and teachers

-I can name my pattern using A, B, C, D

A book that we watched was "Beep, Beep, Vroom, Vroom" by Stuart J. Murphy. This book focuses on patterns and re-arranging the materials you have to create different patterns. The students were able to name all patterns using A, B, C, D. Try it at home! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2VCdmhoMOs

We used cars to create our own patterns just like in the story! The students LOVED using the different materials to create their own repeating patterns.

Introduction to Patterning:

We have been exploring patterns, the students were introduced to patterns and have begun to find patterns in their clothes, the classroom and continuing patterns that I have presented. After our introduction, we discussed naming patterns using letters such as “A,B,B” and we will focus on this for the next week.

The students were asked to wear patterns to school. We discussed what type of repeated patterns we were waiting and practiced naming the patterns. 

Math Centres included:

 Art Activity: The students saw patterns in ANIMALS and then made Animal Puppets with Ms. Saplala that had patterns.