We are learning to be builders

Our class is suddenly in a building frenzy! After some students showed an interest in making towers, we decided to make a new learning goal for our play time:

We are learning to be builders.

The first criteria for being a good builder is: I can build strong and steady.

We talked about the importance of a good foundation and asked students to study their basements at home.

With this new knowledge, the buildings are falling down less and are more sturdy.

Our students are thinking carefully about what and how they build.

They are starting to make plans.

And they are using creative solutions to support their structures. Here, Jamie used a T support beam to hold up two blocks that formed the roof.

The towers are starting to morph into structures with roofs, walls, and rooms.

This is inquiry in action!

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Sharing a meal is a basic ritual in all societies around the world. Preparing food and breaking bread together is a powerful bonding tool. As our class begins to consolidate its new sense of community, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with a home made meal.

We started by gathering some of nature's bounty and using them to decorate our room.

Each child brought a handful of veggies to contribute to our soup pot. Inspired by the traditional tale of Stone Soup, we also added a Wishing Stone to the pot.

Some of the veggies were chopped up into smaller pieces. The children were proud of the precision and attention they needed to be successful at this task.

When we added water to the pot, some students noticed how the mushrooms, onions, and zucchini floated, while the carrots and potatoes sank.

While that bubbled away, our volunteer Sarah helped us make some delicious cheese bread. 

After setting the tables, it was time to eat. Ryan got the Wishing Stone!

After lunch, the children demonstrated responsibility and washed their own dish.

It was wonderful to celebrate Thanksgiving with our generous, kind, and loving class. Thanks for Thanksgiving!

Farewell Chemo!

Today was the special day for Maci and her family. She took her very last dose of oral chemo this morning!

We began our celebrations today by decorating the classroom and icing the cupcakes together. As we worked on the cupcakes, we chatted about how we were learning patience, fine motor control, waiting our turns, and sharing.

Once we got the party started in the afternoon, it was a lot of attention for our little Maci to handle! She was excited her Pedal For Hope officer John Townsend was there, but a little shy too. At first, she watched the dancing from behind the rocking chair.

(Sorry about the fuzzy pictures...)

After a while though, she warmed up and started celebrating with us.

Her and her mom made some yummy snacks for us to go along with the cupcakes.

At the end of the day, we were filled with happiness and pride in Maci's accomplishment. We were also proud of our class coming together to support a member of our community.

Way to go Maci!

Cupcakes

In preparation for Maci's Farewell to Chemo party tomorrow, we baked some mini cupcakes. What flavour? Rainbow Chip of course!

As we measured, poured and stirred, the children learned about:

-sequencing

-reading and following picture instructions

-measurement

-hand-eye coordination

-taking turns and co-operating

-caring for a community member

Do you bake with children at home? What are your favourite things to make together?

Goin' on a letter hunt

Learning the alphabet is not just about learning the letter names (although that is important too). It's paramount that children start to see letters as a vehicle for language, as the building blocks of communication. The first step is to start recognizing letters in authentic contexts, and to start interacting with text in the environment.

To start this process, we took about half of the class out for a "Letter Hunt". The other half will get a chance soon.

 

It took a few moments, but the children began to recognize letters everywhere! They felt very important as they recorded their findings on clipboards.

They even found letters on shoes and clothes.

After hunting high and low for letters, we had a quick lesson about how letters work. The children learned that letters are just symbols for a sound, and we use the sounds to make words.

Why don't you try out a letter hunt at home?