The Earth has Music ...

Every year, for the last 10 years, Castor Valley has created an art gallery for Education Week. The theme for this year's gallery was inspired by a quote from William Shakespeare:

"The earth has music for those who listen."

We went on a nature walk around the school property, and listened for the sounds of nature. The children heard geese honking and the wind blowing through the long grasses and tree branches. Then, the students noticed the bird houses mounted on each fence post.

They were dismayed to see the houses falling apart, knowing that the birds could no longer nest there. Maybe if the bird houses were fixed, the birds would sing. Then the bird songs would be the music of the earth! Aha! The project was born... the bird houses inspired our gallery display.

We took some bird houses down from the posts, and brought them inside to see if they could be salvaged. We took the pieces apart to inspect, and clean. They need to be cleaned every year in order to attract birds. The wood needed a little bit of weather proofing, and we looked in our bird house book to make sure that we could safely paint it.

The children helped screw the pieces back together. They loved using the "Red Robbie" and soon we had another centre set up with chunks of scrap 2x4, wood screws and screw drivers. We also integrated some literacy, when we compared nails to screws.

We also worked on creating some collage song birds, to add to the visual effect of our gallery installment.

With some help from a local farmer, we acquired some posts to put our refurbished bird houses on display. And voila!

                                                     

The children hope to hear the song of the swallows, as they make their new homes in the bird houses. Soon, we will be taking these houses back outside and we will listen to the music. In the meantime, the display sits in our sunny foyer. So much learning went into this project! It was a wonderful process - process art.

Thank you for visiting our atelier.

La Cabane à Sucre

This spring, the maple trees have an abundance of "extra" sap to give to those who are willing to put in the long hours of collecting, boiling and bottling. The children have been coming to school telling us tales about their weekend visits to local sugar shacks, and spending time with family and friends who continue the tradition of tapping sugar maples. It is an exciting time of year, marked by the warm days and cold nights that ensure a steady flow of sap.

At school, we have turned our water table into a maple syrup evaporator. Our sap pail hangs within reach, as the children count to 40 and little hands steadily fill the bucket, only to dump it into the evaporator again. It takes a whopping 40 containers of sap to boil down to 1 container of syrup. 40:1

We explored the spile, that gets hammered into the tree. We were curious ....

How does the sap get in the spile?  Ahhh. There is a hole.

Why is the hole on the bottom?

The children turned to their neighbour to "talk" and share ideas. We never underestimate the critical reasoning of a 4 year old. The sap rises up from the bottom of the tree! Ask them to demonstrate! (*early concept development of xylem and phloem - highschool biology!)

And since the children can never get enough of the block centre, we took a look at the design of a few sugar shacks. What do they have in common? We spoke about the difference between smoke and steam. Because there is so much evaporation that happens, the steam needs to escape the shack. The children broke into 'focus groups' and designed their own sugar shacks, keeping in mind the need for a vent, to allow steam to escape.

And of course, if you give a JK some maple syrup, chances are, they'll want some food to go with it. 

We brainstormed ideas for the kitchen, and we're impressed with their culinary skills! 

We love to see their creativity at play.

Thanks for stopping by the atelier!

Animal Exhibit

Prior to going on our field trip, we picked the childrens' brains to find out what they knew about the Canadian Museum of Nature. Many remembered seeing dinosaurs, a giant jelly fish, and lots of animals. Collectively, it was decided that we could have a museum right here, in our classroom.

We went with a "local animals" theme, and made a signs for our exhibit. I love this demonstration of "kid print". The children were supported as they listened for the sounds they heard in the word they wanted to print. We helped break the sounds down for them, then they represented those sounds with a letter (phonics). Our goal is create confidence, and allow the children to see themselves as writers.

The "museum exhibit" was a big attraction, and we decided to take their interest a step further in our small "focus groups". We went to the library and collected some resources, watched a few videos, and perused some non-fiction books. 

As mentioned in prior posts, I feel it is important that the JKs are exposed to many text forms, and that they have a general understanding of their various characteristics and purpose. With this in mind, we set out to do some animal research! 

Our research was broken down into 5 categories:

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Family

Interesting Facts

Working on the title page.

Note the "fancy" font! How creative!

Fast forward a few weeks ---- Easter was approaching, and I mused out loud, "I wish I knew somebody who had a rabbit."  Synchronicity! An on-site student; who is completing her practicum for her ECE degree (in our classroom), volunteered to bring in her very own : "Michaelangelo". Thank you! 

We set the stage for the children ...

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

For the students who are ready to "drite" (draw & write), these graphic organizers provided an opportunity to revisit the animal research we had practiced, weeks previous. We are so proud of the children, at every stage of their literacy development. It is a process and it is so exciting to see their confidence soar! 

Thanks for visiting our atelier!

Dino - might!

A few weeks back, we were able to take part in a workshop offered by Scientists in the Schools. Our Parent Council has been generously supporting this endeavour for a few years now, and we are very appreciative. This year, our workshop was titled, "I Can Be A Scientist". The children tried their hands at being Astronomers, Chemists, and Paleontologists.

While talking about our (then upcoming) field trip and exhibits at the Canadian Museum of Nature, the children renewed their interest in dinosaurs again, and the Paleontologists got to "work" with loose parts.

                                     

A stegosaurus footprint became the focus one morning, and we took advantage of the opportunity to revisit "tally marks" and "area" and "data management".

A display offered inspiration for the children to search and match characteristics of specific dinosaurs. The attributes of these different types were described, and oral communication was embellished with lots of adjectives. These detailed conversations will only enhance their writing down the road.

The dinosaur "exhibit" continues to be a hit...

... and encourages creativity.

Thanks for stopping by the atelier!