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!

Movie Mania!

We suspect that over the holidays, many families went to the theatre. The children were talking a lot about movies, and from here, we decided to open a new dramatic play centre.

In terms of materials needed for new centre, popcorn was a high ticket item. We gathered up some kraft paper bags, writing tools, and white tissue paper. The children were once again, encouraged...

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

Literacy is immersed into the program, as the children sound out the word popcorn and record the letters they hear. 

The tissue paper was balled up to form the popcorn!

In order to purchase items from the canteen, the children put their creativity to work, and made purses.

The children enjoyed selecting the movie that they wanted to watch - recorded on sheets that were displayed in the centre. With tickets in hand, popcorn bags and 3D glasses, our theatre was hopping with activity!

Thanks for visiting the atelier.

Sugaring off Season

Proulx Maple Farm

Full Day Kindergarten has been full of new beginnings for the little ones, and for educators. We planned our first field trip this spring, and braved the prospect of ushering 4 year olds into "porta-potties". Never, in a million years, could I imagine embarking on this journey without the help from volunteers. I am truly grateful! Thank you!

Around the time we first started planning the trip, I was in my local hardware store and spotted the supplies needed to tap your own trees. If we had mature maple trees on our yard, I would have attempted to try our hand at it. Nonetheless, I picked up those supplies and brought them to class to pique their curiosity. Mission accomplished.

Demonstrating how they think the
bucket hangs from the tree

Exploring the spile

We read a few books on the topic of sugaring off, and were surprised to learn that it takes 40 buckets of sap to produce 1 bucket of yummy, golden syrup. 

40!

That's a big number! We took time during Focus Groups to explore that number.

Counting out 4 rows of 10 

Counting to ensure there are really 40

Using tens frames and bottle caps to count to 40.

Using blocks & tens frames to represent 40

Our learning carried over to the water table, where it magically turned 

into an "evaporator".  We wondered if the "evaporator" had the 

capacity to hold 40 buckets worth of sap. 

Estimates were recorded, then we explored!

Literacy & Numeracy at play

That's a lot of "sap"!

How do we get sap flowing through the spile?

Taking a tally during centre time

By the time our field trip rolled around, the children were so excited. Proulx Farm had a lot to offer! A presentation outside identified the way sap has been collected throughout history.

Left (large wooden spile and bucket out of a log)

Right (small wooden spile and bucket out of wood)








Left (metal spile and bucket)

Right (plastic spile and aluminum bucket, OR tubing running from tree to tree)

 A tour inside of the sugar shack demonstrated how the sap is boiled at a high temperature in an evaporator, and syrup is produced. The smell was heavenly! We could smell the wood smoke as we approached, and from within, there was a sweet aroma!

Rustic "Sugar Shack" 

Evaporator at work

Steam rising up, beyond the rafters

A connection was made to the water cycle (evaporation) as we watched the steam rise up and out of the building. 

It was a full day! We enjoyed our pancakes and smothered them in delicious maple syrup - what a treat! Then we took a wagon ride back to the play structures and animal barn. A few of our little friends fell asleep on the bus ride home. What a terrific first field trip, and sugaring off season!

Thank you for visiting our atelier.

Setting the Stage

We were very lucky to be an audience for "Blues in the School" this week. Each morning we attended a performance by celebrated musical artists - some nominated for Juno Awards! Each presentation was quite different, and the children were exposed to some fantastic live music!

This experience transferred back to the classroom, as the children created their own centre to celebrate their learning and music appreciation. We brainstormed what resources we would need to create a centre. It was determined that we needed a stage and microphones. They were off to the races!

"GOOS" paper (Good On One Side), paint brushes, primary pencils, 

and laundry detergent lids were used to create microphones.

The stage was constructed using the big wooden blocks.

However, there was some disappointment that hammers and nails could not be used to make the stage more stable. The children presented me with the problem, and had a solution to suggest. Tape.

 Tape proved to be somewhat successful!

Abandoned microphone on stage

Once the stage was constructed, the children were eager to prepare more for their performances. Chairs were assembled and the audience fell into place! Some members of the audience provided percussion for the performances. In some cases, catering was provided by our class "kitchen".

A friend clapping and providing percussion

Performing at the "Blues" centre

The song "Strong Mama" draws an audience

The children continue to grab microphones and perform a variety of tunes, including:

Let It Go

Rock n' Roll Snowman

There Was a Moose

Twinkle Twinkle

Old MacDonald

 ... and our feature "Blues" song of the week: Strong Mama .

Creativity! A bin of child created microphones.

Grab a microphone from the bin, and click on the link above to 

hear Eric Litwin's song Strong Mama. Enjoy!

Thanks for dropping by the atelier.