Tales of Three

Welcome back from spring break! Our week started with the 3 Little Kittens, and although they lost their mittens, they didn't need assistance from our Vet Clinic, which is still running strong! ( A "python" and a "dragon" came in today for some medical assistance).

We made a chart on ways that we could represent 3, and "spring boarded" from there into the tales of The 3 Little Pigs.

I am excited to show you how the children have been practicing their story retells. And I have to share that as I was driving into school one morning, I spotted a small load of hay that was dropped on the side of road.

That day I was inspired while reading our second version of the 3 Little Pigs, and being the scavenger that I am, that pile of hay made it into school the next day and was our provocation....

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

The hay adorned the house made my the first little pig.

Sticks were selected for the house made by the second little pig.

We then talked about how bricks are made. Clay? I just happened to have a package of clay sitting in my arts supplies, awaiting an inspired moment. What shapes are bricks? Rectangles, you say? The children got to "work".

Using a popsicle stick to help cut and shape the bricks.

Bricks are prepared for the house of the 3rd little pig.

The work of junior kindergarten is often tactile and stretches the imagination. I know the children will be excited to bring home their creations for a retell, but I am eager to have them displayed on our school bulletin board for a while. 

As always, thank you for visiting our atelier!

Dramatic Play

Knowing that the children relish dramatic play in the classroom, their interests and tangents are constant inspiration. While "Winterlude" was in full swing, the Hot Chocolate Shop was (and remains) a hit.

Two friends prepare for a day of business,

setting up their cups in the correct placement and order.

 

I had to work the crowd in order to get this photo opportunity.

Hot Chocolate and donuts are a "hot" commodity at this venue!

 

 

As the Hot Chocolate Shop remains popular, a new interest is emerging. I mentioned in our previous post about our fish, "Bluey", that stories of adopted dogs, sticky fur balls and wolf-pups inspired a recent transition from snow studies to animal interest. Perhaps it was also influenced by our read alouds, "Owen and Mzee", a  true story about the unlikely friendship between a 130 year old tortoise and baby hippo in Kenya, or "Little Pink Pup", a story about a piglet adopted by a dog and her litter. (Stories about animals that demonstrate kindness and caring =Valentines).

 

 

The animal interest remains strong with this group of children, and our recent "Show & Share" (which is ongoing), had the children bring in photos and stories of their beloved animals. I almost wish that we had started the year with this "unit", as the children are so keen to share. Who knew that cats love to drink from the toilet? Or that big dogs "toot" when they sit down? It is a non-stop comedic adventure! As the pictures and "tails" roll in, our bulletin board expands.

One board designated to "documenting"

the childrens' interests - their animals. 

 

Our morning message and letter/sound association has piqued the interest of some who are learning letters and some emergent readers (each at the perfect pace for them). When we sat down at circle with these emergent readers, "Animal School", I was so thrilled to hear them read......"I see a dog." "I see a pig."   You need to know that the ONLY thing I'd done is hand the books out! I hadn't modeled or read a word! I am so excited for the children to bring the book home to you.  



Our emergent reader, "Animal School". 

 

In the meantime, we also read a community workers book about veterinarians. This inspired our next dramatic play centre, and we brainstormed ideas.

 



Our chart stand featuring the childrens' ideas for

the development of our next dramatic play centre.

 

Some got eager with the creation of the sign.

I pulled some resources from the tiniest closet ever

(it sometimes reminds me of Mary Poppins' carpet bag)

 

 

We have so much play to look forward to with the development of our newest interest - the Vet Clinic. X-rays, nurses scrubs (can you believe someone actually said, "scrubs" as an item they'd like to have in the clinic?!), and stethoscopes are a big part of the dramatic play that will be popular in the class next week. You can be sure that there will be lots of opportunity for numeracy and literacy also.

 

Thank you for sending in photos of your pets, and inspiring our atelier.

 

Something Fishy

Thank you for being patient with me - while I haven't been dedicated to blogging, there hasn't been any shortage of fun in the classroom.

Recently, I'd been hearing stories from the children about a new dog that joined the family, a cat that left a sticky fur ball in a bed, and also "wolf-dogs" that will soon be having pups (a live feed video will be set up to watch the puppies!). These tales were in the back of my mind as I was inspired to walk into Pet Smart last weekend and pick up a Betta. I introduced the fish with the story Not Norman by Kelly Bennett (see it read here on You Tube. )

Our new class Betta fish.

He didn't have a name, and the children seemed to have a lot of fun brainstorming ideas with you at home. Thank you for your assistance. We pulled a name from the basket earlier this week, and our Betta was dubbed, "Bluey".

A bulletin board in the reading centre, displaying the 

"fish" names chosen by the children.

Inspired by the book, Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian (see it read aloud here on You Tube by Miss. Nona.), we started to keep a journal of Bluey's activities. Each day when he is fed, the calendar number is filled in. Then, we write the date at the top of our observation sheet, and someone scribes their observations. Finally, they illustrate a picture to go with it. Literacy and numeracy are "working" hand in hand.

Who knows - perhaps a class made book will be on the agenda. Bluey has already had some adventures. He was stuck in a tiny container for a few days (Perhaps you heard about the broken tank?) Now he sits on a shelf in his new tank (thank you - you know who you are!), with a beautiful backdrop painted by the children.

Bluey in his new tank, with a freshly painted waterscape in behind.

I'm sure the children will keep you "posted" on the adventures of Bluey, as he settles into our JK atelier!

No Two Alike



Many of our "tangents" seem to stem from experiences, song and literature. This one is no different. I shared a story ordered through a recent Scholastic book order, titled: No Two Alike, written by Keith Baker.

It follows the path of two birds through a winter landscape and touches on the similarities that we see in nature, and the differences that make each natural thing unique. Though there are more snowflakes than we can count (we tried :), no two are alike.

Images of snowflakes were then studied - what beautiful crystals!

                                   "Thank you"                                       "Imagine" (John Lennon)

Images of ice crystals by Masaru Emoto

We also created patterns with foam snowflakes.

In lieu of a light table, we used an "old-school" 

overhead projector and traced their outlines.

But we kept coming back to the images, and we found it hard to believe that no two could be exactly alike.

Love & Gratitude, Masaru Emoto

Then we got crafty. It was time to make our own crystals. 

With our supplies ready, we became little scientists.

We manipulated pipe cleaners to make a design with 6 points. Remembering that the star in the centre of our apples had 5 points ~ our snowflakes would have six. It was a tricky task manipulating and bending those pipe cleaners!  Make an X, bend one end over, etc...

Borax was added to warm water and we watched the Borax dissolve in the water.

 Then, we suspended our pipe cleaner snowflakes in the solution overnight.

(4 tbsp. borax per cup of water)

              A six-pointed "snowflake"                                         Borax crystals have formed 

              in a solution of Borax                                                    on the pipe cleaner

             and water.                                                                            overnight.

When we studied the crystals up-close we all agreed that no two were alike.

An individual "snowflake", covered in borax crystals. 

Borax crystals on display with our collaborative

painting, "Snowy Day" as a backdrop.

Thank you for visiting us at our atelier.

The Story of Water

 

 

The extremely cold temperatures have put a damper on our outdoor play, much to everyones' dismay. The children have had indoor "recess" a lot in past few weeks, but it has not prevented us from playing with the snow!

 

The sensory bin was filled with snow each morning, and begged for

warm fingers to take the plunge and explore. Aiy-yi-yaiy!

 

 

As the morning progressed, and many pairs of hands passed through the bin, the snow started to change. They discovered that the snow became more malleable. And later still, "Hmmm. There is water." 

 

  



"Hey!  Now we have two water tables!"

 

Our study of water has been multi-faceted. Thank you for sending in your interesting and shaped containers for "show & share". We gather around the water table and explore capacity, and predict which containers will hold more or less water. The children have also been predicting how many caps of water it will take to fill the containers.

 

So as we studied the states of water (liquid and solid), the children also noted the streaks of water left behind on the table when wiping up after snack.

 

Writing our names in the water on tabletops.

 

But then they wanted to know why the table didn't stay wet. I heard the critical thinking and grabbed a pencil and paper.

 

               "Where did the water go?"

              "It's drying. That's what happens." 

              "I think its in the table."

 

 Our follow-up discussion related to the steam we saw rising from the kettle when making our Borax crystal snowflakes, and the fog we see when we talk on a cold day. (No shortage of those lately:)

 

The take-home lesson for the day:

Water can be found in 3 states ~ liquid, solid or a gas (water vapour).

The water didn't soak into the table - it evaporated into the air. We can't see it, but it's there.

 

FUN APPLICATION TIME ~ what happens when you combine water, food colouring and an ice cube tray?

 

 

With the help of my friends, we coloured some water and

poured it into the ice cube tray.

 

 

The tray made it's way to the freezer in the staff room and

clothes pegs were added once the water started to turn into a solid.

 

 

And our provocation was ready for the next day...

 

 

 

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

  

The children "working" on their individual "paintings"

using the ice cubes (water as a solid) that they created.

 

 

 

The children "working" on their collaborative mural

using their ice cubes.

 

 

And what happened to those pools of "paint"? They were there yesterday.

 

That's right - if its not a liquid, and it's not a solid, it must be a gas.

 

EVAPORATION was the word of the day, and continues to be, as we explore with more of our "wet on wet" water colour paintings.

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by our atelier.

 



Sky Spirits

Happy New Year to all! I am quickly writing this little update to fill you in on some adventures we had this week. In eager anticipation of the northern lights, science experiments linked to states of water were put on hold. We watched a video and gazed in awe of the colours that danced in the sky. We also read a beautiful personal experience narrative titled: Sky Sisters, written by Jan Bourdeau Waboose and illustrated by Brian Deines.

This Ojibway story tells the tale of two sisters who journey up a hill to get a view of the Sky Spirits (northern lights). The magical experience of lying in wait and seeing the light show connects them to their mother and auntie who made the trek before them, and to the Sky Spirits who seemed to wave to them from above. In the words of their Nokomis, "Wisdom comes on silent wings," and while quietly taking in the lights, the sisters make another connection in the stillness and call the Sky Spirits "Sky Sisters".

We responded by grasping ribbons and dancing around the room, as we waved, and twirled and rhythmically let our ribbons flow through the air.

Thinking that northern lights would truly be visible to us, we prepared a backdrop to paint a collaborative mural.

And while it was a disappointment to many (me especially!), we continued with the mural as planned, and used the art from the book, and the video we watched to inspire our mural. First, a chalk line was made in waves to replicate the flow of light. Then pastel paint was created by mixing colour with white tempera. The children traced over the chalk line, leaving a good amount of paint on the paper. Another child followed behind the wet paint with the "dry brush" and swept the paint in an upward motion. This process was repeated for each ribbon of colour.

While many of the children have yet to truly experience the wonder and magic of the northern lights, I know that it will stay with them a lifetime when they do. And for a fleeting moment, maybe we did experience them here in the classroom - at play with our paint brushes and our ribbons.

Thank you for visiting our atelier.

Don't Eat a..... POINSETTIA!

 

 

 

Recently, I lugged in some boxes from home labelled, "CHRISTMAS: SCHOOL". I always rejoice in opening up storage/decoration boxes at home, revisiting little treasures that I put away and forgot about. The same holds true for the boxes that I open for school.

 

I pulled out my potted poinsettias, "Olde World" Santa, door wreath, and nutcracker. I am making a conscious effort to not overdecorate with commercial items, and allowing the childrens' work to take centre stage. However, knowing that some symbols are important for developing schema, I decided to introduce the poinsettia. And so the arrangement sat at a table, summoning the children...

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

 



 

 

Their master pieces continue to fill the room. And without giving too much away (you'll see at the concert :), the children connected with the plant through song and fine arts.

 

 

 

I'll admit that I didn't fully draw their attention to the shape of the leaves each time, but some did notice that the green leaves were similar to the red leaves, except in colour. It was decided that it is really just a leafy plant, with leaves of red and green. And yet, maybe the red ones are the petals?(They were divided). What we all agreed upon - they are not for eating!

 

 

Something else I noticed (seen in the bulletin board display) is that a few children chose to not directly represent the poinsettia itself, but have created something akin to wrapping paper patterns, using the colours RED, GREEN, and YELLOW. So, while not representing the plant itself, their connections are documented too. Poinsettia, wrapping paper. Symbols of the season, dear to them :)

 

Thank you for visiting our busy atelier!