Hello! This week we were blessed with warm and bright days. It felt like the beginning days of summer even though it’s still Spring! We’re more than half way done our unit of inquiry on living things and I still have so many more things I need to cover! I bet all teachers can relate. Keep reading to learn about what our class engaged in this past week.

Art:

The students engaged in a camouflage hand art project and they turned out so well! Students were given a few options of different animal covering patterns (i.e., cheetah, jaguar, giraffe, lady bug, zebra, etc.) that they would sketch  and then paint onto a piece of paper using tempura paint. Immediately after painting, while the paint is still wet, they would stick their non-dominant hand onto their painting and camouflage their hand into it. The students had a great time getting painted and being creative with their patterns. After this art project, the students definitely understand the concept of camouflage!

Two weeks ago, my School Advisor (SA) made animal clay pots with the students. The clay had to harden for over a week and this past week the students painted them. Then they were glazed. My SA also bought different coloured marbles from the dollar store and after the paint dried, the students chose a few marbles to put in the middle of their pot. That way, when it’s in the kiln the marbles will melt and yield an awesome swirl/spiral pattern!

Unit of Inquiry:

Since we’re learning about living things and more specifically, plants and animals, it’s important for the students to understand how we classify animals. As a provocation activity, each table group was given a bundle of animal pictures and seven categories: Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Arthropods, and Other. After, we debriefed as a class how table groups sorted. Then, students were given a classification worksheet that had a word bank at the bottom describing different animal characteristics that they would have to write in the correct categories as well as providing animal examples under each. We worked as a class to complete it and I wrote it on the white board.

The students also learned about the parts of an egg as we have duck eggs in our class. I informed them that it is important to understand the function of each part of an egg. We labelled this in the morning and then the students got to colour theirs after. Students learned that the yolk (yellow) contains the fat to help the embryo grow, the albumen (white) contains the protein, the shell is porous so air can get in, the air sac helps the embryo breathe, and the inner and outer membranes are two layers that help keep bacteria out.

On Thursday, the students became educated in local plants around their school community because on the following day they went on a scavenger hunt nature walk to identify them! I was very excited about this lesson and the students were too. I’m fortunate that I have a Cedar, Hemlock, Pine, and Spruce tree in my backyard. I brought a branch from each with their respective cones for the students to make and record their observations. Students were paired up and worked on a worksheet together to fill in the description of each plant. They were able to feel and smell each branch and share their observations. We also discussed the difference between Deciduous and Evergreen trees. We know that in the winter trees that are bare and naked are deciduous because their leaves fall down. (Deciduous trees = leaves fall down.) We know that trees that keep their needles stay on all year around. That is, evergreen trees’ needles stay on forever. (Evergreen trees = needles stay on forever). Below is what the students came up with.

On the following day, Friday, we went on a scavenger hunt nature walk. There’s a small forested trail/area a couple blocks from our school. I took the students there, with my SA and an Education Aide, and instructed them to stay with their pairs. I tried to make connections to the four local trees we discussed even before we got to the trail. Walking on the sidewalk, there were many Cedar trees and some Hemlock trees. The students were able to explore the area, within the stated boundaries, to try and identify the four local trees we discussed as well as new ones. It was a beautiful and sunny day and the students were engaged throughout the walk. The students were able to identify local trees and engage in small group discussions on how they were able to identify them. Our nature walk was 30 minutes and although I would have liked it to have been longer, I will try to find another opportunity to do a similar nature walk because it was such a success and we could even expand it to identifying different animals!

The students engaged in a sorting activity to understand that animals can have different coverings (i.e., skin, fur, scales, shell, and feathers). For early finishers, they were instructed to add two additional animals under each covering column as an extension activity.

Other:

It might be evident from the picture posted below that I am a novice gardener as I didn’t realize that planting five or six pumpkin seeds in a small pot would actually be successful in sprouting. Nonetheless, this was a great opportunity for the students to observe what they see and how seeds turn into sprouts, and eventually plants, right in front of them! We are planning on moving one pumpkin pot into our outdoor community garden and see how many students have gardens of their own at home to continue planting their pumpkins. There won’t be much room or more time for these sprouts to grow into plants!

Remember the eggheads we drew and planted grass seeds in last week? Well, check out how cool they look now! The students can start cutting off their grass hair next week if they’d like. 

During Centres this week, a couple students proudly showed me their designs. I was very impressed and wanted to share them here! 

That’s a wrap for Week 3! It’s crazy how fast time flies. Check back next week for another weekly reflection. Thanks for reading!

-Ms. Mah