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Showing posts from February, 2015

Boats

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The children have been very interested in boats lately. It began when one of our friends started making small ferry boats to transport cars across the water. We introduced larger blocks into the classroom and the children began building boats. There was a lot of hammering, and working together . We read books and discovered how many different kinds of boats there are serving many different purposes. We talked about how important boats were to early explorers. On our new light table the children had the opportunity to trace a boat. They could choose a tug, sail, ferry or fishing boat. We had conversations about how on boats some common things have different names. We call the front of the boat  the "bow" and the back the "stern". The kitchen is the "galley" and the bathroom is called the "head". As of right now we're not sure if this interest in boats will continue but we'll keep you posted.

Why Do Fish Have Scales?

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As part of our learning about fish we started thinking of ways that fish are different than other animals. One big reason is obvious, fish can breath under water. Another difference we could see from looking at our own classroom friend, mr quack, is that fish have scales.  We asked the question,"why do fish have scales?" During a class discussion we talked about how scales are "protection" for fish, help them swim very fast and someone said "keep their bones inside". Another function of scales we found out was that "scientists" can use scales to see how old a fish is. We made sculptures out of clay showing what we know about fish. Each was unique and a wonderful documentation of their learning.

Rain Day

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We took the opportunity to revisit the water cycle today with a great painting activity. We set a table in our work room so the children could paint the rain. We had conversations about things we like about the rain and things we don't. We talked about where the rain comes from and how important it is for all living things.

Love Day 2015

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We spent the week in preparation for Valentine's Day. We made decorations, cards for our parents and bags to hold our cards from our friends. We had a great day passing out our valentines and having lunch with our parents. There were balloons and cupcakes and lots of smiling happy faces. Happy Valentine's Day to all our sweet Imagine families.

Fish patterns

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During story time we often read a book that is connected to our classroom theme or unit. Since we are beginning to think about fish we found a book about a little fish learning about the world. While reading this we noticed that each fish in the book had wonderful detailed bodies and elaborate patterns.  This gave us an idea! What a great way to revisit patterns in our class than admiring the beautiful markings of a fish? We used our light table to trace the shape of the fish. Each child chose their favorite fish and copied the pattern.  A good question that was asked by one friend, " why do fish have patterns?" Looks like something else we can find the answer to together! 

What do you know about fish?

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During our exploration of water we took a moment to look at some of the creations the children made to go in the river. We noticed that fish, while a popular choice, didn't really resemble any type of fish that we've ever seen. So we asked a question to the class, " what do you know about fish?" They gave us answers like, "Fish swim in the water", "Fish breath under water", "And they don't breath on land" "They have scales". One friend told us, "they are eaten by birds". The  next day we decided to have the children draw fish right from their memory. What does a fish look like? We began introducing the different body parts and asking the children about what we thought these body parts are for.  Secondly, we opened up the conversation to things that are really confusing about fish. Do they have noses? How do they breathe? Can they smell? Do they sleep? Are they mammals? We have a lot of questions about fish and thes