The morning was overcast and cold so we stayed at school and studied a collection of nests. We headed out after morning recess with the wind at our backs. We found tracks, snails, and of course, more caterpillars. After a short recess we had lunch. Then we each chose a bird to observe. Sitting still and watching was really cold but the boys and girls were tough and there was very little complaining. The peafowl cooperated and spread its tail feathers several times. The emu were happy to eat the oak leaves we fed them but then chased away a little rabbit that was quite friendly. We also had a chance to see what it was like to pick up food with different kinds of beaks. We decided to pack up early and headed back to school via a different route. The long grass along the trail was fun to roll and hide in. Along the was we also saw the stump of a giant cottonwood tree. We were all able to stand on the stump and could almost all sit around its base. It was a successful adventure but hopefully tomorrow will be a little warmer!
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Absolutely no let up in rain all day. We huddled inside, caught up, read books, and did a few normal classroom activities. We studied pictures of animals to figure out their special characteristics that make them able to survive. Our playground fundraising hotdog BBQ was today so many of us had hotdogs for lunch. The walk was postponed. Deepak brought in a container of coins that he had been collecting and wanted to donate for our playground fund so we sorted and counted the coins. Thanks for your generosity Deepak. What a fun day. The weather was perfect for the start of a new week off the school grounds. We released our painted lady butterflies before we left school. Addisyn had one that just didn't want to leave her so she carried it around most of the day. She was a good butterfly foster-mom. I put duct tape around the ankles of the children but the grass was still so wet that even when we walked through deep grass, we did not pick up as many seeds as I had hoped. The dandelion flowers and puffballs along with the army caterpillars were a huge distraction all day but also a lot of fun. Several students were great community citizens and picked up all kinds of garbage along our walking routes. Way to go Clifford, Carissa, Brent, and Addisyn. We collected leaves and tried to match them to identification pictures. We each picked a tree and wrote down as much as we could observe. In the afternoon we made leaf or stick boats and sailed them down a shallow side of the river. We accomplished a bit of math, measure the circumference of out chosen trees and climbed trees. It was a wonderful day. Now back to rain tomorrow.
Our fourth day was a challenge weather-wise. We set up our shelter in a different part of the playground. The wind was strong and the temperature was cold. On a walk around the playground we found little mounds of soil where the earthworms had worked their way to the surface to escape yesterdays rain.
It was hard to even read a story because we were cold and restless. Jett finally suggested adding the blue tarp at the back of the shelter to stop the wind. A wonderful solution but we were still cold and the wind threatened to lift up the shelter even though the stakes went into the ground easily. We packed up a little early. After lunch we tried to hide from the wind on the south side of the school. We studied our composting worms. We noticed stripes, measured them and watched how they wanted to hide away from the light. We finished the day with dirt and worm treats. Our third day was a very rainy day. We went inside for recess since others did not make it out for a single recess but we spent most of the day enjoying the weather. The temperature was still mild so the wet did not dampen our spirits. We began with a couple of stories and a song called I Love Mud by Rick Charette. It was fun to belt it out as the rain came down. We made mud pies and tried to write down our recipes. Those with boots and a change of clothes had fun jumping in the puddles. In the afternoon we used a variety of containers to measure the volume of larger containers. Because the sand was wet, this naturally led to sand castles. The cooperation and interaction was fascinating to watch and I just couldn't stop taking pictures. We ended the day adding cornstarch and water to sand and making air drying sand structures to take home. It was a little like gritty playdough.
A meeting kept us from heading outdoors until after first recess. The majority wanted to set up our shelter again. We were able to sort the posts a little faster today and tried to anchor the shelter but the ground was so dry and hard that the stakes would not go into the ground very far. We tied one corner to the fence and hoped the windy, overcast day would not last. As we sat eating our lunch a gust of wind slowly lifted the shelter and tipped it over the fence. We spent a lot of the afternoon making symmetrical, painted butterflies. A few drops of rain fell but not enough to ruin our artwork. We began adding items to a memory frame.
We began our two weeks outdoors on a beautiful day. We needed to put up a shelter to protect us from the beating sun. We spent some time sorting animals into several categories. Our painted lady butterflies are beginning to emerge from their chrysalis so we reviewed characteristics of insects. I read two of my favourite stories to the children. Step Gently Out is a simple reminder with beautiful photography to note minute details. The other was called the Empty Lot where Harry prepares to sell an empty lot until he realizes it is teaming with life. Lunch time found us finding shapes in the fluffy clouds.
In the afternoon. Our buddies joined us for a playground alphabet hunt. We used the Ipads to photograph a playground item for each letter of the alphabet. After last recess we planted flowers in the planters outside the office. We also released our tomato hornworm moth. If you look on September posts, it shows our hornworm caterpillar before it turned into a chrysalis. It wintered in our classroom and came out last week. We went to Mrs. MacPhee's Farm on a a bus. First we went over rules for the day. Next we had a pumpkin hunt.
Then we divided into groups and went to stations. One station was leaves. We read a story, hunted for leaves and then made a leaf man. At another station we collected seeds and sorted them. At the third station we picked vegetables for stone soup and then made a veggie creature. We learned that we eat all the parts of some plants - roots, stems, leaves, seeds, fruit, and flowers. At recess we climbed the fallen tree, played in the old chicken coop and squirrel cottage. Other kids ran in the forest and pretended to be lost. There was also a steering wheel to drive, and musical instruments made from pots, pans and tools to play. We saw a dragon and a little house called Nelson's Nook. There were creatures made of wood in the forest and an elephant made of dirt. There were lots of trails to run on. We had a fun day and learned a lot. We loved being outside in nature. We were kind to others, too. On our fifth day of school, the outdoors came to us. Mrs. Harley gave Mrs. MacPhee some green things. At first, they looked kind of dead. But then one really started to move quite a bit. It tried to climb up the side of the container but kept falling down. Some thought they were worms but Claire was pretty sure they were caterpillars. We noticed some things about them. Piper said they were green. Luke noticed they were long. Carissa noticed they had things that looked a little like legs. Tyson saw that one end was squished. Depak said he could see an eye. We counted 6 yellow stripes. We had some questions that went with those observations. Where do they live? How long are they? Do they bite? Can they climb? What do they eat? So we began to investigate a little further. One stretched out so we could measure with blocks. It was about 4 multi-linx blocks long! We eventually realized we would have to look further to answer our questions. We checked images on a computer and then checked with Mrs. Kuharski in the library about books. We found out the "eye" was fake. Then Princess found a picture with the label "tomato hornworm". That took us back to our computer. We found some information sites that said when they are ready to change from larva to pupa, they will bury underground. We got a tomato branch and soil for them and let them settle in. By the time we returned from lunch recess, one had tucked himself into the soil. The other was eating some tomato leaves and clinging to a tomato stem. How cool is that! Now we wait.
We started the day with a brief discussion about private versus public property and what rights and responsibilities come with those places. Then we split into 3 groups to set up our shelters. We will need shelter from the sun during the next two days if the forecast holds true. Some groups struggled to work together. This is a challenge for grade one students who are often still not thinking about a group goal. When I sat down with the last group to see what had gone wrong, one boy remarked, "We didn't work together." So at least they understood the problem and just needed some guidance to get it all together. We had brought our last 2 painted lady butterflies with us. We planned to release them but they were so excited to get out that with the help of the wind, the cage blew over and the butterflies were gone. Rhyanne spent a lot of time watching them feed hungrily on lilac bushes. That also got other students hunting for other flying creatures. Lots of white moths and few big dragonflies. Today's story was Not a Stick. That got ideas going about other things you could do with sticks. We took some time to write down our ideas. The climbing trees posed too great a distraction to get a lot written but others found just the right writing spot. A few students found sticks so we could take pictures of them using a stick in their favourite way...roasting a weiner, a fire, a sword. After lunch we had more time to explore before we needed to get to work again. When someone got a small cut it was nice to see another get an alcohol swab, clean up the cut, apply a bandage and then get on with playing. In the afternoon we made memory sticks using paint, beads, spruce cones and pasta, fastened together with wire. I thought the children could take turns with only a few paint brushes but Mrs. Cargo quickly solved the brush shortage but encouraging finger painting...what a fun solution. Therese's memory stick was taller than she is and had decoration from top to bottom. The children were encouraged to explain what the different parts represented from the last 2 weeks outdoors. We finished the day with another story called Stick Man and talked about what we might want to finish our week with tomorrow. |
Mrs. MacPhee
I've been teaching for over 20 years in three different provinces. Most of those years have been in the primary grades. I love teaching grade one because of the dramatic change I get to see in the children from the beginning of the year to the end of June. It truly is amazing! Archives
June 2017
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