A day in the life

Ever wonder what we do all day?

Here's what happens after you say goodbye at the gate.

Good morning!

 Getting all those clothes off sometimes takes a while. Children get their things stowed away, put lunches in cubbies, mailbags on the table, and shoes on their feet.

Once ready, they read for a few minutes until everyone is set to go. Letterland is always the favourite!

After a quick morning meeting on the carpet to take attendance, it's play time. Many things are happening at once all around the room. There are pockets of activity in every corner. Today, here's what's going on all at once:

Krista works with a small group on counting skills at the playdough.

"Can you make a cookie with more than 6 chocolate chips?"

 Katy is working with her small group to write valentines cards and letters for our new vice-principal.

Cameron and Kaden are creating robots in the art studio.

Many boys are building and spinning "bey blades".

Patrick builds a car ramp on the carpet.

Gavin and Liam share the computer.

Ethan and Jaxin are listening to the Letterland CD.

These girls are writing valentines and cards at the writing centre.

After clean up, it's time to get dressed for recess.

Lunch time!

While others are tidying up lunches, everyone else enjoys some reading time together.

Or alone.

Some days, we have a story and go back to play time. Today, we head upstairs to library with Mrs Blaker.

What a nice line!

After library, we go visit Ms. Kuipers in the gym.

I think Lily is a fan of scooters!

 After gym we have a few minutes for another story back in the class.

Recess and lunch again!

After lunch, we have work time. Some students stay in the class with Miss Carter and work on letter or number skills. Others go with Miss Russell to the ROSS and have a writing workshop.

We have another play time in the class, then after clean up we have a few minutes of quiet time. Sometimes we sing together, or learn a new poem. Today we're watching a Scholastic storybook video.

We pack up and it's home time. Hope you enjoyed your visit, come back any time!

Hello? Can you hear me now?

Two of our girls constructed  a "telephone" out of ribbon and dixie cups. Once they shared their learning, everyone wanted to make a set. It was great to see children teaching each other how to complete a project.

I'll help you Ty. It goes like this.

 After some exploration, we figured out the trick is to keep the string taut, then it works beautifully!

Can you hear me? I love you!

Hello? Kristien?

 The dixie cups were ripping, since it was a fine line to get it taut but not tight. If you have any tin cans with no sharp edges, please send them in for us to use!

This experimentation and sharing of ideas is what the early learning program is all about. With minimal guidance and adult interventions, the children were able to take control of their own learning. They created their own learning opportunities, took leadership roles, and communicated their findings.

And had fun at the same time!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

It's Chinese New Year in Room 132!

After reading about how to celebrate from several books and on some websites, we started our festivities.

First, we had to clean our class so we could start the new year fresh.

Then we decorated with flowers. Artificial ones stood in for the more traditional living flowers.

Then we made a giant dragon costume using a cardboard box, ribbon and bits of found objects.

Then we cut up some old sheets to make a looooooooong tail.

We took a break for lunch, and enjoyed some delicious dumplings. Thanks to Ethan's family for the treats!

Once the costume was finished, we grabbed some musical instruments and went on parade!

Gung hay fat choy!

Wonder what's inside

Back in December, we started a hands-on inquiry.

A parent from last year's class (thanks Carolyn!) donated an older blender she wasn't using anymore.

Many children didn't know what it was, so we started the inquiry process by wondering.

Kristien - "What this is?"

Lily- "It's a blender!"

K- "What means blender?"

L- "It makes smoothies and stuff."

The children handled the blender, moving the parts and peeking through the grill.

Teacher- "What do you think is inside?"

Cameron Ha- "I think there are eggs inside. Little eggs that make it go."

Kristien- "I see triangle things."

After introducing a screwdriver and going over some safety rules, the children had a go at opening the blender.

Cameron Hu- "We're trying to get it open."

Keegan- "We need to get the screws out."

Aidan- "Owen, turn it that way. Lefty loosy."

The screws were a little stripped, so our custodian Robyn used some special tools to get the bottom off. Once able to see inside, the children had lots of observations.

Aidan- "You can spin this and the fan turns. There are rainbow cords!"

Teacher- "I wonder why that spins."

Aidan- "So you can make the smoothie. It mixes fruit together."

Keegan- "See that wire? It spins so that spins, so it all spins together."

They were trying to get the motor assembly out, but it was attached through the housing. Cameron Hu and Jaxin came up with a plan to kick it into submission.....

Cameron- "HULK SMASH!!!!!!!"

Teacher- "NOOOOO HULK SMASH!"

After some discussion, Krista took the housing to Robyn during recess, and she used a hammer to do the "hulk smash" in a safer way.

Success! 

The motor could be removed and the deconstruction continued. 

The children were highly engaged in taking out screws and taking apart every piece.

With each piece removed, engagement grew. They loved pulling out each wire one by one and sorting the pieces that came apart.

Owen-"Look, it's metal. Let's put it in the metal Beautiful Stuff."

Ty- "Let's get that thing out (bolt on the fan) and it will all come apart."

Keegan- "Look at all this brown yarn inside. The rainbow wires that I took out last time, they're connected to the brown wire. I can get it out."

Now that our blender is reduced to a collection of parts, and the wire has been harvested, we're ready to move on to the next part of our inquiry.

Here's a sneak peek:

We would love to repeat this process on more appliances. If you have any at home you can donate, let Krista or Katy know.