100 Languages of Snow

 Despite the pouring rain today, we are talking about snow.

Over the weekend, some families conducted a mini-inquiry at home. On Monday and Tuesday, children brought in their representations of snow and snowflakes to share.

This is a great example of the principle of "100 Languages of Children" - no too representations are the same, yet they all celebrate learning about the same topic.

Every child brings his or her own past experiences and personal strengths to their explorations and their representations.

Communicating ideas is an integral part of a child's education and personal development.

Our learning is continuing in the classroom, with many students creating new representations of snowflakes.

 Be it stories, photos, paper, paint, fimo, markers, coffee filters, stamps, pipecleaners or pompoms, our children can communicate clearly with others. We just need to listen for each of their unique 100 Languages.

How heavy, how far, how tall, how much?

We've started a new inquiry about measurement. The children started comparing their heights, so we created a growth chart to represent their findings.

Using a variety of tools, the children have been exploring many different forms of measurement in addition to height. Owen, Patrick, and a few other children are very interested in the trundle wheel, used to measure distance.

"Look, I went all the way to the end of the hall. I hear clicks. I think they happen when
that little thing rubs against the metal part." -Owen

"If I run out, I can put another stick. Line them up, like this." -Jaxin
"Let's measure the carpet. Line it up at the edge, guys!" -Keegan
"I counted them to measure." -Ayden

We've been exploring capacity and volume at the water table and the sand box. Yesterday we used the skills in a practical context to make juice. We then connected our learning to our inquiry about ice by making juice pops.

"Measure 3 cans of water. You have to go right to the top." -Sarah

The weighing centre has been set up to explore mass and weight. The children use found objects and some of our "Beautiful Stuff" we collected to play with the scales.

"When it goes down, it's heavier. The big rocks weighs more than the small rock." - Aidan
"I add to this one to make it heavier." -Gavin
"Now it's balanced!" -Makayla

As our inquiry into measurement continues, we will be exploring ways to use our bodies to measure, such as foot prints and hand spans.

Parents can help support this inquiry at home by inviting children to help in the kitchen, or to experiment with the bathroom scale. Ask: "Which is bigger? Heavier? Longer? How do you know?"

Run, run, as fast as you can

We've been reading various versions of the Gingerbread Man, and comparing the similar-yet-different stories.

To cap off our learning, we baked our own Gingerbread Man.

But there was an exciting surprise when we went to get him from the oven....He was gone! In his place he left a note that sent us looking for him around the school.

We first went to the library...no luck there. Just another note.

We found some Smartie crumbs he lost during his mad dash.

We checked the office.

 We checked with Mrs Fowler and Mr Crawford.

We asked Joselyn from the daycare.

"He's about this big! Did you see him?"

 We checked the fountains, and found his last clue.

We had to find room 132...turns out it was our room!

As quick as we could, we ate him up so he couldn't run away again.

And that's what became of the Gingerbread Man!