La Casa de la Arana

Ever since we began studying animals, habitats have been popping up all over our classroom in the different centers.


Recently, a very excited Yadiel and Jangel came to me and insisted that I come see their creation in the block area.


I looked down to see a building they created out of blocks.  "Tell me about what you built."

Jangel: "The fly and the araña live in the house.

Yadiel: "Son amigos."

I look down and they had created a little door.  When I opened it, sure enough, there was a mosca and a spider inside. 

"I love that you made them friends.  Usually one of them is a predator, and the other is the prey."

Jangel:"They are going to come out when someone challenges them to a race."

"I wonder which one would win the race."

Yadiel: "La araña gana porque es rápido."

Next week, we are beginning story workshop.  I am very excited because my students have these stories with great ideas, that they create daily and need to be written down. 

Burke at Burchfield

Students travelled to the Burchfield Penney Museum for the last time this year.  The new exhibition, Philip Burke, infamous for his caricatures of famous individuals, really inspired the children. 

https://www.burchfieldpenney.org/exhibitions/exhibition:04-10-2015-09-13-2015-the-likenesses-of-being-portraits-by-philip-burke/

In addition to a most engaging preview of artwork, we also had a fantastic docent- Renata.  She enjoyed her time with the students. 

This time, the exhibition was especially relevant to the students.  in September, each student created their own portrait, and recently, Ms. Rose had them create a second portrait, to show growth in their artistic abilities. 

http://www.school33reggioemilia.blogspot.com/

Our Animal Studies

For a month now, students have been reading, researching, and thinking about animals. 
I have asked several students to identify with an animal that interests them.  Students engage in several perspective drawings of the animal.  And we discuss the animal.  I generally wonder about where the animal lives, what they eat, if the animal exists in a predator/prey relationship, and how the animal is able to survive in it's habitat, and what might the animal's superpower be.

Here are some responses:

Edwin  (dolphin)
"It lives in the water, in the sea ocean.  He goes in the water and jumps with his family.  He eats fish.  Nobody eats him.  The dad is strong like a shark and can punch him.  I like baby dolphins.  I touched them in the sea ocean.  They are soft.  You can hold their fins.  His superpower is listening to the call."   (imitates dolphin call)

Shedialys (conejo)
"Vive en la selva.  El vive con los leones.  Come pescado.  El leon puede comer el conejo porque son chiquitos.  El color ayuda para sobrevivir.  Cuando es frio es dificil a comer.  Mi conejito puede brincar muy alto."

Aniel (tortuga)
"Vive en el agua-oceano.  Come plantas.  Los pajaros pueden comer.  La Tortuga puede sobrevivir con el casco- se usa para protegir.  He can go inside the shell si hay un perro.  This is his superpower, to protect himself. 

Elias (zorro)
"El vive en New York.  El come pescado.  Un león puedo cazar mi zorro.  It can go to the snow and he has nice fur and patas for the snow.  His superpower is running. 

Wilberto (lagarto)
"He lives in Puerto Rico.  He lives in the monte, it looks like the forest, but it's not the forest. He eats a little bit of leaves and some other animals, like ants.  He would protect himself from other lagartos, like his dad.  En invierno, he goes to sleep and when it comes summer again, he wakes up.  If somebody throws him, he gets angry, and will bite him.  Sometimes he runs funny.

Yarilys (jirafa)
"He lives in America.  Where there is a little bit of grass.  I think he lives like where there are trees.  He eats leaves.  A lion can jump and bite the back of the giraffe.  My carácter will have laser out of his eyes.  The lasers can open the wall with the lasers and trap the man."

Sandieliz (perro)
"El vive con la persona en la casa.  El come hueso.  El necesita agua para sobrevivir y comida.  El perro puede correr rápido."

Kiarelys (pájaro)
Vive en el árbol.  Afuera de la casa.  Le gusta comer los gusanos y pan.  Una águila come mi pajarito.  Tiene que come comida para sobrevivir.  Tiene pulmones.  Si no tiene pulmones, puede caer del árbol.  Su superpower is laser.  Si esta en la cave y después y hay alguien aquí and quiere ir a la casa, puede usar el laser para abrir la cueva."

Spring Fever!

Comparing Our Heights

As we were finishing up out unit on the body, we had one last step in our project.  Students traced the outline of their bodies, and placed the organs they drew in the correct location of the body. 

Two of our common core math standards read as follows:

Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units.

CCSS.Math.Content.1.MD.A.1
Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.

CCSS.Math.Content.1.MD.A.2
Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps.

I distributed snap cubes, my nonstandard unit of measurement.  However, the students wanted nothing to do with it.  They broke out the rulers and measuring tape! 

They measured the height of the body in feet and inches.  I wondered how their height compared with the height of their classmates. 

 

After I posed this question, they all wanted to be measured.  We recorded several heights.

 

Later, together on the rug, we used inequality statements to compare the heights.

CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.B.3
Compare two two-digit numbers based on meanings of the tens and ones digits, recording the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, and <.

 

 

 

 

Viajar

Los Pequenos Cientificos

After studying solids and liquids for a week, learning the vocabulary, and exploring different trade books, my little scientists were ready to begin their experiments!




We conducted a total of six experiments.  I explained the procedure for each experiment, and then students wrote and drew a prediction of what would occur. 





Next, we conducted the experiment.  Students made observations and formed conclusions explaining why the experiment happened the way it did. 





After we finished all six experiments, students put all their documentation together into a book.