Blubber!

We have been learning all about Polar Bears. We have been reading books, looking at photos and watching a live polar bear cam.

Today we learned that polar bears, and many other arctic animals, have blubber to keep them warm and help them float easily in the water.

We got to try out the blubber by sticking our hand inside a special glove made from two Ziplock bags with Crisco in between. We called it the "Blubber Glove."

We put both of our hands, one with the glove and one without, into a tub of icy water.  It was surprising how warm our hand with the glove was.

Skyping about Snails!

Source

Today I asked the students to help me write our blog.  Here's what they had to say:


Today we talked to a different class about snails. - Tayna

We talked to them with Skype. - Kyle

We didn't yell we just asked them our questions. - Denise

We said thank you for telling us all about snails. - Bryce

We got to see their snail. - Ellie


We were so lucky to join Mrs. Schmidt's class from Ontario to talk to them about snails. They have also been learning all about snails and they were excited to ask us their questions.

We also asked them 3 questions.  We asked:

1) When do snails go in their shell?
They said that snails go in their shell to protect themselves from predators.

2) What do snails eat?
They told us that their snails eat lettuce.

3) Why do snails have slime?
Their class was wondering about this too. We both think it helps them to move.


They gave us their best answers.  It turns out that they had a lot of the same questions as we did.

When we were all finished talking, we gave them a compliment and they gave us a compliment.

We are hoping to have many more chats with Mrs. Schmidt's class this year.

If you'd like to see their class blog and their snail, you can check it out at:

http://ljpskindergartenteam.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-start-of-our-snail-inquiry.html

Snail Inquiry

Our class is crazy about snails!

It all started with one student creating a snail out of a flower and paper during "Thinking and Learning" time (you can see it in the photo of the bulletin board).

The next day, when the students came into our classroom, they found an aquarium, shells, a magnifying glass and lots of books about snails and shells. This type of display is called a "Provocation," it is created for students to explore objects, photos and books. It is designed to inspire wonders.

Snail Provocation

The students were very excited to explore the snail table.  Mrs. Lowe asked if there was anything the kids were wondering about snails. We used our new IPad and an app called "Educreations" to record our wonders.

Our Educreation

In the afternoon the students had even more questions so we decided to start posting all of our snail questions on our bulletin board.

One of the students noticed that snails and turtles are a lot alike. We decided to make a chart to compare them.

We went "old school" and used the white board.

Ms. Remple even taught us a snail song in music class. 

If your child notices anything at home that connects to our learning about snails, they are welcome to bring it in to share with us (eg. books, photos, shells).

Transforming Pedagogical Practices

Hello Readers,

It's Mrs. Lowe writing today. Last weekend I was fortunate to attend a conference in Burlington Ontario.  The conference was titled, Transforming Pedagogical Practices: Making Connections Across Ontario.  The conference was hosted by The Canadian Association for Young Children and the Ontario Reggio Association.

The day started with a key note address by Jim Grieve. He was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of the Early Learning Division for the Ontario Ministry of Education in 2009. He was responsible for the implementation of full day learning for 4 and 5 year old children in all Ontario Schools.

His address was titled "How Toddlers Will Save the World." He talked about the value of our investment as a society when we invest in children.

He told us that...

Education needs to be modernized ...which is about "putting away your October box of pumpkins" and instead focus on...

 

INTERACTION
talking and listening to the children's interest and questions
getting down, eye to eye
provoking children to challenge thinking

He told us about some researchers in China who were working with Panda cubs who had been born into captivity. In order to prepare them for the world, the researchers dressed up as Pandas whenever they were working with the cubs. Jim encouraged us to "suit up" when we are working with our students. As teachers, we should get down on the floor with students, get our hands dirty and become participants in their play. 

Following the keynote address I attended 3 amazing workshops. 

The first one was hosted by Joanne Babalis. I was really excited to meet her after following her blog since early this summer. It was her classroom transformation that inspired the changes in my own classroom.  You can check out her blog here:

http://myclassroomtransformation.blogspot.ca/

She showed us some beautiful examples of inquiry-based learning and how to 

document the learning that is taking place.  

In the afternoon I went to a session titled "Magic Happens." We got to hear the experiences of a team of teachers who are beginning to move from traditional teaching to a more inquiry-based approach. During their presentation they showed slides with direct quotes from the Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum. 

"The Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program reflects the belief that 4 and 5 year olds are capable and active learners, full of potential and ready to take ownership of their learning..."

"The FDELKP consists of a balance of exploration or investigation, guided instruction and explicit instruction...learning experiences will be thoughtfully planned and guided by team members..."

These quotes really capture what it's all about.

I had a great weekend and can't wait to start sharing my learning with my students and their families!