Animals in winter

We extended our learning about forest animals and asked: what do animals do in the winter? We sparked a discussion on what animals need to do to survive the cold temperatures.

We talked about what hibernation and migration mean. We knew that some animals, like geese, fly south in the winter while other animals, like bears and bats, sleep all winter. We even talked about how some animals adapt to survive the cold by growing thick fur or gaining weight to keep their bodies warm.

We read:

Animals in Winter

Written by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard Van Gelder

Illustrated by Helen K. Davie

Why do Animals Hibernate?

Written by David Martin

Next we created a list of questions we had and things we were interested in learning about.

Some of us played with the forest animals. Using play dough, we made and explored different animal tracks.

 Making a forest habitat for the animals using play dough, natural and recycled materials. 

 Look, we even built a den for the bears to hibernate! It's tricky to see, but there in an animal hiding in this cave. 

Animal print scavenger hunt

Since we've been talking about different forest animals and their tracks, we decided to have an animal print scavenger hunt. We hid pictures of animal tracks all around the classroom. Students had to travel around the room, find the prints, and record the different types of animals.

We did a great job working together, practicing our printing, matching animal tracks and sounding out words.

Humane Society

Learning about what dogs and cats need to stay healthy and happy (food, water, exercise, visits to the vet, brushing, bathing and lots of love). 

Learning how to properly pet a dog (ask the owner for permission, allow the dog to sniff your hand and pet him under the chin so he can see your hand). 

Kingdom Club Empowerment Week

Monday November 24th - Friday November 28

                       Empowerment Week

The St. Anne Kingdom Club is raising money to buy goats to help families in Kenya. For every $50 raised, the St. Anne Kingdom Club can purchase 1 goat for our Kenyan community. Our goal is to purchase 24 goats! How can we achieve this? Next week students have 5 special days. Each day, students are asked to bring a $1 donation. 

For more information about this initiative,please visit

http://www.freethechildren.com/get-involved/adopt-a-village/

Monday

Moustache Day - wear a moustache

Tuesday

Twin day - have a twin or triplet

Wacky Wednesday

Wear your clothes inside-out &Crazy hair

Thursday

Wear your pajamas to school

Friday

Sport day -wear your sport jersey

Thanks for your support.

Humane Society Visit

The Humane Society will be visiting our class this Tuesday, November 25th. They will be promoting responsible pet ownership and showing children how to approach and interact with animals safely and humanely.

As part of the presentation, the Human Society will be bringing a dog along for their visit. The dog has been temperament tested specifically for the Humane Education School Program. Please advise us if your child has an allergy or fear of dogs. The interaction with the dog is voluntary.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us via phone or your child's message bag. Keep posted later this week for pictures.

Click here to learn more about the Humane Education School Program.

Camping continued

Using the Smart board to make some camping themed patterns. 

Some of us used our imaginations to roast marshmallows at our camp site. Students asked for tape, paper and pipe cleaners. So creative! 

 

Using marshmallows and toothpicks to explore structures and shapes. 

Forest animals

Some students decided to make animals to add to our camp site. We brainstormed a list of different animals that live in the forest.

From there, we began to talk about different animal tracks or foot prints. We examined pictures of different animal tracks; we described the prints and made predictions. Some of us drew different prints at the art table, while others worked on a matching activity.

A camping we will go!

Click here to learn more about the importance of pretend play. Pretend play helps children to:

•  develop higher order thinking skills
• learn about themselves and the world around them 
• solve problems and work cooperatively
• develop vocabulary and strengthen communication skills

Last week we decided to change our dramatic play area. We brainstormed a list together and came up with the following ideas:

• Ice cream shop
• Restaurant 
• Hospital 
• Superhero cave
• Dentist office
• Fire station 
• Camp site
• Coffee shop 
• School 
• Grocery store
• Toy store 
• Animal cave
• Castle 

We chose the top three and created a tally chart; we all got to vote. Next we counted each tally and determined that camp site was the most popular vote. 

We brainstormed a list of things we needed to make our camp site:

• Tent
• Chairs
• Marshmallows
• Make a fire using paper, colours, logs
• Sleeping bags
• Branches to roast marshmallows 
• flashlights and lanterns
• kitchen and cooking tools 
• bbq 

We began by painting trees to make our class look like a forest. We also used paper towel rolls and tissue paper to make a pretend fire. 

Our camp site to date. Keep posted for updates! 

Remembrance Day

The students in room 148 worked hard to create a class wreath for our Remembrance Day Ceremony. 

Pumpkin update

Two weeks ago we transplanted seeds and sprouts from our pumpkin into various plastic cups. We have been taking turns watering the sprouts each day and making sure they are in direct sunlight. To our surprise, the sprouts have grown a lot, one has even begun to grow leaves!

We had a great class discussion; some of us wondered if they would eventually grow into pumpkins. We talked about transplanting the sprouts again because they might need a bigger pot to grow.

But, our most rich discussion was about roots. We noticed that there were long, white roots growing deep in the soil. Someone said that plants need roots to suck up water. We wondered why roots were so big and compared them to the roots of a tree. We decided that plants need a lot of water to survive - the bigger the plant, the more water and roots it needs to live.