Guinea Pig Research

We have recently concluded our formal guinea pig research.  As you know, when we started this process we asked many questions of things we wanted to learn about guinea pigs.  We wrote some of those questions down as stated in this blog post.  We would go back to those specific questions often and ask ourselves if we knew the answer to it yet.  We used books, internet, videos, and observations.  Our original questions were in a book, so we decided it made sense that we put our new information in the book as well.  

We started drafting our responses to our questions.  We conferenced as each child decided what words to use to answer their own question.  On lined paper, we wrote our sentences.  The next day we talked about how to use a computer to type.  We then sat in front of the computer and typed our writing. 

Once our pages were typed and printed, we illustrated them.  Deciding what illustrations best conveyed our words to the reader was harder than we thought (you will see many eraser marks).  We talked about a table of contents, title, introductory page, and book cover.  Check out a few pages below and stop by to see our finished work!

No they do not hibernate.
(the author wants you to pay special attention
to the guinea pig outside of a cave- unlike a bear)

Where do they hibernate?

What do they do?

They popcorn.
(popcorning video link)

This is a guinea pig.  Why do they have floppy ears?

Yes they do.

No.  But they do have a tailbone.
To blend in with the surroundings.

Do they have tails?
Why do they have stripes?

No they do little jumps!

Can guinea pigs jump on heads?

No because they don't have tails.

Why do guinea pigs' tails look like rabbits' tails?

Yes but they can scratch.

This is a guinea pig sitting (in a) lap?

Sewing work

A while back I was looking through the school library.  I found a craft book and brought it in the classroom for the children to see because it seemed like something they would gravitate toward.  It was a book about creating creatures out of fabric.  After looking through it for some time and making prototypes out of paper, the children were committed to the idea of investing more time.  They started their work with Ms. Amy on making plans.  We wanted to make stuffed animals!

Starting the work with discussing how toymakers come up with the ideas to make toys, the children were ready to work.  Drawing on paper, they sketched out creatures inspired by the book or by their own imagination.  This took a day.    Ms. Amy then went home and made up patterns for each child's drawing.  The next time they met with Ms. Amy they had the very important task of choosing fabric and textures to use.  With so many choices, I imagine it was hard to narrow down what would work best!

From there Ms. Amy did most of the fabric cutting (children's scissors are not made for fabric) and collected what was needed.  Some children needed extra fabric for ears, a tail, eyes, a collar, or a shirt.  

Then came sewing! 

Ms. Amy brought up the importance of needles, how to thread them, how to make a knot, and strategies that work best.  Peeking across the room, I would see patient purposeful movements, focused eyes, and intentional fingers. 

Each time a group met with Ms. Amy they would take their bag of supplies, thread a needle, and get to sewing.  This was their time to continue on their project at their own pace.  Each child is at a different place in their sewing work.  This has been a great opportunity to talk about the importance of long-term work.  Yes, we could spend the entire day working on this, but it is good to give your eyes and brain a break so you can do your best work.  

We are all very excited to see how this project evolves, so look for updates soon!

Our classroom map

The past few weeks we have been focusing a lot (among other things) on maps.  We have explored world maps, discussed compasses, used our directions, and followed maps to get to places.  Noticing the map of the school posted by the door showing fire exits, we started discussing our immediate environment.  If we were to make a map of our classroom, what would it look like?


We started by using a large piece of paper.  We decided where our directions would be and tried to focus on furniture as much as possible.  Where would the door be?  How about the technology table?  How far away should the drawing and creating table be from there?  We outlined important parts with pencil after careful finger measuring and an "okay" from the group.  What was difficult was deciding on how to draw our objects.  
In the map, you view it as a bird would- looking straight down.  What does a chair look like from above?  Would you see the triangle on the back side?  Would you see the seat?  How do the tables look from above?  What we see and what the map shows are two different things.  What a map shows is a view from above.  North often doesn't mean "up."  It can mean forward or backward.  

We talked about coloring in our map because it was too hard to see.  One thing the children discussed was including miniature versions of ourselves.  Normally on maps you would not see people or animals, but we wanted our map to be a bit interactive. As you can see, most of the children are sitting at meeting time, but a few are working on something else!

Come in and visit our classroom map with your children and discuss what it shows.  The picture below doesn't detail as much as it does in person.