"Making potions and looking at things"

This week I asked the children what they thought science was.  I did not tell them what the definition was for a reason.  I wanted them to think of the word on their own and relate it to their own experiences.  Some children may have never thought about science or scientists before.  I learned their prior knowledge.  Eventually we will learn together, experiment, define, hypothesize, and experience.  Maybe we will see that science is more than just "making potions and looking at things."

Below are some of the children's ideas.

Scientist looking at a bird.

Scientists make potions.

Once upon a time there were machines.  Science machines.

Things they have at the doctor's office when you have surgery.

planets

volcano erupted

space

Inside the body

Welcome 2017-2018 school year

Welcome to the new school year!  This is my classroom blog where you will find a lot of information regarding your child's time at Branch Line School.  I use this blog to explain the children's work with projects and provide links to other helpful pieces of information.  Spend some time looking around the blog to visit past projects, other classroom blogs (coming soon), and links you might be interested in learning more about.  

For those of you who couldn't make orientation, here is a virtual tour of the classroom!


This is what you will see when you walk in to the classroom.

On the left is the water bottle station.  When you arrive every day, take your water and put it here so you can grab it whenever you're thirsty.

You will also have a shared cubby.  This is where you put your backpack and lunch box for now.  Don't forget to pack a raw fruit or vegetable for snack!

Behind this door is a bathroom for our class.

This big rainbow table is where I do a lot of my teaching.  I help kids learn in a lot of fun ways in small groups of 3-4 kids at a time.  You will learn more about this later.

This is the block area.  Here is where you can build, pretend, work together, and communicate with each other.  This is also where we have our class meeting times.

This is the small group space.  This is where kids can practice teaching each other, learn together, work by themselves, and play games.  Here you can practice collaboration and independent learning.

For now this is the drawing table.  After some time this will become the writing table.  Right now you can draw, write, and create.

This is the reading space.  This is a quieter space where you can get comfortable with a good book.  Right now there aren't too many books on the shelf, but this area grows and grows as time goes on.

This is the table where we have iPads.  Those won't be ready for a few days, but for now we can use the table to build on!

This is our sensory table.  Sometimes you just need a break and this is a great place to take it.

I hope you like the tour and I can't wait to start my days with you!