Alive vs. Not

To prepare for our annual service project, I start by discussing what it means for something to be alive or not alive.  

As a group, I asked the children what it meant for something to be alive.  How did they know the difference between alive and not alive?

"You know a fish is alive because it is swimming."
"A penguin is alive because it lives somewhere cold."
"An elephant is alive and then it gets shot and dies.  It gets dead."
"A shoe

is not alive because human feet are moving it."

I then showed various pictures of animals, plants, toys, and everyday objects.  I told the children that right then they might have different ideas on whether the things are alive or not, and that was okay because they are going to learn more soon.

This got us thinking and gave us more ideas.  If something is alive, it needs water.  If something is alive it moves.  If something is alive it can die.  We made a list (which I added to) about the qualities something needs to have to make it alive.

If something is alive:

• It can grow and change
• It can reproduce (make more of itself)
• It needs food and water
• It needs air
• It moves by itself

The children have been showing their learning by doing a sorting on their own.

Our 5 Senses

Over the past few weeks we have been exploring and experimenting with our 5 senses.  Our 5 senses help us understand the world around us.  

For our sense of sight the children looked at small portions of a picture and tried to describe and guess what they were seeing.  For touch the children felt around in a mystery bag and practiced their descriptive words while pulling out familiar classroom objects.  To practice their hearing, the children shook eggs filed with familiar objects and made guesses for what they could be.  For their sense of smell, the children closed their eyes and made guesses as to what they were smelling as a teacher held something under their nose.  

Putting those 5 senses to work, everyone got to examine a simple glass of water.  What were some descriptive words?  

Working with magnets

One item the children have used often is a magnet.  They are used in the classroom to spell words, make pictures, and are even on some refrigerators at home.  What I heard a lot from gathering prior knowledge was that magnets "stick" and only to things made of metal.  We experimented with a magnet wand and tested out different objects to see if it was magnetic. 

From there I talked with the children about the terms attract and repel.  We found that magnets can go towards each other or away from each other.  We saw that magnets that were the same wanted to go together when they were on opposite sides.  

"repel" "attract"  make note of the magnets in the picture

"It's so tiny!"

Ms. Amy is our resident garden expert and plans and tends to it all year.  Have you seen our weekly farmer's market?  She needed help with seeds and we were there to assist her in any way possible!  This was our chance to use our first science tool- the hand lens or magnifying glass.

With Ms. Amy, the children discussed the seeds in detail and counted how many days until it would be harvest time.  They then planted the seeds.  We have one hanging on the window and check the root progress often.  It went from one root to three overnight!

"That's what a scientist uses!"

This week we focused what scientists might use.  They need tools to do their jobs.  We looked at pictures together of a variety of tools and then talked about how they could be used.

This is for picking out wood from your finger.
This is for picking up small things.  Like bugs.

That's for swimming.
Goggles are for keeping your eyes safe.
Goggles are for looking far away.

Computers are to look something up like how big a dinosaur is.
That's for sending emails to other scientists.

We went over how to be safe with science tools.  How should they be used?  How can people be safe with them?  How do you think you will use them in our classroom this year?  The children cut out and discussed pictures of tools as they added them to their notebooks.  In the next few weeks the children will spend the working with each tool.  They will practice safety and practice being thoughtful investigators.

"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!