Week of April 16-20

Dear families,

Spring weather has finally arrived! Hopefully snow pants and hats can be packed away!

This week we continued our inquiries on How Plants Grow and Birds. The children looked at different kinds of seeds and matched seeds to the plants they grow into (sunflower, corn, apple, orange, for example). They watched Sesame Street Franklin and Peep And The Big Wide World videos about how plants grow. They also compared Living and Non-Living things, and explored the differences between, for example, and apple growing on a tree versus an apple that has fallen off a tree. They learned that living things GROW, MOVE, and RESPOND, and watched time-lapse videos of sunflowers follow the sun and tulips open during the day and close at night to demonstrate this. The children learned that plants start from seeds, become sprouts, then seedlings, and then plants which in then produce seeds. They also learned about different kinds of SOILS: clay, sand, and loam, and why plants grow well in loam. The children planted various kinds of seeds in mini greenhouses (plastic strawberry boxes) and we will track their growth. They also made mini greenhouses out of plastic bags and "planted" beans in them, with a damp paper towel for moisture and air in the bag as well. They are also learning about how seeds are planted on their own (by the wind, by animals, by streams and rivers etc.). Maybe you'd like to plant some seeds at home! When the soil warms up you can transplant the seedlings into a pot or into your garden (mid-May). Thank you Kate for showing us the sunflower she is growing at home! We will finish this inquiry next week.

In our inquiry on Birds, the children: did a "Make 5" numeracy activity by making combinations of owls to make 5 (1+_4, 2+3, etc.); learned what owls HAVE, CAN (do), and ARE; guessed what various birds eat and where they live based on their feet and beaks or bills; "put their ducks in a row" by ordering words to make a sentence; they did Cosmic Kids Pigeon and Flamingo Yoga; learned how to draw an Angry Bird and an Owl; wrote and drew a picture about what they can do when feel angry like an angry bird; and completed "Bird Facts" pocket books, in which they had to read sentences about birds and put them either in the "Not a Bird Fact" or "Bird Fact" pocket. Well done! We'll continue our learning about birds next week. We'll learn about why birds sing, how birds fly, and about Blue Jays (go Jays!)!

Thank you so much to our volunteers this week! Hudson's mom was the Mystery Reader, and Hudson's dad, Anilee's mom, and Evelyn's mom helped our Scientist-in-the-Classroom Janet teach the children about what Paleontologists, Meteorologists, Astronomers, Chemists and Marine Biologists do. They dug for dinosaur bones and made fossils, measured the weather in different ways, saw constellations in a tent, learned about chemical reactions and if things are water soluble, and learned about the ocean. What a great morning! So much fun and so much learning! Thank you as well to the children who shared their owl stuffies and bird books with the classroom - I love it when the children extend their learning at home and share it with their friends! Next week we will be starting an Inquiry on Earth Day and will learn about how to take care of the Earth.

Thank you for coming to our "Day in the Life" LKS Open House on Thursday evening. The children we so proud showing their classroom and learning to you!

That's the news from Room 166! Have a great weekend!