Week Thirty One: Tulips and Snails

After a week filled with planting and going offsite to visit the cherry blossoms, we brought some new experiences into the classroom this week instead. I picked up a snail on the sidewalk on my walk to work one morning (almost crushing it in the process), and also couldn't resist buying a bouquet of tulips to enhance our inquiry around plants. The girls even got to test out a new coding technology/game! Enjoy the photo story of our week together. 

Z creates our May calendar, but decides to make "fancy numbers". She traces the magnetic numbers onto the calendar, pointing out that the number 4 has a triangle in the centre!

And there goes the first tooth in our classroom. M is excited to share the gap in her mouth, and we are excited to finally start a tooth tally (and graph). Stay tuned for more toothless grins.

Taking a break from the Light Table to work on the table where there is a bit more open space, S designs a flower. The symmetry and geometry in her flower is stunning. 

Z is happy to have our classroom visitor, Mrs. Snail, crawling around on her hand. She observes that it leaves a slimy trail behind, and that it kind of tickles while it moves. 

S and G focus on being still and quiet around the snail so they don't scare it. We noticed how long it took the snail to come out of its shell - showing us that it's finally comfortable around us.

 M sketches and paints the tulips from a new perspective - bird's eye view. 

Another sign of spring - tulips!

This morning we are conducting a science experiment to help us answer the question "how do plants eat and use water?". We have put celery in blue-coloured water and are making predictions about what we think might happen. G hypothesizes that the celery leaves will turn blue because it will suck up the blue water. 

G first draws her observations of the experiment, and then predicts that the celery will only turn half blue.

S asks for my assistance as she colours in different combinations of pattern blocks to make hexagons. She finds that removing one block at a time and colouring in the space helps make sure that she gets the shapes right.

K takes a careful look at the map book before doing some typing. It's so interesting what catches the girls' interests in the Drama Centre. 

G uses Scratch Jr to code her own story. She has chosen for it to take place in outer space, and has selected a few different characters. She is putting together a sequence to code how the characters will move in the story scene.

Z, M, and G experiment with our new class coding game. The objective is to program the mouse to find the cheese, using the direction actions. It's important to input them in the right sequence for the mouse to find its way.

G uses the mosaic nature tiles to create a name plate that will go on her portfolio. She loved the calmness and focus that this activity brought her.

Z observes the tulips on their second day in the classroom, and she notices that they have already changed colour. 

S brings her baby elephant to the picnic on the blue carpet. It's not a real picnic without guests!

Z is officiating a classroom wedding between M and G. It appears that it might be a tropical wedding, with very few guests. The love that these girls show towards each other is infinite.

G gives some friends a call after the wedding is over. She needs everyone to know that she is now married. 

M brings her baby around the class to show everyone. It is so carefully wrapped up in a blanket and tucked into its "bassinet".