Week 28: Designing Habitats
This week in the Early Learning classroom the girls began to dive into our habitats inquiry and learn about the places in which animals (and people) call home. As always, many girls were creative in their learning, designing ice creams, dreaming up unique characters and storylines, and building structures for animals to live in. Take a look at the photos from the week.
G tries to catch snowflakes at recess. Despite the long winter, we still love the taste of snow on our tongues.
After struggling to pick up the small buttons, P finds a creative way to clean up the materials that she spread out on the light table.
N experiments with balancing cups at Math, which takes a lot of focus.
A was so excited to create a self-portrait at the Art Centre today. She noticed the other girls' portraits right away when she started at Linden, and she has been eager to paint her own.
This morning we are exploring measurement using non-standard tools (i.e., snap cubes). K decides to measure around the stencil instead of just measuring the length, and we discuss that she just measured the perimeter.
As G works on measuring the length of her foot, she adds snap cubes one at a time until they are the same length as her foot.
P rolls out her "dough" while she works at the bakery in Drama.
This morning we brought our CERES class up to the roof. The girls were challenged to create a habitat or shelter for either a stuffed animal or small plastic animal using the velcro shapes or edges and vertices. A is working on constructing a home for a smaller animal.
N pretends to be having an important conversation with two friends during recess.
A practices using her finger to make sure her words have a "finger space" between them. She has made such great progress in her writing this year.
A and K enjoy having some free time on the practice boards. They both work slowly and carefully while designing these masterpieces.
The girls collaborate with a partner on their plan for the habitat they are building for the robot / animal.
We are starting to think about the play that the Early Learners and Grade 1-2s will do for Drama Night (on May 31st). M and G brainstorm interesting characters that could be included in the play.
A and N work on highlighting this week's sight words (on and are) in the poem.
P fills the car with as many gems as she can fit in the holes.
N builds a home for the animals to live in. She explains that they are lying down because they are sleeping, and also that they are protected by walls.
The Early Learners use Soteira's new age as a math inspiration this morning. Each girl is challenged to line up the same amount of materials, and we are curious about which material will look the longest when they are all lined up.
A peers into one of the nests that we have in our classroom to see what she can notice. She is very gentle with the sides, making sure only to look but not to pull apart. She wonders aloud, "what bird lived in it?", "which tree had this nest and if this tree had a little hole for the nest?".
The girls excitedly surprise Soteira on her birthday, and they can't wait to give her the biggest group hug. Happy birthday Soteira!
K and A (grade 7) work together to create a pulley during the Engineer Day all-school. The pulley will be attached to her group's structure to transport a load.
Today is our first day with our grade 9 writing buddies. Over the course of four weeks, the Early Learners will spend time writing with the grade 9 girls. A asks J (grade 9) to scribe for her while she narrates a story about a girl and a boy who are in love but who live in different countries. When the task of writing is taken away, the Early Learners are often able to create more detailed and in depth work.
A fills the base of her structure with wooden planks, making sure they fit just right. She manages to fill the entire surface without leaving any gaps - a good challenge for her spatial abilities.
P is excited that it is no longer raining, so she is able to play with her umbrella instead of using it to keep her dry.