Week Twenty Eight: Girls with Green Thumbs
Spring is officially here, which means more time outdoors for us! We had a busy week that was filled with planting, looking closely at nature, visiting the local fire station, and working on our skills in the classroom. As I try to take moments each day to step back and reflect on the learning, I am amazed at how much the girls have all grown since their first day through the door at Linden. Take a look at the fun we’ve had together this week!
K carefully carves lines into her clay pot that she made today in art. She is making sure all of her sides are smooth with no cracks. Can you guess what we might put in these pots?
We are at the park and in search of signs of spring. Some ideas about things we could find included birds, plants growing from the ground, flowers on trees, mucky ground, and bugs. The girls are sketching the blue flowers we found growing near the playground, and writing words to accompany their drawings. It is important to use our senses to understand the changes that come with each season – the smells, what things feel like, the sounds around us, and more!
The beautiful, sunny afternoon is interrupted by dark grey clouds overhead and a fierce wind blowing through the park. As we quickly make our way back to Linden, the girls use their scientist clipboards to protect themselves from gusts of wind and fat raindrops. We made it back just in time, and luckily missed the downpour.
The seeds that we started to germinate last week have started sprouting, so it is time to plant them in soil. Each girl is planting four different seed types in her pots. We are so happy to have Nancy join us – she really knows her stuff!
G uses the seed bag to create a popsicle-stick-label for her plant pots. Labels are important for remembering which seeds are in each pot.
S creates a patterned beaded necklace in art. She tells me that “it goes red-blue-red-blue the whole way”.
G shows us her sticky hands after rolling cookie dough into balls and placing them on the baking sheet. We are making them to bring to the fire station, Branch 311 on Balmoral Ave.
The Early Learners and Grade 5s are excited about the cards that they have made to give to the firefighters who helped fight the fire at the Badminton and Racquet Club on February 14th. The girls have all written kind, heartfelt messages to the firefighters, and many of the cards even have pop-up features!
Waiting to be let into the station. Look how big the station is compared to the girls!
M and Z get a chance to sit in the firetruck with their Grade 5 pals, C and M.
Z is almost lost beneath the firefighter’s jacket. She tells us that it is very heavy, and encourages her peers to try it on as well.
K and K ride up front on the firetruck – a spot that not even many firefighters spend time sitting or standing on.
Z is selling soup, and K and S have come to buy some from her. She tells them how much money it costs, and the girls pretend to pay her. She cashes them out at the checkout and hands them their meals.
Z works on her words of the week. She speeds through both matching up the words and pictures, and then is confident while reading them to me. She even notices that a number of them rhyme (because they are part of the same word family).
Inspired by G earlier this week, M uses the keyboard to create her own computer while she is at the Art Centre. She takes care to add in all of the number and letter keys. She even adds in the space bar, caps lock button, and a few other features. When she is done, M designs a cover and a screen for the computer as well. She uses the computer to “type notes” while a peer shares her work with the group.
G, K, and G work with pentominoes and unifix cubes at the Math Centre. We continue to build on our spatial sense, and the girls start to become more comfortable with spatial activities.
M and G share their computers with the class. The pride they take in their work shines through in those smiles!
Z has designed a detailed school while at the Building Centre. The students are marbles, and they come down the ramp into the classes. The cars are parked outside and the doorways are visible. Her classmates were very curious about the process she went through to create this structure.
The clay pots have dried and the girls are starting to paint them. G accidentally gets some red paint on the wrong spot of her pot.
K pats down the soil after planting a variety of seeds in her handmade clay pot.
Once again, we made it to the top of the hill on our ravine walk. We are so happy to be enjoying the beautiful spring day, and the girls show me their hearts for the picture.