Then and Now: Preparing for the summative.

We began preparing for our summative next week. Throughout this unit, the children learned that many things were done by hand in the past including cleaning. Referring to the central idea that there are similarities and differences between the way people lived long ago and the way people live today the children will develop a cleaning machine so we won't have to clean by hand.

Wendy began the week by showing the children a Cat in the Hat video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jK6l1WJKUU

She asked the children to pay attention to the end of video where they will see a special invention, one that she wished we had at the daycare. At the end of the movie, the children were excited to share their thoughts about the machine. Wendy did a human graph - would you want to clean or have a machine do the work. It was unanimous, the machine won. Next week we will build the machine. Esme said "I cant wait for next week!"

To build a machine we needed to see how machines work. We spent Wednesday experimenting with simple machines and making a connection to how our machine would operate. Brainstorming, the children came up with some ideas for our machine:

arms for picking up garbage - Tyreese, Esme, Byron
hook to grab things - Esme
wheels to help it move - Byron
chopsticks on the arms to pick things up - Jayla
handle to pull it - Grace
a hinge to attach the parts - Oliver
bag for garbage - Esme

Now we have an idea of what our machine will do, we drew a picture of it. We examined all the items that have been donated to see what we could use. We found:
lids for wheel - Oliver, Grace
chain for a handle - Grace
string for handle to carry it - Sophie
hose for the arms - Oliver

Working together next we will make a cleaning machine.

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Similarities and Differences Between Friends

We are nearing the end of this unit of inquiry. Next week is already our summative week. Our focus this week was likes/dislikes: do we have to like the same things as our friends? I asked this question to the children. All of the children said yes except Rocco. Rocco said "friends don't have to do the same things." "Do we have to like the same things as our friends?" Using the book, Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley (the story of two great friends), we listed the traits of each character.. The children found out that Pearl and Charlie were complete opposites yet were the best of friends. I asked the question again. Esme and Simone changed their response. Simone replied that "that friends don't have to do the same things but sometimes we do." We wrapped up by making "Wanted: Friends" posters. Some of the qualities listed on the posters were: Rocco: caring Simone: someone who is nice Alfie: play with me Bela: someone wi...

Storm Drains: How we impact water.

The car wash The clean creek Today we explored where water goes when it enters a storm drain and the impact we have on what flows into these drains. The children experimented with different types of utensils at the water table. The children were able to see how water passes freely through the different openings and how other items can also pass through. We used these utensils to recreate how storm drains work. We created a creek and watched what happened to the creek when different types of pollutants pass through the storm drain. We also simulated washing cars. The children noted that the soap goes down the drain with the water. "Oh no, are fish will be sick!" commented Sofia. Simone thought we could give the fish medicine to get better. This started a conversation on how difficult it would be to give medicine to all of the fish in all of the creeks!! The children noticed how dirty the water was and that living things would not survive in our p...

Helping Hands

Through different stories, we have been discussing the qualities of a friend. The one quality that the children unanimously agreed upon is that friends help one another. In the story, The Little Red Hen, the Hen did all of the work by herself. The children thought that the Dog, Cat and Goose were not good friends because every time the Hen asked for help, they refused. Before we reached the end of the story, I asked the children if Hen should share her bread. There were mixed responses however, the majority of the children thought Hen should share. Louis' first response was to not share but he quickly changed his mind and said "sharing is caring!" This coming week, the children have asked to make bread and share it with the entire class. "I hug my friend when he is sad." "I blow up a balloon for my friend, Amalia, when she pops her." "I help my friends when they fall." "I help carry stuff for my friends." ...

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