Weekly Activities

Chart comparing life in pioneer days to now.                                                   Line of Inquiry: Collecting water from the "well" inventions have been made that impact the things we do changes in daily life. We watched a short video depicting the life of a child during pioneer times.   http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=YkZyejHU5Aw After the video, the children made a chart comparing their lives with that of a pioneer child. They found that many activities are the same: washing up, cooking, but the manner in which we do them has changed. We listed what machines have been invented that have changed how we do things compared to the pioneer times. The children came to the conclusion that life is easier now because there are so many things to help us: cars, electricity, stores, washing machines. Esme noted that she helps ...

Line of Inquiry: Inventions have been made that impact the things we do. The Fire Group  expressed interest in how things were made in the past and how they are made today.  During our formative assessment, Grace asked how  ice cream was made a long time ago.  The bag was getting heavy.  Today, we looked at how  ice cream was made in the past . What the children really wanted to know was how long did it take to make the ice cream before it was ready to eat.  We didn't have an old fashioned ice cream churn but we did have ziplock bags and ice.  The making of ice cream began. In a small ziplock bag, we combined 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup whipping cream, and 2 TBSP of sugar and sealed the bag. In the larger ziplock, we placed 1/2 cup of salt and ice filling about half the bag. The smaller bag was placed inside the larger one, it was sealed and the shaking began. It was a group effort as the children found it tiring. Finding her ha...

I introduced the children to the game Crokinole. As a child, I played this game at my Grandma's on a homemade board. The object of the game is to shoot discs on the board and the discs nearest the centre at the end of each round are tallied.  Highest number of points win.  We played without keeping score and celebrated anyone who was able to shoot their disc into the centre.    I explained to the children that people didn't have the same materials as today to make toys nor did people have money to buy them.  Many people made toys or played games.  We played "Hot and Cold" where one child is the "guesser" and the other children hide a button in the room. As the "guesser' moves throughout the room, the children indicate if he/she is hot or cold.  Alan said "this is really fun." The other children agreed and kept asking to play over and over. We ended the day by making a Button Whirligig. It is a spinning toy where thread is looped throu...

Then and Now Where we are in place and time . We began our formative assessment last week by reading books about pioneer life. To help the children experience life without electricity, we read by candlelight.  This sparked a great conversation of what it would be like to be a child during this time.  I told the children that because there was no electricity, there were no computers, iPads or television.  Grace asked "what games did they play?"  This question has guided us to explore what types of games and toys did children play with in the past.  We began with marbles.  The children have only used marbles with the marble run or played with them at the water table.  Today, we learned different games to play using them. The children practiced shooting marbles with their fingers or with a shooter marble.  The first game we played had us gather around a circle with a number of marbles placed in the centre.  Taking turns...

Wendy's activity of edible decorations made me think of the Witch's gingerbread house in the story Hansel and Gretel. We looked at the story and wondered what it would be like to live in a house we could eat. The children thought it would be fun but not a good place to be when it rains. We undertook the task of decorating a gingerbread house. It was a very collaborative effort. Before we began, the children made a plan deciding on the colours and the placement of the candy decorations. The children were very patient waiting for their turns.  Upon completion of the house, the children decided that their house is not for a witch but for them to eat. Our house is on display for all the children to enjoy.....for now!

Today the children each did an assessment in the form of a booklet. The booklet was to help me see what the children's understanding of the line of inquiry is and to assess what they have learned thus far. Please have a look at your child's book, each are eager to share his/her knowledge with you.

We finished our clay decorations today.  Each child chose four colours to paint with. It was wonderful to watch each child taking the time to choose the colours and carefully paint their decorations.  The children showed commitment and enthusiasm during this project. The final products provided wonderful conversations at the table as each child was eager to proudly present their decorations. Grace: I have a special place on my shelf to put it on. Byron: I want to give my decorations as a present. Jayla: I am going to hang them on a wall in my room. Sophie: My mom will put it on a wall in my room so I can see it. Alan: I made a mountain. Tyreese: I'm going to put mine in my keeping box. Esme: I'm putting my decoration on a high shelf because Remi can climb now.