Expressing ourselves through words and pictures.

This week, the children were given the opportunity to express themselves in the forest. Pictures were taken and their comments recorded. A slideshow will be created and the children will be given the chance to revisit their experience.

Esme came up with the idea of drawing their play in the forest. We painted a tree and each child added some pictures that display their expression in the forest. The pictures show very define detail and most of them express their feelings or their movements in the forest. 

The video will give the children a chance to reflect on their play and by creating the opportunity for the children to draw their experience, allows them to express themselves through visual arts. 

"Patrick, did you hear that bird singing?"

"I am happy. Throwing leaves up in the air and watching them fall."  

"This looks just like the stump I drew this morning"

"We are riding a horse."

"Hold on tight!"

Build it!

Esme wanted to express her idea of a castle and a bride by building it. The children made puppet dolls to attend the wedding at the castle and then they each spent half an hour to build their castle. Some children built their own, while others got together to work in a group. 

At the end, they each had a turn to present their structure, but before, we discussed the importance of being a good listener. 

Esme "Make eye contact with the person that is talking." 

Janet "Keep your hands still" 

Damon "Keep your mouth closed. Put your hand up if you want to share your idea." 

Angela "Keep your body still. Moving around can be very distracting." 

Andrea "No talking while someone else is talking." 

Luca "Listen with your ears." 

Art on Fridays - Express yourself through art

Feeling happy? Worried? Excited? Sad and at a loss for words? The children in the wind group tried letting their feelings and expressions out on a piece of paper. They used different shapes and colors to draw their facial expressions and presented their pictures to the others through a story. 

Kesler " I feel happy. Playing at school makes me express happiness." 

Janet "Expressing myself through all these colours is what I feel right now. Happy. Happy!"

Luca "My family is my happiness." 

Angela "Going outside with my brother makes me feel excited. This is me being more than just happy." 

Express yourself

The new unit has started and the children are eager to express themselves and share their ideas. When I introduced the central idea - We express ourselves in many ways and this helps us connect with one another - to the children, Esme said "Does this mean, being yourself?" 

This question led us into deeper conversations. The children also shared ideas on what it means to be a good listener and speaker:

Grace "Making eye contact and listening quietly." 

Esme "Thinking about the environment you are in and using a softer voice if people are next to you." 

Kesler "Walk over to the person you are talking to instead of yelling across the room." 

Jacob "Listen first and talk after." 

Janet "Take turns while talking. Be nice." 

For the next few weeks, we will be looking into building connections with others while expressing ourselves through language, music, movement and visual arts.  

** Formative week - The new unit of inquiry is introduced to the children in the first week and the children are provided with opportunities to demonstrate their prior knowledge and current understanding. All the information gathered from the children will be used to guide and direct the next stage of teaching and learning.

Water wonders - summative assessment

During the last week of our unit of inquiry on Water, the children worked on creating a mural or painting and the following questions guided their planning. 

What do you know about water?

Why is water important to people? (what do they use it for)

Why is water important to animals?  

Why is water important to plants?  

What would happen if there was no water?

How can we make sure this never happens; how can we save water?

* Summative assessments evaluate the learning that happened during the weeks of inquiry. The children are given the opportunity to show their understanding of the central idea and to share their knowledge about Water through a final project. 

Together we can impact our water sources in a positive way

After discussions about the importance of keeping our water clean, the children made posters to help raise awareness on the significance of being responsible when it comes to discarding garbage and recycling in their designated areas in order to reduce waste. 

We simulated an oil and garbage spill in the water table and the children manipulated the fish and boats in a way to get an understanding of the difference of living in clean water versus polluted water.

Grace "My feather is so oily. The birds wouldn't be able to fly anymore. Their bodies would be too heavy from the oil." 

Kesler "My fish is eating crackers. He's getting a tummy ache." 

Zoe "The oil makes my hands slippery and difficult to wash." 

Eva "I wouldn't like to shower with this oily water. The dirt would keep me from staying clean and the oil would make it hard to wash the germs away." 

Enjoy, 

Anamaria 

A child's inquiry

At the beginning of the unit, Kesler shared his knowledge about Water and one of his inquiries was about animals that live in rivers and oceans.

On our walk in the forest last week, we found some eggs in the water. After deeper research, we came to the conclusion that they might be frog, salamander or newt eggs. The children also saw a sign in the forest, informing us that Salmon live in the creek.

Kesler "Are there any salmon in the ocean?"

To answer Kesler's question, we learned more about salmon in the last few days and watched a video on "The life cycle of a Salmon".

The children's drawings show the life cycle of a salmon and its different stages.

Esme would like to know why Salmon turn pink when they swim back to the river and Kesler wonders why Salmon die after they lay their eggs.

Next week, we will focus on how people impact water sources and talk about taking responsibility towards this matter. We will discuss different ways of sharing our knowledge and raising awareness in the community about the importance of keeping the water free of litter.