The calendar may say its spring, but we’ve been having a cool April so far. Despite the weather, we’re diving into spring inspired activities. Have you heard of the artist Paul Cezanne? The class explored his artwork with a focus on his tulip masterpieces. With tulips on the tables for inspiration the class sketched their own.
After sketching and outlining, students painted with watercolour. The kids loved how bright they turned out.
In science we have started our inquiry into animal life cycles. Our overall theme of patterns in nature continues by raising chickens! Our 1/2 friends in Mrs. G’s class have an incubator with chicken eggs inside. We have be been observing them and learning about their development. We can’t wait for them to hatch! In May we will be raising butterflies in our room and they will join us to watch them develop. The weather will determine when they arrive so cross your fingers for some warmer days ahead!
Observing the eggs generated a whole bunch of questions. Why are they different colours? If the eggs are different sizes will the chick be different sizes too? What colour will they be when they hatch? Are there different kinds of chicks? How big will they be? How long will they take to hatch?
It’s “I Love To Read” month at our school. We love to read every day, but this month we have organized activities as a whole school. One is called”beams in the band room”. Our school has windows everywhere! We have a lot of natural light. When you want to reading in the dark with flashlights there is only one place where you get darkness…the band room.
I love spring time in a 1/2 classroom! The growth in all my students is evident and they are so excited to share what they can do. Confidence as a reader takes time, but many of my students have been brave enough to ask to read to the class. I’ll admit it. When I was their age the thought of reading in front of the class scared me. I can still remember standing in front of the class having to read a reader (maybe you remember them too) as everyone followed along noticing all of my mistakes. The thought still makes me nervous! Confidence in reading develops over time, but a student will only take that risk when they feel comfortable and they know its ok to make a mistake. I encourage my students to take risks, but we celebrate each other’s small steps so the big ones don’t seem so scary.
Enjoy your week.
Mrs. Didyk
