Thanksgiving was earlier in the month and we recognized the day by talking about what we are thankful for during morning meeting and then wrote it down in our journal.
After reading the book “A Plump and Perky Turkey” together the class was given a STEM challenge. Create a turkey hideout for the turkey they made earlier in the day. They could use any materials in the classroom. This was a big challenge for the class. Many needed to talk it out and remember to work as a team. This challenge worked on developing problem solving skills and critical thinking strategies.
The Super Kids also created their own colourful turkeys with watercolour paints.
We had the opportunity to spend some time with Mme. Meg our school’s librarian. She read us a great story called “Spare Dog Parts” by Allison Hughes and Ashley Spires. The picture below is of Mme. Meg reading to our class. She had just come in from outside with another class for a different activity for “Take Me Outside Day”. She still had her hat on. 🙂
The book is a story about a dog that was made out of spare parts, but is perfect for its owner. Mme. Meg asked us to make a dog out of the spare parts she laid out in the library. The class was eager to get creating!
“Take Me Outside Day” is a day where educators are encouraged to take their kids outside and embrace learning outside. Our class had both Phys. Ed and Music outside. We had story time at the outdoor classroom and played animal charades. We even spent our center time with Mrs. G’s grade 1 class on the red structures area. Our class finished the day by making a special treat for the birds in our community. Using WOW butter, toilet paper rolls, string, and bird seed, each student made their own bird feeder.
Our nocturnal animal projects are in full swing. The Super Kids have been busy learning about how fall animals get ready for winter by hibernating, migrating, or adapting. We have also been learning about how different animals adapt to their surroundings like spiders and owls. Nocturnal animals have some very interesting adaptations like big eyes, sharp talons, and super hearing.
Each student has picked an animals that they have researched and are now making a diorama of that animal and its habitat. This coming week we will be working on finishing these projects and becoming directors when we turn them into stop motion videos.
The Super Kids created two art pieces in the spirit of the fall season. So many kids draw pumpkins as circles with a little stump on top so we learned how to draw a pumpkin and give it a 3D look using both chalk and oil pastels.
The Super Kids also drew their own spider webs! Using white and black oil pastel, water colour paint, and salt each student created their own spooky creation. We first practiced drawing a spider web on whiteboards. This was a tricky skill that needed some extra practice before using pastel.
This past week was spirit week in our school. Each day we came to school dressed for a different theme. Monday was rainbow day and each cohort dressed in different colour of the rainbow. We were orange. Tuesday was PJ day. Wednesday was sport themed and Thursday was our school colours. Of course Friday was the last day before Halloween, so students were invited to wear their costumes or orange and black. To say the week busy and full of excitement would be an understatement. You could feel it in the school. The kids were pumped!
The Super Kids came to school on PJ day with their favourite stuffed animal, wearing their PJs, and knowing what time their bedtime was. The morning work was graphing our bedtimes and sharing our bedtime routines. I’m so glad to hear so many of them read a story before going to bed.
When learning to read it is so important to hear what fluent reading sounds like. It helps develop vocabulary and helps make connections. Our class read bedtime stories throughout the day. Have you heard of the classic children’s book “Goodnight Moon”? Be sure to check out the modern take of this book ‘Goodnight iPad”.
The class also did their daily buddy reading with flashlights! We turned off the lights, lowered the blinds, and share our home reading books with our partners by flashlight. It helps that it was a bit of a gloomy day outside which made it a bit darker in the room.
Next the class practiced estimating and measuring using their stuffed animals. The Super Kids were partnered up and asked to estimate and then measure how many cubes long their stuffed animal was.
The class was so excited for Friday! They couldn’t wait to wear their costumes and show their friends. The class came into the classroom with Monster Mash playing and an escape room game board projected on the wall. This wasn’t going to be a normal day in our classroom. This was an epic day full of challenges that the kids had to complete to get a special treat from me to take home at the end of the day!
The challenges began with our morning message that began the eyeball challenge. The kids had to create a spider or monster with the play dough, goggly eyes, and pipe cleaner provided. They then had to write about it their morning writing journal.
Next was the pumpkin challenge where students worked with a partner to estimate and measure how tall their pumpkin was, how many creases it had, how much it weighed, and if they thought it would sink or float.
Next, it was time for a detour…a movement break!
The spider challenge was next. The Super Kids had to “code” their friends in an unplugged coding activity with Halloween themed actions such as hissing like a cat or flapping like a bat.
The witch challenge was completing the witches brew graph. The kids had to determine how many of each item was being projected and fill in a horizontal bar graph showing their data.
After lunch was the candy challenge. Each student was given their own bag of 20 pumpkin candy and 20 toothpicks. They were challenged to build the tallest tower the could and measure it with blocks.
Next was another detour…Tic Tac Toe with ghosts and pumpkins.
The monster challenge had the class following a direct drawing lesson creating their own monsters. This was a huge hit! They just loved this activity.
The final activity had us going up to the library to visit our librarian friends to read a spooky story.
With all those challenges the class earned their special treat that they got to take home at the end of the day!
I hope everyone who celebrates Halloween had a great night. I look forward to hearing about their weekends. Take care!
🙂
