The Bear Facts...

As an inquiry classroom, it is the interest of the students that direct our topics of study.  At the end of January, we read a fiction and non-fiction book about bears.  These two books sparked major interest in the students.  They had many interesting questions, and they wanted to find out more.

To find out more information about bears, and more importantly, to find the answer to some of the questions the students had, we have been doing some research together.  We are reading non-fiction books, watching informational videos and visiting web sites to find out all we can.

The other day, the students interest was focused on the grizzly bear.  We found an interesting and informative video on YouTube that we watched together.

The students were given time to talk with a partner about something new they had learned.  To help solidify the learning, I invited the students to watch the video one more time.  I placed sticky notes at each desk, and students returned to their seats to record the interesting facts they learned from the video.

The students were so excited to share their new knowledge, they got right to work.  The classroom was silent as the students worked on recording what they had learned.

The students were so excited to share their discoveries, that we took the time to allow each student to share their findings with the class.  This was an excellent and authentic opportunity to promote oral communication, and the students did an amazing job presenting in front of the class.  After they presented, we compiled all the stickies onto a Grizzly Bear Facts chart to keep our discoveries in one place.

This activity was such an authentic learning opportunity.  The students were interested, and invested in the topic.  Reading some of the sticky notes below, it is amazing to see how clear and concise the students were in recording their ideas.  

Our learning sparked some new questions that we plan on investigating.  Here are two types of bears the students had never heard of, and want to learn more about.

Mr. Allen joined us for part of our grizzly bear exploration.  While he was talking to some of the students, an interesting question arose and he helped us explore it.  Mr. Allen used the Internet to explore which kind of bear is the strongest. The students were very excited to talk to Mr. Allen and share in the learning with him.

 

There is more amazing learning on the horizon.  Although the topic of bears was decided on by the students, there are valuable learning opportunities and curriculum connections happening every day.  We are covering expectations in reading, writing, oral communication and science in both the Gr. 1 and  Gr. 2 curriculum.  I can't wait to see what exciting learning will happen this week!

The Big Show...

We had our last visit with Mr. Romaine on Tuesday.  The puppets were ready to go and the students had practiced their presentation with their partner.  Mr. Romaine showed us how to use the overhead projector to produce stage lighting.  He also provided some music on the ukulele to introduce each play.  Then, we were off.  Take a peek at some of our puppets in action.

A doctor and a taxi driver...

A chef and a crossing guard...

A peek "backstage"...

A firefighter and a dentist...

When all students had a chance to preform, Mr. Romaine and Wiarton Willy asked the students some great questions to solidify all the learning they had done about community helpers.  We were all big fans of Wiarton Willy...

Thank you Mr. Romaine for teaching us about community helpers, puppets, preforming for an audience, but most of all reminding us why we ALL should strive to help others in our community.

Have You Ever Wondered?

Our classroom is inquiry based.  This means the interests of the students direct the topics we study.  All curriculum is covered, but in a more authentic way.  The students are more engaged and interested in the learning, because they themselves decided what we will study.

One site we like to use in our classroom is called Wonderopolis (www.wonderopolis.org).  This is a fun site that posts a different "wonder" or question every day.  You can also search through older "wonders" to learn more about a topic of interest.

I encourage you to stop by Wonderopolis once a week with your child and discuss a "wonder" together.  This will give you both a chance to learn, discuss and explore.  Oral language development is so important for children.  This website is a great tool for schools and families.

Take a peek to the right of this post.  You will find a new link called "Have You Ever Wondered?"  This will be updated daily with a new "wonder".  If you click on it, you will automatically be taken to Wonderopolis.  Please click, explore, discover and discuss these with your children.  You'll be amazing at how the interesting facts, ideas and questions you will find. :)

Learning Through The Arts (Part 1)

***I meant to post this last week. My apologies for the technical glitch. This post will give you an introduction to our work with Mr. Romaine and L.T.T.A.***

We are lucky to once again be taking part in Learning Through The Arts.  This is a program that pairs professional artists with classroom teachers.  We are working with Mr. Romaine who is a professional puppeteer.

Together, we are learning more about our community and community helpers, while learning to make puppets.  The students are enjoying each step of the process.  Yesterday, we began work on our community helper puppets.

It is a unique opportunity for the students, and myself to learn directly from an artist and gain deeper understanding from their expertise.

We will continue adding more detail to our puppets next week, and begin adding tools they might use on the job.  Stay tuned...

LTTA - Becoming Puppeteers...

Mr. Romain was back today for our latest session of Learning Through The Arts.  Our puppets are almost complete (a few details to be added this week), so the students wrote a small introduction for their community helper.  We played some games and sang some songs that helped us to get to know all the community helpers better.  Mr. Romaine even played the ukulele for us!

Next, it was time  to learn how to use the puppets to preform, and to share the information the students have learned about community helpers.  Mr. Romaine gave us some great tips.  The students learned to sit "shoulder to shoulder", so the puppets always face the audience.  They learned that the puppet who is "talking" is the puppet who is also "moving" - to help the audience better understand the presentation.  The students worked with a partner, and practiced the script they had written earlier.

When Mr. Romaine visits next week, the students will be putting on puppet shows with their partner.  Today, each team had a chance to try out the puppet stage Mr. Romaine brought for us to use.  The students enjoyed learning about puppet placement, movement and using their voices to share with an audience.

Mr. Romaine will be back next week for our last session together.  Before he arrives, the students will have a chance to finish their puppets, and practice the play they will perform for the class.  They are very excited!  Ask your child what community helper they chose for their puppet, and how that community helper helps those in the community.

Inspired Art...

In Visual Arts, we have been learning about the great Impressionist artist, Claude Monet.  We enjoyed reading books, Internet articles and viewing many of his beautiful paintings.

The students noticed that most of his art focused on aspects of nature, and we discovered that he most enjoyed painting outdoors.  Of all the Monet pieces we studied, the students enjoyed the water lily and garden paintings the best.

We took our turn at drawing a water lily pond landscape.  The students started by creating quick sketches of what they wanted to paint.  Their focus was on the different types of lines they were using, spacing the water lilies to show depth (some close up, some far away) and also, their use of colour.

The next step was to draw both the water lilies and the lily pads in crayon.

Next, it was time to paint.  The students enjoyed this experience and it was great to hear the conversations and connections being made.

Beautiful masterpieces inspired by a master artist!