We are Sea Stars!

Our latest inquiry has been about the beach and the ocean!  While we were wondering and thinking about the Earth, many of our students gravitated towards places that were always hot.  We loved finding Mexico on our globe to see how close the Equator it was.  Miss Campbell, Ms. Conti and myself quickly realized our students were beginning to shift their thinking to the ocean and the beach.  We began our latest inquiry by adding some new books to our reading corner about water and ocean creatures.  S.Z. read about starfish in one book and in the interesting facts section at the back learned that starfish can grow back their arms!  He shared this fact with our class and together we questioned:  "I wonder how starfish grow back their points when one comes off?"  We have a lot of theories!  Take a look below to see some of our thinking!

V.T. I think there is magic dust itself.
S.Z.  I think there is little guys inside their hole.
D.V. I think there are points at the side.
Z.L. I think the starfishes bones grow.
A.D. I think the water helps it.
A.L. I think there are a arm on the starfish.
J.L. I think the starfish bones pushes out.
S.M. I think a star fish has 100 arms.
E.Rjk - I think it has another arm in the middle.
A.M. - I think starfish grow like people.
E.Z. - I think inside his body has another arm.
M.S. I Think a bone grows back in.
J.Y. - I think it is becuase the water surrounds it.
E.R.(sk/1) I think it has extra blood.
I.L.  I think the starfish drinks water.
D.M. - I think there is something inside of them.
M.O. I think starfish drink water to regenerate.
E.R. (sk) - I think starfish have 100 arms in their body.
A.K.jk - I think when starfish skin grows back the arm grows back.
K.H. I think it uses tape.
U.L. - I think the starfish finds a seed.
E.W. I think it sucks water in and makes an arm.
G.A. - I think when one breaks off another grows back.
E.B. - I think the sun gives it energy.
S.S. -  I think the starfish arms will grow small to big.
A.M. - I think starfish grow like people.
S.B. - I think it needs water to put more energy on it.
J.M.X. -  I think his friend gives his arm back.
T.C. - I think it has extra bones in the body.
L.H. I think it can grow underwater.
H.H. I think he eats his arm.

Thank you Mrs. Smith and E.R.(jk) family for letting us use your sea stars at our wonder table!  We have enjoyed touching their bumpy surface and looking at their hundreds of tube like feet, which help them move slowly along the ocean floor.

We have learned that starfish lose their limbs for all kinds of reasons!  Fishing is one cause of sea stars losing their arms.  While we were learning about starfish we also found out that sea stars can release one of their arms if there is a predator trying to eat them!

After watching this video, looking at books and talking about starfish. We learned so much about them!  Here are some things that we know:
- It takes one year for a starfish to grow back their arm.
- Starfish have special cells in their body that help them regrow their arms.
- Starfish can be prickly (EB)
- Some starfish are nocturnal. (PZ)
- Starfish are also called sea stars.
- Some have spikes on them. (ER)
- Starfish don't have blood. (DV)
- There are lots of different kinds of starfish. They all look different. (JY)
- Some live in shallow and some live in deep waters. (ZL)
- The biggest starfish lives in the Pacific Ocean. (JMX)
- When starfish lose an arm they can grow back another one. (SZ)
- Some can be different colours and sizes.  They are unique. (VT)

Sandcastles in our sensory bin with magic green sand.  We enjoy using shells and feathers to decorate our sandcastles.
Water in our sensory bin just like the ocean!  We are finding shells with numbers and letters!

Journals by Z.L. and E.B. 

M.O. 

A mermaid and a palm tree by L.S. 

Pen Pals

Our learning journey around the Earth has us excited about different countries and what we will see when we travel!

Some new friends and our pen pals, Courtney and Jason have been on a trip around the world and started writing letters to our class at the beginning of April!  They wrote to us from many different countries and even sent pictures!  

Jason and Courtney's first stop was to Mexico.  They sent us pictures of the beach they stayed on. The sand was so white, and the water was so blue! Next was South Africa, where we saw beautiful animals like lions and elephants!  Then we were off to Egypt, we were fascinated by the pyramids.  From Egypt, we went to Bangladesh and then Australia!  We loved the beautiful rain-forests and the Great Barrier Reef! Each time Courtney and Jason went to a new country, we got to do an entry in our Passports!  We loved drawing and writing about what different places around the world looked like.

Our class LOVES the beach! (Australia and Mexico were some of the students favourite places!)  Lately, we have been discussing animals that live in the water, sandcastles and hot weather!  Here is a question that stemmed from our discussions:  

I wonder... why it is summer all the time in Mexico? 

I think... 

A.L. - All the countries are always facing the sun. 

Z.L. - Because it never snows. 

E.R.(jk) - It rains.  I think the sun hits the top of it. 

D.M. - Because Mexico is a different country. 

M.O. 0 On those countries there will never be winter. 

L.H. - I think because the sun always shines there. 

J.L. - Becasue Mexico is in the middle of the Earth. 

After reading the book On Earth by G. Brian Karas, we learned about the Equator and that our Earth is actually on a tilt!  Now, we understand ..... 

It is summer all the time because Mexico is in the middle of the Earth.  The Sun is strong at the middle. 

In Australia it is summer when Canada has winter. Z.L. 

When it is summer in Canada it is winter in Australia.  P.Z. 

In Canada it is day time. In Nigeria it is night time.  T.C. 

Mexico is at the Equator.  J.Y.  

The equator is in the middle. S.B.

I think because its in the Equator and the sun always shines on the Equator. A.K. (jk)

Cuba is also in the middle.  E.B. 

India is close to the Equator.  A.K.(sk)

L.H. moves Jason and Courtney's plane from South Africa, to Egypt to Bangladesh! 

Our Canadian Passports!
JMX works on a rainforest in Bangladesh.

A world map displays where each students heritage is from. We are lucky to have such a beautiful, diverse class! 
S.Z. looks at an atlas to find China.
K.H. sees all of the continents in an atlas.
A.M. does a journal entry of the Earth at the wonder window.
U.Q. find a globe in a book at our reading corner. 

What is your favourite place that Jason and Courtney went?!

Z.L. - Mexico because I like looking for shells, hotel and hammock. 

J.Lnds - Mexico because I like the water and you can build the tallest sandcastle. 

J.L. - Australia because theres lots of coral reefs. 

A.M. - Mexico because I like swimming. 

D.M. - Bangladesh because I like the rainforest and rainbows.  

M.O. - Bangladesh because it has rainforests and waterfalls and I like water. 

E.R. (SK) - Mexico because you get to have fun outside, always. 

L.S. - Rainforest because there were creatures in there. A lizard. 

S.S. - Mexico because its near the equator and it never gets cold. 

V.T. - Australia because it is close to another country so you can kayak/row a boat to New Zealand.  And it has sharks, I like sharks. 

D.V. - Mexico because you get to build sandcastles. 

J.M.X. - Great Barrier Reef because of the coral trees. 

S.Z. - Mexico because its nice and hot and you can do anything there. 

A.L. - Mexico because its so hot and you can live on the beach. 

G.A. - Australia because its hot. 

S.B. - Australia because it has a cool flag. 

E.B. - Mexico because it is so hot and you can go to the beach. 

A.D. - Egypt because I like the flag. 

H.H. - Mexico because I like the swimming pool. 

L.H. - Mexico because its warm. 

K.H. - Mexico because I like the beach. 

A.K.(jk) - Egypt because the Great Pyramid has a half lion and half human. 

I.L. - Mexico because I like the beach. 

S.M. - Mexico because I get to swim. 

U.Q. - Mexico because they have a big mountain. 

E.R. (jk) - Disneyworld. 

E.Z. - Egypt because of the mountains (pyramids) 

Kindergarten World Famous Food

Our socio-dramatic area is a large component of our exploration and investigation time.  Miss Campbell and I strive to make the drama learning area a student led activity.

The children chose and voted on a theme first, we came up with many ideas such as a restaurant, grocery store and school.  Once we decided on a restaurant, we thought of different kinds of food we could serve!  Here is a tally of what our students wanted to enjoy.

 

We also brainstormed different names to call the restaurant.  Here is a screen shot of our names and voting process!  We noticed two of our favourite names had the words "World Famous."

The winner was "Kindergarten World Famous Food."  We thought of different kinds of foods we could serve from around the world including, sushi from Japan, tacos from Mexico, borsch from Russia and Greek salad from Greece.  The students have been practising taking turns and sharing different roles/jobs to play in the restaurant such as, the chef, server, customer and hostess. Our new restaurant fits in perfectly with our inquiry about the world, countries and our heritage.

H.H. is pouring a cup of tea

K.H. is cleaning the kitchen

L.S. is a chef

D.V is giving V.T. his order

A.K.jk and S.S. are showing off the menus

- - - - - - - 

In math we have been learning about money!  We went on a coin hunt to find pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies!  As we found a coin, we checked it off on our list!  

We love singing this song: "I've Got Canada in My Pocket" and playing the Coin Spot game on our SmartBoard.

This week, our student teacher Miss Walton helped us put dollar amounts next to each item on our menu!  Now customers pay for what they would like to order and servers put the money into our restaurant cash register!  We are having so much fun at Kindergarten World Famous Food!

The Whole Wide World

Our recent thinking and wondering has been about the Earth! 

 After our Cultural Fair and the Olympics we have become very interested in countries and our heritage!  We have been looking at and noticing different things about maps and the Earth. We have used different tools like globes, maps and Google Earth!

While we learned more about the Olympics we started drawing and recognizing flags from different countries.  

JMX builds a flag with building straws.

 

We decided to make our own flags to show who we are and where our families are from!  

Here is what our Kindergarten's said when I asked them to tell me about their flag!


GA - I put a scarf on because in Afghanistan my mom wears one on her head.  My family is from Afghanistan.
SB - My family loves reading so I put a book on my flag.  We go to the library every Thursday to get new books.
EB - I put a horse on it and a pole with rainbow colours.   I love horses.
AD - A shoe because my family likes to run.  I used black and green because they are my favourite colours.
HH - It has my hand and nail polish.  I like nail polish.
KH - I made a J and K for my brother Jordan and me.  Black, grey, purple, pink and orange. I like these colours.
AK jk - It has a purple heart because I like it.  My falg is pink because my favourite colour is pink.  IT has the Greek and England flag because my Mom and Dad are from England and Greece.
IL - I have a smiley and chopsticks.  I am happy. Chopsticks for eating.
SM - I love the rainbow because it's so beautiful.  I like hearts.
UQ - I drawed a mountain because I go there.  Blue, green, black because I love these 3 favourite colours.
ER jk - It has a circle, star, rectangle because I like those kind of shapes.
EZ - China is where my family comes from.  Power ranger people because I like it.
AK sk - I put my hand with henna because I am from India. I like pink.
JLnd - It has a pool because I like swimming at my cottage. I made a pattern and I coloured it all blue. My favourite colour is blue.
JL - My flag is blue because it's my favourite colour. It has vegetables because my Mom likes to eat them.
AM - I put blue, red and yellow - my real flag (Romania) is blue, red and yellow.  I picked a heart because my family loves each other.
DM - There is birds, a tree and rainbow colours because that's my favourite colour.
MO - Those are fishies under water and they are breathing and swimming.  I like fish and catching them in water at the beach.
ER sk - I chose the Olympic rings because my family likes the Olympics. I chose red for Canada and green for Mexico and blue for my favourite colour.
LS - Me and my Mom watch TV. Purple and red because they are my favourite colour.
SS - I made a sun to show I am sunny.  These are the colours of the sun.
VT - I did a babies rattle because my family likes babies.  I'm going to be a big sister.
DV - I did a D for Russian because I talk Russian.  I did the colours of the Russian flag.
JMX - My flag has a movite theatre because my home has one.  Blue is my favourite colour.
PZ - These are rectangles and Greek letters and blue.  I speak Greek and that's my favourite colour.
AL - Painting because I like painting. I like the colours.

Curriculum Connections

Big Idea: Children are curious and connect prior knowledge to new contexts in order to understand the world around them.

3. demonstrate an understanding of the natural world and the need to care for and respect the environment; 

3.1 identify similarities and differences between local environments
(e.g., between a park and a pond; between a schoolyard and a field)

Saying

Responding

3.2 describe what would happen if something in the local environment changed

3.3 identify ways in which they can care for and show respect for the environment (e.g., feeding the birds in winter; reusing and recycling; turning off unnecessary lights at home; walking to school instead

Space is Awesome!

Here are some video's our class made about space!  This is how our early learners show their thinking.  Such a wonderful way to share our space inquiry!

A reminder with our YouTube videos that these are posted to YouTube as "unlisted videos,"  which means that only people who have the link to the video can view it. 

Curriculum Connections:

Big Idea: Children are effective communicators.

1. communicate by talking and by listening and speaking to others for a variety of purposes and in a variety of contexts; 

1.6 use language to talk about their thinking, to reflect, and to solve problems

1.7 use specialized vocabulary for a variety of purposes (e.g., terms for things they are building or equipment they are using)

4. communicate in writing, using strategies that are appropriate for beginners; 

Big Idea: Children are curious and connect prior knowledge to new contexts in order to understand the world around them.

Up, Up and Away!

It is truly an amazing learning journey our class has taken with our inquiries this year!  Our interest has flowed from the sky into space.  Every day our students continue to develop their thinking and wondering.  Miss Campbell, Mrs. Scott and I are consistently astounded with how engaged and excited each child is about their knowledge about space!  Take a look at what we have been up to lately and where our thinking is taking us...! 


Artie the Alien has been coming home with students for the last few weeks. The students love sharing their stories with the other children!

This book helped us ask "I wonder" questions.  We want to know 'WHY' !

I wonder how many comets are in space? - ER (sk)

I wonder if birds can fly in space? - AM 

I wonder why Earth is the only planet that has water?  - AK (sk)

I wonder why the planets orbit the Sun?  - AL

I wonder why Mars is called the red planet?  - SB

I wonder why other planet are there because Earth is the only one that has life?  - ZL

I wonder if the Milky Way is made out of milk.  - VT

I wonder why the planets don't float around in space? - DV

I wonder if there is water in space? PZ

I wonder why Saturn has rings? - SZ

I wonder why Jupiter has stripes?  - DM

In our last Blog, we noted some predictions our students had about Pluto – and where it went?!  Here is what we discovered after watching this video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APPGb-4bp4Q

Here is what some of our students told us about what they know about Pluto.

Where did Pluto go? 

Looking for Pluto on this map of our Solar System!

 “It didn’t go nowhere, it’s actually a dwarf planet.  It’s really small!” – VT

“Pluto has 3 moons.” – AD

“It has a different orbit.  It’s orbit is like an oval.” – ZL

“Pluto is the farthest from the Sun.” – SB

“Pluto is too small to be a planet. It is a dwarf planet.” –ER (jk)

“Pluto is very cold because the Sun is very far away.” – J.Lnds.

“More dwarf planets came like Eris and Ceres.”

“Pluto has little holes like the moon.” – SS

“Pluto is in the Kwiper Belt.” – SZ

 I wonder what the Milky Way is?

“The Milky Way is the Earth’s galaxy.” – AK (jk)

“It is made up of stars.” – EZ

“It’s not really made of milk, it’s made from about 200 billion stars.” – VT

“Our Sun orbits it.” – SB

“Our whole Solar System orbits the Milky Way.” – SS

“The Milky Way is really REALLY big!” – SZ

“The Milky Way is bigger than our Solar System.” – EB

“Our Solar System only fills up a little bit of the Milky Way.” - SS

Watching the planets from a spaceship that we built!

 

Mr. Gardner came to our class and played with us in our space station!  He used his walky talky to talk to other astronauts!

We found something new in space. It's called Sedna.  We are Astronomers!

Space books - put in order by AM

The yellow things are the Sun. I don't see the hot gases at night.  The Earth orbits the Sun.  - by KH

The Sun - by UQ

Jupiter and a space man - by ER (jk)

A rocket ship at recess?!

Where will our learning take us next?  Many of the students favourite planet is Earth!  Students have been very interested in looking at and noticing different parts of the globe, the different countries in the Olympics and discussing our heritage as the Cultural Fair approaches on February 27!  We hope to see you there!