September Start

Observing Sunflowers

Sunflowers are so beautiful in September so I thought it would be interesting to bring some into the classroom and lay them out on the science table for the children to observe. I wasn't sure what container to put them in as they were so tall. When I simply lied them down on a tray it sparked conversations and a lot of questions from the children about flowers and the importance of water. The children drew the sunflowers as they saw them and then drew what they thought the flowers would look like if they were not put into a vase of water. Their oral predictions about what will happen to the flowers because they were not in water was also recorded.

Watching a Caterpillar

I had bought a pot of fall flowers for a co-worker and noticed a caterpillar on one of the flowers. I picked the flower with the caterpillar and put it in a small container on the morning sign-in table for the children to observe and look closely with the magnifying glasses.

Going on a Nature Walk

We are so lucky to have a lot of trees, grass, and an outdoor classroom with logs to discover on our school yard. The children love going on nature walks and collecting items to bring back into the classroom to observe and use as art materials.

Collecting nature items in brown bags.

The students are choosing which nature items they would like to use for their facial features on their self-portraits.

Creating a Self-portrait
The children would choose their nature items while I would hot glue it on to place for them. Some children were very detailed by adding flowers to their hair and even finding sticks that had a curve to represent a smile.

The letter "S" and Snakes

Our class was learning about the letter "S" this particular week and in one of our songs there is a snake. After we had learned the song together a few of the students were playing at the green flubber made by the ECE in the classroom that was at one of the discovery centres. We watched the children as they moulded their own snakes and then made little balls and putting them in ice cube trays. I asked one of the boys what they were making and he said, "baby snakes." This led to our first inquiry in our classroom! After that we set out some books on snakes at the science and discovery centre. The children were very interested to look at the books and to learn new information about snakes.

Snake Habitat

After reading different texts and watching some informational videos on snakes we learned about what a snake habitat consists of. We decided to create our own snake habitat with real nature items, label what was in the habitat, and place a rubber snake in it.

Playing with our "fake" class pet!