These 'Littles' are getting bigger!

I love how this little took me very seriously.  I had told the class

that we would be acting like detectives so she brought a magnifying glass

to school 'because that's what detectives use.'

I have a stash of small magnifying glasses so everyone else in the

room got one too!

What were these littles searching for?

It goes back to what we were learning.

The students have practised 'stretching' out CVC words,

such as 'kit'

Now, using their 'eagle eyes' they are finding out

that when a word has an 'e' at the end, the

vowel sound 'flips like a dolphin', to the

long sound.  The word still has three sounds, because the

'e' is silent as shown in the example....kIte.

(Long I sound)

The students used their magnifying glasses to search for

words with the 'magic e', also known as the 'silent e', super 'e'

or bossy 'e'.

The names have their uppercase beginning letter underlined, 

and all of the 'e' at the end are circled.  Those three words

at the bottom have been put 'into jail' because they don't

follow the rule.

Earlier this week I sent out a message to ask for parents'

assistance in helping their little 'hear' the rhyming words

with the long vowels.  Most students were challenged to hear

that consonant sound at the end, so words such as 'like' and 'ripe'

were suggested as rhyming.  The students heard the 'I' but ignored

the 'k' and 'p'.

The students can only get better at this skill when they practice,

so thank you mamas and papas for just saying words and having

your kiddos provide rhyming words throughout the day.

Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright tells of a snowman

who is cold, wants to be warm, but does not understand that

when snow is warm, it melts.

The importance of this activity is that the students were not

provided with tracers or pre-created shapes in order to make Sneezy

holding up the sign.

The students used the paper provided but had to draw, cut and

assemble on their own.  This is a BIG step for them.

It involves planning, spatial awareness, and shape recognition.

Some Sneezy Snowmen were tiny.

Some papers were vertical instead of horizontal.

Some added detail and others did not.

Activities like this demonstrate the students' learning over time,

and their ability to apply that learning to another situation.

That really is the end goal of all learning.

You can add....now how much will the 3 items in your grocery cart cost?

You can subtract....now do you have enough money to pay for those groceries?

You can read....what did that sign just say?

You can write....will you be able to fill in the required paperwork?

These may be Littles....but they are on their way to BIG accomplishments!

January brings the snow...inside and out!

Here is a true classic....

which the students used as a model for creating the following works of art.

They loved making 'Peter' play in the snow!

Dream Snow by Eric Carle offered the students a chance to make predictions.

Which animal was asleep under the pile of snow?

The students wrote three clues of their own,

drew an animal and painted snow on top,

which can be moved to reveal their hidden animal.

Thank you Lord for the very good day that we had on Thursday!

It made our planned trip to the hill in our school yard so much fun!

ZOOM!

Learning that we ALL can dance!

I am completely surprised each and every January

at the growth of my Littles since September.

It is the most exciting time, because I get to experience the

twinkle in their eyes as they answer with confidence,

and the smiles of contentment as they accomplish something 

that they could not do alone earlier in the year.

This is the story of 'Giraffes Can't Dance"

I had the students work on these activities the first week 

back in school because they are the giraffes...

and I wanted them to know that they CAN

do things!   (HARD THINGS!)

One HARD thing that they can do now is write their thoughts

and ideas on their own.  

Yes, their spelling isn't perfect but...

tap dancing giraffes aren't perfect either!

The other HARD thing that they did that first week

back related to creating...

they used their ability to plan how the giraffe will look

as he danced,

and then drew what they saw in their mind's eye.

These giraffes are amazing!

You already have at home the final HARD, HARD

thing that the students did.  It took a full week, and we , as 

a class, did one step at a time...

painting

learning to fold the strips of paper

pasting

adding details like eyes and tail

adding the strings

attaching the strings to the sticks

until finally we all had dancing giraffes!

An early stage giraffe example...

Thank you to the lady at:

https://www.redtedart.com/story-art-great-start-giraffes-cant-dance/

who inspired our dancing giraffe marionettes!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to build we go!

Remember when your baby was little and the wrapping paper 

and the box seemed more interesting to him or her, than the 

actual present did?

Maybe you have a cat and it loves to find a paper bag

to hide in, even more than the cat bed you bought.

That's how I view Keva planks.  They are nothing

out of the ordinary, but when the Littles get their hands

on them, the most amazing thing happens.

From their website:

The simplicity of KEVA Planks means they not only complement any decor, they also complement all manner of interests, ages, abilities, time, and space. I'm not saying we've created a silver bullet, but KEVA planks come pretty close. Every person in your family can play together and have equally as much fun. KEVA planks engage your school-age children in stealth learning, strengthening their will-power and independence, as well as an understanding of physics, design, art, and engineering. Your younger kids practice fine motor control. Grandparents aren't relegated to watching on the sidelines. Young adults have an activity to chat over.

KEVA planks give you hours of quiet creativity or a crowd-pleasing group activity. We are delighted to offer hours of fun for whatever crowd crosses your threshold.

This was the kiddos first time with them and they were all so

engaged. It was simple...the students were told to just try these out.

 I can't wait until we have the opportunity to learn

how to use these simple wooden planks to create something

special, in January. The lessons will not stifle

their creativity, just focus on how to get the planks

to do what we want them to do.

Here are the simple bits and pieces that each student started off with on Friday.

These 'fun' activities are always so much more.

This is the time that the students are really working on

their fine motor skills.  These tasks help the muscles in

the hands do what the messages from the brain are

telling them to do.  Puzzle building, finger painting,

wringing out a dish cloth, zipping up a coat, pulling on the 

boots....these are things we must

have our children do.  Yes it is quicker and easier

for us to do them instead of waiting for the child, but

without this important practise, how will they

become confident and independent?

Once the houses were 'built', the Littles had the chance

to plan out their decorating.  They knew which

candies they were going to put where.

The look of success..

and the feeling of confidence because each

Little could honestly say "I did this by myself"!

Did you hear about the Big Bad Blow Dryer?

COVID Rules...no visitors in the school.

How are we going to test out the houses we built

if the Big Bad Wolf can't huff and puff?

We invited the Big Bad Blowdryer instead!

Our problem to solve in our science Building unit

was to build a house of straw, a house of sticks, and

a house of bricks.  The students paired up,

planned and then executed that plan using

materials we could find such as yellow strips of paper,

wooden coffee stir sticks and lego bricks.

Most chose glue as the fastener.

The pairs of students got to share their building ideas

and their predictions about whether the BBB would

blow the house over the line, into the next half of the table

or off the table.

Their favourite by far was the one that blew right off the table

(and I managed to capture the moment for you to see!)

The students and I discussed our thoughts, about

why the houses moved or didn't move and how

we could change the building to make the house

not move.  Lots of talking and thinking!

That's how to solve a problem!

The project was a success!