Comparing 2 Sources of Light

On Thursday and Friday the students conducted a study comparing a flashlight and glowstick.  First we discussed the similarities and differences of the two.  We also discussed the uses of glowsticks and flashlights and the children decided that they were a good thing to have in case the electricity goes out.  They also suggested that glowsticks can be fun to have a night time parades, fireworks and camping.  However, they also reported that you have to be very careful because they can break open.  The children then made predictions regarding which source of light would last the longest.  Then we made a chart to monitor the lights.  The flashlight lasted the least amount of time, about 27 hours.  The glowstick was still glowing slightly at the end of the day, about 29 hours.  In the new year we are looking forward to doing more science investigations using glowsticks!

Christmas Fun!

Today we had a special treat, we watched the movie Arthur Christmas with the other JK/SK classes. The children also liked the special Christmas outfits Mrs. Shepley and Mrs. "Christmas Tree" Hawkins wore.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday, see you in January! 

Christmas Concert with General Amherst Band

Today the students at Amherstburg Public were treated to a concert by the General Amherst School band.  The children enjoyed listening to the Christmas music.  Two students were even chosen to play along with tambourines.  Trentin and Maddy did a great job! 

The Workshop!

We've been very busy fixing things in the classroom!

11 Days Left!

Today some friends are bringing a Christmas count down chain. We are recognizing that the numbers get smaller when we count backwards. We are using the terms take away and equals. Please continue this at home. Everyday we take one of the chains off and say 12 take away 1 equals 11.

Pancake Day Tomorrow!

Yum! Please send only snacks and drinks to school tomorrow. We will be making pancakes to discuss sequencing and measuring!

Wow! Crazy, Crazy Socks

We discussed similarities and differences in our crazy socks today. We noticed some similarities in Cole's socks. When discussing similarities we stressed beginning the sentence with they both have.... Some friends noticed that they both have pink and they both have stripes and they both go on your feet. Some of the differences the students noticed was the different colours, different size, one was a toe sock and the other was not.

The students created pairs of mittens that were the same....identical!

At home connection: Put 2 objects together and discuss similarities and differences. Eg. A mitt and a glove.

Sources of energy!

Today we are exploring moving air as a source of energy. The children made airplanes and used straws to blow through and used their own air to move the plane. They will be bringing them home today so ask your child to explain what is happening. We measured the distance that their planes travelled. The children came up with ideas on how to measure the distance. Some ideas they came up was using measuring tape and using markers to lay down side by side. We decided to use the marker idea.

Crazy Sock Day Today!

We looked at our socks today and we noticed that some friends wore mismatched socks. They were not the same! They were different! We discussed the similarities and differences in the pairs of socks. The children wanted to do it again tomorrow so Nathan made a note that says crazy sock day again tomorrow. Don't forget to wear crazy socks! Some friends wrote their own note to remind them!

Lets Predict!!

The big excitement today was predicting what the foam tablet would grow into. They had 2 choices. One choice was a Christmas tree and the other choice was Santa. It was interesting to see if any if the children would make a colour connection. Some children did! Some chose Santa because Santa is red. Others said it was Santa because he is nice.

Crazy Sock Day Tomorrow!!

Jamie came to me this morning and asked me if she can send home a note so we can wear crazy socks to school tomorrow. It's official! Tomorrow is Crazy Sock Day!!

New Play Dough

We made new play dough today. It's a new recipe that doesn't require any cooking. See below if you would like to make some at home.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour
1cup salt
4 tbls. oil
1 1/2 cup water
Food colouring

Instructions:

1. Mix oil and food colouring
2. Add dry mixture
3. Mix until pliable
4. Keep in tight container or plastic bag.

We added glitter and peppermint!

Discovery in the Science Centre

Zander was exploring the flashlights at the science table.  He discovered that as long as the batteries are facing the same direction, the flashlight will work.  If the batteries are not both facing the same direction, the flashlight will not work.

Sources of Energy

Remote Control Toys

We are discussing toys that require batteries and the children are experimenting with the remote control monkey driving a car. One friend decided to go to the writing centre to make a remote control book. Ben says that he made a remote control race car and a remote control snowman. See below!

Toys!

There is so much talk about toys going on in the classroom so we decided to do a unit about toys and machines.

Mrs. Hawkins brought in a toy box. Some objects inside are toys and some are not. The children sorted accordingly.

Ben went to the writing centre and created his own graph of toys and not a toy. He says a stapler, a knife, a lighter, a cherry are not a toy but an angry bird is a toy. He was off to add a skate board too!

Special Surprise Today!

Mr. Lewis visited our class today with his guitar. He sang the peanut butter song, jump up and down song and Skidymirinkydink too! We love it when he comes in. Take a look!

Cylinders Galore!

Lots of friends brought cylinders to school today! Paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, pringle chips, a flashlight, lipstick, a bird feeder, a can of pop, a curler, crayons, a fitting pipe, and a cup are all cylinders.

Our Field Trip!

We delivered our letters today! The weather was beautiful and along the way we discovered many shapes. We saw cylinders, prisms, spheres, cubes, cones, rectangle, circles, squares and lots of rectangles. At the post office the children stamped their letter and put it in the mailbox that goes to the North Pole. We mailed a letter to Miss Amy's mom too! She lives in Pembroke, Ontario and she sent our class knitted hats and mitts so we can have extra in case we forget ours.
It cost us 69 cents to mail the letter. Mrs. Shepley gave the lady a loonie and we got a penny, a quarter and a nickel back. Off to the library! Mrs. Borland read us 2 stories and then we sang songs using instruments that she gave us. It was a great field trip! Thank you to all the volunteers! We can't do these walking adventures without you!

Puppet Time!

Making puppets is starting to become popular in the classroom the last few days. We would like to make a centre for the children to make puppets. If you have any odds and ends at home that would be good to use for puppet making, please send them in!

The Post Office is Open For Business!

Mud Pies!

Nathan, Steven and Jamie were playing in the sand yesterday and started to talk about pies that they made out of sand. It led to the conversation of mud pies. I put a list for them to write things that they would need to make mud pies.

We added these things to the sand today. Great pies! Mmmmmmmm!

Our Post Office Is Almost Ready!

We made the sign!

We have the mailboxes ready!

The mailbox is work in progress!

Thank you to those parents who sent in envelopes, stickers and stamps.

The children are very excited!