Pennies, TeePees, Wonders, & Finally Sunshine

The joy of teaching an enrichment class is that you get to learn with your students.  I sit in awe as they create, ponder, question, and discover.  The last few weeks have been full of exploration and fun!  

My kindergarten students learned how to clean pennies in honor of Abraham Lincoln and Presidents' Day.  We tried different solutions, made hypothesis, and observations.  We found that vinegar and salt makes our pennies really shiny!

Our first grade class has been engrossed in a pirate unit (that has taken on a life of itself!).  We've learned about density and buoyancy, map skills, creative writing, and more.  They even searched for buried treasures (chocolate chips!!).

Wednesdays are a real treat for myself and my third grade students.  We get to spend the whole day together.  Within that day we explore the world!  Currently we are learning about the Seven Wonders of the Natural World.  Above you see an art representation of Aurora Borealis.  After learning about this phenomenon, students used chalk pastels, watercolors, and salt to make these beautiful mountain ranges and sky scenes.

 We've spent a majority of the year learning about explorers.  We are concentrating on the Lewis and Clark expedition right now.  Students are working on independent projects that range from teepee construction, field guide production, cartography, and more.

 

Today we were lucky enough to sneak away from school to enjoy a field trip on this beautiful "winter" day.  We've suffered (I'm a native Floridan so I can say this) through such a cold and dreary winter, but today gave us a glimpse of the beauty that spring brings just around the corner.  We saw an amazing documentary about the urgency to protect our world's coral reefs, and then enjoyed a picnic under the beautiful blue sky.