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.

A New Year!

 

Just like that it's 2014!  How time flies when you're having fun!  We started off the year with a recycling, re-purposing activity with my third grade students.  I chopped up all the beautiful Christmas cards we received, and the students used them to frame their 2014 Self Portraits.  They used similes and metaphors to describe themselves.  They were so clever and so well written!

Our 3rd grade class has also set out to span the globe to learn more about the Seven Wonders of the Natural World.  Week one we investigated erosion and the Grand Canyon.  Week two we dove deep into the Great Barrier Reef.  Students saw beautiful visuals, and learned interesting facts about this large and wonderous place.  

 

Week three we climbed to the top of Mount Everest following in the footsteps of Sir Edmund Hillary.  We compared explorers of yesteryear to explorers of today.  Interesting and thought provoking discussions broke out about what it truly means to be an explorer, and if we are fostering exploration in children.

 Our third Quest course started this week.  I'm leading a class called Sandwich Bag Science.  During our first session together student scientists made discoveries about air pressure and static electricity.

 

As you can see it was hair raising!

Our first grade class of scalawag scientists are setting sail on a pirate adventure.  Our unit involves science, math, social studies, research, and writing.  

 

Around Here

 

My first grade scientists have spanned the globe learning about different habitats.  A couple of weeks ago our journey took us to the rainforest.  We talked about the different types of rainforests, and focused mainly on tropical rainforest.  We made cereal box dioramas to show our understanding of the different layers of the forest, and the native animals that you might find there.  We learned about the Poison Dart Frog and how it lays its eggs in the water pools of a Bromeliad.  Students took a closer look at these tropical plants in person, and also the water that collects between its leaves.

 

Next we were off to the Artic. Students teamed up with their science buddies for a little engineering project. They used sugar cubes to build igloos. These was no easy feat. Lots of team work was required. They also experienced what a layer of blubber will do for you! Using vegetable shortening, students experienced life as a polar bear in the cold Artic waters. They tested the ice water with their bare hand, and then again with a glove of blubber. "Much better," they said! We also tested our knowledge of friction with walrus and seal races. Students hypothesized what material would have the least amount of friction: wood, ice, or sandpaper.

We wrapped up the unit with centers focusing on the grasslands of the world.  Students researched the different names of grasslands around the globe, located them, and charted them.  They worked together to analyze the speeds of different grassland animals.  We learned that zebras have unique stripes from one another.  Using a marble and black paint they created VERY unique zebras!

 

 

In 3rd grade the students were snowed in and had a blast with snowy math and science.  They learned the science behind snow, played with Insta Snow, learned about Snowflake Bentley and his beautiful photographs, used their math skills to construct a snowman, designed a Borax snowflake, and a six sided Q-Tip snowflake.  Sounds like we were quite productive for a snow day wouldn't you say?!

 

We've finished up a great first semester and look forward to a wonderful second semester of creative and innovative learning in Creative Academics!

 



A Forest Critter Gathering

 

 

It was a wonderful morning of creativity, learning, and fun!  The children (and their parents) made this teacher's heart very happy!  I love to see a unit of learning wrap up with a creative finale!  Just look at these costumes...

 

The fox

 



 

The woodbecker

 

The porcupine

 



 

The owl

 

The White Tailed Deer

 



 

And her cute deer friend

 



 

The bear

 



 

The raccoon

 



 

The bat

 



 

And his bat man

 

 

We learned about the importance of burrows, and created some of our own.  They also replicated animal tracks using Rice Krispie Treats, created a food web, and designed a new forest animal with the help of their classmates. 

 

 

 

What a fun morning our country critters had!

Teddy Bear Crimes:Studying DNA

 

 

Look at this bad bunch of suspects! They committed crimes all around our classroom. The students set the scenes, wrote about them with descriptive details, and then got busy solving a slew of crimes. They questioned, measured paw prints, analyzed fur, and looked for DNA matches. A fun and creative way to learn about how we each are unique.

Into the Forest We Go!

 

We started a unit on forest habitats this week.  Seems fitting since we are in the midst of fall around here.  We'll be learning about critters that live in the tree tops, on the ground, and even those that make their homes in the warm and cozy underground.  Monday we pretended to be raccoons going to a restaurant.  Students created a menu that consisted of invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants.  Did you know that raccoons have been known to wash their food before eating it?  Our little raccoons also washed fruits and vegetables, played a squirrel strategy game, and more.

Pumpkins, monsters, and science oh my!

It's always fun to mix learning with holidays.  This combination captures my creativity, and my students' attention.  We started off the week in Creative Academics with a morning of pumpkin science with my first graders.  We worked with our science buddies, to weigh, measure, and see if a pumpkin sinks or floats.  We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin, which of course ends with pumpkin pie!  Many of my little pumpkins had never eaten pumpkin pie, and they were the first to say, "Can we have seconds?!"

 

 

By Wednesday or Cottage Classroom was in full Halloween spirit.  My third grade students filled their day with a Monster Mash.  They learned about mixtures and solutions as they made Monster Mix and Pumpkin Punch.

 

 

They visited the Monster Laboratory to make observations about noodle brains, grape eyeballs, and pumpkin guts.

 

 

Then they were off to the Monster Beauty Parlor with Beautician Ervin.

 

 

They used their creativity to make monsters out of recyclables. 

 

They painted pumkins, played monster design games, wrote about spooky poitions and more.  A day full of fun and learning, just what Creative Academics is all about!

 

Congratulations to all the Famous Pumpkin Contest participants.  You did a FABULOUS job!

 

Thank you families for sending in so many donations to make this a great day for the children!