Grouptime events

Fieldtrip!! Hey, where did the water go? Why is there a big pipe with no water? How far will my rock go out in the sea? Water is everywhere and we can't get enough of it so we trekked our forest to see part of Musqueam creek and checked out water in the plants, puddles and even inside the pipes. We were surprised to see big, open pipes with no water inside. This triggered more questions wondering where the water went. There were some theories of water going back to the ocean, or perhaps the water has dried up and left the pipes all empty. We also went to Kitsilano beach to explore the vast sea. The sunny, windy day gave a different feeling of the ocean as big waves rolled by. This pond is so muddy! Relaxing on with the sea breeze

We are now working on the water unit and the children are full of ideas, comments and questions that it is best to have it laid out in a chart so we can easily keep track of our discussions.  Allye is very interested in finding out how people use water. Matthew would like to know more about the differences between different types of water. Nico want s to learn more about how gets into our tap Eva and Zoe seem to know a lot about the rain and water cycle.   What we know What we want to know What we think about How does sea water help sea animals? (Matthew) People like to play in the water (Allye) The rain comes from the sky then goes to the sea, oceans and the pool (Allye) Rain comes down then it goes on the mountains and the rivers and the sea (Zoe) Where is the all the water in the world? (Eva) Is the ocean and sea water the same? Where does tap water come from (Nico) I’m curious where sea water c...

Allye and Matthew noticed how friends are especially generous to one another. I thought what a great way to connect this idea to the friendship unit.  We read a book called Camille and the Sunflowers a story of friendship and generosity between Vincent Van Goh and a little boy named Camille. As we read the story, the children noticed Camille's kindness towards Van Goh especially when he was being teased at by other children.  We talked about how teasing might offend our feelings and how that sadness can impact our relationship with our friends.   For our Art activity the children made cards with flower prints to give to people friends have been generous and caring to them. Most of them thought about their family and the generosity they've experienced like giving hugs, sharing food and time with one another. 

In these grouptime activities the children explored the role of EMPATHY in our journey to generosity.  As we read the story, Smartest Giant in Town by J. Donaldson, we realized that being generous involves understanding what others might think and how feel.  We are more likely to be generous to people we know but this story shows that we can also be generous to anyone who may need our help or kindness.  When we empathy helps us understand and value the needs of others.  We also talked about showing appreciation to those who are generous to us like saying " Thank You" or giving hugs and smiles.  The children made thank you card and crown to  someone who shown them generosity. On the crown they wrote what they understand about generosity and who they are thankful for. 

assessment: how does generosity make us feel? When asked what they know about generosity the children talked about kindness, helping others and being nice. What does it mean to be nice and how can we be kind and helpful to others?  We read the story 3 Kind Mice by: V. Schre as our feature story for the word "kindness".  The children thought it would be a lot of fun to have a party just like in the story so together we made invitations and planned for cake and treats for our Generosity party.   The story behind the Generosity party They were so excited about inviting the other children to a party they planned themselves.  We made a yummy chocolate cake to share and goody bags to give the children at the end of the day.  The children in the Earth group noticed the gleaming faces of the children as we ate and laughed together.  Allye is mixing the batter Damon is mixing the butter and the sugar Matthew: We are having a generosity par...

A line is anything in an artwork in the distance between 2 points What is a line?  For the next 3 Friday Art days the children will be exploring LINES as an art element.  We will be using different tools, play games to create and explore different kinds of lines.   In this particular grouptime the children learned about lines which show direction: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, zigzag and curvy.  First, we looked around the room to find these lines and we discovered that they are everywhere; there are even lines on our bodies! We practiced writing/drawing these lines in the air and on paper using markers.  We even drew lines with our heads, our tongues and our bottoms.  How does it feel like to move through these lines? We played a song game called "We are going walking" where children walked on either a zig-zag or straight line and at the end they were to stop and do a yoga pose. They enjoyed this game so much and invited the chi...

"This is a bat with a fly and it's raining" We continue to explore colours in nature by learning about children's authors and illustrators using colours if nature as their inspiration in creating wonderful stories.  In this grouptime we looked at Lois Ehlert, who is known for her unique and style called "Found Art"where she incorporates items found in nature or at home to create colourful and vivid illustrations.  The book "Leaf Man" is a great story to encourage storytelling creativity and imagination.  After reading the children ventured out into the forest to collect leaves, twigs and pine cones to create their very own Leaf Man creature.   The children really enjoyed making the Leaf Man because this activity allowed them to move their items freely until they were satisfied with their creation.    gathering leaves in the forest While gathering the leaves in the forest Matthew made a comment about the brown leaves.  First I ask...