Snow and Ice in Rock Hill, SC

(No really, there was!)

Last week we got the first snow of the season and school even got cancelled! The children had been wishing for snow for months it seems, so I am glad some finally fell. It wasn't much (it didn't even cover the ground) but I think it satisfied our desires. We'll see...

Our classroom library (book corner) has been stock full of stories of snowfall and fun wintery games, and I have been sharing stories of my experiences growing up in snowy New England. And plus, the movie "Frozen" came out in theaters and about every child in the class has seen it. Needless to say, snow and ice (and Ice Princesses) were on the brain. I tried to make up for the lack of real snow outside by facilitating sensory learning with artificial "snow" inside. We played around with shaving cream, corn starch, and ice, all the while pretending we were in a winter wonderland. The children loved it! But honestly, it seemed for them nothing was as good as exploring the real deal!

Shaving Cream

Looks like snow, right? 

Not really… but it's fun to play with!

"Snow Dough"

Check out the recipe at:

 http://theimaginationtree.com/2012/11/snow-dough-recipe-for-winter-sensory.html

Ice and Cold Climate Mammals

I filled an old baking sheet with water and plastic miniatures of cold climate Mammals, and put it flat in the freezer over night. I took the pan out of the freezer at the beginning of the work cycle and over the course of the morning, the children observed the ice melting and breaking apart. It also presented the opportunity to talk about the variety of mammals that live in frozen habitats.

Snowflake Stamping

We even tried to paint snow into existence, using the bottoms of egg cartons!

Oh, the Possibilities of the Montessori Sensorial Materials!

On Friday, I challenged the oldest student in the class to build a structure with the Montessori sensorial materials. In this blog have spoken of the "brown stairs", "pink tower", and "red rods" before but not too much in combination with each other. This is because all our training thus far with the materials have been leading up to the following accomplishments. In the beginning of the year we focused on respecting the materials. In the last few months we have practiced transferring the materials from their home on the shelves and across the room to a work mat, one piece at a time; where we have reassembled them, and returned them to their home, one piece at a time. 

Note: If you are exhausted just reading this, imagine how much work it is for a young child!

The challenge was fun for the child, for me as the guide, and for spectators! The structure tumbled a couple of times but the child took deep breaths and told herself, "Never give up!", until she had successfully built the structure (from a picture). We made sure to celebrate the child's success and allowed time for the child show other students and teachers what she had done.

The challenge proved to be motivating, because after an eventful weekend, the child came today (Monday) ready to replicate more combinations of the sensorial materials (from pictures). Two friends joined and together they accurately assembled 5 different arrangements. This brought many  smiles, especially from me. It was just such a great display of teamwork!

After manipulating the materials for a good part of the morning, the children seemed to appreciate the materials more. I suggested we try to repair the chips in the paint that had been collecting over the years, and they were more than willing to paint the damaged edges! It was a good closing activity to the work they had done as a team. Of course I am pleased the pink cubes from the "pink tower" look better, but mostly, I am excited to see who's next to take on a challenge of building with the intelligently designed Montessori materials.

Life Cycle of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar / Isabella Tiger Moth

Just a couple days before Thanksgiving, a cute little Woolly Bear Caterpillar came crawling in the hallway of our school. We had found two other caterpillars earlier in the year that were not so friendly (Saddleback Caterpillar and American Dagger Moth), so we made sure to research the characteristics and needs of this furry creature right away. We read that it could make a good class pet so we made it a little home in a small aquarium. After providing a leafy plant to munch on and a stick to crawl on, we agreed to name the caterpillar "Callie".

In our research we learned that Woolly Bears are pretty common and even have a folklore about them. It is said that the length of the brownish-red stripe in the middle of it's body predicts the winter's weather. Callie had a wide brown stripe, which, according to folklore, means it should be a mild winter.  

No snow yet this year here in South Carolina but we did endure a few really cold days. Although, it was warm enough to take off our jackets outside today… So, I'd say it's too soon to say if "Callie" was right in her prediction.

Around Christmas, Callie had spun a cocoon. Unfortunately, the transformation happened overnight, so we didn't get to see the action. But it made for quite a shocking surprise one morning.

We thought we would be observing Callie's cocoon for a couple more months, for Woolly Bears are known to pupate in the Spring. However, this past Thursday while we were outside playing, the Isabella Tiger Moth emerged from the cocoon!

Through our research we learned that, once the Woolly Bear has pupated, it has only a few days to find it's mate and complete it's life cycle. We were a little sad, because we would have liked to keep "Callie the Tiger Moth" in our classroom for a little while. But, we also felt responsible to release the moth into nature, so it can go do it's thing.

We definitely wanted to release Callie the Tiger Moth on Friday, before the weekend. 

It was a wet, rainy day so we decided to let her outside by our front door. 

 

I feel the process of releasing Callie, was the best way to observe the Isabella Tiger Moth. It reinforced the urgency of the moth completing it's life cycle. And we got to watch it move around a lot more than it was in the small aquarium. Lucky of us, Callie lingered by the door for a little while so we had good opportunity to observe it's body characteristics!

The last few school days the students have been working on creating life cycle diagrams of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar. This multi-step activity began with discussion of the scientific colors we observed on the caterpillar, the cocoon, and the moth. The students then colored pictures of each stage of transformation, cut out each picture, and pasted on a circle (in the correct sequence) the life cycle of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar/ Isabella Tiger Moth. Doing this work would not have been as meaningful if we didn't have that "Callie" crawl into our lives in November, so for our furry friend I am grateful. It was an unexpected lesson plan, but a good one!

The Woolly Bear Caterpillar/ Isabella Tiger Moth is a fascinating insect. Learn more by visiting the following educational resources:

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/woolly-bear-caterpillars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella

Somebody Turned 4 This Week!

The birthday ritual we have kept, of explaining pictures of special moments in our lives, has been an incredibly wonderful experience for us all. It is fun to see how much each child has grown physically. And we make it a point to recognize how far each child has come developmentally during his or her time at our school. 

On Monday, this little girl turned four and she could not have been more excited to be another year older. She has been yearning to be four since before the summer. I must admit, at times this year I forgot she was only 3 years old, for she impressed us by conquering advanced materials early in the school year and has consistently offered her help to her younger classmates, saying in such a cute voice, "Would you like me to help you?" She has a strong work ethic and continually sets new academic goals for herself. It's such a pleasure to have her in our class! Her sweet smile lights up the room and her clever contributions to conversations have us chuckling quite often!

Per tradition, she walked around the months of the year 4 times!

And shared a sweet treat with her friends!

Happy Birthday to a Very Special Student!