Weekly Activities

This week the children experimented and explored how colours change as they mix. We decided to be sorcerers and concoct magic potions of different colours that had special powers. Some children got "potion missions" and were given a task of creating a potion of a certain colour. Other children experimented and created a colour "free lance". Here are their final products. Many of the children named their potion after it's colour in Spanish. Making animals appear was a popular ability for our potions. More colour mixing will be tested tomorrow as we dye Easter eggs.

On possibly the greyest day of the week, Maple group ventured into the schoolyard on a journey to notice how many colours we could find. A big brown tree might have more colours in it's bark than we thought! Kasper's favourite colour is yellow. And the big school's garden still has some beets. Their roots are a bright colour! Red berries, green and yellow leaves, and Emma finds that this plant with greyish-purple leaves smells funny. We have colours right on the doorstep to our daycare. Grey rocks are exciting when they are big enough to climb up on. How many colours do you think we found all around us yesterday? This week we will continue to open up the key concept of connection by exploring the colours around us in both natural and non-natural elements.

The use of assessment FOR learning is known as “formative Assessment”.  Today the teachers started their 3 to 5 day formative assessment process.We presented a variety of experiences and then listened to the children as they spoke to one another during their explorations.  Teachers took notes of statements children made and will use these and other observations to help them determine the scope and path of the inquiry. As you can see, the learner plays a significant role in advancing their learning interests. Over the course of this process through to the Summative Assessment (due in 8 weeks), the teachers will further develop the central idea which is Exploring the world of colour helps us appreciate the beauty of the planet. The teachers will also develop ways that the children can assess their own learning over time (“I used to think that but now I think this”. They will also find ways to help the children give one another feedback

Our very excited group of children all looked their best for the generosity gathering today. Children were generous with their compliments to each other, "Wow Auggie, you look great!" and "You look SO beautiful!" were heard around the room. We started by giving out the gifts children have been making for their friends in the last few weeks. Some children gave out painted envelopes with special notes of words meant to make their friend feel good. Some children gave away paper flowers and others gave away Japanese paper dolls meant to bring the recipient good health. Finally, the most anticipated part was sharing the snacks from the families. We talked about manners in giving and receiving and children waited their turn, asked for things they wanted and used their pleases and thank yous. Special thanks to the families for sending such thoughtful snacks and for supporting us on this generosity journey from home.

After reading the story of Walter the Wandering Wave by Shane Janssens the children took note that Walter made his friends feel good about themselves by using kind words. After some wondering in the group about if Walter was being kind or generous, or both, we decided that kind words would probably make our friends feel good too. These would be excellent gifts for our friends at the upcoming gathering! So the children painted special envelopes for their messages and then chose a friend from school to write a note to. Some of the children chose children that they play with often, and some of them chose children that they might be noticing and wondering about. Either way, their kind words are sure to light up hearts. "I want to write you because I like you. This note contains a hug." "I'm glad you're at the generosity gathering." "I like to play with you. You are a good friend." "I hope you had a happy birthday. Thank you f

As a large group all of the children discussed what things they would like to do at the Generosity Gathering next Tuesday that would be generous and caring to their friends (and also fun!). Here are a few of their great ideas: Later, in Maple group we talked about our plans. How could we prepare for the party? Dougie pointed out that it would look nice if we had some decorations and the other children agreed. The next day, we began our task. The children gave their time and efforts generously to create a warm space for their party. Everyone seems to be quite looking forward to it. The children also created invitations for their friends in Cedar group and delivered them on Thursday. Next, they have talked about giving something at the party, but specifically something that comes from the heart. The next few days will tell what springs from their intentions.

As we draw near the close of our unit of inquiry on generosity it comes time to take a look at what each child is taking with them from all of our conversations, stories and exploring on the subject. The children took time to make a paper plate frame for their work and then each sat with me one-on-one to "be poets together".  The children were generous with their words and their time with me and described what generosity has come to mean to them. Then we tapped out the syllables in their adjectives like they have learned to do in music classes and put their words loosely into the format of an adjective pattern poem. And their work speaks for itself.