The Snow Investigation

Can we keep the snow in the 

classroom? - J.M.

After outdoor play, many of the children had brought snow into the classroom. While we have put snow in the water table for learning centers, we could not “keep” the snow. To provide the children with an authentic experience to see why we can’t keep snow in the classroom we performed a series of experiments.

We began by discussing the word hypothesis. Many of 

the children had heard of this word before on a popular television program they watch. S.M. shared her definition of hypothesis with the class.

The children then made hypotheses about what might 

cause the snow to melt. 

Testing our Hypotheses

C.Z.: if we put the snow near the window with sun 

the snow will melt.

T.K.: if we paint the snow it will melt.

A.L.: if we put the cover on the bottle it will melt.

M.Y.: if we put water on the snow it will turn black.

J.M.: if we put snow in the water it will melt.

Making

Observations

Once the children had returned from gym, it was time 

to practice our observation skills.

Children's Reflections

Where Do Snowflakes Come From?

Provocation for a new

Inquiry

“I Wonder where snowflakes come

from.” - S.M.

While at the art center, one of the children used oil pastels to draw snowflakes. After drawing a few snowflakes, S.M. asked: “I wonder where snowflakes come from.” This was the provocation for a new inquiry on snowflakes.

During Sharing our Learning Time, S.M. shared this question and piece of art with the other children. Many of the children had their own questions and theories about snowflakes.

Watercolour Representations of the 

Children's Theories about Snowflakes

Where do snowflakes come from?

C.Z.: snowflakes come from the sky. The clouds.

E.L.: The snow clouds.

A.L.: They come from the clouds and I think they come from the North Pole.

M.Y.: When it rains and the air makes the rain so cold then the rain turns into snow.

C.L.: The snow comes at the Winter.

T.K.: When the cold air turns into rain the rain gets so cold it turns into snowflakes then it melts and turns into water.

A.L.: Water.

S.K.: The snow goes up and down and there will be water.

I.G.: Snowflakes come from up to the clouds and when it’s raining so much that’s how the snowflakes it makes.

How might the clouds make snowflakes?

E.L.: little tiny snowflakes in the clouds and when they bump into each other they make bigger snowflakes and when the sky gets darker that means it’s going to snow.

A.L.: they use water and they put it on them and then it’s going to come down from the sky.

S.M.: The water goes up to the clouds and then it snows. The water from the lakes goes into the clouds and the water turns into snow in the clouds and then when it gets heavy and dark it starts to snow.

Number Combinations

The SK students have been thinking about numbers in a different way this week. 

The Problem:
Grandma Sandy wants to knit gloves for her grandchildren. She has more than two grandchildren and she wants to make the gloves all different. But, she only has two colours of yarn (green and orange). How many different gloves can grandma knit?

Here are some of the combinations the children came up with:

The Colour of Us Portraits

A few months ago our class began to explore self-portraits and facial features. After exploring facial features and sketching self-portraits, the children mixed paint to create another self-portrait. 

We read the book, "The Colour of Us" which describes all of the different shades of brown we are such as, creamy peanut butter, hot coco and cinnamon etc. 

What I Am

"Ms. P we love this song." JK and SK students


We are currently engaged in an inquiry about "Beauty". I will be posting some of our inquiry process later this week.

One of the songs we have begun to learn that the children "love" is a song by Will I.am and the Muppets. Many of the children have asked that I email this song to their parents so that they can hear it at home. I have provided the link to the song below as well as the song lyrics.

The children will be thinking about something that they do beautifully and our Media Literacy/Computer teacher Mrs. Piteo will be putting together a video that we will share once it has been completed.

What I Am by Will I.am:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyVzjoj96vs

What I Am (Will I.am Sesame Street)

If what I am is what's in me Then I'll stay strong - that's who I'll be and I will always be the best "me" that I can be.
There's only one me, I am it have a dream I'll follow it It's up to me to try.

Oh! I'm a keep my head up high

Keep on reaching high

Never gonna quit I'll be getting stronger.
And nothing's gonna bring me down (no!)

Never gonna stop, gotta go. Because I know I'll keep getting stronger.

And what I am is thoughtful

what I am is musical

what I am is smart

and what I am is brave

what I am is helpful

what I am is special

There's nothing I can't achieve.

Because in myself I believe in oh...
Gonna keep our heads up high

Keep on reaching high

Never gonna quit Just keep getting stronger.
And nothing's gonna bring us down (no!)

Never give it up, gotta go.

Because I know I'll keep getting stronger.

What I am is super

what I am is proud

what I am is friendly

what I am is grouchy

what you are is magical

what you are is special
There's nothing I can't achieve.

Because in myself I believe in oh...

Gonna hold my head up high

Keep on reaching high

Never gonna stop I'll be getting stronger.

Nothing's gonna bring me down (no!)

Never give it up gotta go, oh... yeah...

I'll keep getting strong--er.

Sorting, Sorting and More Sorting

The Children were encouraged to explore sorting and creating sorting rules at the Hands on Thinking Center during center time. 

M.T. and B.Y. went to the Hands on 

Thinking Center and sorted many different math manipulatives.

Ms. P: How are these objects alike?

Milica: Blue, red, orange. We put bears with squares.

Ms. P: What name could you give this group?

Bessin: We sort by colours.

Milica: We also did a good job!

Colour Inquiry

Colour Exploration

Our aim was to have the students explore colour using the primary colours. 

We placed only the primary colours (red, yellow and blue) paint at the art center for students to experiment with. 

We wanted the students to discover naturally that when mixing the primary paint colours, new colours can be created. For some students, this became evident right away as they mixed red and blue to create purple and yellow and blue to create green and yellow and red to create orange. Many of the students mixed a lot of paint but it all turned brown. 

Exploring Paint

Extending Students’ Thinking

Students described the colours they saw emerge before their eyes. The discovery of mixing paint and creating new colours allowed for a conversation about colour mixing and which primary colours to use to create a specific colour.

S: I mix the red with the blue and it makes purple. Now I made green!

Ms. P: How did you make green?

S: I mixed yellow and blue.

Ms. P: What would happen if you added more blue to the green you made?

S: It gets really, really dark again.

Ms. Nitsotolis: You don’t have any green paint, I wonder how you made green?

R: Yellow and Blue!

J: I make yellow.

Ms. P: I wonder how we can make any new colours?

J. experiments with mixing new colours to her yellow. She mixes all the colours together and creates a brown colour. A little while later, J. returns to the art center and begins to mix paint while creating dots on her paper. J. creates dots that are different shades of orange.

Ms. P: How did you make your orange dots?

J: I’m making lots of dots for the contest,

look yellow and red.

A lesson in teamwork

During the colour exploration, the students displayed signs of collaboration by sharing their learning with one another. The excitement of their new discoveries made students eager to share with one another. 

Collaboration

Collaboration is a key component of our classroom. The children collaborate when they are engaged at play at the centers, exploring the outdoors, participating in projects and when engaging in group discussions. It was important for us to teach students the word “collaborate” and to have students begin to understand the benefits of collaboration. We began by reading Kathryn Otoshi’s book, One and discussed as a whole group why it is important to work together. 

Colour Sorting

We began our colour exploration by sorting some classroom materials by colour. The students worked together to sort the materials, cut materials and then place the items in jars. The product was six mason jars full of items and sorted by colour. 

The Collaborate Colour Collage

In order for students to see first-hand the benefits of collaboration, students were invited to work together on a class colour collage. Students first used watercolour paints to paint the background. The students then used the materials they had sorted by colour to glue onto the watercolour painting. While students worked on the collage, their discussions, questions and actions all defined collaboration. 

To expand on the concept of collaboration I asked students what they thought collaboration means:

Ms. P: What does collaboration mean to you?

T: Andrea’s helping to get the clean water for our brushes.

S: Teamwork!

Ms. P: What do you mean by teamwork?

T: We are all working together.

Many Hands, One Collage

The final product, a unique colour collage is an example of why it is important to collaborate. This collage would have been a lot of work for one student to complete on his or her own. However, together the collage encompasses the ideas of multiple students and it is a shared project that they can all feel proud of. 

As students worked on the collage they were engaged in conversations that discussed the placement of the found materials, their theories of colour mixing and their conversations highlighted a sense of respect as they listened to the ideas of their classmates. 

Even More Collaboration!

It is important for us to provide the children with many opportunities for collaboration. 

Acrylics on watercolour paper

C.Z. and R.S. observing the acrylic paint move in the bottle.

C.S: Why is it moving so slow?

Ms. P: Let's feel the acrylic paint. What does it feel like?

C.Z: Its hard and sticky.

Ms. P: I wonder what would make the paint less sticky?

C.Z: Maybe some water. 

These collaborative paintings sparked conversations about colour mixing theories. Students practiced teamwork skills as they listened respectfully and shared ideas with one another.