Meaningful Use of our Calendar

Ever since reading the article Calendar Time for Young Children: Good Intentions Gone Awry I have not used traditional calendar activities in my classroom. Instead I have tried to use life events to help children get a sense of timelines and used calendars to record events meaningful to them. 

A few weeks ago I bought an amaryllis bulb from our local grocery store.  My children were fascinated with it and spent a great deal of time examining it. I did not show them the box it came in, but rather asked them to imagine what they thought an amaryllis was and what the bulb would grow into.

They drew their predictions.

We planted the bulb and placed it in a sunny location in our kitchen, where it could be regularly viewed.

Using a calendar for the months of November and December, we recorded what day we planted the bulb. I asked each child to predict when they thought the bulb would bloom and we also recorded this on the calendar.

The calendar sits next to the bulb...

...and each day that passes that the bulb has not yet bloomed is crossed off on the calendar.

Exploring Water Beads

So...fascinated with what we've been seeing on some of our favourite blogs, we decided to give water beads a try today in our tactile table.

Water beads are small, plastic pellets that expand with water and are used in floral arrangements.

Water beads need to soak for about 4 hours in water - as they soak up the water they expand and become much larger. We showed the children the water beads and asked them to predict what would happen when the beads were placed in the water. We had some interesting predictions. 

"They will change colour."

"They will change shape."

"They will turn into something else."

"They will melt."

The children enjoyed playing with the beads as they soaked in the tub.

Once expanded the beads were placed in our sensory table for the children to enjoy. They are so soft, slippery, and squishy and it was interesting to listen to the children describe them to each other  and play with just the beads and no other tools.

Forcing Forsythia Branches Indoors

We brought some forsythia cuttings into the classroom today and invited the children to predict how many days it will take for the blooms to open. We also asked the children to predict what colour the blooms would be - pink was the most popular guess.

Mystery Object

Today at our science table we put out an interesting object and invited children to check it out and guess what it was. They spent time handling the object - lifting it, looking at it with magnifying glasses, and rolling it on the table. Some of them discussed their guesses with one another, leading to some interesting conversations.

This is the object.

When the children had decided on a guess, they were invited to write their guess on a large piece of paper. We wanted to encourage them to independently print their word in order to engage in some purposeful writing.

Some of their guesses included a door hinge, a trailer hitch, a paint roller, a horseshoe, a smoother, a bell, a magnet, and a car part.

When children had finished their play time we gathered back on the carpet and discussed our guesses. It was interesting to hear children explain why they decided on the guess they did.

Some Ontario Curriculum Expectations that this activity fulfilled includes:

3.2 demonstrate respect and consideration for individual differences and alternative points of view (e.g., help a friend who speaks another language, adapt behaviour to accommodate a classmate’s ideas)

1.3 express their thoughts (e.g., on a science discovery, on something they have made) and share experiences (e.g., experiences at home,

cultural experiences)

1.5 use language in various contexts to connect new experiences with what they already know (e.g., contribute ideas orally during shared or interactive writing; contribute to conversations at learning centres; respond to teacher prompts)

4.3 write simple messages (e.g., a grocery list on unlined paper, a greeting card made on a computer; labels for a block or sand construction), using a combination of pictures, symbols, knowledge of the correspondence between letters and sounds (phonics), and familiar words

2.2 make predictions and observations before and during investigations