Digging for Worms!

Since the students loved our caterpillar, we asked them what else we could find outside. Amelia said "worms." What will we need? The students said we would need things to dig with. Carter said, "there are shovels in the sand centre."

Off we went:

Alex told us that "worms are so good, but not to eat, but because my brother has 1000 worms."

 When we were not finding many worms Jake said to "dig deeper where it is wet"

 The students told us that for a worms home you need grass and dirt.

Alex told us that this was the first time he touched a worm. When asked what it felt like he said, "a little bit squishy."

When Mark found a worm he told me "I have to put it in the bucket"

 

 

We brought the worms inside and took a closer look:

 

Jaiden told me that worms eat grass, and they live everywhere in dirt.

Mark said, "they crawl onto a rock because they like to eat, they like to eat this (pointing to grass."

Madi said the worms are wiggling. The students decided that they were 'dancing' to the new song they learned in music "Shake your bones out"

 

The students had many more questions about worms, so to the library we went. We watched "Diary of a Worm" which had a lot of worm facts.

 

I wonder what we will be looking for next...

 

Expectations covered:

2.2 make predictions and observations before and during investigation

2.3 select and use materials to carry out their own explorations

 

"Finding Bugs"

Thursday September 13th 2012

During recess the children & I  ( Mrs.Kidd) were looking in the tall grass to see what types of creatures  lived there.
We heard a sound that was coming from the tall grass... it sounded like " singing", "chirping", " calling for their mommies" are some of the ways the children explained what we heard!
It was the sound of crickets, many crickets singing in the tall grass.
We walked along the edge of the grass looking for crickets, Carson found a very large grasshopper and caught it!
He showed all of the children what he had found.
One child was afraid of the grasshoppers so we told him, some things we knew about grasshoppers:
- "They don't bite!
- "They eat grass"
- " They hope really high"
We then found 2 more!

The children were very excited about the "grasshoppers" we had found.
When we went back into the classroom, We asked the Librarian to find us book son grasshoppers and crickets so we could learn more about them.
She brought us 4 bug books that the children enjoy looking thru.

We found out with the book that the "grasshoppers" we had found had turned out to be 2 different crickets one grasshopper.


" Bug Hunting" has been a big hit for Mrs Nicholls & Mrs.Kidd's class!
The children have be interested in it for over a week now!
Every recess I hear " Mrs.Kidd " can we go look for bugs again today??? they are so excited!

Monday September 17th 2012

            

                          
During our search outside today, Amelia screamed she had found something we all ran over to see what it was, she found a caterpillar attached to a small blade of grass.

We brought the caterpillar inside to watch him grow, I asked the children what they thought the caterpillar might eat?
These are some of the responses I received:

: A nut
: Leaves from a tree
: A pear ( cut up)
: sticks ( to climb on)
: Grass

I put the caterpillar into the plastic jar along with the "food" they thought he may like to eat.

They told me to put the lid on so he dosen't climb out, I told them I would have to punch holes in the lid or he would not be able to breathe.

" Maybe use a paper towel so he dosen't climb out" exclaimed Jaycee!

What a great idea!!! -we put a paper towl on the top of the jar and secured it with an elastic band..... " It needs holes in it".... We poked a few small holes.


Hayley found a cricket and thought that it would be nice " for the caterpillar to have a friend"
we placed the cricket into the jar with the caterpillar.

During freeplay, we looked thru the books to see what type of caterpillar we found,
it is a celery looper caterpillar.

we also discovered that caterpillars have 6 legs " just like spiders" announced Amelia!

Tuesday & Wednesday September 17 & 18th 2012

The children enjoyed stopping by to look at the caterpillar through out the day checking out what he was doing!

They were so very excited to tell us that he was eating the pear!

One more thing we discovered about caterpillars " they like pears"

Mrs. Nicholls read the story:

How big is he?? asked Mrs. Kidd

Emma: "about as long as my finger"

What can you tell me about our caterpillar???

Zack- " he is walking up the stick"

Carson " They move very slow"

"The crunching munching caterpillar" today!
It is now in the book center for the children to check out whenever they would like!

Our bug adventure will continue!!!!............


We are thinking we may make a worm farm next!


Mrs. Kidd

First week in review

First week in review: We have had a great start to our year! The students spent the week getting use to the classroom, schedules, and routines. Of course, we had a lot of fun too!

Successful First Day!

We made it! It was a very busy, but fun day for all. It was great to get to know each and every student. I have a feeling this week is going to fly by. That being said, there is a lot of information that has/will go home this week. Please try to get the necessary forms back to school as soon as possible.

Today we read "The Kissing Hand"
This story is about a raccoon named Chester who had mixed feelings about his first day of school. The students and I discussed their feelings this morning about their first day. Some said they felt happy, nervous, excited, and some were sad. In the story Chester and his mother came up with a sign that would comfort Chester if he ever felt sad or lonely at school. Ask your child to show you the sign.