Growing
Week I marked
a continuation of our over-arching unit, All Living Things Grow, which began
several weeks ago with "Baby Weeks".
During this past week we focused on plant life that "grows" from
seeds! We read both fiction and
non-fiction books on the topic, and sang several "growing"
songs. Our class discussions were
focused on the Science of how seeds grow.
We spent time planting flower, bean, sprout and grass
seeds.
Additionally, we spent time observing and exploring all of
the lovely flowers and buds that are now in bloom at Parker School.
Other classroom activities included:
Plant Puzzles
Flower Arranging
Stitching Bird Cards
Painting Bird Houses
Many thanks to Anderson's mom, Kristianna for coming in as
our Guest Reader this week!
Kudos to the children for their wonderful performance in our
all-school
Shakespeare Presentation!
Divertido
con Espanol / Fun with Spanish
Rosalba assisted the
children in creating lovely "flores de semilla" creations!
Vocabalo de Semana
en Espanol / Words of the Week
in Spanish
Semilla / Seed
Sol / Sun
Agua / Water
Tierra / Soil
Growing
Week II bore witness to the miracles of nature as the seeds planted
just a week earlier, sprouted and grew!!!
At Story
Time we examined our sprouts and our germinated seed which had grown solely
with water. Our "sprouts" had
sprouted and our "seed" had shed its casing and emerged with roots,
stem and leaves just as we had predicted!
We also
took a closer look at the progress of our flower, bean, and grass seeds which
had utilized soil, sun and water in their growing process.
At Music
and Movement time the carpet became "soil", the light fixtures became
the "sun", and the children became "seeds" that
"grew" after I "watered" them.
At week's
end, we garnished our snack salad with our home grown "sprouts".
Many thanks to Ani's Grandma, Nancy for coming in as our
Guest Reader this week!
Divertido
con Espanol / Fun with Spanish
Rosalba assisted the
children with planting their very own "Semillas de Flores"
Vocabalo de Semana
en Espanol / Words of the Week
in Spanish
Flor / Flower
Hoja / Leaf
Tallo / Stem
Raiz / Root
Looking Deeper: Exploration and Learning through Play
Let's take a closer look at the on-going Science concepts we
explored during Growing Weeks.
As I mentioned "Growing Weeks" are part of a
larger unit of study that I call; "All Living Things Grow". Generally speaking, "Growing Weeks"
are a time to explore and discuss plant life that grows from seeds. It is strategically scheduled to coincide
with Spring so that the children can simultaneously observe and explore all of
the things that are beginning to grow once again after our long cold
winter.
As you may remember, we began this unit in early April with
"Baby Weeks". During
"Baby Weeks" we explored and discussed our personal growth since we were babies. We discerned that babies need three important
things in order to grow; healthy food, plenty of rest, and plenty of
exercise. Incidentally, these are the
same three things that assured personal health and growth as per our
discussions during "Doctor Weeks" in mid-March. As you can see the children's learning is
interactive, as concepts interconnect, support and build upon each other. These past two weeks as we explored,
discussed and planted seeds, we discerned that seeds also need three things to
insure their growth; namely, soil, sun and water.
Growth happens over time, and cannot be observed
directly in the moment, yet the children
demonstrate in many ways their understanding of this concept that all living
things grow. One of the fun ways in
which they do so is during a game we call "Can I Plant a Seed in the Soil
and Grow......?" We play the game
during our class discussions at Story Time.
Basically, I ask the children "Can I plant a seed in the soil and
grow a tree, a carrot, a flower, a car, a block, an apple, a potato, a hat
etc." The game exercises the
children's thinking skills, and they always discern which things are living and
can therefore grow, as well as which things are inanimate and cannot grow. After a time, the children take on the part
of asking the question; "Can I Plant A Seed in the Soil and
Grow......?" Guessing games are a
wonderful "play" genre for teaching, learning, developing thinking
skills and are also great fun!
In addition to the general concepts of seed growth, we
discussed some very specific facts as well.
We used multiple visual tools to illustrate that as a seed grows it
first sprouts its roots, then its stem, then its leaves, and then its flower
and/or fruit.
We germinated a bean seed that concretely demonstrated this
concept to the children. I never cease
to be amazed at how much the children love "doing" hands-on
Science.
We planted lots of seeds during our Growing Weeks, both in
reality and metaphorically.
The children were delighted to see their seeds grow over the
past two weeks. I derive great joy daily
as I witness the growth of those metaphoric seeds!
Have a fun and restful weekend!
