Finally some snow! We loved getting out the toboggans for a couple days, and getting to do some playing and building in the snow. Many children have been making baby snowmen and other creations, and I am looking forward to giving more toboggan rides when it isn't so wet. We haven't had too many wet clothing issues yet, but we have found that the fabric gloves don't really cut for playing in the snow. If you own waterproof gloves/mittens, those are best, otherwise we may need a few pairs of the fabric ones to get through the day. I do have some which I am also happy to lend out so that nobody has to put soggy mittens back on! Also, please check to make sure your student has indoor shoes at school each day. Ideally, they would leave them in their cubbies overnight. Thanks!
I've explained to our class, as have other teachers, that at Dewson we do not throw snow at each other. We know snowball fights can be fun and safe with fewer participants or a better kid-adult ratio, but at school we just have to have fun in other ways. If you could reinforce this from your end, that would be helpful. I think the kids are pretty clear on it.
We love experiments, and we love snow, so we spent some time brainstorming questions we have about snow and ice, that we might be able to answer with an experiment. Some of our questions are:
- Why does snow melt in the sun?
- Why do icicles form a pyramid-like shape?
- Why does snow stick to the grass?
- What happens when you bring snow inside?
- Does snow + water = ice?
- Where does snow go after it melts?
Stay tuned as we come up with clever ways to experiment with snow and ice in order to answer our own questions!!
Earlier this week, Mme Mitchell (my mom) visited our class and helped us start some cool snowflake art. We traced some snowflake templates with glue and sprinkled the glue with salt. The next day, we started painting the salt with watercolours.
This afternoon, we went to the library and listened to some funny books with a bit of a making mistakes theme, including, "This book is red" and "Did you take the B from my _ook?".
This week, we began doing some simple subtraction, using number cubes and counters to create and solve some simple questions. We also have some math trays that are fun to use and present a challenge!
Before leaving, Mlle Sofia created for us, some beautiful little alphabet booklets. Each letter has a page and we are going to fill in a word we know that begins with each letter. We will try to do a word a day, but many students were excited to get started and added several words right away. Ask your writer which words they've added to their alphabet book!
Mme Diamond is still with us on Wednesdays for a couple more months, and she is planning activities for us each week. This week, she helped adjust our letter centre a bit, so that it can be a quiet calming zone with some mats, cushions and library books about northern places. We are calling this "le Pôle Nord", and students are welcome and encouraged to go rest at the North Pole if they are feeling upset, unwell or just need a break. Already a few students have used the North Pole effectively.
Some snowy words of the week!
La neige
La glace
Un flocon de neige
Un bonhomme de neige