Exploring Play Everyday!

In June, we released 11 Painted Lady Butterflies! Even though I do this every year, it is always so exciting. Seeing the faces of the students when  a butterfly lands on them is remarkable. Until next year, butterflies!

It's the end of the school year! 9 days until summer vacation (but who's counting)  Each Spring I give students some 'homework' and I never really tell them why they are doing it. They are given a sheet of paper with each of their classmates names on it- and they are supposed to think of a positive word (or 2 or 3) to describe that person. I end up with a whole list of positive words about each child in my class! I add some words to it and make these word clouds for them as an end of year gift! It's meaningful and not expensive (dollar store frames!)  What do you give for end of year gifts?  I use wordart.com   to make the word clouds! Once you figure the program out it's very use friendly! Rainbows and Sunshine, Mrs. Lloyd

Four of our painted lady butterflies emerged from their chrysalises today! SO much excitement in grade one!  See below for a time lapse video that shows the metamorphosis It's one of my favourite times of learning! Rainbows and Sunshine,  Mrs. Lloyd

 I love when activities are cross curricular and offer choice! This week we looked at pictures online of 'Pixel Art' - which reminded the students of Minecraft. I offered the choice of a paper grid and crayons, or large white paper and small squares of colour paper for them to explore pixel art. To my surprise, most students choose the grid and crayons. Some students found the idea of colouring each square just one colour, and not having any rounded lines tricky.  Others (especially those who frequent playing Minecraft) got right to work with pixel-like figures. When they completed the picture, they made a 'Key' or 'Legend' for their picture. They had to count the number of each colour.  A great activity for a rainy afternoon in June! Give it a try! Rainbows and Sunshine,  Mrs. Lloyd

We went outside today to explore symmetry in the world around us! Here is just some of the things we found in front of our school that are symmetrical! Next we took our chalk and drew some symmetrical things! Same learning, but more fun and more fun = better recall and memory!  Gotta Love Play Based Learning!  It doesn't have to be extravagant to have a high degree of engagement and learning! Rainbows and Sunshine,  Mrs. Lloyd

How do animals features help them survive in their environment?  This science provocation was really engaging for the students. They enjoyed being able to play with the finger puppets and plastic animals while talking about the features of the animals. I heard discussions about warning colours and camouflage, about snail shells and 'goo' trails and about tiger stripes and squirrels tails.   Another science provocation that students explored in science was about how animals move. While we had already learned and practised this concept outside the other day, I thought it would be beneficial for the students to engage in more discussion and practice with the concepts.  Students even added another movement - slither- and added some animals from the other table into the sorting circles.  Happy Exploring! Rainbows and Sunshine,  Mrs. Lloyd