Where does snow come from?

Brrr! It's cold outside!

We have begun exploring the concept of winter in the classroom. 

First, we learned that scientists like to make a prediction. We know that a prediction is like making a smart guess. Student were challenged to make a prediction for where they thought snow comes from.

Next, they shared their idea with their teacher and peers through discussion and by building their snow story using loose parts.

Here are a few pictures of our scientists making predictions and building their snow story:

 

 

                       

Mohammad predicted, “Snow comes from the sky because cloud is white and the snow is white… when it got cold then the winter come and they all fall down.” 

Aayan shared, " “Snow bugs.. I saw them in the snow. Them just drop snow and ice.”

                                   

Aradia thought, “I think that snowflakes are freezing rain.. it comes from the clouds and it freezes.”

After building our story, we learned how to document our thinking by drawing pictures. Here are a few of our drawings:

 
 

Patterns

This week, a few students began independently using elastics to build patterns during center time. This led us to ask the question, "What is a pattern?". We decided that a pattern is when I see the same thing over and over and over again. 

 


Inspired by patterns, we decided to design our own mittens using lines, shapes and colours to make a repeating pattern.  Here are a few of our mittens:

 

We will continue to build on our understanding of patterns in the classroom. You can practice patterns at by looking for them in your home (maybe on your clothes or toys) and by have your child repeat a pattern back to you (such as red, blue, red, blue, red, blue). 

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Over that last few days, we have been reading and exploring with the story "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. This story has quickly become one of our favourite stories with exciting animals and rich vocabulary.

First, we practiced learning the names of the animals that we got to meet in this story in order to build our vocabulary and understanding.




Next, students were encouraged to think about and choose their favourite part. Then, we practiced using all of our words to share, "My favourite part was..." with a peer partner.

 

Finally, we used our understanding of "The Mitten" to draw and write about our favourite part.










Boys and girls are continuing to build on their understanding of the story and story telling through various centers in the classroom.






At home, you can encourage your child to share and write about their favourite part of the story that they read with you. Happy reading!