One of my favorite things about being a teacher is discovering how far a lesson can take us. There are some lessons that leave us yearning for more all in the quest for knowledge!
Winter is always hard, the holidays are over, we spend a lot of days indoors because the weather because it's either too cold, or the playground is covered in ice. So I'm always on the search of something to change things up a bit. I began January like I always do learning about penguins. I love penguins. They are good lessons in family, responsibility, and perseverance, (you try living in Antartica, while balancing an egg on your feet without eating for months at a time) and they are incredibly cute!
Our travels took us from learning about animals in the South Pole, to animals in the North Pole. Polar Bears, Arctic Foxes and Snowy Owls. Our science teacher spent a few weeks last summer in Barrow Alaska learning the traditions of the Inupiats. She brought back whale baleen, snowy owl feathers, wolf fur and some great pictures. She is a great resource.
Somehow while discussing the Native Americans of that area, I decided we should build an igloo. I had seen one made of milk bottles while surfing the net, and made the very ambitious decision to attempt it.
The hardest part is collecting enough gallon jugs to accomplish such a task. So far we have used about 50 plastic milk jugs and we've only completed 2 and 1/3 rows of "ice blocks".
My warning to the custodian...
Getting there...but a long way to go.
My son (the first grader) trying it out for size.
When it's all finished (hopefully before the spring thaw!) it will go in the reading corner, might make a good motivation to sit down a bit a read a good story!
Our travels took us from learning about animals in the South Pole, to animals in the North Pole. Polar Bears, Arctic Foxes and Snowy Owls. Our science teacher spent a few weeks last summer in Barrow Alaska learning the traditions of the Inupiats. She brought back whale baleen, snowy owl feathers, wolf fur and some great pictures. She is a great resource.
Somehow while discussing the Native Americans of that area, I decided we should build an igloo. I had seen one made of milk bottles while surfing the net, and made the very ambitious decision to attempt it.
The hardest part is collecting enough gallon jugs to accomplish such a task. So far we have used about 50 plastic milk jugs and we've only completed 2 and 1/3 rows of "ice blocks".
My warning to the custodian...
Getting there...but a long way to go.
My son (the first grader) trying it out for size.
When it's all finished (hopefully before the spring thaw!) it will go in the reading corner, might make a good motivation to sit down a bit a read a good story!
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