Our Theme Study: Yummy, yummy, in my tummy...
Central to our health, happiness and familial and cultural heritage, food plays an monumental role in our lives.
Over the last few weeks, the Tree Swallows have begun to look to the very root of the foods we love. Through visits to local farms (Peachy Pig and B-Street Permaculture Farm), students have been able to observe and interact, first hand with a working farm.
At the Peachy Pig Farm, students were able to follow the Oregon hazelnut from tree to harvest to edible nut in their hand. This farm introduced students to industrialized management. Who doesn't love a tractor?
In contrast, the B-Street Farm invited students to explore an organic farm and offered a chance to observe alternative methods for sustaining crops and "working the land" (i.e., a chicken tractor tills, weeds and fertilizes the garden plot). At this farm we have also begun an invasive specie removal project (a vine, much like Ivy, has invaded the banks of Gales Creek).
The Tree and Violet Green Swallows grabbed on to this Stewardship project with both hands! We even had kids ask when we can we go back to help more… Go FGCS!
Along with exploring the structure and methods of farms, the Tree Swallows have spent some time exploring the resources (natural, capital and human) necessary for foods we all enjoy. We began under the surface…even before the seed.
As the scientists we are becoming, we used our keen observation skills to describe with detail "nature's roto-tiller", the earthworm. Based on our observations, we asked questions and formed hypotheses about the function and form of this creature. It was inspiring to observe the gentle stewardship of these critters by the Tree Swallows!
A scientist uses her senses to describe phenomena and create theories. While our worm study invited limited sensory exploration, our investigation of 7 varieties of Oregon apples allowed the Tree Swallows to employ all five senses to describe and record our data.
Each student collected data on one apple (comparative weight, circumference, test of density, color, taste, and predicted and actual seed count) and then compared some attributes of their variety with another variety of apple.
We ended this exploration with a taste test and graph to show classroom preference. With 7 varieties in the classroom and 2, 500 in the U.S., there was no clear "winner". We saw neither hide nor hair of a doctor this week, though.
With all this talk about food, our favorite dishes were bound to come to mind. Inspired by the book , "How to make an Apple Pie and See the World," and in effort to consider all the resources that are needed to produce food, the students created a "Story of Food."
Each student began with their favorite dish in mind and as title page. Then, the students began "dissecting" the ingredients to identify basic resources. For example, pasta began in a field of wheat. Each page of the student's story illustrates a step toward their favorite food. Yummy reading!
Our frolic with farming, food and family continues on into this month. An Out and About to local grocery stores will invite students to consider how food gets from farm to market, local and imported food, preservation and packaging of foods. We will again consider resource use as we further explore the concept of sustainability.
A more focused study of nutrition begins later in the month. Our food study will culminate with a focus on family and cultural traditions around harvest and food, and an invitation for you to attend a student- hosted Harvest Feast. Your mouth is watering, isn't it?
Literacy:
We have started Word Work/Spelling during Literacy Centers. This provides hands on study, practice and application of phonics and spelling patterns at each students developmental spelling level.
Book Clubs (guided reading groups) begin this week.
Writers Workshop this month invites students to stretch "small moments" from their lives over several pages by adding specific details. Writers paint pictures with words so readers can "be in the moment too." This is a favorite time of our day for many of us!
Last week we had our first (this year) Authors' Tea. A huge success, almost every author shared published writing while peers listened and drank tea (apple juice) with "pinkies in the air." Watch for announcement of our next Authors' Tea!
Mathematics:
Math Groups are now well on their way, three days a week. The Cedars have been exploring growing patterns . While all the students are comfortable with many pattern forms, the idea of a pattern that changes and grows, even in predictable way is still challenging. It has been exciting to see the "ah, ha!" moments in the children's faces as they begin to extend their thinking of patterns. Through Work Places (a centers-type component of math that invites independent and cooperative applied practice of introduced concepts and skills), students will have additional opportunities to copy, extend and predict the "Nth" series in a growing pattern as they become comfortable. The Cedars have been counting and regrouping by 5's with application to coin values and reading and analyzing time.
Yes, we do math together too. It's within our theme, like, where we applied measurement and data collection concepts to investigate apples. We also enjoy the richness of connecting math and literature by applying and extending a concept introduced in a story (i.e., division and The Doorbell Rang).
