Our field trip to River Legacy Living Nature Center last week was lots of fun. We learned about how animals build their homes and how their habits change in the fall. We played centers and peered out into the forest with binoculars. We were given a clipboard with pictures of things to look for on our nature hike, and then spent time in another room of exhibits.
This week in Natur/Science we will begin a new study of reptiles. We will learn about Turtles, Snakes, and Crocodiles. We'll compare the characteristics of amphibians and reptiles and practice sorting them in Nature center. We will read "Turtles" and "THe Rattlesnake" in our Christian Liberty Nature Readers. We will also read "Crocodiles" and other stories from Reptiles. We're planning to visit the new Science Lab at the fron of the school and meet the new turtle and other animals living there. We will talk about what it takes to care for the turtle and sequence the turtle life cycle.
In Music/Language will read Rattlesnake Dance by Jim Arnosky, learn the song, and practice the dance. We will practice moving slow and fast to Raffi's "Water Dance" with scarves. We will read THe Hare and the Tortoise and alternate crawling and hopping as we move to Johann Sebastian Bach's "Suite for Orchestra No.3 in D Major" and "Fuggi, Fuggi in Questro Cello" by Guiseppino. We will also practice our spatial concepts as we move to music with "The Circle,"
"Turn-Around," and "Change" by Hap Palmer.
We're planning to read Clifford Wants a Cookie on Thursday and create Crocodile cookies and Letter "C" Cookies to bake and decorate for snack time. We will practice counting and patterning with cookies in Math and play a game called "Cookie Math."
In Art we will watercolor a picture of an Aesop fable called "The Farmer's Son and the Snake." We will also create a clay sculpture of a snake, watch it dry, and paint it.
In Social Studies we will begin to narrate "Jonny Goes Away" from Johnny Appleseed. Johnny says goodby to his animal friends and heads into western Pennsylvania with his bag of apples.
In Bible we will have a flannel board story about Creation and collect flowers and grass to create a "Day 3" page.
We're planning to sepend time in the garden this week observing and drawing pictures of some of the flowers in the perennial garden.
Our file trip to Mainstay Farms is on October 29. There will be other groups attending and it would be helpful for all children to wear a Flint Academy shirt. Jennifer will be placing an order this Wednesday, October 30. Field Trip shirts are $10.00.
