Soup's On......Growing Vegetable Soup

 

 

During discussions about healthy snack choices and family Thanksgiving celebrations, the word 'harvest' was mentioned. A few of the students explained what the word means and we read a few stories about planting, caring for and harvesting a garden. The students were eager to talk about their favourite types of veggies and fruits as we read a story called, Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. The children were invited to bring in a veggie to contribute towards our cooking day experience. And what a harvest they brought! Before we set to work peeling, cleaning, chopping and cooking, the students helped to graph and sort the bounty during community circle time. The results revealed that carrots are a favourite among Kindergarten students and only a few enjoy eating broccoli. A sample of everything was added to the pot! Once the soup was ready, our students were not picky. A majority of them joyfully tried the soup because they helped to make it. Here, we share some photos and their quotes about the experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Yum!" N.L.

 

"I chopped a tomato." J.R.

 

"It's delicious and I loved it. I could taste the zucchini in it." P.D.

 

"I didn't like it because they put all the vegetables together." N.Z.

 

"I liked helping to make it and I liked helping to eat it. It's delicious." D.W.

 

"It smelled yummy in the kitchen. But I didn't want to taste it." M.C.

 

"I cutted up the vegetables with Mrs. Bulmer." T.H.

 

"I didn't like it because there was broccoli." I.A.

 

"It was so yummy." J.M.

 

"Tasty!" F.L.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeds Everywhere!

While exploring the schoolyard "forest", the students began to notice all of the dandelion and thistle plants turning into white fuzzy flowers. These were of course referred to as "wishing" flowers with the children happily blowing the seeds into the air while they made a secret wish. During conversations with the students, they were able to communicate the parts of the plants they were discovering in the garden. We decided to bring some of the plants and weeds into the classroom so the students could make further observations at the Science Centre. Using the magnifying glasses, many children took a closer look as they dissected the vegetation. As they explored, we asked questions about the importance of each of the parts. A few of the children observed that they could find seeds in some of the plants but not in others. This lead to us reading a book about seeds and after we did a small group investigation, the students were busy finding seeds everywhere! They found them in the fruits and vegetables during snack time, in the flower heads, in pods from a local tree, EVERYWHERE! They compared some of them by size and colour and even talked about the seeds that animals and humans eat. Recently, the students observed how the cattails changed their composition at the science table. They began as thick brown stalks and turned into fluffy white clouds as they went to seed. At the end of the day, some of the children made "seed snow" when they released the cattails to the wind to be carried off throughout the schoolyard. It was great fun as they learned about the lifecycle of a plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's Happening Around the Classroom?

 

This September, we welcomed our students into a newly renovated classroom. The JK students were excited to attend the Teddy Bear Picnic to explore some of the activity centres and to meet their teachers.  Our first weeks have been spent getting to know the routines of a school day and getting to know each other. Throughout this past month, students have been engaged in a variety of ways. They have enjoyed creating letters at the writing centre, building structures in the block centre and designing castles at the sand table. There have been many opportunities to photograph these young learners. We hope you have fun looking at the photos of your children and using these pictures as a way to start a conversation about their favourite moments so far. The learning is just beginning and we look forward to a wonderful year together!