Becoming a butterfly: stage two

    Five days ago we separated a large group of larvae into smaller, individual containers.  When they have completed their cycle they will be Painted  Lady butterflies. We have observed them and noticed they have grown in length and width. 

Pea seeds

   Last week we let our pea seeds soak in water. We knew that the seeds would absorb water and the seed coats would become soft and help the embryo break out of the seed. We put the seeds in soil and watered the soil.  It has been five days since we planted our seeds and we can see sprouts! We can also see long roots and see how the embryo came out of the seed. 

writing about someone or something that is special to us

  A little while ago the students were given the opportunity to write about someone or something that was special to them.  Here are a few examples of what the students had to share….

1)     Taylor Swift is my hero because she lets me know that sometimes when I'm older there will be   some tough times and you can solve them.  You just have to shake it off.  One of her songs is aggressive but most of them are kid appropriate.  That is why I love her, because she inspires me.

                                                                                                                                     By Gracie



2)    Someone special to me is my older sister because she always comes to my dance recitals.  Also, when I ask her to do a ponytail, she will always do it.  When she does't have homework or when she doesn't go to her dad's, she will come to my activities.  When she comes home from trips, she always brings back something special, just to be nice.
    Someone else that is special to me is my cat because he is the perfect cat for us.  He is also a very playful cat so it is fun to play with him.  When we feed him, he meows really funny.

                                                                                                                                     By Kayda

3)    Something that is special to me is my turtle.  My mom bought us two so I got one.  Mine was small, my brother's was big.  The shape of their shells were amazing.  I think when they race on the wood floor, they race each other because I think they are battling each other.  They were showing us who is faster.  When I gave them turtle food, they fought each other to see who would eat the food.  They were pushing each other.  It looked like they were thinking, I have to eat first.  They also went deeper into the aquarium to touch the shiny rock that I had put in the aquarium.
         When they were sleeping the first time, I thought they were dead.  The next day, I ran to the aquarium but they were not dead.  Then I thought, from now on I should remember that when they are not moving, they are sleeping.
          When I took them out of the aquarium, I held their bodies because I didn't want to hold their heads.  If I held their heads, they would bite me.  When we took them out of the aquarium, it was hard, but I felt good giving them clean, fresh water.  While we were cleaning the aquarium, we put the turtles in a big bowl.
           I miss my turtles right now.  I have had them for four years.
 
                                                                                                                                        By James
     

Instagram account

      We have recently signed up for an Instagram account.  We would like to use our account for exploring nature.  Our hope is that we will find pictures of nature all around us, like deer footprints, a full moon, the sun setting, budding leaves, a bird's nest, and so much more.  Our goal is to show how beautiful nature is, respect the environment, and have an appreciation for the little things that we see everyday.  

     Many of us are so excited that we want to bring our cameras and tablets to school.  However, we wanted to remind families that the school is not responsible for lost or stolen items and cannot replace cameras or tablets that are lost or go missing.  We do hope that, the exploring we do in the classroom and on the playground will be continued at home.  Family walks, bicycle rides, and trips to the park, are great ways to explore and appreciate nature.

    Our Instagram account is athloneroom2.  Here is a picture of our first Instagram post.  We hope that you have many exciting adventures in finding nature!

Making music with spoons

      Today we met a guest artist. His name was Greg Sametz and he showed us how to play the spoons.  He taught us some new French words too but playing the spoons was the best part.  We played our spoon music in the art room.  We learned how to play the spoons while we tapped along to French music and music from Louisiana and Africa.  The spoons were not metal, they were wood.  Greg had an old style Louisiana guitar and Tyler had a chance to play it.  Maseeka, Lizzie, and Morgan had the chance to dress up as a fox and we tapped the spoons while we listened to, What Does the Fox Say.  We ended with the song Happy.  We were given glow in the dark bracelets and rings and we turned off the lights to see all of the colours. Learning how to play the spoons was so much fun!

By Gage and James 

You make my heart sparkle

     Last week we did a fun art proctect.  The first step was to paint a piece of watercolour paper. We did our own patterns with crayons, before we painted on the paper.  After that we cut out 2 half circles for the bird's body. We cut out the beeks with the part of the watercolour paper that we painted orange.  We also cut out heart shapes for the wing and the sparkly heart.  We put the half

circle  on a folded blue piece of paper that we painted white dots on. Inside the card we wrote phrases

like you make my heart sparkle. We made birch trees and put them on the front of the card with the

half circles (for the bird's body.) Then we put the beaks on the bird's body. Then, with black marker, we

drew feet and a piece of string in the birds mouth where the bird would be carrying a heart. With the other 5 hearts we made a tail and a wing. After, we took it home and gave it to whoever we wanted to!

By Blake and Gunner

100th day of school

 On February 12th we celebrated our 100th day of school. We each brought in a collection of 100 things in a brown paper bag. We read three clues about our collection and then the other students tried to guess what was in the bag. Our collections included 100 pieces of toilet paper, 100 popcorn kernels, 100 erasers, 100 googly eyes, 100 marshmallows, and many other interesting items.  We estimated how long our 100 collections would be and then measured them with meter sticks. We have loved our first 100 days of school!