Show and Tell Bag

During the month of February, our Show and Tell theme was a guessing bag.  Each child was given a lunch bag.  They were asked to place an interesting item (not a toy) inside the bag. Once an object was selected, their families helped each child come up with three clues about the object.  These were written on the outside of the bag.

We had never done guessing bags before.  Mrs. P. brought in a guessing bag so that we could all have a trial run prior February.

Mrs. P.'s Show and Tell Bag

Each child was in charge of his/her own presentation.  Each child read one clue at a time.

 

A. Reading One of Her Clues

R. Reading One Of Her Clues

Three guesses were accepted per clue.

M. choosing someone who would like to make a guess.

F. Accepting a Guess

At the end of the presentation, or after a correct guess, the object was revealed!

What could it be?

It's a necklace!

Reaching In

So much time and effort went into the guessing bags.  We were particularly impressed by how many of our students wrote their own clues, even some of our youngest.  

M.'s Guessing Bag

It's a pony jewelry box!

I.'s Guessing Bag

It's shells!

H.'s Guessing Bag

It's sunscreen!

J.'s Guessing Bag (left)

It's a straw!

Show and Tell has taught us many things this year.  It has taught us how to speak in front of a group, to raise our hand if we would like to ask a question and to wait our turn.  We also learned that we may not always be chosen every time and that's okay.

Speaking in front of a group with confidence is most noticable in our two youngest students.  Both of the following students are newly turned three year olds.  Their presentations were absolutely lovely and demonstrated just how far they have come since September.

A. turned three in December.

A. turned three in February.

A. demonstrating her suncatcher.

A huge thank you to our parent community for getting so involved in this activity.  It was such a fantastic experience. There were so many interesting objects!  It was, however, very difficult to stump this group of children.  They are very sharp. 

Can you guess what Mrs. P.'s object was?  The children did.

Mrs. P.'s Show and Tell Bag

It was snowflake soap!

Snowflake Soap

Each child took home a flake of snowflake soap.

Note:  A huge thank you to Ms. Sandi and her blog rubber boots and elf shoes for the idea and the guessing bag template.

Christopher Columbus ~ A Courageous Sailor

Over the course of the winter term, the children at our little yellow school have been learning about the most famous sailor ever, Christopher Columbus.  While it has been over five hundred years since that fateful voyage across the Atlantic and the discovery of the New World, his story continues to fascinate.

A Model of Columbus's Ship, The Santa Maria

In Culture, the children had been introduced to and/or refreshed their knowledge of the continents.

I. with her continents map.

Our study of Christopher Columbus was a lead in to our work on North America.  

Five Year Olds L. (l) and J. (r) Working With the North America Map

We read simple biographies and looked at paintings and drawings of Christopher Columbus and his three ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.  Years ago, Mrs. P. found a replica of the Santa Maria in a thrift shop.  The children were very excited to have a model of that famous ship!

 

Parts of the Santa Maria

We had many activities for the children to work with.  The older children enjoyed learning the nomenclature for the Parts of the Santa Maria.

 

Four Year Old A. With Her Work

 

Four Year Old E. (l) and Five Year Old A. (r) With Their Work

Almost Five Year Old M. With Her Work

The children also enjoyed colouring a picture of Christopher Columbus and his three ships.

Four Year Old K. Colouring the Ships

Four Year Old M.'s Work

Four and a Half Year Old C.'s Work

Five year old J. was particularly captivated by the story of Christopher Columbus and was always interested in learning more about him.  J. wrote a story about Christopher Columbus.

Five Year Old J.

 

Five Year Old J.'s Story With the Story Alphabet

J.'s Story

J. even brought in his grandfather's engineering compass for Show and Tell.  This went beautifully with our own study of the compass.

J. and his grandfather's compass.

A Compass Book

A Page From a Compass Book

We learned so much about Christopher Columbus and continue to be inspired by the tenacity and the courage that led to the discovery of a whole new world.

Christopher Columbus,

He sailed the ocean blue.

He found a continent in 1492.

It's Pajama Day!

Our last day of school before the March Break was Pajama Day!  The weather outside was frightful but inside our school it was cozy and delightful!

It's Pajama Day!

The morning began with a little bit of Montessori work.  Five year old A., one of this year's graduates, was inspired to write a story about Pajama Day.

Five year old A. writing a story with the Story Alphabet.

A very happy A. with his story.

A.'s Story

Mrs. L. came for Music class.  She also wore pajamas!
Here are some pictures from Music class.  Don't we look lovely in our pajamas?

After Music class, we had a dance party!  We danced to the music of Wham! and The Spice Girls. 

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go ~ Wham!

So Tell Me What You Want, What You Really Really Want ~ The Spice Girls

After the dance party, Mrs. P. had a little surprise for everyone. During the winter term, the children had been learning about the five senses.  She brought in something that would use all five of our senses.  Can you guess what it was?

Mrs. P.'s Surprise

It was a hot air popcorn popper!  The children were absolutely mesmerized by it.

While the popcorn was popping, we used our sense of sight, hearing and smell.  We couldn't wait to use our sense of touch and taste!

It was delicious!  We had a wonderful winter term and a fabulous Pajama Day!  Happy March Break everyone!