Bird House

How can we help the birds to find the birdhouse?

Problem Solving: May 28, 2013 A.M.

The last few weeks the children have been working on constructing a bird house. They first worked together to figure out how to fit the pieces together.  After a few days of trial with fitting the pieces together the children came up with a plan and drew their ideas down on how to construct the house.  Once they had their plans we worked on practicing with hammers and nails.  We had Mr. Gary came down to drill some holes in pieces of wood to help us get it started. The children worked for a few days to complete the bird house, which is now hanging outside the classroom door.  

 

Group Meeting: Conversation About the Bird House

Emilio: We can make the birdhouse darker!

Jenna: We could use birdseed and put it on a track and have it stop by the birdhouse.

Deena: We could put the food on top of the birdhouse!

Jamil: We could put birdseed in the birdhouse.

Katie: We could put some birdseed on the ground by the birdhouse.

Emilio: We could tweet and make bird calls and noises to help lead the birds there.

Deena: We could tweet and use food.

Natalie: Maybe we can put a small flashlight in the birdhouse so it won’t be dark and they can see their food.

Emilio: We can use worms because birds like them and chipmunks do not.

Pajama Day!

Dear Families,

The children have been asking to have a pajama day.  We all decided to have a Pajama day on Thursday, June 6th.  If your child would like to participate in the pajama day please have them wear appropriate pajamas to school.

Thank you,

 Ms. Finkelstein & Ms. Muehlenbein

Where are the crabs going to play?

"Where are the crabs going to play?”

Children’s attempts at creating a  hermit crab maze

 After the children’s first attempt at a maze for the hermit crabs, they realized it needed a base, “a floor,” and “high walls” to keep the hermit crabs inside. The second time the children built a hermit crab structure, they labeled it “a playground.,” and included every block from both shelves in the classroom. One of the children noticed how many blocks were being used in a small space and asked, “Where are the crabs going to play?”

This is the hermit crab maze at the end of the morning on Monday. We encouraged the children to revisit the maze multiple times throughout the week to add or take away what they thought was necessary.

This was the hermit crab in the middle of the week. The children noticed that there were a lot of blocks and other materials in the maze.

The children continued to revise the maze, and by the end of the week, they announced that they were ready for the hermit crab to try out the maze.

 Here are two of the children's  ideas about what the maze should look like.