Water Wonders #3 - Where does water come from? Where does it go?

When the children took the walk in the forest to find water, they noticed water in the creeks, water flowing to somewhere on the ground, and water in puddles. So where is the water coming from and where is the water going?

We read the book Waters by Edith Newlin Chase. It beautifully traces the water's journey through Canada, from a baby brook to the boundless sea.

Inspired by the artist Ron Broda, the children wanted to illustrate their understanding of where water comes from and goes. After painting the trickling water melting from the snowy mountains to the sea, the children added raindrops to show the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation). 

Water Wonders #2 - Kitsilano Beach

                             

The children had lots of fun on our trip to the Kitsilano Beach. As we walked to the bus stop the children sang "Wheels on the Bus". Not only did we get to explore water, the children noticed generosity. When we got on the bus, many people moved to offer their seats for them. The children used their manners to thank the people for their seats and Pauline reminded others to use their inside voice on the bus.

When we arrived at the beach, some children recognized the area. Esme said: "This is my mommy and daddy's beach." Orin added: "This is my beach." They were all so eager to explore their surroundings. We were fortunate that there was no rain but Simone noted: "It sure is windy!" But the wind helped create a wavy beach and the children loved chasing the waves.

Walk to the bus stop

Waiting for the bus

"Boats!"

Natalya: "Why is the pigeon here?"

Trystan: "I see the dock!"

Chasing the waves

Snack time!

Water Wonders #1 - Looking for Water

How come there's a lake here?

It's so muddy!

Where's the fish?

The children took a wet, soggy walk around the Pacific Spirit Park to look for water.
The children noticed there was water everywhere (because of the rain). Pippa asked: "Why is the water following me?" Lysander answered: "The water is just going down."

When we reached a creek in the forest, the children saw a sign on the fence that says Stream Habitat. Keep Dogs Out. Then the children began to ponder, where is the fish?
Alfie: They are sleeping.
Cameron: They are hiding.

A puddle!

Jeffery: The are scared of coming out because the water is black.

Even though the walk was cold and wet, the children showed their enthusiasm by asking questions and commenting on what they observed.

Why is the water following me?

Stream Habitat. Keep Dogs Out.

We are Generous Beings #7 - Potlatch

Cake from Fire group

Potlatch!

 For our Generosity unit's summative activity, Creative Minds hosted a potlatch.

painting the pictures

A potlatch is a traditional First Nations gathering used to celebrate, commemorate, communicate and acknowledge specific events such as naming ceremonies, weddings, memorials and others.  Guests at these events offer gifts to the host family to support their event recognizing that these offerings will be returned at a later date.  The host family will redistribute the wealth they accumulated along with the new gifts received to those invited to the potlatch.

painting the frames

In preparation for the potlatch the children in each group thought about a gift they want to make and give away. All the children in the Water group agreed on making pictures for everyone and candies for the potlatch. We decided to paint the pictures and put it in a photo frame. They were all so focused on their project and they made sure that every child will receive a painting from them. What a thoughtful group of children! 

Cutting the shapes for our candies

kneading the candy dough

We are Generous Beings #6 - Connecting with our Community

Baking the muffins

Mixing the ingredients

Talking about what to paint for others lead us to the story Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan. After reading the story to the children, I showed pictures of soup kitchens and other organizations around Vancouver that help feed those in need. We looked at what others are doing to help and the children started thinking about what they can do.

Putting up the sign

Natalya: We can give them clothes that are too small.
Peter: We can give them food. 
Aiden: We can give toys to the children.
Cameron: I can ask my mom and dad for some money to give them.

After Cameron's comment, everyone in the group wanted to go home and ask their parents for money to donate. So I said to the children that the money is earned by their parents and I suggested that they should earn their own money. I showed the children how other people raise money and they decided to have a bake sale to raise funds to donate to our local food bank and a toy drive for the children. The children were all very excited! They baked the treats and the bake sale was a success! 

Children from other groups helping out

Cupcakes donated by Alexis

Thank you everyone!

Thanks to all the children and parents at Creative Minds for your support! 

We are Generous Beings #5 - People Have Different Understandings of Generosity

Water group read the book "The Magic Paintbrush" by Julia Donaldson. In the story, Shen is given a magic paintbrush and everything she paints become real. However, she is asked to paint for the poor and not the wealthy. The children asked, "Why? Why not give to the wealthy? This prompted our discussion of what wealthy people might have and wondered if they need more. This allowed us this think about our needs and wants. I explained to the children that we need things to keep us alive and things that we want will make us happy or help make our lives easier. The children listed their needs and wants.



Natalya: We need trees and water.
Jayla: I want candies.
Aiden: We need clothes.
Cameron: We need money.
Peter: We need food.
Mila: I want toys.
Andrew: We need friends.
Alan: I need daddy and mommy.

We extended our activity by making our own magic paintbrush and imagined that we were Shen painting for the poor.

We are Generous Beings #4 - Do we Have to be Generous?

As the Water group explored with the book The Giving Tree, many made comments on how the tree was being too generous. As we looked closer at the Tree, the children saw that the Tree was happy in the end even though it was left with a stump.

We furthered this idea of "giving too much" with Mr. Gumpy's Outing and Too Many Frogs.

Mr. Gumpy's Outing
In the story, Mr. Gumpy lets children and animals join him on his boat ride as long as everyone agrees to behave. However in the end the boat tips because everyone does exactly what Mr. Gumpy asked them not to do.

Natalya: Mr. Gumpy was not angry at them (children and animals) because he invited them back for tea.
Aiden: Yeah, he said they could go on his boat again.
Mila: That's generous.

The children enjoyed dramatizing the story, especially the part where the boat tips. SPLASH!


Too Many Frogs
In the story, Rabbit lives alone and one evening while he gets ready to read himself a story, Froggie shows up at his door. Froggie invites himself in the house and Rabbit not knowing how to reject him, lets him stay. In the end, Froggie invites his entire family to Rabbit's.

Cameron: I ask my mom and dad if I want to invite friends to my house.
Aiden: Froggie is not very nice. 

We talked about what we should do or say with things that we don't agree with.

Natalya: You can say 'No, thank you'.
Aiden: When you don't feel like playing with someone then you can say, 'Maybe I'll play with you some other time'.
Mila: You can say, 'I'll play with you in five minutes'.
Cameron: You don't have to share if you don't want to.

The children made puppets for the story. When they finished they practiced accepting/declining offers with the puppets they made.