KG 4.29

News from the Pond!

 Over the past couple of weeks, the Bell Crew has really been able to dive into ponds! We have been singing pond songs, reading pond poems and writing down our observations about our new classroom pond. If you haven’t seen it yet, come check it out!

Additionally, we visited the Glenshire pond for fieldwork and had a fabulous time using our senses to explore. The students rotated in small groups to four different stations, focusing on one of the five senses at a time. (We decided to not to taste anything from the pond and had a cookie instead to conclude our day!) The students happily visited each station, fieldwork journals in hand! They carefully listened to their surroundings to make a sound map; identified pleasant and not-so-pleasant smells; got their hands dirty and used fantastic words to describe the sensations; and used handheld, magnifying viewers to observe pond creatures such as snails, plankton, and insects.

 In the classroom, the students are eagerly recording scientific observations about our mini pond and are noticing more and more creatures each day! The amount of wildlife in our little pond has been impressive and is serving as an exciting learning tool for meaningful discussions, reading and writing.

The students have been actively discussing our guiding question: What makes a pond a pond? We are focusing on one main difference, which is that a pond is a photic zone.  This means a pond is shallow enough for sunlight to reach the bottom (thus have plant growth). We are also emphasizing the layers of a pond and the wildlife that is found in each section. The layers are the profundal zone (bottom), littoral zone (mid/upper section) and the surface film (top layer).

Fieldwork days will soon be finalized for the rest of the year, and we will be sure to get them out soon to put on the calendar.

 Recent learning targets: 

• I can use spaces between my words.
• I can use an uppercase letter to start my sentence and a period to end it.
• I can use my senses to explore a pond.
• I can compare and contrast different types of water.
• I can describe a photic zone.
• I can discuss the layers of a pond.

Recent songs/poems

The Turtle

Here is the turtle.

He lives in a shell.

He likes his home very well.

He pokes his head out,

When he wants to eat.

And pulls it back in

When he wants to sleep.

Five Little Ducks

____ little ducks

Went out one day.

Over the hills and far away.

Mother duck said,

“Quack, quack, quack, quack!”

And ____ of the little ducks came back.

Quacks and Snacks

Splishes and splashes,

Whistles and quacks.

Ducks on a pond

Are searching for snacks.

They eat tasty bugs,

They eat tender weeds,

They even go diving

For plant stems and seeds.

And would you believe,

As they swim quickly by,

This party of ducks

Can rise up and fly?

But if they’re still hungry,

Watch out- they’ll be back!

With splishes and splashes,

Whistles and quacks.