We're Going on an Ant Hunt!

We had a few special guests in our class today...ants! During circle the class leaped up to go look at an ant that was climbing on the cabinet. We then decided to get out some magnify glasses and go for an "ant hunt" for better or worse the ant hunt was quite successful and we found quite a few ants and moved them into the recycling bin where we examined them and then we released them outside. Everyone had fun finding the ants and watching them move. It was neat to look at them though the magnify glasses and everyone enjoyed looking at each other through them as well. Hopefully the ants are only hear for a short visit but we are excited by their interest in ants and other critters so I checked out some books on ants which we will explore thought the week!

Circle Time Drawing

Today during circle we read a book that talked about all different kinds of lines. Straight lines, curvy lines, lines that wiggle, lines that zig-zag and lines that go around and around in a circle. After we finished our book we took out some clipboards and practiced drawing a variety of different lines. Drawing these lines are skills that these students have mastered but vary rarely have they been able to put words to the lines they are creating. This helped give them confidence in their drawing ability and allowed them to know that even though they are four there are things that they can draw and they look the same as in the book!

Since we are talking about writing and illustrating stories we also talked about drawing ants. Ants are three circles that touch and they have eyes and antennae. The group quickly became expert ant drawers. We made sure to emphasis to the class that there is no "right way" to draw an ant. You can look at pictures or other drawings to inspire you but your drawing is great even if it looks different from other student's art. Drawing from pictures and from stories allows students to really tune into their observation skills. Once they know to look for lines and shapes int he world around them they will be able to see these shapes everywhere and gain more confidence in independent drawing.

The Ants Go Marching One by One.....

This morning during early morning drop off Teddy Freidman and I found an Ant! We were quite excited about our new friend so we put it in a cage and put in some dirt so it could have a temporary indoor home. Unfortunately it escaped and when another early drop off friend became scared it got stepped on. So this meant that we had to have an "ant funeral." We went outside and were joined by our friends as they were arriving to school. We had a quick funeral ceremony which included a rousing edition of, "The Ants go Marching" and then decided that we had to go on an "Ant Hunt" to find more ants. We dug in the dirt but there were no ants or bugs in sight! The kids all started to ask to go into the woods to see if we would have more luck beyond the playground. We compromised and went to the area by the playground and searched for a bit there. Soon Max found a stump that was covered in ants! We looked at them and decided that was an ant colony that must live inside. We put a few of them in our container to observe and then let them out at the end of outdoor time. It was neat to see how one little ant could inspire so much create play. Because of this one little ant we had kids from multiple classes working together to grapple with nature and to examine animal behavior. By the end of the morning we had many kids who had all learned that it's important to be kind to all animals, even if they are just an itty-bitty ant.

An Ant Farm

Jacob and Ryan take a close look at the latest addition to our classroom - an ant farm. The children waited patiently for these ants to arrive in the mail. We can watch as these tiny creatures work hard and co-operatively to create tunnels. When the ants were given water, the children laughed and enjoyed the idea of the ants thinking it was raining. Our goal is to reinforce the concept that the tiniest living things in our world deserve our respect and awe. All of life is amazing.