Fall Fun

What a glorious day to celebrate Fall!  We enjoyed the weather, played in the leaves, created our own snack mix and had fun with family and friends today.

Timelines

Our study of past and present begins with creating and reading timelines of all kinds.

It's true!

Mrs. Weary has a broom.

Halloween Party

Click here to find out what can you do to help.

Our party will be on Oct. 25 from 12:30-1:00.  Parents are welcome to join us.  Children will be changing into their costumes for the parade around 1:15.

Literacy

The Butterfly Class is a busy place during our daily Literacy block.  Here is a quick glimpse of what goes on daily in our room.

We work on Word Study.

We read and discuss literature.

We work with friends.

We read to ourselves.

Photographs!!!!!!!!!

Our class will begin to study the concepts of past, present and future next week.  We will start by creating timelines.  Each student will create a timeline of important events in his or her life so far.

 Please send in photographs that represent each year of your child’s life, with a brief note outlining something special that happened that year.  Example: “When Joe was one he ate tons of bananas.  When Joe was two he visited his cousins in Florida.  When Joe was three he met Santa Claus. etc…”

You may send in originals or photocopies.  If you would like for me to make photocopies and return the originals to you, please let me know.

Your child will have a much easier time creating their timeline if the photos are no larger than 5x7.

Photos are due Monday, Oct. 22!

more from Ivy Creek

Thanks to Lindy's mom for these great Ivy Creek photos!
Click below.

More Ivy Creek Photos

Ivy Creek Field Trip

A little bit of rain, a lot of fun and loads of learning.

Observing and writing about our tree

the observation

some of our notes

a sample of our final writing

Ivy Creek Field Trip

We are looking forward to our first field trip of the year.  We will visit Ivy Creek Natural Area for a presentation on Virginia trees and a hike in the woods on Oct. 15.  Parents and family members are welcome to meet us there.  We will arrive around 9:45 and leave around 11:30.  This will be a great way for us to observe seasonal changes and extend our study of plants.

Stems

We conducted an experiment to see how the stem of a celery plant might carry water from the roots to the leaves.  Take a look at our before and after pictures below.  It was great to be able to see the role that a stem provides for a plant.  We also noticed that the celery with food coloring did not look very healthy, while the one with just water looked healthy.  We wondered what food coloring might do to the insides of our bodies, if it makes the celery look so bad.

Discovering plants

Whoops of, "This is so much fun!" can be heard coming from Room 13 these days.  The children have found true joy in learning through our study of plants.

Here are some of their discoveries:

There are baby plants inside of seeds.

Acorns are actually seeds and sprout just like a bean seed.

Roots are hairy.

Plants don't turn green until they sprout.

Too much water is not good for a plant.

In addition to every child observing the seeds that they planted last week, we have begun an experiment for our whole class to watch.  

Our question: Will our plants survive without water, air or sun?

Our hypothesis: We think the plants will not survive.

Plant Observations

Butterflies have been practicing making careful observations of plants and recording what they notice through writing and art.  Check out our botanical illustrations and collages.
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