Marybeth & Lora’s Class Notes

Spring has sprung, and with it, new beginnings in our classroom. Our egg incubator is humming away and doing it’s job of nurturing our chicks until they are ready to burst into the world on (or about) May 5th! We have been reading all we can about chickens and eggs, fiction and non-fiction, and tracking the growth and development of the embryos. This week we were able to “candle” an egg, a process by which we were able to shine a light into an egg and observe the changes inside. The children have each been creating pencil and watercolor portraits of various breeds of chickens and the results so far are stunning - we can’t wait to share them with you. No study of chickens and eggs would be complete without attempting to answer the question of which came first. After a healthy back and forth debate, Nova settled the matter by saying, “Maybe some questions don’t have answers,” which of course, presents a quandary all its own.

Throughout the year we have been turning to non-fiction author, Gail Gibbons, for all of our research needs. After reading many of her books, we identified the features that make her books unique, and are writing our own own non-fiction texts modeled after her style. Topics were chosen by the children based on their interest and personal expertise. We look forward to learning about everything from dinosaurs and rabbits, to the beach. Earlier today we completed the last chapter of E.B. White’s, Charlotte’s Web, whose themes of life, death, and renewal have complemented our work.

We are noticing cycles all around us, including the return of the osprey, and the changes in our environment since the spring equinox. In the coming week we will begin exploring the water cycle with Ryan, our scientist in residence.