Year 4, Session 6, Week 3
This week we explored women heroes and finally got to start building our garden! It is crazy to think we have made it to the half-way point of the session already. The learners are excited to see what has grown in their garden by the day of exhibition.
This week in our gardening quest, the heroes were able to assemble and set up the garden beds. The Little Heroes helped move the soil from the old plant box to the new beds. The ES learners used math to figure out how many square feet were in each bed to determine how many plots their garden could hold. They planted the thai mint plants that we have been tending to in the studio and will plant everything else next week. We also learned about decomposition! The heroes are conducting a decomposition experiment with three jars of soil that are holding a strawberry, tortilla chip, and toilet paper, to see if any of them break down over the next two weeks.We also started raising live caterpillars that we hope to watch turn into butterflies! The ES heroes wanted to watch them while they ate a snack. We wrapped up the week by building a vermicomposting bin. The learners placed soil and wet newspaper into a bin with live worms to create fertile compost that can be used for their gardens.
The Little Heroes baked a vanilla oreo cake this week. They mixed all of the ingredients into the batter and placed crushed oreos inside and on top of the cake. It was delicious!
In Writer’s Workshop the ES heroes wrapped up the first draft of their gratitude letters. They are going to send an invitation to the recipient of their letter asking that person to attend exhibition where they can read it in person. Next week they will work on peer revisions and their final drafts.
This week in PE, all of our learners participated in an obstacle course and then the Little Heroes led yoga!
In art, we created a different interpretation of Monet’s water lilies. The learners colored cardstock and popsicle sticks then arranged the sticks into the shape of a water lily. Come check out the masterpieces on display in the windows of our studio!
On Thursday, we had a surprise visit from Mrs. Molley and some baby chicks! The heroes were able to learn a little about chickens and pet them.
We celebrated International Women’s Day on Friday, but in the Elementary Studio we learned about women heroes all week long! Each morning our launch was centered around a different female hero and we had discussion about the situations they faced. It was fun discovering more about Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Joan of Arc.