It's Friday Again.......Can You Tell??

Today, Geneva welcomed the first snowfall of the season.  Our excitement level has been on high alert and no one thinks that there was enough of the fluffy white stuff.

Next week, we continue our new Unit of Inquiry, "Pattern, Rhyme and Rhythm".  There will be special newstime assignments, in-depth art projects, table activities where groups rotate through the classroom and, of course, LOTS of stories, poems and songs.  (Don't you wish you were here?)

We will put the finishing touches on our Plant unit but continue to "watch Bob grow" as his flowering display is growing (get it?) near.  Who will have predicted this special occasion spot on?

The Many Faces of "Bob"

Osuto's prediction

What will Bob look like when he blooms? 

Here are some predictions.

Gabriel's prediction



Akshaya's prediction




Is It or Isn't It???

In preparation for our next Unit of Inquiry, Pattern, Rhyme and Rhythm, we opened a discussion about odd and even numbers and some of us wondered if 0 was an odd or even number or both.

After lots of thinking, there were strong opinions on the matter.

Luis:  "I think that 0 is even."

Beenish:  "I think it's an odd number because no one gets anything."

Matthew:  "I think it's odd and even because people don't know if it's odd or even."

Beatrix:  "I think it's an odd and even number, just like Matthew."

Irene:  "My mom and Dad say it's not odd and it's not even; it's really a magic number."

Kyle:  "Yes, and there are more odd magic numbers, like negative numbers; -1."


As you can see, it is a subject that needs more investigation.....

What do you think?

Thumbprint Art

by Sona

 In art on Tuesday, we made personalized creations using our thumb and fingerprints. 

We were lucky this year (we have washable ink pads!) that our art lesson didn't last all week on our fingertips.

As you can see, some of us chose to make sports pictures; others used a nature theme and a few of us decided that underwater creations were right for them.

by Heloise

by Patrick

 The next time you are in the classroom, have a look at the rest of the thumbprint art. 

by Alyssia

by Kyle

Famous "People" in Our Class

Meet Robert Plant (Bob for short) and his friend Jimmy (Page)

 If you have been in the classroom lately, you may have seen our celebrity, Bob.   Bob is an amaryllis whose full name is Robert Plant.  He invited his friend, Jimmy Page for a visit and they are camped out by the window.

We are tracking Bob's growth (he grows very quickly) and are anxiously awaiting one or more flowers.    We each made a prediction about when this might actually happen:  anywhere between 4 and 100 days!

To celebrate the arrival of Robert and Jimmy, we discussed their legendary
rock band, Led Zeppelin.  Because some of us were not familiar with Led Zeppelin's work, we turned on our SmartBoard at lunchtime and had a look and a listen.   EVERYONE was impressed, especially Bob!

I wonder who will show up when we study Materials....(Ronnie Wood and the Rolling Stones, maybe?)

  

Ta-da.....class 2b spaghetti

Not much in the bowl...some on the chin.

   After spending some time at Val's house, the pot of vegetables returned to the class as (wait for it...) delicious spaghetti sauce. 

We cooked some spaghetti and had a pre-lunch plant feast.

  Up next, more plant cooking.  Since we decided that pizza AND pancakes are also made mostly from plants, we will be putting on our chef hats once again in order to complete our trilogy (3 special snacks made from plants). 



Lots of sauce!



Bean Baby Update



Look at Luis' beans go!

Here is some bean news....................


Kevin likes his beans.




Matthew's beans are doing well.


As we follow the growth of our beans, we are becoming real thinkers. 

Each day, we observe our beans and record any changes that might have occurred .  Some of us wonder what will happen next while others describe what has happened so far.

Irene's recent comment about her bean:  "It's like a worm.  It's beautiful.  How I wonder what they eat?  Or maybe they only drink?  Or maybe not?  I don't know, does it need a lot of water or not?  Maybe yes or maybe no."

"Plant" Sauce (also known as Spaghetti sauce)

 In a moment of weakness, Miss Mills and Val decided that Class 2b should do some cooking.  What better way to get involved with vegetables than a big pot of homemade spaghetti sauce? 

After brainstorming a list of sauce ingredients, we each chose an ingredient from a "hat" and then brought it to school the next day.

There was a flurry of peeling, chopping, slicing and dicing; no injuries but a few watery eyes.

Our pot of plants and vegetables was ready for cooking.  Val took it home to simmer and we are anxiously awaiting the final product....spaghetti with Class 2b sauce!

Down on the Farm

Class 2b recently took a trip to an apple farm in Collex-Bossy.  It was a lovely day and, although there was frost on the ground when we arrived, the sun was shining and we were ready to learn about apples.


We met Olivia who explained how the apple farmers care for their trees throughout the year and what is necessary in order to have healthy, delicious apples.

After a walk through the orchard, we were able to taste 4 different types of apples that Olivia grows at the farm.  They were delicious!

Our World of Plants

Our World of Plants, which is the current Unit of Inquiry, began with deciding what we already knew about plants and what our lunches would be like without plants in the world.  Most of us decided that it would be a very boring lunch without fruits and vegetables.


Newstime became more risk taking and controlled chaos than actual news reporting as each child brought a plant to smell and/or taste.  We willingly (most of us, anyway..) tasted things from apples to pomegranates;  fennel to sage.  It was an aromatic and interesting week.

We are now eagerly awaiting the "birth" of our bean babies, which are currently growing in their own plastic bag incubators on the classroom window.  Each day, we observe our beans and record the changes in our Plant books.  Split seeds, small roots and even some green stems have been noticed.  

BREAKING NEWS........THIS JUST IN

Since we have been on holiday for a week, exciting things have happened in the bean nursery.  I am happy to announce the arrival of our "babies".

• "My bean is no longer a bean, it's a plant.  It has roots and big leaves and a stem"   Arissa            
• "My bean has leaves now!"   Elias                                               
• "My bean has grown a lot since I saw it on Day 8.  It has leaves and a stem."   Matthew

We will continue to watch carefully and record the growth of our beans in our Plant books.  How long will it be until they poke out of the top of the bags?