Misconception or Confirmation?

As we neared the end of the Immersion Stage, we reflected on our earth & space systems & cycles schema from when we first started our inquiry.

Now we will enter the Investigation Stage, where we sign up for small research groups!

Collecting Moons

Over the holiday weekend we had lots of families observing and taking pictures of the moon for Room 408.  Here are some of the great shots!

Zane's dad also sent us some pictures of the blood moon from earlier this fall as well as another beautiful cresent moon picture.

A few parents sent me these cool moon pictures, as well.  What patience on the part of the photographer!

What do you wonder about the moon?

Earth & Space: Systems & Cycles Inquiry

We kicked off our first big curricular inquiry!  We will be focusing on the systems and cycles of earth and space.

Yesterday we thought about our schema (what we think we know) and shared our thinking with each other.

Today we started by reading a book about cycles.

We talked about the first stage of inquiry:  The Immersion Stage.  We discussed how during this stage our brains are like sponges, soaking up new learning as we immerse ourselves in our earth & space resources.  

We are also learning to leave tracks of our thinking on sticky notes and code it with an 'L' for learning or a '?' for our wonders.  We immersed ourselves in earth & space books--the excitement was contagious!  We gathered new learning, helped each other find answers to our wonders, and could even confirm some of our schema.

Look at all of our new learning and wonders!

Our Special Guest: Oliver!

I forgot to do a special post in November about when Zane and his mom shared his pet snake, Oliver. Better late, than never!
We loved asking questions about Oliver, touching him, and learning about him!

Watch this video to experience Oliver for yourself!

Thanks for sharing Oliver with us, Fletcher Family!

November Learning Mural Day

Once again we have reached the end of another busy month that was short, but full of learning!  We love Learning Mural Day in Room 408.

We worked on our collaboration skills while reflecting on and representing our November learning.

Here is the finished product!