Spin Me a Web
4/26/2019
I wonder if any of our young EK learners will still remember any of the songs and poems we are learning now when they are as ancient as me. We are looking forward to performing our favourite bug songs to our families at our next learning lunch. As a young 5 year old I remember nervously standing on stage reciting the following words by Charles Causley, winning a public speaking contest: Spin me a web, spider Across the window pane For I shall never break it And make you start again. Cast your net of silver As soon as it is spun, And hang it in the morning dew That glitters in the sun. It's strung with pearls and diamonds, The finest ever seen, Fit for any royal King Or any royal Queen. Would you, could you, bring it down In the dust to lie? 'Any day of the week, my dear,' Said the nimble fly. A spiderweb sparkling in the sunlight can be a truly beautiful sight, but these webs have some additional surprises. The strength-to-weight ratio of the material is remarkable, and spiders seem to be able to rig a web just about anywhere. The webs also inform the spider when there is prey trapped inside. EKC have had fun crafting as spiders this week... Spiders have a design sense. Some webs are extremely intricate. Most people assume that the design is purely functional, but this is not always the case. Some spiders, particularly the large family known as orb weavers, actively decorate their webs with extra silk designs known stabilimenta. Spiderwebs don’t intercept prey; they attract them. The presence of deliberate structure dispels another common misperception about spiders, that they set up in a promising area of insect travel and wait to see what happens. However, many spiders seem to be far more proactive in their web building, building webs that are designed to actively attract insect prey, not just trap the unlucky. Spiderwebs are shiny for a reason. Many insects have better visual perception in UV wavelengths of light. Spiderwebs are much more reflective in UV light, possibly attracting insects. The decorations may also resemble vegetation gaps where insects are more prone to fly. Spiders are sneaky. Decorations come with a risk; while they might attract more insects, they are also more visible to predators who may threaten the spiders. When you see a web with old exoskeletons and egg sacs hanging in it, it could well be the case that the spider left those on purpose as camouflage. Spiders think big. Overall, web size is also carefully set. Most insects caught by spiders are small; a larger web increases the odds of catching more flies. However, spiders may not be able to fully thrive and reproduce while consuming solely run-of-the-mill small insects. In a study of orb weavers, most spiders rarely caught more than 2 small insects per day. For true success, some spiders may need the occasional big score - the rare but desirable large prey (larger than the spider itself) that gets snagged in the web. Spiders often replace their web every day. Many spiders actually replace their entire web every single day. Larger webs cost the spider more energy to produce, which really adds up with each rebuild. Large catches apparently more than offset the increased energy output. So really, spider webs are more amazing even than they first appear. For a construction job done right, get a spider to do it. And they ate, and they ate and they ate!Our caterpillars are doing very nicely... More buggy adventures this week...
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Getting Buggy
4/19/2019
When it comes to exploring bugs, you can’t really beat bug collecting as an activity! Getting bugs into an enclosure -whether it’s the time-honored classic jar with air-holes in the lid, or something like this– allows children to look closely at the bugs to examine their characteristics. Having a barrier not only keeps the mini-beast in one place, but it often makes our young learners feel a bit less skittish. We’re Going on a Bug Hunt A bug hunt is a lot of fun, but it also helps learners become more familiar with the bug’s environment and needs. The children soon learnt that they can find more bugs under a rock than on the path. We talked about why that is, and what needs are being met in the different environments. Children also have to be aware of what the bugs need if they are going to keep them in the enclosure for much more than about an hour. Putting worms in a dry leafy environment did not work out well! They asked questioned like what kind of food do they need? And the adults asked things like; What kind of things can be added to make their environment similar to where we found it? Answering these questions through careful observation required the children to use scientific enquiry. In addition to our own playground, we were able to contact another source who provided us with a unique bug-observation experience. Watch the Metamorphosis We had some caterpillars arrive at our classroom this week. We have estimated how long we think it will take them to become chrysalides. Hopefully, within about three weeks, we will have butterflies that we can release in our own playground. Children have remembered how to use their measuring skills by using a ruler to record their size daily. Some children are also using dry spaghetti to record and compare the caterpillar's length and have taped them to a paper as a reference point for comparison later. It’s absolutely amazing to see how quickly these guys grow! We have encouraged the children to internalise the information they gathered through their observations by making sketches of their bugs. Drawing an image requires them to recall the information they just acquired and use it in a meaningful way, which helps comprehension. EKC are also extending this bug viewing activity by sharing fictional stories or information books about the mini-beasts we have encountered. Being keen writers they have also begun to put their own words and ideas into print and have started to illustrate the book – or fill them with photos. We are having fun getting buggy with our young entomologists! Just in time!We got our bug hunt done just in time! The children were surprised and thrilled to see their newly clear playground again covered with the white stuff they love so much!
Ready for Lift Off
4/12/2019
Whatever the theme or focus topic in our classroom, children will be practising their literacy skills all day long. They will be speaking or listening, and maybe reading and writing as part of every activity that they do. Combining aspects from different parts of the curriculum is recognised as good practice. During this focus topic we have been weighing ourselves as part of the role play area, children have been designing and labeling their rocket plans in the construction area, just as a couple of examples. Combining activities makes sense for us and my planning as it’s an efficient use of our time and resources. More importantly, it helps children make sense of their learning. Teaching literacy as part of other curriculum areas ensures that the skills children are practising will be set in a context, and have importance. Writing a letter to Santa or replying “Yes, please” to a birthday party invitation brings its own rewards beyond the initial sense of pride in successfully putting words down on paper. Giving children a purpose for writing helps to build their confidence in themselves as writers. Making learning as interactive as possible creates a sense of fun and involvement, which will carry the children’s interest and enthusiasm in productive ways. It becomes part of children’s play, and it’s as they play that children challenge themselves and attempt more. Sharing ideas Children’s writing and reading is built on their ability to express themselves verbally. As they retell events from real life or stories, they are recalling details and sequencing key events. Giving children opportunities for conversations and discussions helps them learn to take turns as they listen and respond to others, widens their vocabulary and encourages precision in their use of language. Sharing books with young children is recognised as a vital, motivating first step on their journey to becoming readers. Creating an attractive book area will encourage children to take an interest, and helping them to respond to labels, names and notices introduces the idea that print communicates information. Using non fiction and fiction books and sharing these during whole class time has boosted the children’s ideas to retell and share many stories as they collaborate during role play and small world play. A few weeks ago we were visited by an astronaut who had crash landed close to school. He had forgotten his name and where he had come from. He asked us to write some books for him to take back to space to describe some characters he might meet. The pupils used the ideas from their verbal stories and role play and recorded these using the phonic knowledge they have developed during the year. Our astronaut guest was very impressed with their outcomes.
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Melissa SmithMs. Smith has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has taught kindergarten for many years. Alaska has been home to Ms. Smith for 28 years, and she can't imagine living anywhere else! She has four children, a dog and two cats. She loves reading, camping, gardening, and genealogy! Archives
April 2021
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