Visiting Teacher/Gramerly

It ended up that Bean and I had different spring breaks, so while I was on break and he was in school, I visited last Friday to do a lesson with his class.  He didn't have a teacher helper at that time, so Ceece joined me to lend a hand.  I always try and do something that is not only fun, but might make it easier on the teacher.  I took at look at some standards for third grade and chose a couple relating to food and how all animals use plants, parts of plant, and how we use natural resources. Wow, that's a lot to accomplish in an hour and forty five minutes.

I began a couple of weeks before on Playdate by recycling paper with Bean and Bugg.

I brought home a sack of shredded paper from school. Handy Man picked me up some screen.  We filled the blender with shredded paper and warm water and churned it up, then poured it in a big, shallow pan.  I slid a paper size piece of screen under the pulp and lifted it out to another pan.

Bean and Bugg then pressed the  water out of the pulp.

Bugg added some bits of pinecone and needles.

It took several days to dry, but was really pretty.  I realized I didn't have time or counter space to make enough for a journal for all 26 kids, so I needed to come up with another plan.

I brought my bunny boy Merry and showed the kidlets a natural resource, Timothy grass, that the bunny eats and might stuff in a nest.  I read the adorable book Tops and Bottoms about a rabbit who tricks a bear into using his field to grow food. Of course, bunny patting is always the highlight.

Next we talked about where our food comes from.  Each child got a hamburger, yarn and a sack of cards with a picture on them.  They traced the items on the hamburger back to the sun. For example, cheese, milk, cow, grass, sun.

We divided into three groups and rotated through three centers.

I my group, the students created a plant with candy icing and candy. When they told me each plant part, they got to eat the leftover candy.

Ceece helped them put their journal together.  Each journal had a piece of the paper we made on the front.  In the journal, they recorded all the natural resources we use, and how we use them.

 In the group with the teacher, they made a face on an empty egg shell ( another use of a resource).  I left soil and Timothy grass seed to plant for their egg head's hair when they return from spring break.

There is also a place in their journal to record the growth of their grass.

Busy morning.