March
March
  This year St. Patrick's Day falls during our Spring Break. We will still spend some time learning about the holiday and it's traditions. I have always enjoyed celebrating St. Patrick's Day as the green colours around the classroom signal that Spring is on it's way!
Leprechaun Hats Legend says that if you can catch a leprechaun, he will lead you to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In class, we decide to make little hats for the leprechauns to wear. We put these out around the room to try to lure some leprechauns our way. We know they like nice new hats! Here are the steps: 1.We take regular styrofoam coffee cups and color designs on them with permanent markers. (They must be permanent.) 2.Next, we put them on a cookie sheet and place them in a hot oven. 3.We have to watch closely as it takes only a minute or so. *POOF* We have hats! The styrofoam cups shrink and the bottom rim turns up to make a nice edge. They are nice and hard now as well. Before we place the hats in the oven we drew pictures of what they looked like and predicted what would happen. After they come out, we draw and write about what happened. We discuss how heat can change objects. The students really enjoy making these little "Leprechaun" hats. March Good Morning Song Good morning to the shamrocks  Good morning to the flowers  Good morning to the pussy willows!  Good morning to the rainbows  Good morning to the birds  Good morning to the leprechauns!  Leprechaun Gold Math I have a bunch of dried beans that have been previously spray painted gold. We pretend this is gold from the leprechauns. We use it for many math activities. They are: 1.We use the gold as counters for addition and subtraction problems. 2.We also use the gold to estimate and measure items in the class. Ex./ How many gold beans long do you think your pencil is? 3. We weigh the gold. How many Unifix cubes equal ten gold beans? A Blarney Stone As we studying rocks and soil we discuss the legend of the Blarney Stone. It is good luck to kiss one on St. Patrick's Day. Legend says that if you kiss the actual stone in Ireland you will be blessed with the gift of Blarney (persuasiveness). I bring in some round stones from the garden centre that we paint green. When they are dry, we write "Kiss Me!" on them with permanent marker. We then brush a mix of glue and a little bit of water over the top to make them shiny. On St. Patrick's Day, everyone has to kiss their stone for good luck!  St. Patrick's Day Links Some great ideas! ST. Patrick's Day Fun Holiday Zone Ideas KinderArt Ideas for St. Pat's Lucky Shamrock Art Activity |
 Rocks and Soil
We begin by learning how to collect rocks properly. We discuss the tools needed and some safety rules. We then go out and look for some rocks to bring back to the classroom. After this, students are free to bring in rocks that they have collected on their own as well. We set up a rock identification station. We group rocks together that look alike. Later we learn their names. Tools and safety equipment:
 When we collect rocks out behind our school, we only need gloves as we only pick up rocks that are loose. We leave the chisels and goggles to the teacher to demonstrate. When each student has collected and found one rock, we head back to the classroom to sort and classify. We discuss the various properties of rocks such as:
 Links: (Many of my lesson ideas came from these pages) Rocky the Rockhound Cookie Mining Activity Amazing Rock Candy Soil Composition British Columbia Collecting Sites Canadian Junior Rockhound Making a Coal Flower Garden |
I�m an Irish Leprechaun 