Tuesday, November 4, 2014

November 12th is Curriculum Night


We’re getting a fish tank!
Hello families,

                In September I was studying clay with the children and I could tell they were pretty familiar with the material. A lot of the children showed strong interests in animals, whether they were saving a spider in the classroom or making a home for a toy frog in the clay. I decided to roll with this idea of homes for animals and now as a class we are exploring different habitats.

We have been looking at habitats of people and animals. Specifically the habitat of fish in a fish tank because we are getting a classroom fish tank! Mrs. McAuliffe wrote a letter to Pets in a Classroom for a fish tank and they said yes. The fish tank was completely free of charge. The fish tank arrived, but first we need to learn more about how to care for the fish before we can have them in our classroom. For the first exploration on fish, we read the story, Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian. Then the children drew their ideas of what we should have in our classroom freshwater fish tank. 

Holly’s drawing of a fish tank.
 We went to different classrooms throughout our school to observe their fish tanks. We were looking at the different aspects of the fish tank, such as the number of fish, the plants, and the statues. 

Leila and Wafic observing Ms. Stine’s fish tank.
Next we are going to compare our body movements to fish movements, so the children can see the perspective of the fish.  To strengthen our classroom community we are going to work together to find the best place for our fish tank within our classroom. We need to make sure we have room for storage and room for children to observe the fish tank whenever they please.  Children are learning organization skills and how a fish tank can be a part of our habitat.

Sincerely,

               Ms. Cagle

               acagle@umich.edu

How you can help us:

If you have a fish tank at home, you could take a picture of your fish tank and email it to me or one of the teachers in our classroom. Then I will invite your child to share about their fish tank if they would like.
 If you have ever had a fish tank and you have any extra supplies you think would be useful to our fish tank please send it in! Any supplies will be helpful. If you have questions or concerns we are always just an email away.

Curriculum Night: November 12, 5:30pm