KB Looks for Signs of Spring

The weather didn't feel as springy as we had been promised today, but there was no shortage of eagerness to get out and explore for signs of spring.  Sometimes within inquiry, there are moments where a teacher knows they couldn't have possibly set up a better learning moment than what is naturally presented and that's what I love about the process!  As I explained to KA parents in a recent post, we always begin with the interests of the child as we plan an inquiry and then create a planning web using our documentation of learning to link together many expectations within our curriculum to their interests.  Both Miss Aitchison (our wonderful student teacher volunteer) and I were amazed to see when we looked at our web part way through the inquiry that we had already achieved many of our areas of focus naturally with the children.

But back to our perfect magic moments this morning!  As we explore various signs of spring (mud, grass beginning to show, buds on trees, paths and roofs being clear of snow, etc.), we also began to notice signs of animals around.  It began with tiny footprints and predictions of what it could be!  A polar bear?  No, someone said, polar bears live in the arctic!  A deer?  Maybe!  A bunny? Well, the prints are quite small.  There was certainly an interest there.  Then as we stood in the forest searching for more signs, we heard the unmistakeable honking - geese!  We all ran out of the forest as I frantically tried to capture a photo of our observation.  (Picture in the bottom left below)  Look!  They look like a bow and arrow!  They all look like a V!  Why are they flying like that?  Where are they going?  I think they're hibernating!  The discussion was lively and full of wonder.  We looked for other signs of birds and saw a few flying over rooftops and closed our eyes to hear birds closeby that we couldn't see.  Then came the next magic moment!  A bunny across the street on a neighbours driveway.  It hopped along as we watched from afar and one child knew it couldn't be the Easter Bunny because it was "too small"!  You can see us watching in the picture second from the top right below.

We look forward to seeing what inquiries begin to emerge as we move into spring.  If today is any indication, we are in for a new wave of enthusiastic wondering!