The children have been experimenting with a number of sound activities. Everything from watching and feeling the vibrations of stringed instruments, making waves with tuning forks, making maracas and egg shakers, and creating a human sound wave with their bodies. As with most activities we begin with one outcome in mind and they very quickly reroute our efforts turn it into something so much more. After determining that the sound from the tuning forks traveled in waves when submerged in water they began using the tables to determine that sound can travel through solid objects (we can thank Tommy for that stroke of experimental brilliance).
We are working on revising our stories in writers workshop. The children are quite adept at listening to others stories and coming up with questions that will encourage the author to include more details. Everyone now uses a writers carat to include information where ever necessary, highlighting tape to enhance the effort, and writers bandaids (paper strips) for entire sentences that may need revising.
Thanks to the generosity of so many of you we now have several new books in the classroom. Some we are reading aloud and all of them are being circulated through the room during readers workshop. The life size reptiles book has received many accolades, some mystified and some terrified! Thanks again for your thoughtfulness.
