Discoveries

 Today's blog actually began way back on Wednesday.  Each time we are outdoors we notice the beauty of nature.  We see the sky and the bright blues, or chilly greys.  We notice giant puffy clouds, and feel breezes blowing on our cheeks.  We see the teeniest tiniest creatures scurrying amongst the dirt and leaves.  And we always, always notice the trees.

TREES

Strong and hard.       Peeley and pokey      Tall and mighty

Trunks to climb     Branches to swing     Leaves to toss

Unique

Beautiful

Wonderful

Like us.

Given that we are the Birch room, it's only natural that our friends would zoom in on the tree that bears our name.

How do we know which trees are the Birch trees?

On our walk we discovered things that make our tree special and unique...just like us!

 

Birch trees have a unique "skin" as our friends were calling it.  It is "peely", "like paper" .  Not only does the "skin" feel different it looks different too.  "It's whitish"   "It's not the same dark as the other trees."

Whenever we are exposed to something new and different it's only natural to filter that through knowledge that we already have.  The experiences we have had help us make sense of all things new.  What we know and notice about trees is no different!

"I have a Sycamore tree.  They are white." CF

Hmmm.. Sycamore trees are white?  Birch trees are white?   How can we tell the difference?

Our discoveries on our walk led us to dig deeper back in the classroom.  

And, as luck would have it we have several branches to investigate.

We looked closely and made so many great initial noticings!

Our friends are absolutely certain there is a Birch branch on our table.

But it is VERY different from the other big branch.

We decided to invite our friends from Sycamore and Magnolia to investigate with us.

This time there were THREE branches to investigate, and they were AMAZING!

JI, you immediately zoomed in on the new branch and I could hardly write fast enough to keep up with all of your ideas!

"They look like nuts." AD

"I think it's a bug tree.  Those are the eggs." JI

What did you notice on the tree that gave you all of these ideas?

You had zoomed in on a small specific part of our newest branch.

What followed was a back and forth of ideas, one building upon the next.

As soon as one friend would notice something and connect it to her prior knowledge, her thoughts sparked ideas in the other friend.  

It was a volley, a ping pong of thoughts that built up, up, up so fast that your teacher could hardly keep up.

Your ideas and noticings made me grin from ear to ear and lean in close with you, and then settle back to sit and watch the magic unfold before me.

It was the kind of moment that we dream about as teachers.  Those times when we can practically SEE the wheels spinning in your brains as you grasp for new knowledge that is just out of reach and then...BAM!  A light sparks and you figure it out.

"I love these things.  They are so soft."

"The big ones are eggs."

"They are going to grow into bigger branches."

"The little ones are ticklish to me"

"The little ones are sharp, sharp and the big ones are soft." AD

Little one?  Show me what you mean.

And you zoomed in even more noticing the different endings on the branches.

Then you began comparing the three branches to one another.

"Peeling skin" on one

"Cracking skin" on another

"Smooth skin" on the third

"Hard"

"Peely"

"Soft-soft"

We started talking about the parts of trees that you know and suddenly...

"They will turn into leaves."

"They will be flowers - small, and then big, big BIG!"

"They might become new branches."

"I saw more of these branches on the shelf.  If we put them in water maybe the flowers will grow." 

You began representing what you noticed with the pencils and paper on the table.  You showed me all of the parts of the branches you saw and then you "took notes" on another!

Your excitement gave me an idea.  I asked you if you wanted to go on an adventure to the resource library in our school to see if there are any books that might help us in identifying our branches and their amazing parts.

"Look!  Here is a nut on this one!"

"Look at this page.  It's the white bark!"

"There's one on this tree.  This is our tree."

Hmmm..how can we find out.  Can we compare it somehow?

"Nope, they are different."

As you entered the room today you were met with the branches in a vase of water.  Your face lit up with pride.  That was YOUR idea...right there on the shelf!

And then you ran straight over to the discovery table.

"Ms L come on!  Let's investigate the branches!"AD

I cannot wait to investigate these branches with you.

I wonder what we will discover next?