Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday we will be having a field trip to the Ayo Rock Formations. I don't know what I'm more excited for, the walk among the enormous tonalite boulders, or the french picnic we are planning on bringing along.
In preparation for the field trip, we have begun a rock collection in the classroom. Weeks ago, I brought one rock out at a time from my own little collection and then opened it up for the children to bring their own special rocks. When presenting a new rock, I tell a story about how the rock was possibly formed and illustrate it (very crudely) on a chalkboard. Then I tell an additional and shorter story about how I got the rock. As the collection grows, we revisit almost every rock when a new one is added to the collection reviewing their names and qualities.
Today, as a summary of our work so far, I made and printed out Rocks and Minerals classification cards from all the rocks we've seen so far. They are here for anyone to download and print out. Now the readers in our group can read and match the labels to the pictures on the cards.
Of course, this has sparked a frenzy of rock hunting in our garden. Every piece of broken glass is obsidian, and a chunk of concrete is possibly a geode to be smashed against the sidewalk.