It's hard to say goodbye ...

Today was our last day with our sweet fluffy babies. Our egg angel came to gather the chicks today, and the incubator tomorrow. Sniff ... sniff, sniff. We snuck in every opportunity we could today to love them up, cuddling and holding during every spare minute!

We have learned so much in a week! Before the chicks arrived, we made a list of things we wanted to learn. Look, our chart is filled with so many answers!

As the children discovered answers to our questions,
they added their answer on a post it

We spent time recording our learning on little posters! We included a labeled diagram and three facts. We are working so hard at writing complete sentences with a capital letter, period, and all word wall words spelled correctly. 

We will use this same template when we research animals of our own choosing!

Brother Joe dropped in today, and we always love his visits! His humor and wisdom brightened our morning, and he always finds a way to challenge our thinking. Brother Joe spent time with us reflecting on the meaning of Easter. He asked us, "Why do we get chocolate eggs at Easter?"

Brother Joe reminded us what just hatched from our eggs ... new life! The chocolate eggs we get in our baskets represent new life, which reminds us of Jesus' resurrection and how we are reborn each Easter!

Not only have we learned scientific facts about chicks, but we have learned greater life lessons; respecting all things living, treasuring the precious gift of the resurrection, and finding joy in God's creations. 

The chicks are gone ... but as Mrs. Beliveau shut down her computer and headed out of the classroom for the day, from the incubator she heard "cheep, cheep, cheep!". Seriously!

Reading to our Chicks

This weekend was FILLED with chick drama! The Beliveau family was in several times monitoring the chicks and eggs. So far, we've hatched 11 chicks, and our egg angel has taken 9 of them home to her free-range farm. Two remain in our room, happily enjoying lots of company in their warm, cozy box. 

Chicks are a captive audience, and we jumped at the chance to read them our self-illustrated booklet "5 Little Chicks"! 

These booklets are beautifully illustrated, using torn paper to make cute little chicks! Look for this booklet in your child's Kanga today, and enjoy hearing your child read it!

Below is a recording of the students reading:

listen to ‘5 little chicks bk’ on audioBoom

They're so fluffy!

THEY'RE SO FLUFFY!!! 




And so Friday began, with a classroom full of little Agneses, thrilled to see our fluffy little chicks! (thankfully minus the extra tight "Agnes squeeze")

We wasted zero time and decided these little fluff balls needed some gentle cuddles! The boys and girls learned they needed to sit while holding a chick, and to keep a hand under their feet as well as lightly on their back. 

It was such a lovely day to snuggle with our new little miracles. Here are some warm memories we shared:

In between cuddles, we welcomed in countless visitors! Mr. Marshall came to read us one of his favourite stories, Too Many Chickens! It's about a class who is hatching chicks, but the farmer forgets to come pick up the chicks once they have arrived! We had lots of good laughs as he read! Thank you, Mr. Marshall!  We also welcomed in our "egg angel" herself, who is the wonderful lady providing us with eggs from her free-range farm. She is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, and we loved picking her brain with our crazy questions.  We learned about the variety of breeds our "egg angel" has, some that are quite rare and even endangered. One fact that was of particular interest was that we had a very special little chick in our incubator. There is a special breed called the Partridge Chantecler, which is on the endangered list. By God's grace, her PC rooster and PC hen mated, and we were lucky enough to have a purebred Partridge Chantecler chick! Keeping the endangered breed alive! It has been an AMAZING week filled with loads of valuable science and language arts lessons. More importantly, however, are the lessons we have learned about new life, respect, patience, and compassion. God's work is truly amazing! While the five fluffy chicks went home to their new free-range farm, the incubator remains busy! Mrs. Beliveau and her brood are keeping careful watch over the new little chicks who are hatching over the weekend!  Please keep praying for us as we welcome more beautiful chicks into the world! Monday is sure to be exciting! Thank you, God, for blessing us with this experience! We are in truly in awe of your amazing work and beautiful creations!

Good News Travels FAST!

The first few minutes of the morning were absolutely priceless! Genuine awe, amazement and excitement was written all over the faces of each and every student! As boys and girls entered, Mrs. Beliveau sat back, beamed, and captured the energy:

Here is why the students were so amazed:

Throughout the day, the three little ones napped while drying off in the incubators. We prepared a cozy box with wood shavings and a heat bulb, and ensured there was healthy food and water. 

After lunch, we noticed one little black chick was fluffy and ready to experience the world! A brave and very gentle student was chosen to make the move. 

Lifting with two hands, one on top and one under, ...

she carefully lifted the little one up ....

... and into it's new home! Ta da!

Turns out this chick isn't a "chick magnet", but rather a "kid magnet"! Somehow, it ended up hearing a story from an eager and very thoughtful reader:

This makes Mrs. Beliveau's heart smile!

It was a wonderful, memorable day and the students were so welcoming of all of the company that made their way into our classroom. They were very protective of the fragile new life, and were so keen to share their knowledge and answer questions. We definitely learned the meaning of "good news travels fast"!

The Beliveau family went in after supper and transferred the two other chicks, who had fluffed up sufficiently, into the cozy box. By an incredible stroke of luck, we arrived just in time to see our fourth chick hatch! God's work is amazing!

Tomorrow is sure to be special. Many thanks for your prayers as our journey continues!

"Chicken littles" aren't so little anymore!

This past April we had the amazing experience of hatching chicks in our class (check out here, here, here, here and here). Today the children were in absolute disbelief when they saw pictures of them now!

Can you believe our teeny, tiny, fluffy little puff balls have grown into chickens?

Thank you to the family who generously offered their home to our feathered friends. Hatching chicks continues to be an incredible learning experience! 

Isn't God amazing?