Duckling Joy

Over the past few days, we’ve had the joy of caring for five sweet little ducklings. What a gift it has been. Each day has held quiet moments of wonder, bursts of unbridled joy, and everything in between.

We're enjoying watching our ducklings grow so quickly. These babies have taught us about the beauty of new life and the goodness in God's creation. We've experienced patience, gentleness, and how something small can bring such deep joy.

The children were surprised to learn that the ducklings are born knowing how to swim - no swim lessons needed!  God's design is so incredible. 

The ducklings are off to the Beliveau Family Resort for the weekend and will return for a few more days next week. This experience has been rich in Science learning, but even more meaningful in growing our faith. We’ve noticed God in unexpected places. The ducklings have shown us just how awe-inspiring God's creation truly is. 

Hatching and Harvesting

Hatching

Our duck eggs are halfway through their growth! Our friendly farmer, Mrs. Junck, visits once a week to guide our learning. 

Mrs. Junck is always full of surprises and brought two grown ducks from her farm. We compared the drake (male) to the hen (female), noticing that the female is brown and camouflages well. This is because she has to sit on the eggs for 28 days and stay hidden from predators. 

We candled a few eggs from our incubator. Candling shows us if the egg is developing into a duckling. We made our classroom very dark. Using a bright light, we were able to see if something was growing inside by noticing the air sack, dark shadows, and even movement. Bright, lit up egg? No duck (bottom right). Dark, shadowy egg? Duck! (top right)

Ducks take 28 days to grow and we candled on day 14. Our growth is right on track. Isn't God's plan incredible?

Harvesting

The seeds we planted in our grow towers have thrived! Today we sampled the fruits (or veggies?) of our labour! Each student was treated to a fresh salad. What a wonderful experience!

Our class is bursting with new life, signs of spring, and lots of joy!

Happy Hatching

Spring fever has hit Grade 1 and ducklings are on the horizon! Our hatching journey has begun!

This morning we reflected on what we already know about ducklings. Here are a few of the students' comments:

"They come from an egg."

"They like to swim."

"Ducks have webbed feet."

"They can fly."

"They grow into a duck."

We also generated a list of what we wanted to find out about ducklings:

Our local farmer, Mrs. Junck, brought us 13 duck eggs and an incubator from her farm. She will be visiting us weekly to teach us about new life, rural communities, needs of living things, and so much more!

Our eggs don't come with a mama duck, so the incubator will act in her place. It will keep the eggs warm and moist, and will turn them twice a day. Our job is to carefully monitor the incubator's temperature and humidity.

Near the end of April and into May, we will be welcoming our ducklings! We are about to experience God's new life, right before our very eyes!

Duckling Joy!

Over the past few days, we've been blessed with the presence of seven adorable ducklings. Caring for them has been a delightful experience, filled with moments of wonder and gratitude.

Witnessing their rapid growth and observing their curious nature has been a testament to the beauty of new life. These little ducklings have taught us invaluable lessons in patience, compassion, and God's awe-inspiring work of creation!

We are thankful for this joyful experience and the cherished memories it has brought into our lives. Indeed, God's creations are truly marvellous.

Farewell, ducklings! 

Reading, Creating, Discovering and Hatching!

We've begun exploring the parts of a story and together we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle:

After enjoying the book, we closely examined Mr. Carle's illustrations. He has a unique method for making designed paper and then cutting it into the pieces for his pictures. 

We followed Mr. Carle's paper-making technique. First, we painted our paper. We added drips, drops, stripes and spots in every colour!

No shortage of creativity in our class!

Once our paint dried, we cut shapes to make butterflies!

Our week ended with tremendous joy and wonder as new life filled our incubator! We were thrilled to welcome several ducklings into the world. Once they’re fully dry, they’ll move into a cozy little “barn” right in our classroom. What a beautiful reminder of God’s goodness!

EGG-citement in Grade 1!

Our week was filled with EGG-cellent learning!

Today Mrs. Junck visited us. We compared the eggs and feathers of a turkey and a duck, learned how an egg forms inside a mama, and examined the development of ducklings inside the egg. 

Today marks day 14 in our incubation journey. We are halfway through incubating our duck eggs, and in two weeks our ducklings should be hatching. We were able to candle a few eggs and saw the growth of the ducklings inside. We could even see movement!

Eggs are a symbol of new life, which is why eggs are a symbol at Easter. We spent the afternoon making Pysanky, traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs. This took lots of patience and creativity, and we did have lots of fun! We kept reminding each other that "everything new is hard at first". 

So much EGG-citement this past week! Have a blessed Easter!

Hatching & Harvesting

Hatching

Our duck eggs are a quarter of the way in their growth! Mrs. Junck visits once a week to guide our learning.

Mrs. Junck is always full of surprises and she brought two grown ducks from her farm. We compared the drake (male) and the hen (female), noticing that the female is brown and camouflages well. This is because she has to sit on the eggs for 28 days and stay safe from predators. 

We candled a few eggs in our incubator. Candling shows us if the egg is developing into a duck. We made our classroom very dark. Using a bright light, we were able to see if there was a developing duck inside the egg or not. Bright, lit up egg? No duck (bottom R). Dark, shadowy egg? Duck (top R)! 

Harvesting

The seeds we planted in our tower gardens a few months ago have thrived! Today we sampled the fruits (or veggies?) of our labour and had a little salad! What a wonderful treat!

Our classroom is bursting with new life, signs of spring, and lots of joy!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has sprung in Grade 1, and ducklings and seedlings are on the horizon!

Hatching Ducklings

Our duck hatching journey has begun! Our local farmer, Mrs. Junck, brought us duck eggs from her farm and is visiting us weekly to teach us about new life. Each day we carefully monitor the incubator's temperature and humidity. Near the end of April and into May, we will be welcoming our ducklings!

We are so excited for Day 28, also known as Hatch Day, to arrive! Until then, we will continue to pray for our little eggs and marvel at the new life growing inside. God is so good!

Planting problem

We arrived today, ready to plant seeds, but we had a problem … our seeds were missing!

We each received our own case files, with a list of suspects inside. We were challenged to work through several tasks. 

These tasks were a wonderful review of many skills, including comparing numbers, vowel sounds, shapes, blends, and more!

As we completed each task, we received a clue, eliminating a suspect. 

We found the culprit! The case of the criminal critter was solved and we found our seeds! We look forward to planting next week … stay tuned!

Our Egg-Citing Adventure!

Let the adventure begin!

This week we carefully placed 22 beautiful eggs into a warm, humid incubator. We can't keep a hen in our room, so the incubator acts as a mama hen, turning the eggs while keeping them warm and moist. Each day we monitor and record the temperature and humidity.

These eggs didn't come from the grocery store, they came from Mrs. Junck's family farm! Mrs. Junck is guiding our learning and hatching. Each Tuesday in April, we look forward to her visit!

We noticed that the eggs in our incubator are many beautiful colours. They don't all look the same. We cracked open a brown egg and a white egg from Mrs. Beliveau's fridge, and noticed they looked the same inside. Then we had a really powerful discussion about how WE all look different on the outside, but on the inside, we all have a heart, want to be loved, and are God's creations.

We are only a few days in and have already learned so much! Who knew a 22 eggs could be so exciting? This is sure to be a wonderful journey as we experience new life first hand!

Our EGG-citing Week!

Our week was filled with EGG-cellent learning!

This week we began our hatching journey! To prepare, we listed what we already KNOW about chicks...

... and what we want to LEARN.

This week we carefully placed 22 beautiful eggs into a warm, humid incubator. We can't bring hens into the school, so the incubator acts as a mama hen, turning the eggs while keeping them warm and moist. Each day we monitor and record the temperature and humidity.

These eggs didn't come from the grocery store, they came from Mrs. Junck's family farm! Mrs. Junck is guiding our learning and hatching. Each week we are looking forward to a lesson from her. This week we learned about the air cell inside the egg. We were able to see it when we shone a bright light on an egg.

We noticed that the eggs in our incubator were many beautiful colours. They didn't all look the same. We cracked open a brown egg and a white egg, and noticed they looked the same inside, even though the outsides were different. Then we had a really powerful discussion about how WE all look different on the outside, but on the inside, we all have a heart and want to be loved.

Eggs are a symbol of new life, which is why eggs are a symbol at Easter! We spent an afternoon making Pysanky, traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs. This took lots of patience and creativity, and we did have lots of fun! We kept reminding eachother that "everything new is hard at first". 

So much EGG-citement this past week! Have a blessed Easter!

Spring has Sprung in Grade One!

With the Resurrection of Jesus and the arrival of Spring, we have been exploring new life in our class!

Planting

We welcomed in our Linking Generations grandparent, Grandma Theresa, to help us become gardeners! She read us "Tops and Bottoms", a clever little gardening story featuring a bear and a hare. 

Then we rolled up our sleeves and got dirty! Grandma Theresa helped us plant our very own bean seeds. We are hoping we have green thumbs!

Hatching

Genuine awe, amazement and excitement was written all over the faces of each and every student as we peeked in the incubator ... chicks! 

The chicks remain in the incubator until their feathers dry and they become fluffy, and then they are transferred to a box with dry shavings, food and water, all beneath a heat bulb. 

It has been amazing week of learning! More "chick fun" awaits next week!

EGG-citement in Grade 1!

We are nearing the end of our hatching journey! Next Thursday is day 21, when chicks should start hatching!

We've been busily preparing for our chicks arrival! To help guide our learning, we thought about what we already knew about chicks:

Then, we wondered together about what we wanted to find out:

We candled a few of the eggs in our incubator. Candling shows us if the egg is developing into a chick. We made our classroom very dark, and then, using a bright light, we were able to see if there was a developing chick inside the egg or not. Bright, lit up egg? No chick (left). Darker, shadowy egg? Chick (right)! 

In another week, when the eggs have been incubated for 21 days, the little ones growing inside the eggs will hatch. We can hardly wait!

We are learning about the miracle of life and have been exploring the life cycles. Ask your child to explain the life cycle of a chicken!

Lifecycle Craft-ivity adapted from I {heart} crafty things