Spaghetti Squash Inquiry

 

Mrs. Keiver gave us a spaghetti squash on our Garden Harvest Day. After hearing Bryden’s question, “what part of spaghetti is it- the noodles or the sauce?”, we decided to cut it open and cook it at school. Before cooking it on Monday, we talked about the spaghetti squash:

Anika- I don’t like trying new things

Ella- I don’t want to get the squash all over the floor

Sawyer- it will taste like spaghetti and look like spaghetti

Titus- I already know I don’t like squash, but I might try it

Sage- my grandma has squash in her garden

Tyson- I tried spaghetti squash and it tastes so good, so I love spaghetti squash

M- I think the spaghetti squash might turn into noodles

Matthew- I think the squash is going to turn into a squash

Sophia- I know the spaghetti squash will be noodles

Who predicts it will be noodles: Titus, Jax. Ruby, Sage, Sawyer, Mikelle, Jordyn, Ella, Matthew, Oscar, Zachary, Sophia, Easton

Brooke- I think it will be normal, it will taste like every single one. Maybe it will have orange on it, I love the orange ones because they are so juicy

Ella- I think it will be squash, but it has noodles hiding inside it

What should we put on our squash:

Matthew- put a little bit of salt on it

Oscar- a little pepper

Sophia- a little bit of cheese

Sawyer- salt

M- a little sprinkle of carrot juice

When we cut it in half, many students described it as “yucky”, “slimy”, and “just like a pumpkin”. Each child had the opportunity to pull some of the “guts” out, and many were brave enough to try.

 

We then scooped out the remaining seeds and they voted on toppings. One side was covered in butter, garlic and parsley, while the other side was covered in olive oil, salt and pepper. We baked it at 375 for 45 minutes. We went outside while it was cooking, and when we came back into the school, we could smell it right away. We rescued it from the oven, and brought the two halves into our classroom. Each child had the opportunity to pull the insides apart using a fork. We made a pile from each half, and we added spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese.

 

Most students tried it, even if they hadn’t wanted to in the first place, and most were so surprised that they liked it! M said, “When it was all together, it didn’t look very good, and then when we cut it open, I didn’t want to eat it at all because it looked so yucky, but then when it was cooked, it looked good so I tried it and I loved it. I am going to ask my mom to make it!”. There were many other students who said that they were going to ask their parents to make this for dinner (wahoo!). Oscar loved it so much that he gobbled up all of the leftovers from each pile! We then roasted the squash seeds (mixed with oil, salt and pepper) and again, although some children did not want to try it, they were surprised how much they liked them! A few commented that the seeds tasted like popcorn. During our reflection afterwards, I shared how proud I was of everyone for helping and trying something new, and many of them shared how much they liked trying the squash!

Celebrating Fall!

The Kindergarten students helped to write the beginning of this post during this morning's carpet activity!

We found a bat (Zachary). The bat was hanging upside down and was sleeping (Sawyer). Why is the bat not in his home? (Easton) We found a bat and we didn't know it was there.

We went on a nature walk all around the block (Ziggy). We were looking for different colours on the trees (Matthew). We were looking for trees and leaves and the leaves were falling off (Kyleigh). We saw my tree (Bryden)!

We found a tree that had red, yellow and green (Ruby). We saw a rainbow tree (Oscar). This was our rainbow tree (Sage)!

I liked going on the nature walk! (Easton)

We did lots of different activities in the afternoon (Anika). I liked doing the playdough- we were rolling it up and cutting it (Jordyn). We were scooping the beads with a little spoon and putting it in the buckets (Rylee). I liked picking up the pom poms with a clampers (clothespins) and putting them in the egg cartons (Titus). I liked drawing hills with a pencil and crayons (Sage). We made some mountains to show our mom's and dad's (Zachary).

I am excited that we are going to show all of our mom's and dad's these pictures (Jax)!

Today we get to go harvest in the garden (Matthew). Maybe we'll have to pull that big squash out! (Matthew)

I think the Harvest pictures speak for themselves- the kids had so much fun digging in the garden and finding goodies to share with their families. I was amazed at how many students were sharing their treasures with students that didn't find as many. As if she had not done enough, Mrs. Keiver also made us all delicious zucchini muffins that we gobbled up today! What a fun way to end our first full week of Kindergarten! 

Thank you for attending our Open House!

I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all of the families who came out for our Open House on Wednesday. It was incredible to watch the kids guide their families around the classroom, showcasing all that they have done already this year. I could see that the kids were feeling very confident and proud, and this is largely because of the interest and importance families placed on this evening. I really enjoyed making connections with parents, and sincerely appreciated all of the positive comments about our classroom blog. It is so great to know that this communication tool is serving its purpose- keeping families connected and feeling informed! Thank you for your support in making the beginning of this year so successful, and I really look forward to continuing to build on these connections throughout the year!

Visit to the fire hall!

We had a great time at the fire hall today! We started things off by watching the ladder on the fire truck extend 75 feet! We learned about the clothes fire fighters wear so that they don't catch on fire, and we were even able to take a walk through a fire truck! The fire fighters showed us some of the gear they would be wearing in a fire so that we won't be scared and hide if they ever need to help us out of our homes. We also saw an antique fire truck that is 74 years old! The fire fighters were amazed that we knew how to call for help, and they want us to be practising our address so that we know it by the time they come to our school in two weeks!

 

Thank you to Brianne for volunteering for our first field trip, and thank you to the Marysville fire fighters for letting us visit!