Wednesday

Oh my, someone forgot to post for a few days. Let's see, to recap:
Wednesday was co-op day. SweetPea's class is using the book Prop Box Play, as a base for their class. Our organizer then goes WAY beyond the scope of the book for the learning centers they do. This week their theme was "A Detective Agency". The centers they did were:
1. Fingerprint Lab- They explore and record their own fingerprints and learn to identify traditional fingerprint patterns.

2.Scent Lab. While practicing the wafting method to safely smell a substance, they match scents and identify those that are familiar.

3.Footprint/Lip Print Lab. They take shoe rubbings and lipstick lip prints, measure each, describe the patterns, and compare them.

4.Chromatography Lab. Using a small piece of the writing from the original note, the students compare it to samples of other types of black inks. They discover through the chromatography lab that each type of ink has a different color pattern when water is allowed to slowly separate the ink into its different components.

5.Handwriting Analysis Lab. The students will match up handwriting samples.

6.Fibers Lab. They discover that microscopes and hand magnifiers become useful tools when observing, drawing, and describing different treads and yarns

After they did all their centers it was time to put their newly acquired knowledge into action. They had to solve the case of The Mysterious Cookie Baker. When they cae down from the classroom, they discovered a bowl of homemade cookies, and a note. The note was printed (manuscript syle), and was signed only by a kiss. The note asked them to try to discover who baked the cookies. Upon closer inspection of the scene, they found the bowl to be covered in fingerprints. Oh, and there was a light blue fiber next to the note. On the floor they found a floured shoe print. The children were paired up so that they had one child that could write paired with one that couldn't (for the most part). They had fun interrogating and fingerprinting the moms and sisters that were in the sitting room. They enjoyed doing the shoe rubbings too. (I think that was what actually gave it away) After recording their findings, they went back to the classroom to compile their data and solve the case. And of course to eat the evidence. They solved the case, found yours truly to be the guilty one. (Of course they all thought I should go to jail- for making cookies?)
SweetPea had sooo much fun at this one!