Written by Class 4/5 teacher, Brooke Corridoni.
To enrich the curriculum many things happen outside of the classroom. Class 4/5 has taken full advantage of the beautiful spring weather by going into the field for botany and animal studies. Our class went on a botany bike ride to explore Marietta’s amazing bike trail while looking out for the signs of spring. We noticed many plants in bloom while riding our bikes and stopped to journal some of these finds. We also saw the wildlife waking up all around us. The Northwest River Trail is an amazing perk of the location of our wonderful school.
Our fourth grade class is in our block of Human Being and Animal Studies. For this deep exploration of different species we took a class trip to the Wolf Sanctuary of PA where we went on a guided tour through the grounds. We learned so much about wolves and the stories of each wolf that calls this sanctuary home. The students were in awe as, not long into our experience, all the wolves started howling in unison all around us. It was such a magical experience walking so close to these creatures.
On Earth day the whole school was lucky to have Raven Ridge Wildlife Rehabilitation Center come and give a presentation. Class 4 had reached out to the organization to further enrich our animal studies block and the wonderful idea to bring it to the whole school for Earth day was offered and sponsored by a sixth grade parent who volunteers at the center. Tracie, the founder of Raven Ridge, brought many animals to the school to show to the students, those included two Box turtles, Black Rat snake, skunk, Opossum, Red-tailed Hawk, and the Black vulture. She told us so much about each animal and their individual stories on why they now live at the center.
We are also growing Oyster Mushrooms in the classroom! We will cook them up and add them to a pizza very soon!