This week we have tried to incorporate more quotes from your children. They come up with the most amazing observations! If only we had more hands to be able to capture them all. As you read through this, imagine hundreds of similar comments!
Our color investigations this week integrated science, language and social studies. Your children hypothesized, experimented, discovered and discussed their findings all the while working together to explore their world. We did several investigations mixing blue and yellow using different media. Color Walk was fun! We had jars of blue and of yellow paint. We put one end of a paper towel in one color, and the other end in the other color and watched the colors walk toward one another and make a new color. “It looks blue/green,” Nicolette observed.
Another day we wondered what would happen if we mixed blue and yellow sand? And on another we mixed blue and yellow clay. On reflection Isabelle remembered, “We mixed the colors.” “Look! My ball is turning green!” exclaimed Sophie. “Mine turned green a little bit because I was mixing it,” reflected Isabelle. Sonya reflected, “I liked the colors.” We read Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Leoni, too, to reinforce the concept and to integrate our studies with reading, language and listening. Throughout the week we heard connections such as when Abigail exclaimed, “I made purple!” and Sophie extended her exploration saying, “I have movement in my painting!”
Our other major focus for center time this week was in the writing area. We continued with the Handwriting Without Tears exploration of letter formation (big and little lines and big and little curves). The children were able to create letters using several media. In addition to pencil and paper we did a “wet/dry try” activity where the teacher draws a letter on the chalk board and the child gets to use a small white sponge to trace the letter. Children can then use the chalk to retrace the letter. Another activity the children enjoyed is to feel a letter written on their backs. While children are exploring pencil and paper they can also make designs with the straight lines and curves. This helps them to practice their writing. Again this week children worked on books in the writing center. If they wished a teacher would write words for them or write words for them to copy. Learning letters and writing this week elicited comments such as: Neha said, “I’m learning the letter “B” today.” “I liked the sponges
In circle we continued number exploration and counting. All week we worked on patterns and number sense. In addition to counting and bundling days in school and figuring out their color pattern we tried matching dominoes and playing SET. SET is a shapes/features matching game.
As we went about our daily routines, we were able to capture these quotes:
“These flowers are for my mommy.” Abigail (science center)
“I’m going to build a butterfly.” Noelle (block area)
“I really liked my job.” Sonya (weather helper)
“I really liked playing with Zora and Matilda.” Isabelle
“We are making a huge tree house.” Sophie and Nicolette
We were happy to welcome Nicolette’s mom Tereza this week. She read a story and brought in delicious soup, risotto, and fruit for lunch bunch. Thank you!
“I really enjoyed lunch with Mommy.” Nicolette
“I loved having lunch bunch!” Angeliz
Of course, we had Halloween, too. Your children were very excited to wear their costumes and parade upstairs through the administration offices and then over to the middle school.
“My favorite thing was doing costumes.” Isabelle
“My favorite thing was meeting Mama.” Aidan
“My favorite thing was playing with Sophie.” Nicolette
“My favorite thing was my ladybug costume!” Abigail
“My favorite thing was seeing the witch [Aidan’s mom]” Sonya
Some of the children and parents have asked if we can go outside for further exploration. We would love to! Please remember to send in weather-appropriate clothing. Please also try to be on time to school, as the morning is an excellent time in our schedule for this. Thank you!
For those of you viewing this blog on your iphone or ipad, you can view the pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bcdtech/sets/72157647254977052/