Hi Everyone!! I hope you have all been enjoying watching the chickies these last few days. On the day before the official hatching day, the kids watched eagerly and excitedly as the chicks used their egg tooth to peck at their shell. We had a few early hatchers, but on the 21st day, all of the chicks hatched out of their eggs. Some eggs did not develop, and unfortunately, a few chicks hatched but did not survive. This opened up conversation about death among the children, so Marcia brought a dead chick for the class to touch and observe if they chose to. This experience was followed by a discussion. The class was asked questions like "How do we know this chick is not living?" "How does it look different from the other chicks?" One of the children asked "what does 'die' mean?", to which his friend responded "Die means it's not living". The kids observed that the chick was not moving, it's eyes were closed and that the feathers were still wet, unlike the other chicks.
On Monday, the children will be making a 'playground' for the chicks in our classroom using blocks. This is a really fun experience for both the chicks and the kids. In addition to building a playground, we've been doing various other chick activities. The kids have been doing observational art in front of the chick tank, painting with feathers, and simply observing their every move throughout the day. They love noticing when the chicks notice them... who's watching who!?
We had our field trip to the New Victory Theater on Tuesday. This was the first field trip we've been on where we were required to take our shoes off. So cool! The kids first learned how to use their hands and body to demonstrate the life cycle of a butterfly. They were then lead into a dark and mystical theater where they watched a very interpretive performance of two 'butterflies'. It was incredibly engaging, and many of our kids got to go up on stage to interact with the performers, but mostly the stage itself. Projected images on a white and brightly lit stage floor moved and transformed by the movements of the children. All of the kids had a lot of fun, but they wondered why it was called "The Butterfly Garden" when there weren't any butterflies! This was a show that really required them to use their imaginations.
On Wednesday, we had a songwriter come in to our classroom to work with us and teach us about song writing. She played the music she wrote for our very own song while the kids worked together to come up with lyrics. The class learned about the different parts of a song, including a verse, chorus and a bridge. They also had to come up with a lot of rhyming words to get the song to flow together. It was quite a challenge! They did an awesome job and they all really enjoyed it. The class requests to sing and dance to it throughout the day, and I've been singing the song in my sleep since Wednesday. Thank you to Michael Stack for putting this together!
Thursday was our smoothie day! Thanks to all for bringing in the delicious fruits, yogurts and juice. One at a time, each child made their own, original smoothie recipe as they added their chosen amounts of their chosen ingredients. Once it was all blended up, they enjoyed their homemade healthy treat for snack.
Because the weather could not have been more perfect on Friday, we took a surprise visit to safari park in the morning. The kids spent time hanging out with the hippos, stopping for a fresh fruit snack, and then they requested to take a walk by the reservoir on our way back to school. Many of them noticed the trees and flowers we learned about on our tree walk with Joe Bondy. I thought they were totally exhausted, but they wanted to stay even longer to eat lunch and rest in central park. Because we didn't have our lunches with us on Friday, we will have a planned picnic in the park THIS TUESDAY. Please make sure you pack a completely disposable lunch that does not need to be heated. We will start our day with literacy, snack and story, and leave for safari park around 10:00, followed by our picnic for lunch. We should return to school between 12:00 and 12:30 and finish our day with rest and freeplay.
Also, our last day of school is on Wednesday, June 9th from 8:30-10:30. All parents are invited to join us for our 'moving up' ceremony and celebration. I will keep you informed of the details as soon as everything is arranged and finalized. Let me know if you have any urgent questions.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Amanda
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Chicks are Coming!!
We've been doing lots to prepare for the newest members of our classroom, which should be arriving early this week. The kids have been religiously been counting the days until their expected date of arrival. The class is also aware of the signs that the embryos are indeed developing. We met in McKenzie's classroom with Marcia as she candled the eggs to observe whether or not there is a shadow present. The kids thought about what it means if there is or isn't a shadow. They also thought about what it means if an egg feels heavy or light. Most of our eggs were heavy and had a large shadow... very exciting!!
Staying consistent with our egg hatching theme, the kids played a sensory activity using 4 plastic eggs which were filled with 4 different objects. The class knew what the objects were, but they didn't know which egg they were in. Each egg was passed around for the kids to shake, and they described features of the unknown objects based on the sounds they made. When the objects were revealed, what was inside wasn't exactly what the kids expected because of a few similarities in sound. They were also able to figure out what was in egg number 4 through process of elimination.
Throughout the week during freeplay, there were various activities that were very sensory oriented. The class squished shaving cream with sea shells, noticed the effects of drawing with wet chalk, built on felt using bristle blocks, designed with sand and glue, painted at the easel with textured and unusually shaped brushes, and ink pads to make finger and hand print designs. It was definitely a very interactive and exploratory week.
We've also been doing more preparation for the end of the year and moving to a new classroom and/or a new school. We've been reading books about what we can expect for next year, how some things will be the same and some things will be different. We also talked about how everyone in their new class next year is experiencing the exact same things and feelings as they are and that they're not alone. The kids are feeling excited and nervous at the same time, but they know that moms, dads and teachers will ALWAYS be there for them and with them. We will be having a CPS alumni visiting our classroom to talk about all of the cool things he does in his new classroom, and the kids will have the opportunity to ask questions, too.
Just a reminder: our field trip is this Tuesday. Please make sure you return your photo release form and permission slip (which is more of an explanation of the trip than an actual permission slip) by tomorrow. Let me know if you need more handouts tomorrow.
We'll also have a special visit from the song writer this Wednesday afternoon.
Have a great Sunday evening!
Amanda
Staying consistent with our egg hatching theme, the kids played a sensory activity using 4 plastic eggs which were filled with 4 different objects. The class knew what the objects were, but they didn't know which egg they were in. Each egg was passed around for the kids to shake, and they described features of the unknown objects based on the sounds they made. When the objects were revealed, what was inside wasn't exactly what the kids expected because of a few similarities in sound. They were also able to figure out what was in egg number 4 through process of elimination.
Throughout the week during freeplay, there were various activities that were very sensory oriented. The class squished shaving cream with sea shells, noticed the effects of drawing with wet chalk, built on felt using bristle blocks, designed with sand and glue, painted at the easel with textured and unusually shaped brushes, and ink pads to make finger and hand print designs. It was definitely a very interactive and exploratory week.
We've also been doing more preparation for the end of the year and moving to a new classroom and/or a new school. We've been reading books about what we can expect for next year, how some things will be the same and some things will be different. We also talked about how everyone in their new class next year is experiencing the exact same things and feelings as they are and that they're not alone. The kids are feeling excited and nervous at the same time, but they know that moms, dads and teachers will ALWAYS be there for them and with them. We will be having a CPS alumni visiting our classroom to talk about all of the cool things he does in his new classroom, and the kids will have the opportunity to ask questions, too.
Just a reminder: our field trip is this Tuesday. Please make sure you return your photo release form and permission slip (which is more of an explanation of the trip than an actual permission slip) by tomorrow. Let me know if you need more handouts tomorrow.
We'll also have a special visit from the song writer this Wednesday afternoon.
Have a great Sunday evening!
Amanda
Monday, May 10, 2010
Hi Everyone!
Thank you to those of you who were able to come to the Children's Art Show last Thursday. The class was so excited to have their family and friends see what they had been working so hard on these last several weeks. The process was an incredible learning experience with each project they did.
The piece de resistance, I believe, was the flower canvas paintings. This piece was composed of several steps. We began discussing painting "en plein air", or in the open air, with the introduction of Claude Monet's Water Lilies. Afterwards, we planned a trip to the community garden to study the flowers there by drawing them and finding a flower that was most special to them. Once they found their flower, they took their own photograph of it which they would later represent on their canvas using pencil. When drawing, they observed all forms from the stem to the petals to the rocks on the ground. They counted petals, noticed if there was a lot of grass or a little grass, if there was a stem taller than the rest, or how the leaves look different from each other. There was not a detail overlooked. Finally it was time to add color. They observed what they learned to be shadows, highlights and low lights. They learned how to make a color lighter and darker or how to make a color more green or more orange. The also observed that a single petal or leaf is not necessarily one single color. This entire process took weeks to complete and all of the kids took great pride in what they accomplished.
The Still Life was also a very intricate observational process. The children each chose three items from our still life objects and arranged them any way they'd like under a lamp. The lamp was used to create more intense shadows and highlights. This project had the children become extremely careful observers. They were asked several questions to become very aware of each and every line they were about to draw, and took careful consideration of the relationships between their three objects. "is this taller or shorter than that? Is this touching that? Is this rounder than that? Is this closer to you than that?" An incredible amount of time was put into this project-- It is my hope that the relentless questioning of form has turned the class into keen observers!
On Friday when the kids came in to a classroom that was blank on Thursday, they were in total awe when they saw everything up on the walls... and were especially engaged in the fashion show video as most of the audience was. With the rearranging of some of the shelves to better display their work, this presented an opportunity to do some rearranging of the classroom. The kids liked the changes so we made a few more. Our classroom now seems brighter and more spacious. We also had Barbarah Denham come in on Friday to bake her famous Zucchini Bread with the class during freeplay. The kids worked in small groups to add ingredients, grease the pans and shred the zucchini. After gym, we had a little picnic outside and the kids DEVOURED the bread. Thanks Barbara!
As most of you know, we've been incubating chick eggs for almost 2 weeks, 13 days to be exact. This year all of the eggs are being kept in McKenzie's class (just for the incubation process) because our class's incubator was not able to maintain the temperature needed for the embryos to develop. Even thought it was a little disappointing, the kids used this experience to learn that sometimes with science experiments, things may break or not work the way you think they're going to work. We found a solution to the problem by fitting all of the eggs into one incubator instead. And, even though our eggs are not with us in our classroom, we are still keeping track of the process. The kids put together a paper chain of 21 links that they each decorated, and we also made a chart that consists of 21 squares. Each day we remove one chain link to keep track of how many days are left until the eggs are hatched. We also tape one feather to one box to keep track of how many days the eggs have been in the incubator. The kids noticed that the number of empty boxes is the same number of chain links that are left.
Tomorrow there will be a workshop for the kids given by the actors of the New Victory Theater to prepare for our trip next Tuesday. They will talk to the kids about the show and give them opportunities to act things out themselves. We will be leaving for the trip promptly at 9:30 and will return around 12:00 for lunch at school.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Have a great evening!
Amanda
Thank you to those of you who were able to come to the Children's Art Show last Thursday. The class was so excited to have their family and friends see what they had been working so hard on these last several weeks. The process was an incredible learning experience with each project they did.
The piece de resistance, I believe, was the flower canvas paintings. This piece was composed of several steps. We began discussing painting "en plein air", or in the open air, with the introduction of Claude Monet's Water Lilies. Afterwards, we planned a trip to the community garden to study the flowers there by drawing them and finding a flower that was most special to them. Once they found their flower, they took their own photograph of it which they would later represent on their canvas using pencil. When drawing, they observed all forms from the stem to the petals to the rocks on the ground. They counted petals, noticed if there was a lot of grass or a little grass, if there was a stem taller than the rest, or how the leaves look different from each other. There was not a detail overlooked. Finally it was time to add color. They observed what they learned to be shadows, highlights and low lights. They learned how to make a color lighter and darker or how to make a color more green or more orange. The also observed that a single petal or leaf is not necessarily one single color. This entire process took weeks to complete and all of the kids took great pride in what they accomplished.
The Still Life was also a very intricate observational process. The children each chose three items from our still life objects and arranged them any way they'd like under a lamp. The lamp was used to create more intense shadows and highlights. This project had the children become extremely careful observers. They were asked several questions to become very aware of each and every line they were about to draw, and took careful consideration of the relationships between their three objects. "is this taller or shorter than that? Is this touching that? Is this rounder than that? Is this closer to you than that?" An incredible amount of time was put into this project-- It is my hope that the relentless questioning of form has turned the class into keen observers!
On Friday when the kids came in to a classroom that was blank on Thursday, they were in total awe when they saw everything up on the walls... and were especially engaged in the fashion show video as most of the audience was. With the rearranging of some of the shelves to better display their work, this presented an opportunity to do some rearranging of the classroom. The kids liked the changes so we made a few more. Our classroom now seems brighter and more spacious. We also had Barbarah Denham come in on Friday to bake her famous Zucchini Bread with the class during freeplay. The kids worked in small groups to add ingredients, grease the pans and shred the zucchini. After gym, we had a little picnic outside and the kids DEVOURED the bread. Thanks Barbara!
As most of you know, we've been incubating chick eggs for almost 2 weeks, 13 days to be exact. This year all of the eggs are being kept in McKenzie's class (just for the incubation process) because our class's incubator was not able to maintain the temperature needed for the embryos to develop. Even thought it was a little disappointing, the kids used this experience to learn that sometimes with science experiments, things may break or not work the way you think they're going to work. We found a solution to the problem by fitting all of the eggs into one incubator instead. And, even though our eggs are not with us in our classroom, we are still keeping track of the process. The kids put together a paper chain of 21 links that they each decorated, and we also made a chart that consists of 21 squares. Each day we remove one chain link to keep track of how many days are left until the eggs are hatched. We also tape one feather to one box to keep track of how many days the eggs have been in the incubator. The kids noticed that the number of empty boxes is the same number of chain links that are left.
Tomorrow there will be a workshop for the kids given by the actors of the New Victory Theater to prepare for our trip next Tuesday. They will talk to the kids about the show and give them opportunities to act things out themselves. We will be leaving for the trip promptly at 9:30 and will return around 12:00 for lunch at school.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Have a great evening!
Amanda
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