Snapshots!
Saying Good-Bye!
This week we sadly said good-bye to one of our good friends who
is moving to Tennessee. We
sent him off with lots of hugs and kisses, a few class-made gifts and best
wishes for him in his new school.
We look forward to sending and receiving lots of letters from him this
year!
Morning Meeting
This week, children focused on their sense of touch as they
tried to identify objects in the “Feely Box” without looking at them. Is the object bumpy, smooth, pointy or
soft? We began by hiding fall
fruits, seeds and objects from nature but by the end of the week, children took
turns selecting new, small treasures to hide for their friends.
In morning meeting, the children have
been making predictions about sounds they might hear on a class listening walk,
playing listening games and listening to stories about sounds. Later on, our walk
students sat on red brick path to collect data about the sounds they hear
around them.
Handy Learning
Clothespins are a great tool to strengthen the intrinsic
muscles of the hand. Here children are not only developing their muscles, they
are also matching letters, working on letter recognition and sequencing.
Pouring, scooping and transferring birdseed and water from one container to another strengthens
the arches of the hand. It also encourages experimentation with measurement concepts of size and quantity.
The small pegs of the Lite Brite and
pegs and styrofoam encourage children to use a proper grip which is so
important when holding a pencil.
·
Children need lots of practice cutting. Stiff paper such as note cards is
easier for little hands to cut.
Math
The concepts of same and different
have been explored in many ways this week. Below children are taking turns making a design using
Cuisinaire blocks while others try to make the same thing. The leader checks everyone’s work to
see if the designs are identical.
Some of the designs were quite complex!
Friends sorted objects from nature by like characteristics considering shape, size and
texture.
After
looking at different types of maps, students drew their own maps and added an X
to mark the spot of the hidden treasure. Later they used black sticks to create
pathways through the drawings to lead others to the hidden treasure. Students
practiced directional words to help give others clues as to how to navigate
through the drawing.
Here children are creating a treasure map of the
classroom. First they made
observations about the placement of furniture, rugs and doors and then used
blocks and plastic bowls to represent the various parts of the room on the map. Once the map was drawn with markers,
they searched for hidden “treasures” using the X on the map as their guide. Many math concepts such as directionality, near and far, and
symbolic representation were explored in this activity.
Here the students are making more
observations about our two special trees on red brick path, the climbing maple
and big pine.
