New Experiences Everyday...

First Spanish Class

Today was our first day of Spanish with Alicia. She came to our class and talked to us about learning to speak Spanish by transporting ourselves, using our imagination, to a place where only Spanish is spoken.  Alicia told us a little about where she learned to speak Spanish and we learned that Alicia was born in Cuba and that everyone in Cuba spoke Spanish when she was a little girl.  She and her family moved to the United States and that is when she learned a new language, English.  Alicia put on a beautiful vest that helped us relate more to the Spanish culture.  Alicia explained that when she visits us each rotation for Spanish we will ‘travel’ to countries that speak primarily Spanish. We all stood up, spread our wings and flew around the classroom and landed again on the rug and settled in to trying to speak in our new land. Everyone did a great job taking a turn introducing them using newly learned Spanish words.  At the end of our time, Alicia introduced us to her Spanish-speaking cow friend who helped teach us a new phrase “Thank you” in Spanish.

Tye Dying Tee- Shirts
We started the first phase of making our Fall Festival tee-shirts today.  The children are so excited to create tye-dye tee shirts that reflect our class community.  We read the book Feathers for Lunch , by Lois Ehlert which is a delightful story that is beautifully illustrated that draws the reader to look closely at birds, trees and flowers.  We saw a picture of a Cardinal and this was a perfect introduction for our Cardinal tee shirt project.

The children assisted Subha in the dying process. They watched closely as the material of the shirts absorbed the pigment from the dye.   As the children dipped the tee shirt, we discovered that it was necessary to soak the shirt in the dye for an extended period.  This was an ideal time for the children to practice counting to 10 as they submerged their shirts. This activity helps children become aware of squencing and the importatnce of order in certain types of procedures.  While playing in the playground, the children were confident in describing the steps they took to create their tye dye shirts thus far;  " First we got the gloves. Second we dip it! Third -let it dry."  We hung our shirts on our clothesline to dry and the designs are beautiful!  Thank you to Subha for helping us navigate this tye dying process and to Lauren Campuzano for placing all the rubber bands on the shirts to create the design.

Out door play was glorious today!  We hope the photos capture the joy of the day!