Tuesday

January 22, 2013

The were bundled as they entered the classroom this cold, cold Tuesday morning and were delighted to see each other after a long weekend away from our classroom activities.  We began our morning with Open Choices that included journal writing, Magna Tiles, books and blocks.  We asked the children to think about what they did on the weekend and in particular how they may have spent  MLK day and then asked them to draw a picture in their journals reflecting these thoughts. Story dictation follows the drawing experience and our children have become more verbal and descriptive in their story dictations.

During our longer Choice Time today the children were involved in work/play in the following areas in the classroom: sculpting with playdough in the Art Studio,  creating sculptures with paper tubes, copy paper, cardboard and tape in the Studio, building with Magna Tiles, Dramatic Play and blocks.  The children suggested that we have a buffet snack (as we had prior to winter break!) and we spontaneously changed our snack plan for the day and set up a lovely buffet of fruits, crackers, pita and hummus for the children to enjoy during our Choice Time activities. The social component of our snacks and meals together has evolved into a very special time where we all feel a strong sense of community and connections. It was especially heartwarming today as the children initiated this more intimate gathering around food.  We are now thinking of ways to continue to support this joyful shared time together.  We are actually thinking about planning a special breakfast  together where we will  make waffles and have favorite breakfast foods at our buffet. We will involve the children in all of the steps in planning a special event such as this!

Also, during Open Choice, a few children chose to explore our middle common area and immediately began construction with interlocking ramps and blocks. They created a maze of connecting tubes that allowed for a rousing game of bowling. Their cooperation and teamwork allowed them to navigate problem solving as they encounter obstacles with ramps not lining up or a ball stuck in the middle of the course!

To continue our exploration of sculptures, the teachers are helping the children become more aware of shapes that may be seen in different creations. Today, the teachers invited the children to play a game of Shape Bingo helping the Cardinals to independently identify shapes and colors as they filled up their Bingo game board. Activities such as this intentionally create connections with the Sculpture work that has become such as huge interest in our classroom.

In Music class today we had a new friend, Olivia, subbing in for Jason. She took us through the songs we sing every music class and then introduced us to an exciting instrument. She held up this towering string instrument and asked us if anyone knew what this massive music maker is called. After a few guesses she revealed the large instrument was a double bass! It's hollow, wood, body helped to make the large, low sounds from plucking the strings. The Cardinals even had a chance to try out their plucking technique themselves one at a time! Olivia then revealed to us that there is another way this instrument can be played, with a bow. She showed us this long stick looking tool that can be used to slide across the strings to make a strong, continuous sound. Jayden mentioned that the bowing motion, "looks like you're trying to saw something." After exploring all the fun sounds a standing bass can make, the Cardinals listened to a fun reading of The Jazz Fly about a fly who played jazz drums in a funky band. In the story, there was highlighted one of the fly's band mates playing the double bass! We all loved seeing this new musical instrument!

We used our lower level activity area for active play and are reminded how fortunate we are to have so many varied spaces for our children to play in at AFS.  The  Extended Day space supports our  children's needs for more active, large motor play when it is just too cold to go outdoors.

To end our morning together, we examined a new surprise material provided by Kristina, Stella's mom, for our sculpture making. These small foam peanuts support us in building 3-D creations as we decide how to assemble the pieces together. With just a small dip in water, the peanuts magically stick together! The Cardinals enjoyed experimenting with this process and immediately began identifying what the foam peanut representation looked like to them with ideas such as a, "Mouse closet", "chair", "car" and "bed".



Enjoy your chilly afternoon as we did on our Tuesday morning together!