Wednesday News

May 29th, 2013

It was a hot morning as the children came into the classroom and found areas to busy themselves. After the usual routine of sign in and question of the day, children made their way to the art studio where self portraits were being worked on.

Our monthly self portraits have become wonderfully detailed and the children take great pride in their artistic abilities. They eagerly ask, "Can I draw my self portrait now?"

Soon it was time to pause our morning work and meet on the rug where we were introduced to a visitor who the children took under their welcoming wings and included in their work around the classroom! The visitor was even able to accompany us to our special music rehearsal!

Jason had asked the Cardinal class and the Owls to come to his music room to work on our songs we will perform in the Spring Show! With smiling faces, the children sang beautifully, remembering all of the hand motions that accompany our song. Everyone is excited to step on stage and show all Jason has taught us.

Back in our classroom we decided it was time to head outside into the warm air for outdoor play!

The warm weather created ideal conditions for activities like exploring the plant life, splashing in the pond, building in the shady building area, or even listening to a story in the center of the climbing structure!

The group spread out across the entire outside space using all their senses on this beautiful day. 

We returned inside for some cooling down time before lunch and we began several artistic additions to our spring mural. 

We began work on a pond which will soon be going up, and even worked on some insects, discussing the different parts of insects that we hope to recreate while doing so! 

It was a beautiful Wednesday full of busy fun! 

Tomorrow will be Beach Day! Please come to class tomorrow with your child already in his or her bathing suit and sunscreen, as well as with water shoes and extra clothes to change into since there will be a lot of water play!! Water shoes and a change of sneakers or other footwear too for our afternoon! 

Expressing Ourselves on Friday

We have noticed a shift in the way the children explore and experience our art studio. It is most exciting to observe their growth in skill as well as creativity. The shared group experiences that we have had with our resource teachers has supported this growth. They now enter into experiences with the motivation to create, paint, and construct independently. Our year has led us through many studies and as we have begun our exploration of "Spring", the children have exercised their artistic skills in many ways to show what they know and have learned. Today, an invitation of watercolors was set out at one table and dot markers at another. During open choice, the children approached these tables and began their illustrations with clear pictures in their minds! The beautiful display of colors was apparent and the children have showed their growth in the way they are now intentionally altering paint brushes and using specific brushes for each color as to keep the true colors they want to use. An illustration of the different seasons was created, a watercolor painting titled "Flowers" came together and even a self-portrait made with dot markers. It is wonderful to see the children experiment with cause and effect as they try techniques in their art to see what color, stroke, or texture might be created.

The children have also been involved in an ongoing art project with Sam, creating totem poles. We have painted many pieces to build a tall cylinder structure and looked at pictures of totem poles to gather some ideas for what we might want ours to look like. After assembling the pieces to form standing totem poles, we noticed one of our poles did not have enough pieces! Sam provided us with a long cardboard tube to design that would complete the pole. We participated in a collaborative process of painting and mixing as we worked with different shades of blue on the large tube today.

The children enjoyed displaying and sharing their art pieces during our Morning Meeting together. They spoke about their personal creations and group experiences and shared comments such as: "Look, I even have a little blue here" (from painting the totem pole). Our meeting continued with a non-fiction book on frogs, requested by the group, which showed the life cycle of a frog from egg to tadpole to frog. The children made personal connections with this story, sharing their observations of a frog in our water feature and comparing tadpoles in tanks that they have seen. We enjoyed a picnic snack in the classroom and then shared in reading, building, and dramatic play in our large downstairs space. 

Our morning ended with a concert practice in the music room for the Spring Performance! We sang a few familiar favorites and used the smart board to guide us through a new Spanish lullaby. The children performed beautifully and are appreciating the role of performer as a part of the Cardinal ensemble. Families, enjoy the long weekend and please see the announcement below regarding our special celebration on Tuesday afternoon when we return to school.

Right after the Memorial Day weekend, on Tuesday, May 28 from 5-6:30 p.m., we are having an EC  Pot-luck Dinner on our nature playground. We know that it is a busy time of the year and this day on our very busy school calendar was the only one available.  We hope that your family will join us.

We do need to try to get an idea of a head count and what families will bring to the pot-luck.  If you have not already done so, please sign-up in your child's classroom (or outside of the door.)  If you do not see this e-mail in time to  sign-up, please e-mail Debbie at dgreen@abingtonfriends.net  with how may people will be coming (adults and children) and what you are able to bring.

Also, as seating is limited, please feel free to bring a blanket or folding chairs.

Tuesday News

Tuesday May 21, 2013

The children began their morning with open choice time. There were builders in the block area, artists in the studio, and  children sharing their family books on the front rug. Soon, an exciting visitor came to  our  classroom! 

Wyatt's uncle T.C., an artist, came into school with him today to share with the children some of his knowledge of art, and to share what his art is composed of and how he came to be an artist. He told the children how at a young age he thought he would grow up to become a writer, but was then introduced to the visual arts in school. A lot of his art still reflects his personal story and his paintings and drawings  he showed us all involve written words and letters. He loves to create art with letters and is often inspired by print in newspapers, signs and words that capture his feelings.  Many of his pieces of art have a message that he feels is important to share.

The Cardinals were excited to hear about the different elements in his artwork, and loved seeing his work on a big projector screen. He  brought with him a short animated film about the weather which he made through a collage technique where he cut out tiny pictures of the weather from the newspaper and  glued each picture onto a special paper which he eventually turned into a film.  This film  will be featured in an upcoming art show in Philadelphia on the Parkway on July 12th.!

Returning to our classroom, the children enjoyed playing in our classroom. 

The flower shop was reopened!

Play in the Flower Shop and making bouquets led to conversation about weddings !At one point, the entire class engaged in a wedding themed dance party combining the dress up clothes from the dramatic play area, bouquets from our flower shop, and a dance party to classical music! The Cardinals  loved waltzing with partners around the room!

Beautiful weather outside... 

Thursday Happenings

May 16th, 2013

While it drizzled outside, the children were creating an exciting spring scene in our classroom. We started our morning in library with Gwen reading a funny story about prairie dogs which had the children glued to the action packed story.

Returning to the classroom, everyone was excited about the progress we have made on our beautiful spring mural. Yesterday and early this morning we set up the sky, the grass, a beautiful tree, and even soil under the grass. Noticing our attention to all the important aspects of the natural world we had set up, Stella's mom Kristina, a science teacher here in the AFS Upper School, asked if she could come talk to the children about soil. After library, Kristina came into our class and talked to us about soil and all the ways that soil is necessary for all growing things. She not only talked with us about how you might need soil for gardening, but also all the interesting organisms that live in soil! She asked us to think about how important all the living things in the soil are, and how important it is to take care of the soil. She left us materials to look at that show us magnified pictures of these tiny organisms, and we look forward to exploring them and researching them further! She even shared an interesting idea for the soil on our mural which we will be beginning soon, so we will incorporate all of this as we add to our beautiful display. After our visit with Kristina, the children became busy in the studio creating flowers and assisting in adding their depictions of spring to the collaborative mural in progress.

The fondness of flowers blossomed fully as the children became engaged in our new flower shop in the dramatic play area. Equipped with bases and flower pieces, the children created bouquets. Other children found their roles in this area as well, using clipboards and pencils to take orders from their teachers and friends or over the phone. A great display of cooperation and appreciation for each other was felt as the children interacted in this transformed space.

We enjoyed our outdoor time, soaking up the sun and bonding with one another as the freedom to move and explore created limitless games with the children running, climbing, digging or gathering and socializing.