Rainy Tuesday Fun

Cardinal Happenings on Tuesday, March 12 

The Cardinals thoroughly enjoyed joining the Lower School students for morning assembly in the Mueller Auditorium today. Our children were so proud to be part of the larger community as they took their seats on the cushy chairs and settled in to watch the performance of the Kindergarten play.  Many of our children have friends in our Kindergarten classes and seeing their older school friends working together on the stage to tell a 'story' was quite exciting. The children noticed how the stage had been transformed through design and props created by the Kindergarten class.  Fourth grade friends participated in the assembly as well and we all loved listening to a duet written by Bach and performed by students on the piano and flute! This was a wonderful opportunity to connect with our larger community and to continue to build the important relationships within our school. We saw lots of our friends who have come to be 'readers' from 2nd grade and of course our children with siblings were thrilled to give a hug and see one another!

When we returned to our classroom, we reflected on the assembly and this led to a wonderful discussion about how the stage had changed since our last visit with April when we looked at the set of Once Upon A Mattress.  We engaged in a really interesting discussion about sets and how they can help to tell a story. We set up hypothetical situations and tried to think of what we would want to put on a stage to help tell a particular story. For example, if we wanted to tell a story about someone who loved to bake we would not have our set in a music studio (as today's play had) but that we would perhaps use tables, cooking utensils, ovens etc. to create the feeling of a bakery shop. The children were very interested in the whole notion of performances and a few children asked if we could put on a play too!  Time will tell...

In the classroom we had several choices open for our extended Choice Time today. Exploring shapes
has really taken off with our children. The children are involved in several learning centers that support this interest and goal. We continued to look at photographs of shapes in the Tana Hoban book Circles, Triangles and Squares and the children have become more observant of shapes all around us at all time. The children have been inspired to interpret the shapes they have seen in the photographs and are using collage materials to express their interpretations. They have used twigs, Popsicle sticks, small pebbles and toothpicks to design and create their shape art. The children gain so much from open ended math and art experiences and this activity facilitates that growth beautifully.

The flow and movement of our room continued smoothly with a shared story on the rug leading us to lunch. We read Cornelius by Leo Lionni, a fable that illustrates how we can learn from one another. This led to the Cardinals making personal connections in sharing things that they have learned from their friends at school or their siblings and friends at home. Smiles appeared on the faces of the children as they heard their names in scenarios shared during this time.

OTHER PHOTOS FROM THE DAY

Valentine's Day Fun

February 14, 2013

                                 Library With Gwen
Andy Goldsworthy worked with water as a glue to create leaf colored sticks and branches. "Oohs" and "Aahs" were heard as his work came to life. The artist, Andy Goldsworthy, spoke about his work as the screen showed him working with his hands and the the natural pieces around him. He pointed out things he noticed about leaves and why he chooses certain pieces to work with based on quality, texture, color and how this increased his awareness of the details in the world around him. He explained how this process of working, touching and using natural pieces helps him to learn more about the items he is working with such as leaves, branches, trees. This all helps him to deepen his connection to nature and the children watched closely as the slideshow continued to show the artist going through this investigative process.

Valentine Day Celebrations!

Our Valentine's Day breakfast was such fun! The children loved the beautiful assortment of delicious foods on our buffet table.  The  children gathered in comfy spots around the room to enjoy theri Valentines Day breakfast.  Thank you for your continued supoort and genrosity.  The colaborate spirit of our program facilitates the the developent of a strong sense of community. Making Valentines was so much fun !

Fun Filled Friday

Friday, February 15

Our Friday Morning began quietly as the children slowly arrived ready to begin their day. Many explored in the sandbox, using some of our recycled sculpture materials as containers to fill and dump, creating hands-on experiences with volume, measurement and other beginning math concepts.

 The block area welcomed the return of Carlos, Xander, Samuel and Jayden, with other Cardinals visiting throughout the day, as they added to a structure started yesterday. 

Another invitation for the children was watercolors. This art experience allows the children  the opportunity to display their creativity as they use their fine motor skills in delicately moving the smaller paintbrush across the paper. Attention to detail and patience were both displayed at this center as the children practiced drawing faces, making oceans, and created other scenes as gifts to their friends. The bonds between the children are growing every day as they find little ways to express kindness such as this.

The Science center also proved to be a popular stop this morning. It began when Stella asked, "Would anyone like to do science with me?". A group of Cardinals came over and watched closely as Stella demonstrated investigation skills by using a magnifying glass to observe a rock. The Cardinals at this center began reciting science terms such as rock, mineral and diamond. They continue to expand their knowledge of properties of matter as they compare and contrast the different objects in this area depending on color, texture, size, weight and other physical attributes. 

Meanwhile, another group of children worked alongside friends in the block area, constructing a connected track layout. They aligned the tracks to form a path and began discussing how long or short the pieces were. In the construction process, the children demonstrated emerging math skills such as measuring, comparing and contrasting length, and sorting the types of tracks.

As we settled into our morning together, we gathered for our meeting on the rug. We began with our moment of silence and welcomed each friend to school with our Good Morning Song.  After our intriguing conversation about shapes yesterday, the children were introduced to a new way to explore shapes. We began by reviewing the number of sides that each shape has and looked at pictures of the shapes in the Shape Book. Then, marshmallows and toothpicks were displayed as tools to assemble the different shapes we see all around us. We discussed how the toothpicks were the straight sides and the marshmallows would help us in the connecting of the sides! The children eagerly identified how many of each material they would need depending on the shape they wanted to create. This "Marshmallow Math" center was a place that all the children wanted to visit. After some exploration with creating shapes at the center, some children continued to work on more elaborate 3-D structures with the materials. As they worked, the children were excited to point out the shapes they could see in their creations. Of course, we were also excited to eat a few of the marshmallows as well! Invite your child to identify what shape he/she created, what it looks like, how many sides it has and what other things in the world around us are that shape.

We continued our discovering as we spent the rest of our day in our outdoor space. The beautiful weather set the stage for the children to freely explore in their areas of interest. Looking in, you can see the dance parties, sand digging, building, and imaginative play all happening in small groups spread out throughout the area.

Enjoy the three day weekend, as we have off for President's Day on Monday. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday!