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.

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. 

A Day with a Doctor

Today, the Cardinals welcomed Xander's Dad, Frank, a cardiac surgeon, into our classroom to learn about what he does and what he has to share about a very integral part of our bodies, the heart! As we sat down with Frank, the Cardinals were smiling with delight, listening to him explain his daily routine at the hospital and hearing Xander add in what he has learned about veins, blood and the parts of the heart. Family experiences and visits such as this provide a wonderful opportunity for the children to develop meaningful connections to the factual information gained about the world around them and our individual community roles as we live our everyday lives. Today, the children took in information about the heart through a reading of a short factual book that identified parts of the heart, how it works, and what can help it stay healthy. These facts gained true meaning after the children heard Frank share about ways he fixes the heart, adding in that when someone is sick and their heart is not quite working, he performs an operation to mend or fix the broken parts (veins and arteries). We also learned about the routes of blood flow as it travels through our bodies. 

The children truly were inspired and became more aware of what a heart surgeon may do and what materials and tools he/she uses after Frank invited us to wear doctor's masks and hats, and try out stethoscopes. The children listened intently and were able to understand how the masks and hats provided a shield for germs. Through the hands-on experience with the stethoscope, the children practiced listening to heartbeats and discovered where the heart is located in the chest, in placing the stethoscope carefully, to hear the pattern of the beating. Frank explained that the heart of a sick patient may sound different than that of a healthy patient.

 At the end of his visit, the Cardinals played a game with Frank, categorizing foods that would be healthy for the heart and foods that we might limit to be sure our bodies and hearts stay healthy. The children came up with many ideas for healthy foods including raspberries, bananas, blackberries, tomatoes, salad, and chicken! Frank shared ice cream and french fries as ideas and the Cardinals immediately said, "No!". In closing, Frank invited the Cardinals to enjoy a small heart cookie as a treat, along with some fruit, including bananas and oranges! The Cardinals imaginations were driven by these visit as many participated in doctor/patient role play during choice time.

After our busy morning full of imagination, dramatic play, and real-life connections all culminating into a bigger understanding of the complex world around us, the Cardinals were intrigued by the idea of creating a spring mural that was introduced yesterday. The Cardinals began by cutting grass and painting blue shades on big paper to add the sky and ground pieces assembling a larger piece! Next, we wanted to add in a tree and began rolling long brown paper to create a textured 3-D trunk for the base. The same brown paper provided the perfect material for the soil of our mural, as the children crinkled the pieces to add a sense of the different essential pieces to the background of our scene. After reading Under Ground by Denise Fleming, the Cardinals were inspired to begin brainstorming ideas of what to add next, including: bugs, worms, flowers, moles, people, bunnies, birds and nests. Our spring study of flowers and living things is in full bloom and we are looking forward to the sharing of ideas, thoughts and questions on where to go next.

Thank you to all the Cardinal Families for sharing their wonderful experiences with our Cardinals and helping to build the community feeling and relationship that has defined our school and home families so much this year!