Week 11 Nov 6-10: Parent Conference Week!

Blog week 11: Parent Conference Week!

Just a reminder that if you missed one of the time slots this past week or weekend, you may contact me ( rebeccabarlow.seacoast@gmail.com ) and we can find a time that works. 

Also November 22nd we will be having our friendship feast.  A sign up for food donations will be posted on the coatroom wall, as our friends help prepare for the feast.

To summarize this week, we updated our practical life works with new challenges and continued our cultural segment on North America.  

Monday:  At circle time, we read from “Yuck,” “The Skeleton” and “Leftovers from Halloween “ Holiday Stew, by Jenny Whitehead.  The children immediately noticed many new works and extensions in the room.   Most of the day was keeping up on the lessons, to safely use the works.  There were a few hard lessons when a work was misused and broke, but for the majority, the kids respect the works and the need for lessons to use new tools.   Among the new works there is an old fashion perfume bottle that when squeezed with a three finger grip will release a lavender scent.   That was particularly popular among all the children, so moms (or caregivers) be warned: Put your fancy perfume bottles out of reach for a while!  Despite it being a pretty straightforward work, it increases hand strength and is a precursor to using an eye dropper, while also teaching the children how to safely smell the air (using a circular hand motion to bring air to face rather than spaying the face).  Future Chemistry teachers will be pleased.  Other popular works include gumball machine, basic paper weaving, sound math, coordinate puzzle, touch tablets, and acorn pour.  We ended the day with a reading from Dinosaurs Before Dark, A Magic Tree House Number 1, by Mary Pope Osborn.

Tuesday:  We began the day reviewing the continents with a three part lesson and singing our continents song.  We linked this song to our Spanish curriculum, where Sra. Rosa is reviewing the names of the continents in Spanish and singing it there as well.  It is very fun to watch the connections made as they learn the names of an object (in this case the names of the continents) simultaneously in both Spanish and English.  At morning circle, we read another poem “The Pumpkin Patch” from Holiday Stew, by Jenny Whitehead.  Today highlighted work is the yellow gumball machine.  This work is focused on strengthening the finger pinch and twist (to get the white pearls out), the whole hand twist (to take the cover off), coordinating when to reload the machine (making sure the earls just don’t come right out), and counting (ensuring all ten pearls return to the machine).  Other popular works include the atom board (Our 4 year olds are getting interested in this work!), letter writing, ocean match, weaving works, open art, and white sand pour.  We ended the day reading Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids, by Carol McCloud.

Wednesday:  After two very warm days we had a taste for Autumn.  Morning recess some children explored the frosty grass on the playground and noticed that the sunlight created wet dew on the plants, but in the shadows of trees and equipment it remain a frosty white.  At morning circle we choose to read Fletcher and the Fallen Leaves, by Julia Rawlinson which explored the experience of a tree during autumn.   We also had music class with Mr. Wolf and sang Purple People Eater, by Sheb Wooley; Camptown Races, by Stephan Foster; and Barbara Ann, by the Beach Boys.  Today highlighted work is orange rice pour/scoop.  This is a small dry pouring and scooping work that is very involved.  It can be used multiple ways and if a mistake occurs the child is responsible to fetch the supplies to clean it up (previously other pouring and scooping works were large (size wise) enough that they could clean with fingers.   Now they have to be careful to not spill or they have added steps to clean the spill.  Other popular works include Math Bead counting, Weaving (basic and more advance), white sand pour, World Map drawing, and Atomic Board (many 4 year olds now are trying it).  For some of those students, I am pleased to see they are becoming more independent by working together as a team to self-check rather than need the guidance of a teacher.  I’m of course still observing them, but in secret, as I let them figure out using the tools, math and reading ability if they have create the correct atom from the card set. 

Thursday:   We began the day with L***’s Birthday Walk.  Happy 6^th orbits around the sun L***!  We were also excited to be gifted some new additions to our living and non living science exploration tray: three beautiful milkseed pods and several maple seeds and a beautiful snake skin.  Thank you L*** for our class gift!   Our highlighted work of the day is 3-Part Matching North American Native Animals.  In this work they match 10 native Animals pictures with name labels to plastic figurines and to just name labels.  This requires organization to systematically search for a match, concrete to abstract imaging (taking a 3d object to 2d), and visual matching name label (and in some cases reading the label).  Some sound association is starting to occur as they “read” the first letter of the name labels to match.  It’s a beautiful work.  Other popular works include: sound cylinder matching, letter writing, whole hand stamping, white sand pouring, 100 board, coordinate puzzle, Map writing, initial sound lessons, bead math, color boxes, and weaving.  We ended the day with Dinosaurs Before Dark.

Friday (Veteran’s Day):  Brrrrr!   Today we learned how to say it was cold in Spanish (“Hace frio!”).  At morning circle we recited our “Whether the Weather Be Fine” poem and celebrate both our 50^th and our 51^st day of school (since we forgot to mark the calendar on Thursday).  We also read “Veteran’s Day Poem” from Holiday Stew.  Talked very briefly about why some people celebrate today, and then jumped back into the North American studies by reading The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, by Tomie dePaola.   Today’s highlighted work is paper weaving.  In the introductory form it is just weaving two thick rectangular papers through a wide paper weaver, focusing on the pattern of weaving in and out and then on the next line weaving out and in.  As they master that, they are invited to try weaving narrower strips on a half page size loom.  Again that requires a great deal of concentration, coordination, independence, and organization.  If they have mastered that half page level, they are invited to use very narrow strips on a full page paper loom, which when complete can be laminated into a placemat.  Other popular works include: landform mat, Coordinate puzzle, pouring and scooping rice, hammering works, gumball machine, broad stairs, NA Native Animals, and free art.  We ended the day reading Dinosaurs Before Dark, listening to a “Dear Happy” played on our special guest Livia’s  ukulele.   Thank you Livia!

Thank you for an exciting week.

Don’t forget November 23, and 24 is Thanksgiving recess!  Therefore eat a lot of turkey or tofukey if that’s your thing.  But more importantly don’t come to school then- as I won’t be there!