Category Archives: Classroom Posts

Studio Work, Gardening, Being a Good Friend, Police Officer Visit, Structures and Interior Design

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Laura Paciorek| Comments Off on Studio Work, Gardening, Being a Good Friend, Police Officer Visit, Structures and Interior Design

Dear Families:

We have had some fun things happening in the classroom.

ART STUDIO WORK: In the art room, children have been exploring printmaking and abstract artwork. They are using marbles, toothbrushes, and sponges in their painting. The children use one color for each item so they can visually track the results of their printmaking.

GARDENING: Here is a photo of our pumpkin plants! We can’t wait for the pumpkin parties. Thank you for the donations!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=600977506628730&set=a.220915221301629.55462.213823248677493&type=1&theater

BEING A FRIEND AND POLICE OFFICER VISIT: The children have also been talking about how to be a good friend at school:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=600978019962012&set=a.220915221301629.55462.213823248677493&type=1&theater

You may notice in the photo that some children are talking about not playing “guns” at school. We decided to have a police officer visit our classroom to talk with the children. We will ask the children what kinds of questions they may want to ask the police officer, but the teacher already asked him to talk about safety and let him know that they will probably ask about his gear. He said he will share with the children some information about police gear in a child-friendly way that focuses on their safety. Officer Chris will visit on October 29 and 30 at 9am!

A NEW PROJECT PHASE – STRUCTURES AND INTERIOR DESIGN: The sculpture project is also progressing. We noticed that the children are wanting to decorate different areas of the classroom and the structures they construct. Therefore, we have started to consider adding a section on our web about interior design. We may ask the children soon what they know about decorating and interior design to see where it may take us next. This will also fit in with our desire to have the children plan the decorations for our pumpkin parties.

Thank you for reading our update!

– The Teachers of Room 4 –

Posted in Classroom Posts

Structures – We Haven’t Forgotten!

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Laura Paciorek| Comments Off on Structures – We Haven’t Forgotten!

The children are still heavily involved in constructing in Room 4.  Today there were two noteworthy developments:

First, the children indoors made an elaborate camping area in the block area using many different types of materials.

Pretend campground in the block area with pillows, beanbag, chairs, and blocks. Two children stand to the side.

Second, the children outdoors added colored masking tape to their large crate/hollow block structures.

Hollow blocks, crates, and tape.

Children construct with hollow blocks, crates, and tape.

 

It will be interesting to see if the tape is used in this way tomorrow, too.  It seemed to be decorative as well as a structural element (joining pieces together).  It is great observing the children’s development of structures.  They continue to build upon previous experiences and add new materials to their work.

Posted in Classroom Posts

Weekly Plans in Room 4

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Laura Paciorek| Comments Off on Weekly Plans in Room 4

Here are our plans for the week: Teacher Planning Document 10-14-13

Enjoy!

Posted in Classroom Posts

Pumpkin Days – Donations Needed

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Laura Paciorek| Comments Off on Pumpkin Days – Donations Needed
Dear Families:

We have been polling the children about our pumpkin day parties on October 30 and 31 from 11am to 11:45am. They would like donuts and ice cream. We found a healthier version of donut holes (baked pumpkin donut holes):
We would like to make a version of these (and make a version with applesauce so there are plain ones to try, too). We plan to make them on Monday and Tuesday, October 28 and 29. Therefore, we will have donation lists by the sign-in book for all of the ingredients. We will need the donations by October 25 (Friday) so we can make the food for our parties.
Instead of ice cream, we plan to have yogurt that children can flavor with pumpkin and/or other spices (if desired).
The children also want to wear pajamas at the parties!
If you have questions, please ask. We could definitely use family helpers when we make the baked donut holes on Monday and Tuesday (28th and 29th) and to set up for the parties on Wednesday and Thursday (30th and 31st). If you want to assist, please let Laura know.
Have a great day and weekend!
-The Teachers of Room 4-

Posted in Classroom Posts

Learning in All Domains

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Laura Paciorek| Comments Off on Learning in All Domains

Here are some of the highlights from Room 4 the past few days.

We read a new story about friendship:

Book cover for _The Great Ball Game_

 

This book is a Muskogee tale about two groups: the birds (those with wings) and the animals (those with teeth).  They want to play a game of ball and a bat wants to join them.  The bat is not accepted in the bird group, but the animals accept the bat.  The bat ends up winning the ball game for the animals because he can fly.  He decides a penalty for the birds: to leave the land for half of the year each year.

Some of the children said things like, “If I were a bird, I would let the bat be on my team” and “that’s not nice!”  The friendship and acceptance discussion may have made an impact.  Later on a child was playing alone and another child invited her to join him to play!

This book related to language/literacy development and social/emotional development.

However, the children also did some neat things with funnels, tubes, scoops, water, and a bucket.  The children problem-solved together to get the water from the table to the bucket and even back into the sensory table.  They learned some science concepts in a hands-on way and definitely used cognitive skills in the process to hypothesize about what would work and act upon their observations.

Here are some photos of that activity:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.597488410310973.1073741890.213823248677493&type=1

The children also learned about music notation today and yesterday.  They got to hear quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes played while they counted and patted their legs to the rhythm of 1-2-3-4.  Afterwards, the children were invited to write their own music.  This activity gave children some practice with math skills (counting and even fractions!).  The children also used their motor skills with this activity (and the scoops/water activity) when patting their legs and scooping and pouring.

Here are some photos of the music notation activity:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.597486670311147.1073741889.213823248677493&type=1

Sand castles and plates in a sand area with leaves and teachers and children standing nearby.

The children also made a neat sand structure outdoors today.  This definitely relates to our structures project!  You can see the careful patterns and spacing set up: plates on one side and sand castles on another with a river between them.  Each sand castle had a leaf in the top, too!  It is so much fun seeing what the children do when given materials to explore.

Lastly, some of the children predicted what might happen to a potato when it is put in water.  This is inquiry!  To see their responses, click on the link below.  Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597982250261589&set=a.220915221301629.55462.213823248677493&type=1&theater

Posted in Classroom Posts