Eagles

Yesterday and today some of our students from both classes played eagles and ravens.  Using the nest that we made last week Harlan and Max tried to keep the eggs safe.   Ike,  Livio, Maxi, and Ren tried to steal the eggs much to Harlan and Max's chagrin.  

Farrah was quietly sitting in the corner of the room thoughtfully cutting pieces from a ball of  roving she found in the yarn basket .  When I asked what she was planning,  she just smiled at me but said nothing.  

A few minutes later I found her in the dramatic play area with Brooklyn and they had a bowl of spaghetti and sauce.  Using the yellow yarn for pasta and the orangey red roving for sauce.  What a great idea!  I love the thought process behind this.  She wanted to make pasta and sauce.  She saw the yarn basket and, problem solved.  She created a meal for herself and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn seems to really enjoy the pasta.

We found another version of the three little pigs called The three little pigs and the somewhat bad wolf

QUESTIONS

Why is the wolf somewhat bad in the story?

How many O words are on our list?

Building materials, Glurch and Animals

Big blocks, small blocks and magnet tiles were in use today.  Big blocks started off as a house with a sofa and beds.  Changing many times throughout the morning as different friends joined.  Each adding their thoughts and ideas concerning what direction their play went.

In small blocks Charlotte took the lead in creating a building for animals.  A group of friends were excited to join her.

Grace was supporting Harlan in the magnet tiles. Harlan was building an army.  Grace helped Harlan by building the equipment he needed for his army while Harlan took charge of the battle.  Anne and Henry were working together building cars and trucks.

I ended up being taken to the Doctor's office by a group of students telling me I needed some shots.  Grace gave me some shots in my brain and lots of medicine. I am not sure why I had to wear the metal bowl but I was told it would make me feel better.  Kaia bandaged my arms and gave me lots of shots.   Farrah gave me medicine and lobster soup and a few more shots. 

                       At the end of the morning we read Biggest, strongest, fastest by Steve Jenkins.

This book is filled with fascinating facts about animals.  Some of which surprised our students. Making some great observations and connections.  There were a lot of comments and questions.

We found out that ants are considered the strongest animal.  They  can carry over 5 times their own weight.

Charlotte: WHAT!

What is the tallest animal?

Brooklyn: Giraffe

What's this? (pointing to tentacles on a page)

Anne: Jellyfish

Ren: They have no skin and no bones.

We looked at a bird spider bigger than an adults hand.

Anne: Does it eat humans?

Lucy:I wasn't scared of that spider.

We looked at the cheetah

Jenna: Why are its legs up?

Ren: Cheetahs eat gorillas that's why I'm allergic to cheetahs.

Livio: Some animals can run faster than a lion.  Some warthogs can run faster then they run into a hole.

Kaia: A cheetah can run faster than a tiger.

We found out a snail is the slowest animal.

Livio: I thought it was the turtle.

The anaconda is the longest animal.

Lucy: I saw a snake longer than that in the zoo.

Grace: If a snake and an elephant was actually here.  Would a snake be long enough to reach the painting area.

We looked at the animal that lives the longest.  A Galapagos tortoise.

Kaia: Turtles live longer.

Brooklyn: They're different.

Max: That neck is bigger than a turtle's neck.

Charlotte: A tortoise can go faster than a turtle.

We will read more Steve Jenkins books over the next couple of weeks.  

I also want to put a reminder out.  If your child seems interested in presenting what they have learned about their animal  to the class, let me know.  The weeks go by quickly and we want to make sure that every child that wants to share what they have learned has an opportunity to do so.

QUESTIONS
What type of book was Biggest, strongest, fastest.   Fiction or nonfiction? 

What was one fact that surprised you the most?

TUESDAY

We had a lot of dogs wandering around our classroom looking for food.  Maxi visited Kaia and Farrah's house with Eli, his dog.   They asked if they could have some extra food.  Farrah and Kaia looked through their provisions to find something suitable.

Last week we made a batch of glurch.  Glurch is mixture of glue and starch.  When mixed together what does it make, a liquid or a solid?  Glurch snaps when you pull it quickly but stretches when you pull it slowly.  Today the class experimented with the glurch.  Mila is experimenting by adding lots of different colors using markers to see what color she ends up with.  It is very satisfying to squeeze and stretch.  Glurch can be used as a tool when someone is feeling overwhelmed, but overall it is just fun to play with.

Ren brought a book from home all about gorillas.  We learned a lot.  One topic that was of interest was that gorillas feed their babies milk like humans.  Anne wondered how, and I explained that gorillas have nipples like humans and the mommies feed their babies.  I asked how many nipples they thought a gorilla had and how it was different from Lucy's animal, a pig.  We looked at a picture of a pig and found that they have about 12 or 14 teats.   Lucy told us that pigs can have 5 babies.  So this evening everyone has homework.   How many babies can your animal have at one time, and how many nipples or teats do they have to feed their babies.

We had enough time to look at another Steve Jenkins book, BIG and little.  Finding similarities and differences.  What interesting facts do you remember from the book?

QUESTIONS

What type of book was Biggest, strongest,  fastest.   Fiction or non-fiction? 

What was one fact that surprised you the most?

Playing the trumpet

We were hoping for warmer weather this morning so Brooklyn's grandpa Steve could visit us outside the PK playground and play his trumpet.  The area in front  of the school helped us stay dry while we listened and danced to a few familiar tunes, singing along when we knew the words.

Trumpet playing

We returned to the classroom to make tea and toast for work choice time.   Stepping outside of our comfort zone to experience something for the first time can be difficult, so I was surprised how many students were willing to try.

We had a choice of three teas, Berry, Lemon and Peppermint. Berry and Peppermint were popular.  Toast was a big hit with options of butter, cream cheese, jam, honey and sunbutter.

At the end of the morning Mr Andrews told us another Gunny wolf story.

QUESTIONS
What were the names of the three musical instruments?

What was the wah-wah and how was it used?

What tunes did Brooklyn's grandpa play?

Who is Gunny wolfs' friend?

Maps

 Before I continue this blog I want to say how impressed I am with your children.   They have truly embraced what it means to be a community.  The last two days I have seen our students reach out and do random acts of kindness for each other.  Whether it was Brooklyn making an origami gorilla for Ren because she knows he likes them.  Farrah taking her time to look through a bookshelf and find cat books for Kaia when she was feeling sad.  These are just two examples of how your children look out for each other.  

Lucy was working on the whiteboard and inspired a few friends to start creating maps.  Lucy's map was of a deep woods where a mean crocodile lived.

Kaia created a map of the school, tracing with her finger the path that we would have to take.

Farrah created a journey that started at school, you had to take a bus to her house.  Pick up her mom and dad.  Then head to the airport where you would travel to an island with a black panther.

The boys were trying to  find a way to escape from the classroom and visit Henry's dad in his office in the Athletic Dept.  Henry came up with an idea to build a map using the small blocks.  The group conversed as they started building and their original design idea changed.

Our local author Charlotte created  4 more books about the two potatoes that are friends which we read before heading outside .

THURSDAY

This morning students were interested in working with the thinking putty I have available for  students that need help during group time to stay focused.  The putty is quite hard when you first try to manipulate it but the longer you hold, squeeze and stretch it the softer it becomes and some of the putty even changes color.  Friends practiced pulling it apart quickly and slowly to see the difference.  One makes it snap apart the other stretches it out.  

Lucy continued working on maps.  She explained how it was a map to help them escape from the school.  She showed me how they would escape using the stairs.

We finished our morning meeting continuing our discussion about Earth Day and ways we could help the earth.  We read One child, one planet by Bridget McGovern Llewellyn.

Inspired by our discussion and the book we went  for a work  to collect litter and look for signs of spring. The class  found lots of litter.  We also found rocks that we could throw into the pond along the side of the path.  On the way back to the classroom we were lucky enough to meet two dogs going for a walk with their owner and a bald eagle flying high above us.  

QUESTIONS

How can we help the earth?

Was the book fiction or non fiction?