DRAWING FROM NATURE

We started our corn stalk drawings today.  It can be challenging to draw something from nature.    We talked about being Scientists, observing nature, drawing what we see and labeling it.  We looked at the roots, the stalk, the leaves, the corn and the husk surrounding it.  

Before P.E. I let everyone know that I noticed how  well friends played together compared to yesterday when friends seemed tired, angry and easily frustrated with one another.  Part of Pre-K is learning how to self regulate when we have big emotions like anger.  I asked the class if they ever got angry and what they do  to calm down.  

Ms. Small: Have you ever felt angry? What do you do when you’re angry?

Charlotte: Sometimes Jules plays without me, with my characters and that makes me angry. The rule at home is that everyone can play with everyone’s things.

Ren: When I feel angry, my dad tells me to go to my room, and then I look out the window. That helps me.

Livio: My mom and dad tell me to go to my room. Sometimes my brother plays with me when I’m sad. A lot of times I get in trouble and I get mad.

Kaia: When I’m mad, I go to my bed. My mom asks me to go to my room.

Annie: Mommy just tells me to go to my room. Sometimes she yells and that makes me angry, and I shout at my brothers.

We will continue talking about this emotion over the next few days.  Thinking about how our body feels and looks when we are angry.  As well as finding ways they can  help themselves when they get angry.  Acknowledging that anger is a normal everyday emotion that we all experience.  We also have to make sure that we learn to control the emotion so our bodies and others around us are safe.  It is always interesting to listen to their ideas.  I can't wait to see where our conversation leads.

We read another book by Andrea Beaty called Ada Twist, Scientist.  We discussed how Ada was similar to the Pre-Kers because she had so many questions in her brain.  

QUESTIONS

What was Ada Twist trying to figure out?

What are question words? (clue: they were in the book and most of them begin with 'W')

What do your family do to calm down when they are angry?

POST HALLOWEEN BLUES

 Today we had a lot of friends that seemed tired and did not have the reserves to deal with negotiating play with their friends.  It takes a lot of energy to negotiate with a room full of peers for 3 or more hours each day.  As adults we would find it difficult, so I am often amazed at how well our students are able to cope.   Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.  I am assuming it is due to all the excitement over the Halloween weekend hence the title of this blog.

 We still managed to get outside and enjoy the beautiful day by heading to the Golden forest which we found was not golden any more.

Our pumpkin had started to rot so we made stone soup for the birds and squirrels.  Using the pumpkin  as a pot we filled it with the pumpkin seeds, bird seed, and fruit.  We placed it in the bushes in the playground and will check it each day to see what the animals are choosing to eat.

On our return to the classroom we went straight to workchoices.  The doctor's office was very busy.  We had to add hospital beds so patients did not have to wait.

Other friends chose quieter work choices.

We didn't vote on a book today but we read a book about voting.  Sofia Valdez, future prez by Andrea Beaty.  

QUESTIONS

How did Sofia Valdez help the people in her community ?

Where had all the leaves gone in the golden forest?

Can you remember the fruit you put in the Pumpkin stone soup?

PUMPKIN CARVING AND PUMPKIN COOKIES

THURSDAY 

The children arrived to find a skeleton was occupying  bathroom number 3 and had one of the  pumpkins on his lap while sitting on the toilet.  This created a lot of excitement and laughter in the class.  The children decided we needed to decorate the bathroom for Halloween.  

 We made a giant spider for our haunted bathroom. Friends helped each other cut the spider out and staple the legs on before hanging it from the ceiling.

After creating pumpkin faces yesterday the children had a clearer idea of what  type of face they wanted me to carve on our pumpkin.  We voted, of course, on what types of eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth it should have.  

We also voted on our choice of book.  Today they had to choose between Frankencrayon by Michael Hall and The creepy pair of underwear by Aaron Reynolds.  

 The creepy pair of underwear won with ten votes.  Another landslide victory.  

QUESTIONS

Can you remember whey the creepy underwear were happy, and why they were angry?

What shape eyes, nose and mouth did we carve on our pumpkin?  

Did it look happy, sad, angry or silly?

FRIDAY - COMMUNITY DAY

SURPRISE! We changed the dress up to a doctor's surgery. The doctors were busy examining the body.  Deciding where the organs should go and bandaging broken bones.

Students found one of the sensory tables had been filled with a strange orange substance.  Is it a liquid or a solid?  Push or hit it quickly, and Oobleck acts like a solid.  If you slowly move your hands in the substance, it acts like a liquid.

Green bubbly water, bottles and eye droppers was available in the other sensory table.  Using eye droppers is another way we help children this age build their pincer grip and hand and eye coordination.

At the big art table we made pumpkin cookies.  Measuring out all the ingredients before mixing them together and adding my favorite ingredient, the chocolate chips.  Gluten free, vegan pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips.  Delicious!  

At the end of the day Mr Andrews told us the story of  Abiyoyo .  A folk tale from South Africa.  Abiyoyo is a giant and the story tells of a how a little boy helped get rid of the giant.

A lot of children were excited about Halloween.  Prompting my question:

What is Halloween?

Brooklyn: It’s when you put on costumes.

Kaia: It’s in 3 days. No, tomorrow!

Ren: When you go trick or treating.

Eli: It’s a thing when you put up Halloween decorations and you go trick or treating.

Lucy: When you put on scary costumes.

Livio: It’s a special kind of day when you put on costumes and you go trick or treating.

Charlotte: When you go outside and you eat candy.

Annie: When you put on your costume and go trick or treating with pumpkin buckets.

Jenna: When people put on costumes and they go outside to wear costumes.

Max: When the scary monsters come out.

Ms. Small: Are they real or pretend?

Max: They're pretend.

QUESTIONS

How did the little boy get rid of Abiyoyo?

Can you remember what costumes your classmates will be wearing for Halloween?