Follow the Colorful Dots

Hello JK Families,

No matter the provocation this week, time and time again, we saw the children finding ways to test the physical limitations of the objects presented to them. Paper took flight, cups were flipped, balls were launched, markers were tossed in their buckets at cleanup, and cars went zooming down the new pipe attached to our staircase (thanks Mr. Michael)! Everywhere we looked, objects were in motion! We decided that even storytime needed a physical aspect. We turned to the wonderful author, Herve Tullet, and his interactive books to give the children the chance to use physical motions as they participated in the story. The children enjoyed three of his books this week including Let’s Play, Press Here, and Mix it Up! Colorful dots are the main character of each story. Before we began the first book, Lucas looked at the cover and excitedly said, “Ohhh we are going to read a book about colored balls!” Since we have launched balls just about every way possible, this would make sense! The dot in each story moved in unpredictable ways, multiplied and even changed colors. The children loved moving along with the dot in each story. To further explore things in motion the children were invited to explore 4 centers where the objects could spin, swing, float or fall.

Balloons in flight- Inspired by the silver cloud room at the Andy Warhol museum, the children were given deflated silver and white balloons to explore. They tapped, tossed, and pulled on them to see what they would do. What child doesn’t love a balloon and the challenge of keeping it up in the air!?

Salad spinner art- You read that right. We used a salad spinner to let the children spin paint super fast and capture art in motion. The results were beautiful as no two artworks were alike.

Sand pendulum- Miss Claire’s giant cube made another visit to the classroom. This time it was used to create a pendulum. We attached at cup with a hole in the bottom and let the children fill it with sand. They then swung the cup and were delighted to see the sand stream out on the black sheet beneath.

Ball run- The children were given magnetic shelves and invited to connect them to make a ball run. They loved watching them roll and drop from high and low.

We asked the children to share some observations or favorite experiences after the 4 centers and this is what they had to say:

Leonardo-How do we move things?

Kipton- The balls were going down really fast.

Bradford- Balls went down the slides and then they came down and then they went in the bin of books.

Dax- I made a ramp and it was almost like the balls never stopped.

Henry- The balls. They were sliding down the rails.

Forrest- The paint spin art. It spinned.

Ollie- The paint spinner, the balloons. They float up in the air.

Lola- That the balloons go up.

Why?

The air- Kipton

Where is the air?

Inside! (The class)

Mylah- The sand. I just enjoyed it.

Stylee- About the sand. The sand was swinging about when I swinged it.

Scarlett- I liked when the sand was spinning when we put it in.

Hailey- I liked when I poured the sand in and out spins around.

In Math, the children learned about the number 5 and practiced its formation. They were also introduced to a ten frame and worked left to right to fill each square to the correct amount based on their number. We devoted more time to shapes by forming their lines and curves using play-doh. They loved rolling the play-doh into a long spaghetti noodle or snake in order to make their shape. The children also revisited measurement with a super fun activity! The class was given lots of stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes and asked to measure them using unifix cubes and connected markers. Here is what they discovered:

Flamingo, 25 cubes by Bria

Flamingo (laying down) 41 cubes by Hunter

Flamingo, 5 markers by Leonardo

Long snake, 30 cubes by Bodhi

“The snake is 93 cubes long!” -Wendell

Large Teddy Bear, 65 cubes (Mylah, Kipton, Dax)

Pig, 3 cubes by Bradford

Kangaroo, 2 markers by Izaak

Shark, 27 cubes by Bodhi and Bradford

“The shark is 29 long!” – Forrest

Black dog, 8 cubes by Dax

“The llama is 22 cubes long!” – Wendell

Squirrel, 8 cubes by Bria

Alligator, 9 cubes by Kipton

Alligator 10 cubes long by Lucas

“Olaf is 3 markers long.”- Hailey

This week we also explored the letter Ss. The children practiced writing the letter and making its sound. The word web consisted of class names: Stylee, Scarlett, and Sophia, and words like spider, snake, sucker, sea, scissors, Saturday and Sunday! Speaking of Saturday and Sunday, we hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Liz & Miss Claire

Balloons in Flight