Moving, Digging and Mixing!

Picture Day! : Tuesday, September 23 for Preschool – 1st grade

This week’s snack helper: Levi

Library Books are due back Monday!

Scholastic Book orders were sent home in your child’s folder on Friday. Orders are due Friday, September 19th. Your purchase helps contribute to our class library. We appreciate the support! https://clubs.scholastic.com/ Use code PBFGL or Z2LCJ

Hello JK families,

The beautiful weather has made outdoor play at the heart of every day. Imagine looking around and seeing every child digging, mixing, and making concoctions with water and dirt. Instead of climbing on top of the outdoor jungle gym, they all crawl underneath, and you guessed it, DIG! The pile of fresh dirt in the landscaping is also a favorite spot to make mud pies and find worms. Because we believe in following the lead of the children, we decided to let them dig and mix, not only in our outdoor spaces but through two provocations. They were presented with kinetic sand and lots of kitchen and gardening tools. They were mesmerized by the material and its movement. They were also given carafes filled with colorful water, glitter, funnels, scoops, squirt bottles, and even a giant water dispenser and invited to play! This activity was a real testament to their teamwork. The children took turns trying the different tools and even held the vessels steady for each other so their friends could scoop and pour. It’s wonderful to watch them, in these early days, building interpersonal skills with their classmates!

In addition to the movement of sand and water we also took some time to explore the movement of our bodies. The children danced to slow and fast music and made their bodies reflect the sound using big movements and small movements. We read the book, Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder which beautifully illustrates the diversity of humans. The children then had the opportunity to look in the mirror and answer the question, “what do you see?” Here is what they had to say:

“I see my hands.” Abigail

“ I eyes and my golden teeth!” Atticus

“My head, my body.” Levi

“My neck my feet moving.” Avery

“My body I see my heart in there.” Leland

“I look like a square.” Kemper

“I see you! Me over there.” Gemma

“Someone paint on up there.” (the mirror) Sebastian

“I see my shirt!” Lennon

“I see this… my whole body, I can see my whole body!” Archie

“I see my eyebrows.” Isla

“I see my dinosaur shirt and my eyes.” Maverick

“My mouth, my ears, my hair.” Brody

“I see my eyes.” Clara

“I see my face. I see my teeth looking at me. I see my nose looking at me.” Ripley

“Oh my gosh, there’s chocolate on me! I was walking and I saw my body.” Destry

“I see eyes, a mouth, I see my feet and that’s it.” Nala

“I see my hair, curly, and I see my feet and my whole body.” Zuri

“I see my shoes.” Lincoln

“I see my face.” Ben

In language and literacy the children added Bb to their card pack. They practiced its formation and sound and added 26 words to their word web! We continue to practice phonemic awareness drills daily and love to see their enthusiasm when a drill makes sense! Rhyming and combining parts of a word are fast favorites. They also continued to comprise the letters in their name. They were given the challenge of making their name by sorting through letters and matching the correct ones to their name card. After they found all the letters in their name, they pressed the shapes into dough and then traced their lines and curves, on the dough, with markers!

In math the class continued practicing numbers 1, 2, and 3 and added 4 to the mix! They learned to write an uppercase L and then one big line through the L to make a four. The kiddos delighted when they saw their fours on their whiteboards! Who knew it could be that simple?

In social emotional learning, the children learned about building relationships! Each week they hear a story about two twin bunnies named Munchie and Jumpy. The tales hold meaning that help build character. This week the bunnies learned to get to know new friends so we took time to answer questions with a partner like “what’s your favorite color, food, etc.” This weekly series is part of our character education program. The class also took time to revisit our school expectations: “We are respectful…caring…determined…safe” and talked about how we can exhibit each of these values in our classroom.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Miss Liz and Miss Gina

Pouring, Dumping and Mixing – Water Fun!