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Picture Day! : Tuesday, September 23 for Preschool – 1st grade
This week’s snack helper: Audrey
Library Books are due back Monday!
Dear Families,
This week, we noticed a group of children “finding treasures” around the playground, collecting rocks, and wanting to bring them into the classroom or take them home to share with their families. With their excitement leading the way, we asked the children what they wanted to do with the rocks.
The children’s first idea was to paint and decorate them, using the rocks to brighten up our outdoor space. As the week went on, the question began to spark new adventures. One big question came from Zuri, “How many rocks are in this school?” This began a wonderful opportunity for children to share their thinking without even realizing they were doing a math lesson! Here are some of their imaginative answers:
Sebastian: “Million hundred.”
Atticus: “104.”
Avery: “Maybe it’s like this many!!” (arms stretched wide)
Lincoln: “This many.” (holding up both hands for 10)
Kemper: “10,000!”
Brody: “A million hundred.”
Levi: “100, 1 million.”
Ben: “One hundred thousand.”
Donato: “Ten hundred and fifteen miles.”
Abigail: “5,000.”
Archie: “905013.”
Gemma: “182.”
Audrey: “5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.”
To continue our exploration, we read the story When You Find a Rock by Mary Lyn Ray. Inspired by the book, we went on our very own rock hunt around the upper campus. Along the way, the children discovered our new sensory path. We hopped, skipped, and slid our way through, engaging our bodies and getting those wiggles out, all while bringing back some pretty amazing rocks!
Rock Hunt
Back in the classroom, we placed all of the rocks on a big sheet and gave the children time to explore. Once again, their imaginations took off! Here are what conversations we heard:
“I bring the rocks to my house.” -Kemper
“This could be base.” -Leland
“This is how I make my road. I’m making it kind of a circle. What do u think this looks like now Archie?” -Sebastian
It’s the letter “e”. -Archie
“I’m collecting more rocks. I have eleven.” -Atticus
“This is a big tower.” -Maverick
“I got a phone.” -Clara
“I’m going to make a rock cake!” – Lincoln
“Look at this rock. I found it in the slide.”-Nala
“This is my cake!” – Brody
“This is a rock muddy puddle. I put a flag on mine.” – Ben
“I’m getting more rocks. Guys, look, I got more!” – Atticus
“Hey, I made a circle!” – Zuri
“It’s a pool!” -Nala
“Look, I made water in it”- Zuri
More Rocks/Sensory Walk
The next day, the children were invited to explore frozen gems! With warm water and pipettes in hand, they worked as a team to “chip away” the frozen treasures. Once all the gems were collected, we placed them in a jar and counted together as a class, discovering that we had found 88 gems in total!
Frozen Gems
In phonics, we introduced the letter Nn. Giggles filled the room as the children mimicked the sound, noticing how it tickled the inside of their mouths. In math, we worked with numbers 1–5 using a wooden hand. The children were challenged to look at a number card, identify the number, and then show it on both the wooden hand and their own hand.
Wooden Hand Counting
This week reminded us of the power of children’s questions and imaginations. What begins as simple play often unfolds into rich opportunities for math, science, creativity, and teamwork. We cannot wait to see what wonders will guide our learning next week!
Have a great weekend!
Miss Gina and Miss Liz