Light & Shadow
This week we were able to start using our flashlights - what a great way to help push along our topic of nocturnal animals and night time! For the time being, we are just using our flashlights up in the gym, and are exploring freely (with the boundaries of only pointing the flashlights down, up, or at a wall). Some very interesting observations have already occurred:
Finn has discovered that the color of his light changes depending on where he is shining it. For example, he says that his light is green while it is pointed at the grass in the gym, and turns white when it moves to the wall.
Grayson inadvertently discovered that when he shone his flashlight next to the mirror, he made a double projection from his light. He moved his flashlight slowly and watched as two bright rings sort of danced with one another.
Kennedy played a game of hide and seek with her light by pushing the flashlight down and then lifting it up to watch the illumination reappear.
Roger compared many different flashlights and noticed varied brightness levels
Most friends enjoyed pointing the flashlights up at the ceiling and loved seeing the bright circles that they could make.
Luca used his flashlight to discover things around the gym- he investigated what was in the bathroom, what was behind the wall hanging, and what was in the stairwell.
Alphabet
Our class alphabet is in it’s early stages, hanging up on the wall and our photos will be added shortly. We have been talking a lot about letters, and have used various things to help promote early literacy. This morning we introduced scrabble tiles to help with our letter recognition. Kennedy has been pointing out all of the letters in the ABCs as we walk through the hallway (there is a mural hanging outside our classroom with the letters on it). We are starting to recognize each other’s letters, and not just our own! Hopefully we will be able to draw a few letters soon, too.
Luca - “It’s D for mine Daddy.” Kennedy - “It’s M and another M for my Mama!” (She then hugged the two M’s).
Painting
This week we explored many ways to paint. We have gotten really adept at using watercolor palettes, and dipping the brush, rubbing the color, and then applying to the paper. We froze paint and tried to use it. We painted on saran wrap. We used cardboard tube stamps to paint with. We used shaving cream paint. A big theme that has emerged as we paint is describing what happens to the colors as they mix together.
Specialists
Diane helped us with another taste test- this time we sampled: raisins, oranges, apples, and pineapple. When we took a vote, pineapple was number one, with raisins in a close second!
For Spanish, we continued to learn concepts of days of the week, how to wash our bodies, big and small, and the itsy bitsy spider.
Coach Jojo had us on a grand voyage hiding treasure from pirates as we balanced, kicked, and followed directions.
Emily sang all our favorites and promised to learn Moana for us since everyone wanted to hear it when it was time for requests!
Other Classroom happenings
This week we have done a lot of ice play! We were especially intrigued by colored ice in the sensory table.
For science, we melted a snowman using baking soda, dish soap, and vinegar
During clay we introduced some tools to use to help us roll and texturize the clay
Our cooking project involved making apple pie spiced crackers (which we have yet to taste- but we will soon! The cooking process is a little involved, but we whipped up the batter together this week).
Our homemade watercolor paints have hardened and are ready for us to use!
Have an amazing weekend- we can’t wait to hear about all of your children’s adventures on Monday. And if you’d like to set up a time to come in and read with us, we’d love to have you! I sent a sign up sheet a while ago, but we are flexible if you need a time that’s not listed.