march 6
ART
This week in the Art Center we created watercolor resists using crayons and oil pastels. First, we were encouraged to take a leap of faith and make “invisible” drawings using white crayons on white watercolor paper. Next, we continued drawing using oil pastel colors. Finally, we painted over our drawings with watercolors. We were able to observe how the watery paint soaked into the paper but beaded off the waxy and oily lines of our drawing. With great excitement, we discovered how our formerly invisible lines were revealed by painting over them. Sneak a peek at some of the beautiful results of this process in this week’s photos! In another activity offered at the end of the week we practiced cutting, folding and bending paper into various shapes and configurations and securing one paper surface to another using tape in preparation for next week’s planned construction activity.
DRAMA
Last week in our drama groups, we reenacted the story of Little Wolf's First Howling by Laura McGee Kvasnosky. We created our own cozy wolves den in the back, and the children were all in role as Little Wolf, who is being carefully taught the proper form of howling by her/his father. Your little wolves had a great time exploring various howling and improvising some alternate options and sounds. Some groups had a chance to listen to how singers do that through scatting. We listened to a version of A Tiskit, A Tasket (which the children have also been singing with Mel), first with the lyrics and then with scatting. It was really fun to create our own versions of the song.
DRAMATIC PLAY / SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
This week we have been playing a fun game where I take away different food items/food groups. The kids have to figure out what items I have taken away! This week I took away all bread products. Some of the kids noticed and some are still trying to figure it out. I am going to continue playing this game since they have really enjoyed it and it is a great cognitive exercise. Try to talk to them about the food that is out and what food is missing.
LITERACY
This week, we created an alphabet display that includes both uppercase and lowercase letters. We spent time looking at different alphabet books as guides. We played the board game “Alphabet Adventure,” which is great for building important beginning reading skills such as letter-sound recognition and alphabet sequencing. At the end of the week, we started a spring-themed activity wherein the students practiced writing their names on flowers, which will decorate the Literacy Center.
MATH / COMMUNITY CENTER
This week we talked all about our newly formed “Rainbow Club.” We decided on some rules together and designed some rainbows (math tip: rainbows are repeating patterns!) that will be made into necklaces next week. Some of the group rules the kids decided on were: 1. Anyone can join Rainbow Club 2. Rainbow club is all about being kind to people 3. You can wear rainbow outfits to Rainbow Club if you want but you don’t have to! We also reformatted the block center from a construction zone with the larger hollow blocks back to a regular block center with the smaller unit blocks.
MUSIC
This week in music, we worked on finding the difference between the beat and the rhythm of a song. The children reviewed a little poem that helps us to remember the distinction. "The beat of the song stays the same, but the rhythm changes with the words." We practiced demonstrating the beat and the rhythm with two different instruments this week: the tambourine and the castanet. After exploring this concept with our instruments, the children also enjoyed learning the classic "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King.
SCIENCE
This week at the science center we planted 3 different kinds of mystery seeds. The children made predictions as to what they thought would grow. We also filled the discovery box with soil and added plastic lizards, snakes, and insects. We used tweezers and magnifying glasses to handle and observe the insects. We read several books about worms and insects including Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin and The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.
TWOs
This week we continued to talk about germs and how we should keep germs to ourselves. We also brought out the light table to explore light and color. We used the Magna-tiles to build towers and houses. The kiddos loved seeing how the colors shined and reflected on a white sheet of paper. This week’s favorite book was The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak.