Hi Mamas and Papas,
We began our week working on the fronds of our coconut tree. We used
rollers to paint mural papers green. We looked at pictures of coconut
trees to see how to cut the paper.
We read The Carrot Seed about a boy who grew a giant carrot. We just
happened to have a giant carrot ourselves, which was big enough to
feed the entire class! Everyone got one slice.
We reread Seeds and looked in the book for coconut trees. We found
many! We remembered that coconuts are some of the biggest seeds, and
that they float. We watched a how-to video and went to work cracking
open two of our three coconuts. First we poked a hole in one of the
three eyes and everyone got a turn to shake the water out. Almost
everybody wanted a taste, with many wanting more. Then we hammered the
coconut as instructed, until it cracked open revealing the meat. Most
everyone wanted a taste, even a couple of people who didn’t like the
coconut water still wanted to taste the meat.
We added paint and newspaper to our tree trunk to add some texture. We
painted the outsides of white bowls brown, to use as the fruit in our
family coconut tree.
Lenora-Lee’s grandmama came in and read My Tree And Me: A Book Of
Seasons. It was the perfect book because we also took a group photo
that day, in front of our fall tree in the yard, to document the
seasons of the year.
As usual, it was a pleasure getting to sit and talk to you all about
your offspring.
Next week we will continue growing our family tree. We will also make
a list of classroom community rules.
Have a lovely weekend,
Therese
Family Tree Vote
Hi Y’all,
We began this week reading Have You Seen Trees? and A Tree Is Nice. We
put on our thinking caps and brainstormed trees we know. We made a
list: pine tree, apple tree, fall tree, oak tree, peanut tree, maple
tree, and coconut tree. Everyone voted and wrote their votes. Friday
we counted the ballots.
Coconut tree won by a landslide. The children said a coconut tree was
very tall, skinny, with little green leaves only on the top, and one
coconut. One person said they had seen a real coconut tree in Hawaii.
Everyone agreed coconut trees do not grow in Brooklyn. We read Chicka
Chicka Boom Boom! and noticed the coconut tree in the book had two
coconuts in it. Hmmmmm.
Yoga with Lori went splendidly. The children said they played a freeze
game while listening to music. They were seen balancing on two hands
and one foot. Impressive.
Friday we began building the trunk of our tree. We used brown crayons
to make it browner. We looked at many pictures of coconut trees to
brainstorm how to make the leaves.
Everyone got a chance to use their sense of touch, to feel something
in the Feely Box. The children said it was hard and soft, like a rock,
a waffle, a doll, paper, cardboard, and a wood chip. We drew a picture
of an elephant and told the story of five blind men who felt different
parts of an elephant and how each described him differently. The
children said all the men were correct. We looked in the Feely box to
see how we all came up with different guesses too.
Have a chilly weekend,
Therese