Dear Parents,
We continued our map study by coloring map backpacks. We used sharpies
of many colors.
This week we went to La Bagel Delight and to everyone’s delight we got
hot bagels to eat! We drew a map of how to get to the bagel shop. It
was a short walk. Things the children guessed we’d see there: bagels,
dough, a hot oven, a toaster oven, sharp knives, cookies, and
customers. Afterward, we reviewed our list and indeed, we saw all of
the above.
We painted our black hole mural in two groups. The children made sure
both sides were painted as black as night. We asked, "What is a black
hole?" The responses were: it can smoosh you or bring you somewhere
you don’t even know, it can send you to another dimension, it can be a
dinosaur’s mouth, it can suck you up and squish you, and it can spit
you out. The complete list is in the classroom.
While half of us did yoga and freeze dancing with Lori, the other half
saw stars. We used toothpicks and fine motor skills to poke tiny holes
in our black hole mural. When we held it up to the sunlight, we saw
stars! Next week it will be hanging in the classroom.
On Friday we read The Subway Mouse before scurrying into the big room
for our second obstacle course of the year. We used the mouse’s
journey as inspiration. We went over bridges, zig-zagged around
blocks, swam in a pool, climbed, crawled, and slid towards our
destination. We did laps and laps until it was time to clean up and
get ready for half-day pick-up.
Next week we will begin working on our spaceship.
Have a nice long weekend,
Therese and Anna
Maps, Roads, and Train Tracks
Dear Mamas and Papas,
We began this week by painting our wood sculptures. Everyone chose
silver, gold, or copper. We looked at a penny and a nickel to compare
our copper and silver paint to the metals. We added a few sparkles and
called it a day. That was Monday.
On Tuesday, we made a map mural using the wheels of our toy cars and
adding black and white paint. We worked in two groups driving around
and around and around to create an oval road map. During circle, we
looked at all the road signs that go to our train set to identify each
sign. Everyone knew the red octagon sign. The rest we had to figure
out.
We made a map of the classroom. We used a piece of paper the same
shape as our room. The children identified the biggest items in the
room and placement of them on the map. We added the carpet, tables,
chairs, bookshelves, bench, and easel. We then added the people (us).
We drew a line indicating directions for each person to go to the
bathroom to wash hands. After we all washed hands, we ate our snacks.
We added our train set to the classroom. Everyone has been creating
different train tracks each day. We read There’s A Train Going By My
Window, and How Little Lori Visited Times Square. We looked at
pictures in the books, comparing subway cars and freight trains. The
children told us everything they knew about the differences: one is
mostly underground, one is electric and the other runs on coal, one
has smoke, one carries passengers only, and another freight and cargo.
We know a lot about trains!
While half the children posed in yoga class with Lori, the other half
drew maps. We read Can You Read A Map? and practiced drawing on the
carpet with our fingers. We recalled the travels of two different
characters in books, and drew their routes using our fingers. Then we
drew maps on paper using crayons. They are hanging in the classroom.
Friday we had an obstacle course in the big room. Before going in, we
made a map of the course. Everyone took a doll from the dollhouse to
carry along the route, and at the end placed them atop our Old First
Church we made a few weeks ago. We went around the course more times
than we could count. The children went over, under, through, up, down,
crawled, walked, and balanced.
Next week we have our trip to the bagel shop. Yum!
Have a warm weekend,
Therese