October 24-28, 2016

We had a great week this week!  We did so much, and are REALLY looking forward to Monday, and Trick or Treating.

We set up this lovely invitation, with writing materials, books, pumpkins to inspect, pumpkin seeds, a book about the pumpkin life cycle, a magnifying glass and some little acrylic pumpkins to play with.  Imagine all the literacy and conversational opportunities that go along with a simple setup like this.  We can add to it based on the conversations we have with our friends, so it's a living representation of what our class is interested in.

We did some measuring this week, we measured how tall our pumpkins are...

 

We weighed them (with counting bears on the other side of the balance)...

 

 

We measured how big around the pumpkins are with yarn...

 

We found out if pumpkins sink or float...

 

 

We explored the inside of a couple of pumpkins.  How does it smell?

 

 

 

 How does it feel?

 

How does it look?

 

 

We finally carved it...

 

 

One of our goals is to always make learning visible.  Because of this, we have many different ways to document the learning that happens in our classroom.  One way that I love is to make a portfolio of each child's work for a LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME, that they can take home and show to mom and dad (and everyone else who will look).  We did this with our pumpkin investigations and it looks like this...  

On the back is some artwork that each child did with or about pumpkins.  Representing what we know is really showing what we have learned.

 

 

(Sorry it's sideways, I tried to fix it several times and there's only so much time I'm going to spend on something like that.)

 

 







Wrapping Up Our Space Study...

We wrapped up our Space Study this week, but I had some pictures to share.  Look at these astronauts working on blast-off sequences...

 

 

 

Looking out the porthole into space...

 

 

Trying on super cool space helmets...

 

 

 

This is how astronauts sleep, but I don't think they have quite so much fun with it!  You would be SHOCKED at how much these kids know about space!

 



 

 

 

We threw together a few space sculptures, including a robotic arm, a space shuttle and several space cats.  

 

 

 

Space bingo was super popular, as are all games.  

 

 

 

So, all the kids can talk about is pumpkins and Halloween, so we are going with it.  We have a BUNCH of pumpkins in our classroom, some real, some fake, some jack 'o lanterns,  some trick or treat pumpkins, as well as a bunch of gourds.  We will be doing a TON of activities with these over the next couple of weeks.  Can't wait.  In the meantime, we filled our sensory table with straw and pumpkins and small treasures.   Yes, it's messy. Yes, it gets all over the floor.  No, we don't care.

 

We did a little writing outside this week, since the weather's been so gorgeous.  We have quite a bunch of prolific writers.

 

We also found this guy outside and followed him around while he visited all the flowers in the garden, pollinating his little heart out.  And yes, my class of four-year-olds know what pollination is and why it's important.  This is my plan to save the earth.  I also have a well-developed plan for world peace, so if you would like to know about that, message me.

 

 

We made pumpkin pie play dough this week, the kids are having fun with it already.  They love the smell.

 

Playing with pumpkin pictures on the light table and adding features to demonstrate different emotions.  

 

 

 We measured how many pumpkins tall we are....

 

We went on a spooky walk (which is very similar to a Bear Hunt).

 

Can I just point out how lucky we are to have all the grownups we have in our classroom each day?  These college students add so much to all that we do.  This is Ms. Elise, who works in our classroom twice a week and really brings something special to our classroom.  

 

 

Ms. Amanda is an intern in our classroom, and helps us all in so many ways.  

 

We also have three other interns, as well as our regular work study students, who have been in our classroom for years and help us do all the amazing things we are able to do with your children.  So, thanks!

 

 



 

The Scientific Method in Preschool....

We have some serious little scientists in our class. 

 

Think about the Scientific Method. 

• Ask a question.
• Do research.
• Make a hypothesis.
• Test hypothesis by doing an experiment.
• Discuss data and make a conclusion.
• Communicate your results.

 

We asked our class what would happen if we mixed up two materials.  Would it make something liquid?  Would it make something soft, like play dough (they are very familiar with mixing ingredients to make play dough)?   After some discussion, the children decided that it would "make something".  This was our hypothesis.

 

We put on our super-cool lab coats (SCIENTISTS wear these) and set up our experiment.  We  put a heart-shaped cookie cutter on our trays to define our area.  We scooped baking soda into the heart.

 

                                    

 

We added some red food coloring and glitter to make it really fabulous!

 

 

We used basters to drip vinegar onto our concoctions, and......

 

Look what happened!  It fizzed and exploded all over our trays.  Super fun!

 

At gardening this week, we learned about what happens to plants when it snows or gets cold outside.  Ms. Mel read us a story about it.

 

 

 

We made snow in the gazebo with baking soda and shaving cream and added plants to see what they would look like in the snow.  

 

 

 

Ms. Nadeska picked us all Bolivian Sunflowers from our tree to give to our moms.  Aren't they gorgeous?  

 

 

And they smell like honey....