The dad (aka Sebastian) drives the space ship, while Zachary and Brandon work on their laptop computers, preparing for a space walk. Kalen's grandmother has been providing some wonderful recycled materials ("upcycled" would be more appropriate as they have definitely used the boxes and packing materials with great purpose!)

The Chocolate Factory and the Alligator

During sign-in this morning, Tyson, Sebastian and Brandon talked about their small block structures being chocolate factories...and then our wheels started turning. What if we gave them all the recycled boxes and other materials?

Plans were made..and building began on the chocolate factory. Catherine is showing us where the chocolate comes out.

Zachary found a box in all our recycled building materials that spoke to him...or perhaps growled? As an alligator might do? And he (with Miss Teresa's help) added eyes, teeth, and a tail. "He's a brown alligator because he eats chocolate. He's the pet alligator, not mean at all." And then some of the others got busy in the creation station making candy for him. They decided they needed to put it into a freezer in the factory because the alligator likes frozen things.


And let me say it again...their work never ceases to amaze and delight us!

"Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees..."

This was what the nest looked like

as we prepared to leave for the weekend...

And here's what we came back to school to discover!

Special Guest

On Wednesday, Willa's mom came to visit our classroom as our special guest. She has a dog grooming business and showed the students several ways she takes care of them. They learned how to brush, comb, and clean the dog's ears. They also had a blast petting Bernie and Franky!

Blind as a Worm

On Tuesday we did an experiment and pretended like we were a worm. Since worms don't have eyes, they closed their eyes and relied on their sense of touch and reached in a paper bag to choose an item. They then used descriptive words to describe their object.

Zachary said, "It's round and bumpy. On the inside it's tickley."

Tyson said, "What is it?"

Zachary said, "I don't know."

Tyson said, "Open your eyes. Look."

Zachary said, "It's a lid!"

Vivian said, "It's hard Not crunchy. Very hard." (plastic toy dog)

Kalen said, "Um... It's hard."

Alphabet worms?

After taking a closer look at our night crawlers, some of the children discovered that we could use the worms to make letters! Kalen said "Look, Ms. Catherine, it's a 'U'!"

** No worms were harmed in the making of this project!** While they may have preferred to be left alone, we managed to safely deposit all the worms in the compost bin...still alive!

Brandon shows us his drawing of a worm, teeth and all!

Multimedia Art

We ended the day by painting outside. It evolved into multimedia when Makayla incorporated the acorn tops which was quickly followed by leaves and grass clippings. As you can see they had fun adding the finishing touches to their masterpieces.

Creating a Worm Habitat

Today we created the worm habitats in our classroom based upon a book Tyson brought in for us! Everyone paired up and went outside in search of their "ingredients." The jars were layered with dirt, peat moss, sand, water, worms, leaves, and grass clippings. We then covered the jars with a cloth and placed them in a cool place. Ask your child about watching the worms move in the jars!

Exploring Color

"I've got a great idea... Color... and look!!!!"

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

On Thursday some of the students wanted to bring out the big blocks as well as some of the smaller blocks during work time to build a ship outside. Multiage just happened to be out for their recess time as well and enjoyed brainstorming and constructing the structure with us. Later, Michelle's class joined us and it transformed into a spaceship traveling to Saturn and then Jupiter.

New Website!

We discovered a new website today, www.gamequarium.org. They LOVED the music video

"Green Anaconda." You will have to check it out at http://www.gamequarium.org/cgi-bin/search/linfo.cgi?id=3522

Worms!!

Many students have shown an interest in learning more about worms. They have loved digging outside in search of them to add to our garden and compost bin. We've decided to explore them further taking a look at their anatomy and habitat. Questions of inquiry that have come up have included: Do they have eyes? Which end is the head? What do they eat?

A New Friend!

We had a new friend named Koen join our classroom today! He and his family are from Colorado and we are very excited to have him with us.

Clouds made of milk?

We read this imaginative story today. Ask your child what sorts of beautiful things happen.

What do you see?

During worktime, some chose to take a trip over to our tree. We discussed what we saw and they drew a picture in their observation journal of such things as the tree, the lawn mower, and the lights.

Tilling up the Garden

Everyone carried our bean plants out to the garden and had fun searching for worms and planting their bean plants. We also planted some sunflowers, marigolds, and zinnias that we hope will come up before the year is over!

~portrait of Zachary, by Sebastian

I am so proud and amazed by the work our preschoolers do everyday. Their work reinforces why it is so important to me as a teacher to provide a space for them to be creative, to show us what they know through their drawing, block structures, singing, clay creations...As Kim said today--looking at their work and the stories they tell "I want to be in that place where they are, where all that comes from." It's poetic and it makes me smile.

"Stephens Island"

Fun work in the sand box with water

Self-Portraits

In the morning, several students have chosen the table where they could create self-portraits. They looked at themselves in the mirror, drew what they saw, and then painted their picture.

Beanstalk Observations

On the Friday before break we planted bean seeds after reading Jack and the Beanstalk. Everyone drew a picture of what they thought it would like in their observation journals before we left. When we returned, we found many tall bean plants which they are excited about planting outside.