PUMPKINS and a Little Bit About ME.....

 We wrote books about ourselves this week, and they were read aloud to everyone. This is a favorite project, as we see the children working to create a "book," and see their pride in their work being shown, but also we learn so much about our similarities and maybe differences. 

The children see themselves as writers with an important message to share. 

And THEN it was pumpkins and more pumpkins for the rest of the week.  Pumpkin gluing, pumpkin play dough, pumpkins with our names on them, pumpkins everywhere. We read Pumpkin Circle, Pumpkin Soup, and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. all books with pumpkin themes. 

The Eighth Graders asked us to share with them, for assembly, what we are working on in our classroom. We made a poster to share at our ZOOM assembly on Friday. The children had a great list, including trails, maps, it might snow (big news for Thursday) and my favorite was "being nice and kind".

We've also started a new project in the classroom, finding sap. Everywhere. We're beginning to wonder if all trees have sap, even though we only see PINE SAP (I'm sure you're familiar with it, as we come in contact with it every day).  

and why is sap so sticky?

And there was time in the classroom this week, as the weather was damp and cold. We did get outside everyday, not always for a very long time. 

Until Next Time,
Michele

Fall Fall Fall

Our big story this week was the outdoors! With such glorious weather and beautiful colors, we were out every day to collect leaves, acorns, rocks sticks (apologies, please check your child's pockets!).  When we are outside, the children have space to interact and imagine!  We made beautiful leaf crowns that the children wore proudly throughout the hike and in the classroom that day!

Our trail and outdoor classroom space continue to encourage imaginative play, with baskets to gather leaves and pinecones, trees to climb, and trails to follow.  

 

Our trail project continues with great interest.  We drew maps of our outdoor space from memory, and the children were able to list all of the things that they remembered as they drew. Maps are used often in our classroom.  The children find them in baskets and unfold them, draw their own, and talk about them with each other. The shapes and map that we created on our rug have become a familiar sitting down space for us. 

We painted with tempera paint, and tried watercolor resist, coloring with black crayon and then painting all over with watercolor cakes. The children are quite enthusiastic with paint and will spend a long time filling up a whole piece of paper. 

And, finally, we worked together to create a thinking chair, or a space for breathing and calming down. It has a positive connotation, as we all agreed that breathing and thinking are a great way to give ourselves space and calm. 

Until Next Time,

Michele