And then there was snow AND ice!

 

We were so happy to see snow! Our snow delay day brought a morning of outside time for playing, yay! 

And  after waiting for helmets to arrive from home AND having a borrowing donation from a parent, we were able to find our way to the ice. It wasn't as slippery as we hoped it would be! 

BUT there was plenty of space for sliding, and walking, and looking at the ice. 

Mostly, there was standing on the ice!

What a great way to learn about the properties of ice! It was super cold, so we did not stay out for too long, but we'll hold onto helmets and get out there again next week. 

Our classroom continued to be all about snow, winter, and ice. The sensory table is set up with mirrors, jewels, and crystals, as well as pictures of icicles. I like to call the space the "ice factory" or "snow factory" and give children the space for creating what they wish to create. 

We are talking about bears, too, as last week brought the discovery of bear tracks in the woods and we set up an outdoor camera. The thought of bears leaving tracks was disconcerting to some of the children, so we've brought bears into our conversation, talking about black bears, what they eat, and reminding the children that they probably are more afraid of us.  We have read about bear dens, and will read Blueberries for Sal and other bear books to become familiar with the types of bears that live in our area. 

We are very happy to have Eliza in our classroom for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and have welcomed a new child to our group. 

These final pictures are of us constructing a "jackdaw" or a box of clues that will tell others about a book so that they can guess.  We will continue to work on this next week-and perhaps invite contributions from families ?!

The book is call Bear Snores On  by Karma Wilson.  We read the story a few times in the classroom, and looked for clues in the pictures of some things that might work.  We will continue to refine the project! 

Until Next Time,

Michele

Ice Conditions!

We explored ice this week.  Ice cubes helped begin our study, and each child was given an ice cube and asked "how can you keep this from melting?"  With materials available, some children wrapped their ice cubes with paper and yarn and tape, others left them to be in their cup, and found someplace COLD to keep their ice cube from melting. The one ice cube that was left in the classroom definitely melted! Our data collection showed  that ice needs very cold temperatures to stay frozen. 

We learned that the "recipe" for ice is water, in a container, left someplace COLD, makes ice. 

We explored all sorts of art activities with ice in the sensory table as well:  painting ice with liquid watercolors and salt, and painting ice with many watercolors using the melting water of the ice to get the paint wet. All of the properties of ice were looked at closely through these processes.  

We witnessed the process of the ice melting, from solid shapes to watery shapes to a bucket of water from the drain.

We are hopeful for our next ice experiment, making ice "ornaments".  We brought little containers outside and found little things to place in them, and we will look tomorrow to see what has happened!

 A few children wanted to use snow in their container, but discovered quickly that the snow disappeared in the water!

We were able to witness history this week in our PreK classroom.  On Wednesday, we talked about our new president and vice president and that he would be making a "promise" to our country when he was inaugurated. We talked about what a promise was (PINKY PROMISE!) and heard words such as "trying your hardest" and "saying that you will do something".  We talked about the President's promise being an "Oath of Office", and that he promises to do his best to help our country be the best it can be.  And then we watched!  The children were excited to see "President Joe Biden" and "Vice President Kamala Harris" when they made their promises.  Lady Gaga made quite an impression, too!

We brought the topic of promises into our classroom, and each child was asked to make a promise to help our classroom be the best it could be.   We often talk about how our actions can help a space feel friendly and the effects of our behavior, so the children were able to make their own promises. 

I was very proud of our group of children!

We sealed our promise with a handprint!

Until Next Time,

Michele