Parker PreK : " I Am"

We began our week with an inquiry about MAGNETS. Magnets are powerful, and we explored their power by painting with them. One child noted that the magnet worked through both the paper, box, and paint!

We asked the question: Do magnets work in water? and How can we find out? We decided that we needed water and magnets to explore that question. When we have scientific discussions we use the words "hypothesis" (making a guess, and all guesses are good!), "experiment" and "discover". These words empower the children to explore!

When we combined water and objects that stick to magnets and the magnet wands, we found that YES magnets work in water.

Magnet blocks are a favorite activity in the classroom, and through our play we have discovered the properties of magnets.

In our painting experiment, the children held a magnet wand under the box, and found that when they moved the magnet, the magnet moved the marble which moved the paint.

To continue our Black History Month celebration, we were introduced to the artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jacob Lawrence, and began work on a window project based on the artist Faith Ringgold.

Part of our exploration included looking at "colors of the world" markers and our own skin and discovering that there are many shades of skin colors. The children drew a small self portrait using the skin color marker that best matched their skin. We will put these self portraits together with our background paintings and a "window" made of waxed paper, and the children's answer to the question "who are you at school?" will be a part of the display.

Through identifying our own skin colors and using our own words in response to the "I am" prompt, each child is given space to celebrate their own place in the classroom.

Their words almost read as a poem:

I am a friend

I am a nice friend

I am nice. I could give you a balloon.

I am I love you mommy. I am a helper.

I am unique.

I am love.

I am kind, thankful, and I love you.

I am myself. I am special.

I am a builder.

I am nice.

Together with our identity work, we are using loose parts to create faces and friend's faces. The faces are very friendly!

The weather allowed for lots of outdoor play and a few snow pals to be built. Ice and water created a fun space too.

We are taking part in a project to create pictures with kind messages for seniors. The children have each drawn a picture and dictated a kind message, and we will continue the project next week. We celebrate the power of our words!