Let's Make Rainbows

We began Morning Meeting singing Come and Sing With Me shaking the dried up gourds and following the movements of the teachers by humming, stretching, and clapping along. Brandon noticed that Scarlett's picture was upside down on the Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today Chart. The other children thought this was so funny that they moved too placed their pictures upside down and sideways. Then we read Silly Sally.

Scarlett and Lili requested that we go on a dragon hunt. We put on our dragon hunting boots, and our dragon hunting caps, made sure we had our flashlights and were off on our adventure. When we returned from our hunt, the children worked with clay. They pounded, rolled, cut, and added pipe cleaners and recycled materials as they manipulated the clay.

After French with Deborah, the children requested to make squeeze paint in glue bottles to make "rainbows". Then we guessed the letters of our friends names as we transitioned to lunch.

"If All Of the Snowflakes Were Chocolate Bars and Milk Shakes"

The children arrived at school this morning excited by the snow. "It's snowing outside!" they exclaimed as they entered the classroom all bundled. Last week the children noticed that the gourds dried up and make a sound when they shake them. We began Morning Meeting stretching out bodies as we reached up to the sky and woke up our bodies as we sang  Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. Then we passed the gourds and took turns shaking them. Scarlett  noticed that one gourd did not dry up and did not make a sound. "Hey, this is one quiet!" Then we shook our gourds together as we listened to Polly Wolly Doodle. Then we read Silly Sally.

During Free Play, the children played in the sand box, with the red flubber in the sensory table. Hudson and Scarlett worked with clay. Then we played in the school bus. Before lunch, we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and sang The Beehive Song, Sambalae, and If All Of the Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gum Drops. Next, we took turns guessing who's name starts with which letter.

Look Up At The Rainbow!

Jacob brought the book Freight Train by David Crews to share with the class and we read it during snack. "I have that book at home," Harry said. We began Morning Meeting playing instruments as we listened to Subway Train by The Imagination Workshop. Then we looked at some pictures of the rainbow we see in the classroom. Next, Jenny showed the children how she painted wooden beads with red watercolor. Then the children watched and counted as she strung eight beads on one at a time. The children chose what color they wanted to paint their beads. Lili and Scarlett chose orange, Harry: yellow, Jamie: silvery white, and Brandon: blue.

The children painted wooden beads with watercolor they chose at Morning Meeting. Brandon figured out quickly that if he submerged his bead in the watercolor, he could cover the bead quickly, and paint more than one rather than use a brush to paint one at a time. The children soon discovered this technique as well. The next step was to sting the beads onto a pipe cleaner.

The children had so much fun with Lakshmi as they stretched and hopped. They sang Down, Down Baby and swam like duckies in the pond.

During Free Play, the children played in the sandbox and with play dough. Harry painted at the easel. Brandon, Lili, and Jamie collaged with glue, paint, and reycebles. We read Skyfire by Frank Asch during story. The children giggled when the bear in the story dumped a bucket of water on the rainbow.

Busy Day Galore

Max ran into the classroom excited to start his day. "Where's Hudson?" he asked. Seconds later, Hudson entered the room. "Hi Hudson!" said Max. Together the boys washed the babies at the sensory table. Then Hudson went to the kitchen to make a drum set. Max followed, "I want to play drums too" he told Hudson and they drummed away. Scarlett came in shortly after and we transitioned to snack.

At Morning Meeting, we read A Rainbow of My Very Own by Don Freeman. Then we looked at some pictures of the rainbow we see in the classroom. Next, Jenny showed the children how she painted wooden beads with red watercolor. Then the children watched and counted as she strung the beads on one at a time. The children chose what color they wanted to paint their beads. Max and Brandon chose green. Scarlett chose gold. Hudson chose purple.

The children had so much fun during dance with Elizabeth. They bent and stretched for the stars, put on their space suits to prepare for outer space, drove the bus as they sang The Wheels On The Bus, and chassed from back and forth. Then the children took turns dancing with a friend. 

The children painted wooden beads with watercolor they chose at Morning Meeting. Max figured out quickly that if he submerged his bead in the watercolor, he could cover the bead quickly, and paint more than one rather than use a brush to paint one at a time. The children soon discovered this technique as well. Soon everyone was using their tiny fingers to dip lots of beads into the watercolor cups. The next step was to sting the beads onto a pipe cleaner.

After all this hard work, the children played together in the sandbox and made red play dough with blue sparkles. We concluded our morning by singing quiet songs on the rug: Beehive, Where Is Thumbkin?,  and Five Peas in a Pea Pod. Then we looked at letters and had to guess who's name begins with that letter. We sang the letter and that children's name to the tune of "C" Is For Cookie.

"It's Sticky and Black"

We began morning stretching our bodies as we sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.  Nico and Lili commented on how much they liked the Big Apple Circus and want to go back which started a conversation. Here is what we said:

"I take the train with mommy to the circus." - Brandon

"I like it when the girls were flying." - Lili

"I like when the girls were flying, too. I saw clowns. Funny." - Nico

We finished our painting our Friendship Tree branches white. Lili painted a face at the easel  Scarlett and Lili put on a puppet show while Brandon and Jacob were cutiing with scissors. Then the children dug in the sandbox. We read The Fuschia Is Now and then painted with watercolor. The Sunflowers and Daisies classes were on a field trip so we went on a dragon hunt around the school. It was so fun.

When we returned back to our classroom, we explored clay for the first time with our hands and feet. "It's sticky and black" Lili said as she held a ball in her hands. The children patted, pulled, and jumped on the clay as they investigated this material  for the first time. Then we sang Beehive and Where Is Thumbkin? At lunch, we read A Rainbow Of My Own  by Don Freeman.

"T" Is For Tuesday!

After Morning Meeting, we explored clay at the table using our hands, rollers, and recycled materials. Hudson made a tunnel. Scarlett rolled the clay to make a snake. Max made a snow man. Next, we made cupcakes using shaving cream and colored glue as icing. Using our hands, brushes, and glue bottles, we mixed shaving cream with paint and glue to make a beautiful collage.

Then Hudson and Max made a birthday cake for Grandpa while Scarlett and Brandon played in the kitchen. For story, we read The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle and If You Give A Pig A Pancake by Laura Numeroff. We sang The ABC's, Sticky, Sticky, Sticky Bubble Gum, and Sambalae. We also sang "H" Is For Hudson, "S" Is For Scarlett, "B" Is For Brandon, and "M" Is For Max as we transitioned to lunch.

What A Busy Morning!

This morning we had Yoga with Lakshmi. We sang Wake Up Toes and 7 Green and Speckled Frogs as we stretched and woke up our bodies. During Free Play, we painted our Friendship Tree branches white for winter, played with play dough, and in the dramatic play center. Harry, Lili, Scarlett, and Nico worked on their January self-portraits. 

Then the teachers had a special surprise for the children as they a performed puppet show reciting nursery rhymes. The children laughed and giggled as their faces lit up with amazement. Then we had French with Deborah. We sang Les Petites Poisson, counted, and listened to the story Maman! by Mario Ramos. After French, Scarlett and Nico put on a little puppet show for the class. Then we read Going On A Bear Hunt. Brandon finalized the decision to act out the story with our animal puppets on Monday by saying, "That's a good idea!"