Happy Birthday Hudson!

At Morning Meeting, we read Hudson birthday book that we made for him."Wow! This is really special," he smiled when we were reading it to him. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Hudson. The children led Morning Meeting by singing Who's At Buckle My Today? debating who was here today and who was not. Next we sang Come On and Sing With Me clapping our hands. 

Then we had Dance with Elizabeth.

After Dance, we jumped around and had a Dance Party! Next, the children worked independently in each center. Max worked with Flubber. Hudson drew a picture with markers. Brandon played at the water table. Scarlett was intrigued by the frozen paint on the table. 

When they were finished, we read one of Hudson's favorite books Pete the Cat. Nick and Lisa, Hudson's parents, joined us to celebrate Hudson's birthday. The children could not wait to finally give Hudson his birthday gift from them. Happy Birthday Hudson! 

"It's Cold!"

Today was filled Frozen Exploration. We sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC's at Morning Meeting with puppets. After singing, Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today?, Debbie sang 5 Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree. The children noticed snow falling outside the window. Next, the children talked about the weather outside. We sang What's The Weather? The children were excited by the snow falling lightly from the sky.

We investigated ice with cars and trucks frozen inside. The children hammered the ice at first. Filled with curiosity, they squeezed droplets of water color over the ice with droppers. We are eager to investigate ice more over the upcoming days.

We read Knuffle Bunny for story. Then we had French with Deborah. After French, we painted with frozen paint. "It's cold" the children said as they as they rubbed their hands with the paint.

Before lunch, we marched to We Are the Dinosaurs and swam to The Goldfish by The Laurie Berkner Band. At Goodbye Circle, we sang Come On and Sing With Me with instruments. What a cool day!

"A Drum Set For Hudson"

Scarlett began Morning Meeting by singing Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today? on her own.

 

Next, we sang "I Have A Friend" and "Get Up and Dance". For Project Work, Max, Brandon, and Scarlett worked very hard and made Hudson an amazing birthday present to give to him on Thursday! Hudson added the final touch: red glitter. Then we read Subway Train. We concluded our morning singing Come On and Sing With Me.

"A Drum Set for Hudson"

Friends Who Care

Brandon arrived at school this morning excited to share his haircut with his friends and teachers. "I got a haircut!" he shared with pride. At Morning Meeting, we greeted each other singing "Hello, Can I Shake Your Hand" as we shook hands. Then we spent most of the morning talking about friendship  into the classroom. The children drew special pictures to make a book for Dashiell that they children titled the "I Love You Book for Dashiell". When they were finished drawing we asked them what special words that would like to say to her. Here are the pictures the children made:

Then we had Music Evan! Harry couldn't wait to ask Evan if had a white guitar and was excited that Evan brought it to school! We also took turns playing on Evan's drum. Before lunch, we read Pete the Cat and Curious George Visits the Big City!

Lili and Scalett are building a "building out of Legos.

 

Lili and Scarlett are palying and checking Debbie.

 
 Scarlett and Lili painted "a rainbow" collaboratively.

Harry is playing Evan's drum.

How ARE Cotton Swabs Made?

At Morning Meeting, we greeted each other by singing Good Morning To You, Can I Shake your Hand as we shook hands with each other. Then we had Yoga with Lakshmi. She brought in a special drum. We took turns drumming, listening, and dancing to the number of syllables in each other's name.

For Project Work, we paint with cotton swabs. The children painted with gentle strokes as they filled the page. Jamie was curious about how cotton swabs are made. We went online to investigate and discovered a clip of how cotton swabs are made. Their eyes filled with fascination as they watched the machine wind the paper and press the cotton. This promoted conversation amongst the children on what they were seeing. Brandon pointed at the screen "Look! Look! It's pressing!" he shared with excitement. Jamie liked the way the arm of the machine moved.

At Free Play, Nico and Scarlett built in the block area. Nico built New York City! "I live in New York City. I am building New York City. There are houses and horses" she told us as she was building. "Now it's time to add the people! There are lots of people" and she placed a person on top of her structure.

Based on the children's interest and curiosity, we thought it would be fun for the children to make to make their own cotton swabs. We rolled up paper and the children pointed to where they thought the cotton should go as we glued it on. Before lunch, Harry picked out a book for us to read Curious George Visits the Big City. What a fun day!

Red Light "STOP" Green Light "GO"!

Max and Brandon were playing together at the train table. “Two more minutes left to play until Morning Meeting”, Jenny announced. “Cool!” said Max. At Morning Meeting, we sang Come On and Sing With Me as we shaked dried gourds. Then we read Red Light and Green Light by Margaret Wise Brown. Throughout the day, we talked about how red means "stop" and green means "go".

Then we had Dance with Elizabeth. After dance, we enjoyed the beautiful day by going out for a walk around the neighborhood. We were very excited when we saw not just one but FIVE cement mixers! When we returned back to the classroom we had Reflective Meeting and talked about what we saw. Here is what we said:

Brandon: "I saw a tractor and a police car."

Scarlett: "Five cement mixers!"

Max:"Yeah! Five cement mixers. I heard a fire truck!"

Brandon: "I did not hear a fire truck. I saw an ambulance."

Scarlett: " I saw a building with five circles and five squares."

Max: "Whoa! We saw so many cars!"

Scarlett: "Yeah! And I saw a building and it was so so white!"