Cold and Cornbread

Morning Meeting we greeted each other and sang A Turkey Is A Special Bird. Nico shared her train with the class. The children passed it around the circle. Here is what they said:

Jacob: "Nico's train. It has three wheels."

Lili: "Nico's train is special."

We talked about Thanksgiving and asked the children what they know about the holiday:

Nico: " I love sweet potatoes!"

Lili: "I like apples."

Scarlett: "Hm...spinach."

Brandon: "Fish."
We also dicussed how Thanksgiving is a special holiday that we say a very special "Thank You" to all of the people we love and love us by coming together to celebrate with a special feast. We also talked about how we are having a big feast together with the Sunflowers and Daisies classes in school. Then we made delicious cornbread for the school feast on Wednesday!

After we made cornbread, the children experimented with oil, water, and watercolor ice cubes. The children investigated it with their hands. "It's cold", said Jamie. "It's cool!" said Nico. During Free Play, Scarlett, Lili,and Nico pretended to be teachers by reading to the class and singing Who' At Buckle My Shoe Today? Brandon and Jamie read books. Jacob played in the sandbox and Harry made "dinner" in the kitchen. During lunch Lili, picked out Where The Wild Things Are? by Maurice Sendak for us to read. At Goodbye Circle, we sang 5 Little Pumpkins, A Turkey Is A Special Bird, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Sambalae.

"Because It Wants To Go On A Bear Hunt. It Wants To Go Back."

Our morning began with Lili and Harry making "cookies" together with play dough. Brandon ran into the classroom excited to share with us his subway experience: "The train went really fast. It has wheels!" Lili and Jamie worked on their "thankful leaf" for our "friendship tree". As the children were busy working, Jenny went around and asked: "What makes you happy?" Here is what the children said:

Harry: "Some dinner makes me happy. I like hamburgers without tomatoes."

Lili: " Mama makes me happy."

Brandon: "I play with Annie and Grandma."

Jamie: "I play with Mama."

Nico: "My mommy."

During Morning Meeting we read Going On A Bear Hunt by Helen Roxenbury and Michael Rosen. As Jenny read the children read with her, "We have got to go through it." Nico commented," There are a lot of trees in the forest." Then she made her fingers walk of the train table. "Look Jenny! I am walking through the forest!" Then we got to the page with the bear. 

Jenny: "How does the bear look?"

Nico: "Enormous."

Brandon: "It's a big beer."

Harry: "Good."

Lili: "Good."

Jamie: "Enormous."

When we got to the last page of the book Nico said, " The bear is so sad."

Jenny: "Why is the bear sad?"

Lili: "Because it wants to go on a bear hunt. It wants to go back."

During Yoga, Lakshmi read My Daddy Is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste. The children made all sorts of movements and poses as they turned their bodies into triangles, trees, dog, cat, cow, airplane, and pretzels. For Free Play, the children explored played at the train table and worked on their November Self Portraits. Ava and Sasha from the Sunflowers' class came to visit and Ava read Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak to the Sweet Peas class. 

Field Trip to Guitar Center

Today we walked to Guitar Center on 14th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. The children were intrigued by the all the instruments from the moment they entered the store. A salesman handed us red guitar picks and the children found a guitar to strum. On the way to the drum room, Harry found a djembe drum. He and Erica played the drums while Harry sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad". Next, Raeph the store drum clerk handed us each a drum and some shakers. We played and sang "I've Been Working On the Railroad" and "Happy Birthday To Erica (Harry's mommy) because today is her birthday! We toured the drum area tapping and playing all kinds drum sets. We even went to the cymbal room and heard how different cymbals make different sounds. Then it was off to see bass guitars. When Scarlett found a bass she said "Look! That's a bass!" 

When we arrived back at school the children unwound in the sandbox and listened to Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie. We had such a wonderful field trip. Thank you Hudson for sharing your Guitar Center experience with us. We had so much fun and we will go back again!

"The Shadow Is Dancing. We Got To Catch Him!"

What an intriging day we had! Our morning began with French with Deborah. We sang Les Petites Poisson and she read The Three Little Bears in French. During snack, we revisited our individual "Leaf Man" collages by looking at the work we have done so far. We came to the conclusion that we want to keep working by gluing on more materials and using a brush with paint mixed with glue.  

Then the children played in the sandbox. Suddenly something happened. The children noticed light in the sandbox! Everyone got very excited. Here is what they said:

Nico: "The shadow is dancing. We got to catch him!"

Scarlett: "Leave him alone. He's okay."

Nico: "He's not okay! We got to catch him. It's a shadow. Come on! Stand in the sun. We got to catch the shadow in our mirror. I'm making light."

Brandon: points to the floor sees balls of light on the floor and says "Look guys! It 's a rainbow!"

Jamie and Lili continued to investigate by building with both wooden and translucent colored blocks. Nico and Scarlett decided to go on a bear hunt. "Hey guys! We are going on a bear hunt! We are going to pack all of our things and go on a bear hunt!"  Brandon joined them camera in hand. I noticed him taking lots of pictures throughout their adneture.

During lunch, we read Shadows and Reflections by Tana Hoban. The children looked at the images on the pages. Then we reflected on our morning and the children shared what they loved about the day:

Nico: "I love Nadia and Jenny. Shadows."

Lili: "I love Jenny. I love to eat. I like to play."

Jamie: "I play."

Scarlett; "I love French."

Harry: "I love to eat. I play with trains."

Brandon: "Trains."

""Like this! It's a harp!"

At Morning Meeting, we talked about our field trip to Guitar Center. Hudson shared with us some instruments with might see: "a horn, a drum set, violin, bass, guitar, and harp." He drew us a picture to show us what a harp looks like and showed it the class. "Like this! It's a harp!" Hudson said with pride. Jenny showed everyone another image of a harp, too  We sang Old McDonald Had a Band with our instruments. Next we marched to We Are the Dinosaurs by The Laurie Berkner Band. 

During snack, the children spontaneously began to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star together! It was so sweet to hear them break into song! Next, we read Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein. The children investigated light and shadows through dance and play. We painted leaves with watercolor and corn syrup for our "friendship/ thankful" tree. At Goodbye Circle, we sang Sambalae and read Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein once more. We are looking forward to our trip to Guitar Center on Thursday!





What Do You See?

The children settled into the day happily. Harry, Brandon, Nico, Scarlett worked on stamping with the letter blocks. Lili was a doctor. She came over to Jenny with a stethoscope and magnifying glass in hand and said, "You need a checkup. I need to check your ear. I need to check your head".  And so she did.

At Morning Meeting the children watched yesterday's video of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. First, they watched the video without sound. Then they watched with fascination with sound several times. Here is what they said:

Nico: "It's so beautiful. It's a black hand."

Scarlett: "No it's not a black hand. It's a spider man."

Nadia:" Why do think it is beautiful?"

Nico: " Because I like it. It's a hand."

Lili: "Jenny's finger. That's Jenny's fingers."

Nico: "Rain."

Lili: "That's a hand. Jenny's hand is a spider. He's climbing a fan."

After snack, we went on a bear hunt around the classroom reading Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxennbury. Next, we had Yoga with Lakshmi. Then we investigated the sunlight shining through the window by turning out the lights and exploring it with our bodies and materials.. Our imaginations ran wild as the children peeped through colors and mirrors at each other. Scarlett and Nico danced and sang Ring Around the Rosie. (Videos coming soon) Then we went out for a walk. It was wonderful to observe and interact with shadows outside. 

During lunch we read Olivia by Ian Falconer. We noticed that the illustrations in the book were light and dark. This reminded Lili of the sun coming in the through the window earlier in the day.

A Day Filled With Music, Dancing, and Lots of Discovery

We began our morning by calling Brandon at Morning Meeting to see how he was feeling and to let him know that we hope that he feels better soon. Next, we acted out the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. We ventured through the Daisies' classroom until we reached the bear's cave and found a bear! Then we quickly came back into classroom just like in the story.

While the children were eating snack, Nadia put a tissue box, metal pots and lids, cups, and a colander out on the table. "How can we make music out of this stuff?" she asked the children.

Scarlett: "I can make a drum." 

She took a metal pot and tapped on the pot with a pen. "I'm making music."

Max: "I want to make music."

Then Max tapped on the drum with a pen.

Suddenly, Hudson went over to the rug and began dancing to Sax for a Pax by Moondog and the London Brass and Saxophonic. Max and Scarlett joined in.Here is one of two videos of this spontaneous moment (Video 2 on it's way)

Before dance with Elizabeth, Jenny noticed the sun coming into the classroom. She shut the lights off and began to sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She used her hand shadows to act out the story.

The children were very intrigued by the sunlight and shadows. After dance they discovered their own shadows and played with light. We took out a mirror and used it to reflect light in the classroom. The children chased after the light. We cannot wait to continue this investigation!