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!"

From Bermuda to Turtles

At Morning Meeting, we played instruments and moved our bodies as we sang along to Come On and Sing With Me. We also sang Mr. Sun with sun puppets! Next, we talked about what we did over the long weekend when we were not in school. Then we had an amazing discussion. Here is what we said:

For Project Work, the children worked with clay. Nico made a turtle. Lili made a spider for her mommy. The children also took turns working on their February self-portraits with Debbie. Then Nico, Scarlett, Lili, and Jamie played in dramatic play while Jacob and Brandon played in the sandbox. Harry made a collage using red materials: red marker, red paint, and one red feather. 

Then we had French with Deborah. Before lunch, we sang 5 Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree, Sambalae, Open Shut Them, If All of The Raindrops Were Lemon Drops, and read Olivia...and The missing Toy by Ian Falconer. 

Hearts, Love, Glitter, Dance Party, Valentine's Oh My!

Happy Valentine's Day! We began our Morning Meeting singing Mr. Sun, 5 Green and Speckled Frogs, and Come On and Sing With Me with finger puppets. Next, we read Guess How Much I Love You. When finished reading, we asked the children "What is Love?" Here is what they said:

Nico: "Mommy, Daddy, and Leo"

Dashiell: "Mommy and Daddy"

Brandon: "Annie"

Harry: "Mommy, Daddy, baby Annabelle, Pop Pop, Marjorie, and Jessica."

Scarlett: "My Mommy and my Daddy and my Lola."

For Project work, we worked more on our Valentine's Day gifts for our families. We painted hearts with red, purple, and pink paint to add "LOVE" to our Friendship Tree. Then we had a Dance Party and Yoga with Lakshmi. Before lunch, we opened up our Valentine's mailbox and distributed the cards out to our friends! What a LOVELY day!

Time to Celebrate the Year of the Horse

What a very busy and exciting morning we had! We sang 5 Liitle Monkeys Swinging  On a Tree and Mr. Sun during snack with puppets! We began Morning Meeting shaking hands and saying "Ni Hao" which means "Hello" in Mandarin. Then we showed the children the lion costume we made in class yesterday. The children took turns trying it on, and making our dragon puppet dance as we read Bringing in the New Year. We also asked the children , "What is love?" Here is what they said: 

Lili: "I make hearts at my house and I made love."

Scarlett: "Paint."

Harry: "I love my mommy, daddy, and Vera."

Dashiell: "Mommy."

Brandon: "I love my new shoes."

We had multiple projects going on at once for Project Work! We decorated our Valentine's Day mailbox with watercolor, hearts, and glitter. We made shaker instruments for our Lunar New Year Parade and we made presents for our families for Valentine's Day. Then we had French with Deborah. 

Before lunch we had our annual BMS Lunar New Year Parade. We marched around the school carrying our horses and shakers! The parade finished with a loud "POP" when we popped the "firecracker" that was filled with confetti!

Bringing in the New Year

We began Morning Meeting singing Come On and sing With Me with instruments. Brandon's mom joined us to read and join us for an activity. We read Bringing in the New Year about the Lunar New Year and we made a lion for our parade tomorrow.

It was Ms. Rebecca's birthday today so we joined the other classes and sang Happy Birthday to her. Then we hammered the ice in the Daisies sensory table. The children noticed that they were getting wet as droplets of ice splashed on them as they hammered. They were fascinated by where it was coming from as they kept looking up and saying, "Hey, I am getting wet!" 

Gung Hay Fat Choy

We greeted each other by shaking each other's hands and saying "Ni hao" in Mandarin at Morning Meeting. We talked about the Lunar New Year by showing the children the dragon puppet and reading The Dancing Dragon. Then we watched a clip of a Lunar New Year parade and listened to the song Gung Hay Fat Choy as we took turns marching with our dragon puppet. We also explained that every Lunar New Year we celebrate an animal. This year we are celebrating the horse (Year of the Horse).

For Project Work, the children decorated their own horses by gluing red and yellow soft materials (felt, pipe cleaners, pom poms, feathers) on white paper horses. When the children were finished gluing, they added red and yellow glitter to make their work sparkle. We are looking forward to marching with our Lunar New Year horses on Wednesday around the school with Sunflowers ad Daisy classes.

Fun Friday!

We began our morning with Free Play, playing in the dramatic play area, building with blocks, and painting with watercolor. At Morning Meeting, we sang Come On and Sing With Me, Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today?, The Days of the Week, Today is Friday All Day Long, The ABC's, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Open Shut Them. We are noticing hat the children are beginning to sing much louder than the teachers which is very exciting! 

We read Anansi the Spider for story. Then we danced to The Goldfish and We Are The Dinosaurs by The Laurie Berkner Band. We had a special French class with Deborah and then Yoga with Lakshmi.