Mr. Seahorse!

We started Morning Meeting, waking up our bodies by bending, stretching, and wiggling. Then we talked about how this week we are reading books by Eric Carle and that he writes the stories and makes his pictures for his books. Scarlett took all the books off the bookshelf and brought them over to the rug for us to look at.

Each child picked a book and took a few minutes to look at the pictures in the book they chose. Next, we shared our page with the class. 

Grandpa likes the bee and the flower in The Very Quiet Cricket.

Hudson likes the seahorse in Mr. Seahorse.

Scarlett likes the turtles in Rooster's Off to See the World. 

Max likes the train in 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo.

Brandon likes the moon in The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

We asked the children after looking at all the pages, we asked them what they would like to make: a bee and flower, a train, moon, turtle, or seahorse. "Seahorse!" the children agreed. First, we read Mr. Seahorse together. Then Jenny drew a seahorse and the children painted it with their choice of watercolor paint. Then they dipped Lego's in tempera paint and stamped them onto the seahorse to make circles.

Before lunch, we went on a dragon hunt. Then we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You? and Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle.

Hooray for Purple Cake Day!

Today we celebrated Purple Cake Day. At Morning Meeting, we talked about how there are some children who are unable to go to school, we are raising money so that they can go to school, and that's why we are having Purple Cake Day! We sang I Have Favorite Color and Purple Is it's Name-O to the tune of B-I-N-G-O. We read Harold and the Purple Crayon. We also danced to purple shape Hokey Poky. Each child was given a purple circle, square, and triangle. When their shape was called they had to Put Their Shape In and Put Their Shape Out and so on.

The children decorated crowns, collaged with purple materials, played with purple snow in the sensory table, and explored purple sand with their fingers. During Music, Evan sang and the children danced around to Purple People Eater.

Inspired by Harold and the Purple Crayon, we spread out a very BIG piece of white paper along the floor and gave each child a purple crayon to draw with. Then we made purple play dough and painted ice with purple tempera paint using our fingers. During lunch Erica, Harry's mom, read Harold and the Purple Crayon to us again and Today Is Monday by Eric Carle for Literacy Week.

Today truly was purplicious!

Shadows and Rainbows

We began Morning Meeting singing Sticky Sticky Bubble Gum. Next, we had Yoga with Lakshmi. After Yoga, Scarlett noticed our shadows on the rug. This gave us a fantastic idea for a game. Each child sat on the rug to make their own shadow and then everyone had to guess who was making the shadow. 

Then the children built with blocks and investigated the sensory table that was filled with warm water and droppers. Harry, Jamie, and Lili painted ice with tempera paint. Jamie was fascinated that the paint froze after he dipped his entire hand in the paint cup and rubbed it all over the ice.

Before lunch, we had a dance party. The children marched to We Are Dinosaurs and blasted off into outer space as we danced to Rocket Ship Run by The Laurie Berkner Band. Then we read Good Thing You Are Not an Octopus!

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"