Week of April 13-17, 2015!

Happy Friday! This week was our last week before spring break! We are all very excited for a little R&R! Here is what we were up to:

This week was all about storms! More specifically, wind storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and thunder storms.  We began the week with a discussion comparing hurricanes and tornadoes.  The children learned that a tornado has a shape, it is referred to as a "dirty storm" and begins in the sky (not on the ground like many of us think).  Hurricanes, on the other hand, start over the ocean and bring strong winds and flooding.  

Of course, weather being lots of cool experiments and activities! On tornado days, the children created stormy spin art and manipulated a tornado tube to make a mini twister.  On hurricane days, the children created pin wheels experimented with an electric fan and straws to blow object of various weights across a table.  The children discovered that with higher wind speeds, heavier objects could be moved and lighter objects could be blown very far with just a little bit of wind.  We also experimented with sun printing paper after lunch one day. Check out the pics below!

What's coming up:
Since next week is spring break, lots of rest and relaxation is in order for all! When we are back in action on the 27th, the children will wrap-up weather studies with clouds and rainbows!

Friendly Reminders:
- School will be closed for spring recess from April 20-24th.  We will reopen on Monday, April 27th.

- Please return your unwanted school pictures as soon as possible! The final day to return them is Friday, May 1st.

- Playground clean-up day is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of May 16th (weather permitting).  Save the date!

- Tuition is due on Friday, May 1st.

- School will be closed for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25th.

Check out some pics from our week:

Spin Art Prep

The final product!

D word pictionary

Sun printing!

Have a lovely spring break!

Joanna

Week of April 6-10, 2015!

Happy Friday! Another great week of weather explorations has come to an end! Here is what we were up to:

The children were presented with a painting by American artist, Roy Lichtenstein.  The piece is titled, "Sunrise (1965)," perfect for our unit on weather and clouds! We studied the painting and the children quickly noticed that the picture was filled with tiny dots!  Lichtenstein created mostly comic book art during the pop art era.   The children worked in small groups and sketched their picture before adding color.  After some discussion and experimentation with a variety of tools, the children decided it would be a great idea to use a Q-tip to create the tiny dots.  Check out the pictures below for a sneak peek of the children's work.

Weather studies naturally bring on lots of experimentation!  The teachers created a water experiment studying absorption and repelling.  One water tub had lots of different materials including bubble wrap, cork, fabric, cotton, etc.  Each child was invited to this tub individually and were asked to make a hypothesis regarding which items will absorb the water and which items will repel the water.  The next step was to dive right in.  The eye droppers provided the children with fine motor practice and acted as a vehicle for the water.  Once the children dropped water on each item, they referenced their hypothesis and determined if their prediction was correct or needed to be changed.  Great work little scientists!  

The second water tub had a variety of sponges and containers.  The children were asked which sponge held the most water.  Many of the children enjoyed squeezing the sponges and filling up the small containers.  

Another fun activity this week was an extension activity of the book, "It Looked Like Split Milk," by Charles G. Shaw.  The story is about looking at shapes that look like spilt milk, but aren't spilt milk.  It isn't spilt milk because they are clouds!  The book is a quick read that shows the clouds as different shapes.  When you were a kid, did you ever look up into the sky and pretend the clouds were different shapes? For the activity, each child was given a dark blue piece of paper. White paint was squeezed on the sheet and folded in half.  The children then used their hands to move the paint around the paper.  After opening the folded paper, the children were asked what it looked like to them.  The answers were hilarious and very creative! 

What's up Next:
Next week continues with weather studies on wind storms and tornadoes! More experimentation and activities will be presented.  

Friendly Reminders: 
- Tomorrow, April 11th, is our monthly gathering at the Stone Zoo! Don't forget to RSVP via Evite! The weather will be amazing! We'll see you there!

- Don't forget to continue to send your child with boots for outdoor play! The ground is still a little muddy.  Spring is almost here :)

- Our playground cleanup is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of May 16th.  There will be lots of shoveling, moving sand bags and planting to be done! Bring your muscles! An Evite will go out in a few weeks with more details! Thank you in advance for your planned participation!

Here are some pictures from our busy, busy week:

"It Looked Like Spilt Milk"

Some more cloud pictures

A Roy Lichtenstein recreation in progress

Some of the finished recreations on the bulletin board!

Absorption/Water Repelling experiment

Sponge activity

Absorption on the piece of fabric

Have a great weekend!
Joanna

Week of March 30 - April 3, 2015!

Happy April! The snow is melting and we are almost out of snow pants season! Phew! We're almost there!

Here's what we were up to this week:

We finished up the body maps and the children presented their body drawings to the class.  They all showed the different parts they drew including what was in their bellies for breakfast! The children are gaining self esteem when talking in front of their classmates.  Great job children! More pictures can be found on Shutterfly.

The new month has brought a new curriculum topic with it: weather!  The children were introduced to this new topic and were asked what they wanted to specifically learn about.  Many of the children quickly raised their hands and requested they wanted to learn about storms, tornados and clouds.  We love asking the children what they want to learn so we can tailor the curriculum towards their interests! We also formed a KWL chart to track the children's knowledge.  K stands for "what you know," W stands for "what you want to know" and L stands for "what you learned."  It's a great tool for preschool learning!  In addition to finding out what the children want to learn, we talked about the seasons, the different types of clothing that we wear, the meaning of the word temperature and about the wind.  

What's up next:
Next week, the children will begin learning about clouds.  More specifically, why they form, how they form and the different types of clue formations.  This will then lead us into rain studies and storm studies! So fun! Stay tuned for lots of fun experiments!

Our Artist of the Month will be Roy Lichtenstein and we will study and recreated his piece named "Sunrise" that he created in 1965.  It's a pop art inspired picture incorporating the sun and clouds for our weather month!  Stay tuned for some sneak peeks!

News and friendly reminders:
- SEE will be closed for Spring Recess from April 20-24th.  

- April's monthly gathering will be at The Stone Zoo on Saturday April 11th at 3:00pm sharp.  SEE students will have free admission and the first 10 adults to RSVP on Evite will receive the discounted rate of $6 (we were able to obtain library passes for the adults).  Please see the Evite for more info.

- To celebrate Earth Month, Toms of Maine is encouraging families to recycle their broken toys.  I am sure many of you have toy graveyards at your house and we would love if you brought them in to us! The recycle box is on it's way to our school and you can find more information about the program here.  More info will follow next week.

- This winter has done a number on our playground.  Once all of the snow melts, it is going to need some TLC! I will be setting up a playground cleanup event most likely during the beginning of May.  More info will follow once a cleanup plan has been created :)

Lastly, here are a few body map presentations:

Happy Friday!

Joanna