Week In Review October 19th-23rd

Week In Review:  October 19th- 23rd 

Exploring the leaves through painting 

Since the beginning of the semester, the children have been exploring lines, shapes and contours within nature. This week, we focused on representing the leaves with tempra paint. Before we began painting we talked about the shape, color and size of the leaves. Some children explored the leaves by tracing the outside of them with their finger. Other children focused on the shape and color of the leaf. We provoked the children with red, orange, green and yellow paints. We talked about the colors we were going to use to represent the leaves. Some children pointed out that multiple colors make up the composition of the leaf; therefore, they used more than one color to represent the leaf. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

1. Early Learning Expectation: Visual Arts. Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through experiences in the visual arts.

3. Early Learning Expectation: Knowledge about the Earth. Children show a beginning awareness of scientific knowledge related to the earth.

6. Early Learning Expectation: Fine Motor Development. Children experience growth in fine motor development and use small muscles to improve a variety of fine motor skills both in structured and unstructured settings. 

Collaborative Art Project 

We offered the children wire and beads to work with last week. We observed them threading the beads on carefully and focusing on how to add new beads to their wire. This widespread interest made us wonder how we could use the beads to let each child express themselves further. We provoked the children with wire and offered them a variety of different beads. We asked them to be purposeful about the beads they chose before we added them to the wire. We talked about the different shapes, textures, and colors that made up the beads. These individual bead designs will be hung up to add another creative element to our classroom environment. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

1. Early Learning Expectation: Visual Arts. Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through experiences in the visual arts.

3. Early Learning Expectation: Classification and Patterns. Children begin to develop skills of recognizing, comparing and classifying objects, relationships, events and patterns in their environment and in everyday life.

4. Early Learning Expectation: Counting and Cardinality. Children extend their understanding of numbers and their relationship to one another and things in the environment.

5. Early Learning Expectation: Aesthetic Appreciation. Children develop rich and rewarding aesthetic lives.

6. Early Learning Expectation: Fine Motor Development. Children experience growth in fine motor development and use small muscles to improve a variety of fine motor skills both in structured and unstructured settings.

Creating a Pathway 

The children have been following this idea of creating different pathways. We are trying to think of new ways to help them expand on their play. We noticed them trying to create turns in their paths, but the pathway materials such as PVC pipes, cardboard tubes, and ramps were all straight. We decided to try connecting marble mazes. We noticed the children interested in the different lines, curves, shapes, and turns the marble mazes had to offer. While creating different pathways, they engaged their problem solving skills by figuring out how to get the marble all the way down their path. We saw some children learning to work together and collaborate on their pathways. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

1. Early Learning Expectation: Creativity-Imagination-Visualization. Children demonstrate a growing ability to use originality or vision when approaching learning; use imagination, show ability to visualize a solution or new concept.

2. Early Learning Expectation: Initiative-Engagement-Persistence Attentiveness. Children demonstrate the quality of showing interest in learning; pursue learning independently.

5. Early Learning Expectation: Reasoning-Problem Solving-Reflection. Children demonstrate a growing capacity to make meaning, using one’s habits of mind to find a solution or figure something out.

Week in Review October 12th-16th

Week in Review October 12th-16th

Investigating Gourds

Last week, we used the clay as a medium to guide our gourd exploration. The children used the clay to represent the size, shape and texture of the gourds. After becoming familiar with the shapes and lines they saw, we gave them the opportunity to draw the gourds. They were interested in representing the shape of the gourd and especially the lines and bumps they observed. Some children focused on drawing the shape of the gourd, while other children wanted to represent the texture of the gourds with a series of small ovals and circles.

After the children represented the gourds through drawing, we started working on adding color to their pictures. We talked about what colors they saw on the gourds and how they would add those colors to their representation. Some children focused on creating the stripes they saw on the gourds in their own painting. Some were more interested in representing the bumpy texture of the gourd. Others tried to create both designs in their picture. We talked about the different details they could add through shape, line, and color.

During group time, we asked the children "What do you think the inside of the gourd looks like?" Many of the children thought it would look like a pumpkin, or that there would be seeds in the center. We opened the gourds up and used the tweezers and magnifying glasses to explore what was in the center of our gourds. The children used great descriptive words to describe the center such as "sticky, wet, seeds and stringy."

 

Exploring Leaves

Exploring lines through nature has been an ongoing thread with the children lately. Their work with sunflowers and gourds inspired a new exploration of leaves. Many children have noticed new things going on outside during the season change. We wanted to give them the opportunity to explore the different leaves they were finding. First, they used magnifying glasses to observe the leaves on the light table. The light helped to distinguish different lines and shapes within the leaves and the children used magnifying glasses to observe them.

We wanted to continue investigating the lines and shapes within the leaves, so we introduced the idea of rubbing over the leaves with crayon on paper. The children could see and understand how the designs of the leaves looked in a different way. Their interest in these designs lead us to create a collage for the window. The children went outside searching for the leaves they like the most. By hanging this collaborative collage on the window, we can observe the lines and shapes within the leaves when the sunlight shines through them.

Experimenting with the Movement of Water

The children showed an interest in how the water traveled through the bottomless bottles  (bottles with holes). We wanted to strengthen the children's ideas about how water can travel through pathways, so we introduced the water table, plexi glass grid, funnels and plastic tubing. We tinted the water purple, so the children could so how the route the water took through the tubing. Many children noticed that the more water they poured into the funnel the better their chance of the water exiting from the other side of the tubing. Some children experimented with manipulating the tubing to move the water out of the tube. 

Continuing Our Work with Shadows

Last week, we focused on how we could create and manipulate shadows by building in front of a light source. Many of the children identified the different shapes that made up the shadows. To strengthen their understanding of shadows we taped a large piece of paper on the floor. We had the children build on top of the paper and then trace their shadows with a pencil. Some children were interested in tracing the shape of their shadow, while other children wanted to trace the base of their structure. 

            

Week in Review October 5th-9th

Week in Review October 5th- 9th

Creating a Pathway with Tunnel Designs

A few weeks ago the children began investigating ramps. Their work began by experimenting with different ramp angles. As they worked with the ramps more, they became more focused on connecting them to make pathways. We noticed their paths becoming longer as we introduced different sized ramps. A new element of the children's investigation has been adding tunnels. Some children have used hollow blocks, curved blocks, and upside down ramp pieces to create different types of tunnel structures. They were interested in the way the ball would keep moving, even underneath the tunnel. The children also noticed how the PVC ramps could fit together to make a different kind of tunnel.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

• Children build their visual thinking skills through explorations with shape and the spaces in their classrooms and neighborhoods. Begin to build an understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects through the use of words. 
• Observation & Inquiry:  Children begin to participate in simple investigations (e.g., asking questions manipulating materials; anticipating what might happen next; testing their observations to determine why things happen).

Exploring the Garden

We have been exploring the environment within our classroom, but we wanted to give the children the opportunity to explore the outside environment as well. After they worked on representing different flowers and plants through paint, we wanted to show them what different plants looked like when they grew. They used magnifying glasses and observed the shapes, lines, and textures found in nature. Our garden is full of different plants including vegetables, herbs, flowers, and interesting shrubs. We talked with them about what they saw and compared the shapes and lines they observed through their magnifying glasses.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

•  Observation & Inquiry. Demonstrate curiosity about and interest in their natural environment that leads them to confidently engage in activities related to science.

Constructing Shadows

We began exploring our shadows on the large screen a few weeks ago. We watched as the children discovered how their shadows looked when they moved their bodies or fabric in front of the screen. We wanted to extend on their thinking with this concept. We gave them the opportunity to build in front of the screen to see the shadows their buildings would make. The large blocks they used came in all different shapes that projected in the shadows. Following this interest, we used large flood lights and shone them on the building area. When they created different structures, they observed what kind of shadows they made. We talked about the height of the buildings compared to the shadows and the different shapes we could see.


Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met:

•  Observation & Inquiry: Expand their observational skills (e.g., extending the time they observe, being able to describe and confirm their observations by using a variety of resources).
•  Begin to participate in simple investigations (e.g., asking questions manipulating materials; anticipating what might happen next; testing their observations to determine why things happen). 
• Geometry: Begin to recognize and appreciate geometric shapes in their environment.

Investigating the Gourds 

We wanted to continue the idea of representing natural materials after we finished our sunflower investigation. The children started exploring different gourds. We talked about the shapes, lines, and textures we noticed on the gourds. We offered them clay and gave them the opportunity to sculpt the gourds. They focused on rolling the clay into a ball to form the bottom and worked on how to make the long, thin tops they observed. They noticed the stripes and bumps on the gourds as well. We talked about how we could add those to our sculptures. We will extend on this exploration using different mediums.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met:

• Visual Arts. Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through experiences in the visual arts.
•  Use their own ideas to draw, paint, mold, and build with a variety of art materials (e.g., paint, clay, wood, materials from nature such as leaves).
•  Begin to show growing awareness and use of artistic elements (e.g., line, shape, color, texture, form).
• Create representations that contain increasing detail.

Overview of Week 9/28-10/3

Overview of Week 9/28-10/3

Creating a Longer Ramp

We have spent a few weeks now exploring the ramps. We noticed that many of the children are focused how long we can make the ramp. On the playground, the children started working together to connect the long plastic ramp pieces together. Many of the children noticed that all the pieces have to be aligned in order for the ball to complete the length of the ramp. Some of the children decided to lay the ramp across the fence and the bench, which created an incline, resulting in their ball traveling faster down the ramp.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

• Observation and Inquiry. Children develop positive attitudes and gain knowledge about science through observation and active play.

Exploring Ourselves in the Mirror

Last week, we focused on drawing our faces. We provoked the children with the art easels, mirrors and expo markers. We started discussing the various shapes that make up our face such as ovals for our face and eyes, and half moons for our ears. Many of the children were interested in adding arms and legs to their drawing.

           

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

•  Visual Arts. Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through experiences in the visual arts.
•  Understanding of Self. Children develop and exhibit a healthy sense of self.

      Exploring Shadows

The shadow screen was a great way for the children to observe how the movement of their body affected their shadow. We introduced the scarves into their exploration causing a more dramatic effect. Some of the children explored how the scarves created wave like ripples while others used them to mimic flying.  

                                           

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

•  Movement and Dance. Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through movement and dance experiences.
• Understanding of Self. Children develop and exhibit a healthy sense of self.

Observing How Substances Travel Through Various Objects

We introduced bottles that have holes cut out in various places. The children have been exploring how the sand travels through the holes in the bottles. Many children noticed how the more holes the bottle had, the faster the sand emptied out of the bottle. The children started to experiment different ways they could keep the sand in the bottle such as adding less sand to the bottle and keeping the bottle closer to the bottom of the sand table. 

When we placed the bottles with holes into the water, the children start thinking about how they could trap the water inside the bottle. The children tried several strategies to get the water to stay in the bottle such as placing their fingers in the hole, catching the water with another bottle and connecting the bottles together.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

• Knowledge about the Earth. Children show a beginning awareness of scientific knowledge related to the earth.

• Observation and Inquiry. Children develop positive attitudes and gain knowledge about science through observation and active play.

**We look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday at the Plymouth Cider Mill from 1-4!**