Week in Review: 2/8- 2/12

Week in Review: February 8th- 12th 

Puppet Theater

Last week, we projected images of familiar places (park, school, city) on the screen and gave the children cut-outs of people. The children were very interested in having their puppets interact with one another versus the projected background. This week, we put on a show for the children with both animal and people cut-outs. After group time, the children explored how the animal and people cut-outs could interact with one another. The children enjoyed re-telling the story we created, as well as, creating their own dialogue between the cut-outs. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

1    Participation-Cooperation-PlayNetworking-Contribution. Demonstrate increasing ability to be together with others, in play or intellectual learning opportunities and/or making positive efforts for the good of all; join a community of learners in person and digitally as appropriate.

          

         Dramatic Play. Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through dramatic play.

1    Spoken Language: Receptive. Children grow in their capacity to use effective listening skills and understand what is said to them.3

1     Spoken Language: Expressive. Children develop abilities to express themselves clearly and communicate ideas to others.

Exploring How the Intensity of Our Flashlight Changes in Different Lighting

When we previously explored the flashlights, we noticed that many of the children were shining their flashlights on various parts of the room. They shine their flashlights behind furniture, underneath tables, and in the bathroom when the lights were off. We wanted to extend the children's thinking about how the intensity of the light from flashlight can change depending on the surrounding lighting.  The children use their flashlights to explore the gross motor room. They compared how their flashlight looked near the windows versus in the dark closet. They very curious about how the light from their flashlight traveled through the white screen, and the person on the opposite side of the screen was able to see the light. 

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

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

Curiosity–Inquiry-Questioning Tinkering-Risk Taking. Children demonstrate an interest and eagerness in seeking information (e.g., be able to see things from a different perspective, fiddling with something to figure it out or attempting a reasonable solution).

Initiative-Engagement-Persistence Attentiveness. Children demonstrate the quality of showing interest in learning; pursue learning independently.

New Addition to Our Classroom

Ms. Phee picked out a new fish for our classroom. The children have observed it and discussed it's physical features. To develop a better understanding we used felt tip markers and white paper to draw the fish. We are currently working on a name for the fish. We have narrowed it down to "Blarggie, Blarggie," "Dorthy" and "Mo."

Early Childhood Standards of Quality Met: 

Living and Non-living Things. Children show a beginning awareness of scientific knowledge related to living and non-living things.

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

Valentine's Day

As a class, we talked about how Valentine's Day is a time to show friends and family how much you care about them. We went on to discuss how we can create a card/message to show our appreciation. As a class, we talked about the different symbols we could use in our the message. During explorations, the children used a variety of different materials to create their Valentine's message. 

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.

Writing Skills. Children begin to develop writing skills to communicate and express themselves effectively for a variety of purposes.

 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.

 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.