Week 27: Structures and Animals
It was another exciting week in the Early Learning classroom. This week we begun to think more about animals, their needs, and their habitats. In CERES we got to work with a new material and built a human-sized shelter for our bodies. Many of the girls had opportunities to share their work with each other, and enjoyed learning from one another. Finally, we are getting motivated to read, read, read all month for Read-A-Thon!
This morning's Building Centre challenge is to incorporate animals into any structure that is created. A's creativity drives her to build a "horse factory" where people can go to buy horses. The factory also sends out vehicles to pick up lost horses and bring them back to the factory to be cared for. The marbles are the grass for the horses to eat, and the lighter blue gems are the water for the horses to drink.
K spends this morning working on the April calendar at the Math Centre. Despite a few number reversals (which she happily fixed), K is very comfortable with all of the components of a calendar - month name, days of the week, and day numbers.
A's learning takes her all along the floor beside the Math Centre today. She explains that she is building homes, mall floors, and "great China walls", but that they are all connected.
G is also incorporating the animals into her work at Building. She is very proud of the animal shelter, or pound, that she has designed, and she has assigned specific roles to each of the animals she has included.
N and P work together to build a tower, and then count up how many blocks tall the tower is. After each tower collapse, the girls are eager to try again and make an even taller tower.
This morning's Art provocation is all about drawing bodies, using a mannequin as the model. A and G look closely at the mannequin and carefully sketch its arms, legs, head, torso, hands, and feet using chalk pastels.
G finishes up some details on the piece of artwork that she and A worked on together.
P experiments with the edges and vertices in CERES this morning. When a new material is introduced to the group, there is always time to explore its properties and possibilities before an explicit task is given.
K shows me the "batons" she has build using the edges and vertices.
P explores different types of lines and pathways at the Math Centre. I love the different ways in which she has organized the bears and ants along the different lines - some covering the entire lines, and some only at the start of the lines.
The girls have worked as a team to build a shelter that they are all able to fit inside of. Once everyone is in, we will drape a large fabric sheet overtop to make it feel like a true shelter.
G plays POP with K for the first time during Literacy Centres today. If you are able to read the sight word you pull out you get to keep it, but if you pull out the word "pop" then you have to put all of your words back in the container. The girls were excited to read familiar words, and were even more excited (and somewhat annoyed) when "pop" came up.
K and G work together to sort the pictures based on the number of syllables in each word. The 1 syllable pile is definitely the largest.
A experiments with weight at Discovery using the large balance. Initially she is focused on balancing out the rocks, but later incorporates other materials into her learning, like animals, cars, and shells.
Before she even begins sketching, P spends time moving the mannequin's body into a pose that speaks to her. She settles on this "dancing pose", and she tries to represent it on paper. P notices that as she smudges the chalk pastel marks, they blur together and it is hard to see the body parts that she has drawn.
A and G take a look inside K's structure - a home for horses that allows them to sleep, drink water, and stay safe to have their babies. K loves sharing her work with her classmates.
The annual Read-A-Thon to raise awareness and money for Multiple Sclerosis has begun. G and G start logging some class reading minutes together. Both girls really enjoy reading the "Just Right Readers" that we have in the classroom.
P is also excited about reading, and flips through Cinderella.
K has discovered this book of nursery rhymes in the classroom. She has really been enjoying connecting the familiar songs to the text in the book.
P shares the picture that she drew of an animal and its habitat with her classmates. She drew a giraffe and included the grass that it lives in and eats, as well as the water it needs to drink.
A has set up a restaurant in the Drama Centre, complete with market stall, comfortable seating, an answering system, and a checkout.
This morning we had a surprise visit from Janice and her 11-month-old puppy. The Early Learners were so excited to show it some love and ask Janice about its behaviour and how her family takes care of it.