LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Journaling, Career choice

What would you like to be when you grow up? What kind of job would you like to do and why?

“I want to be a Bakery because I very like bakering, because I like cake and cupcakes.”

11/19/2013

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Bird Study Homework, The Students as Teachers

The Cardinals took great joy at sharing their Research Study. The children had chosen a particular species of bird that they wanted to learn more about and returned to class with their findings. Along with their results, several of the children created a nest for their bird of study. Quite a few Cardinals and their families worked together to create the most outstanding habitat for their bird of choice, an amazing collaborative experience.

Each Cardinal was eager to share their found facts as well as the story of all the work that went into the creation of the nests they crafted. Without any hesitation, each took a turn and stood in front of their classmates and teachers and communicated their discoveries. Once done, they invited their audience to ask questions.  This active involvement of the speaker and the listeners fostered a great deal of developments within each child, from learning how to ask a question or stating a comment to providing a leadership role where their choice and voice was honored.

Here’s what Noel taught us...

The Parrot

by Noel Springer

1) Parrots make good pets

2) They make their nests in trees.

3) They can mimic voices

4) It lives "in jungles"

5) It eats "fruit, bugs"

Noel chose this bird to research “Because when they first hatch from the eggs, they're so cute!”

The experience of presenting his homework provided Noel many great developmental benefits, Literacy, Cognitive, and Social/Emotional. It offered Noel the opportunity to understand the difference between a statement and a question as well as use descriptive language, concept thinking, storytelling, and so much more. Overall, it helped Noel develop effective communication skills. Also, this opportunity allowed for Noel to share his interest which fostered his emotional self.

ART CLASS CURRICULUM SUMMARY: Fall/Winter 2013-14

In the 3 and 4 year old art class, students explore a variety of media in order to gain an understanding of art processes and techniques and the ability to make thoughtful choices about tools and materials in their artistic self-expression. Art experiences allow young artists to strengthen their fine motor skills, spatial awareness and rehearse shape and line formation. This fall, the Cardinals have worked with paint, using both watercolor and tempera paint and a variety of tools, to explore mark-making, visual texture, color mixing and opacity in painting.

In an integration with their classroom study, the Cardinals created sculptural birds using clay. In a clay introduction, students were able to explore the materiality of clay, its density when mixed with water and how it can be manipulated by hand to create a variety of shapes and forms. The students identified the main shapes in the pictures of their birds and transferred that knowledge to creating those shapes in clay to represent their birds.