A couple weeks ago Tami introduced geodes into our environment. This morning, as friends were arriving, we placed a basket of them on the circular table and, using a felt foundation, explored the beautiful crystallized rocks.

Wee Friends counted the geodes, stacked them and used pipe cleaners to string them.

Macy expressed that her geode, when on the pipe cleaner, looked like a clock, tick-tock. We discovered the word pendulum. Several friends went on to make jewelry with their geodes. We explored the spatial concepts above and on the table when discussing where the fragile geodes needed to be placed to avoid breaking.

A large group of friends helped the teachers fold laundry!

Fly me to the moon and let me live among the stars….ladadadadadadada…..Using cardboard paper and markers, Wee Friends designed airplane wings and attached them to their arms with pipe cleaners. Simon managed to turn the pages of a book with his wings attached!

We made it outside just before the large raindrops and thunder struck!

Elliott used the top step of the porch to take off and away they all went!

Macy and Annie took on the great task of switching out our marker blocks with new markers. Their muscles got a workout as they pulled out old markers, pulled caps off and stuck new markers in!

Macy found a couple different uses for her airplane wings.

Wee Friends have learned about poetry this week and have studied words that rhyme. We chose a Shel Silverstein poem to memorize and it goes like this:

When the light turns green you go!

When the light turns red you stop!

But what do you do when the light turns blue, with orange and lavender spots?!

Today’s Wee Sprouts are carrots and turnips. For breakfast we served Cheerios and bananas. Lunch was Lisa’s delicious chicken salad, peas and applesauce. Our snack today will be the rare WF treat: popcorn!!

Have a terrific weekend.

Lisa stopped by the airport this morning to drop off our thank you note. She met Mike Daigle, A.A.E., Executive Director of St. Jo County Airport Authority and he expressed that he was told Wee Friends were the most well behaved and delightful group of students who had toured the airport in recent days. Sharon, a airport spokesperson, called Lisa this morning to ask if they could put our thank you note on display in the airport.

WEE FRIENDS WEE FRIENDS MIGHTY MIGHTY WEE FRIENDS…..WE GROW FRIENDSHIPS ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!

The day started in a whirl! After all of our friends were dropped off and breakfast was eaten, a couple different work projects began, lasting the whole morning. Melinda worked with a group of friends on learning a new game: Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Airport. As the name suggests, (and in the spirit of Richard Scarry’s books) it is a busy game and engages players with multi tasks and directions. Friends loaded cargo, flew to a choice of four destinations and endured cancelled flights, to name a few things! (Literacy K.4.7)

While Elliott was playing with planes, he expressed to Tami that he needed a runway. With painters tape, she laid out runways of different sizes. Later, Lisa introduced a measuring tape to a small group of friends and they measured the runways. They used clipboards to record their findings. They continued measuring trees, benches, sidewalks and lots of outdoor materials when they went outside. (Math K.5.1)

Inspired by Teacher Tom ([email protected]) we invited Wee Friends to the art table and explored clouds and rain with jars of water, shaving cream and droppers filled with watercolors.

First, friends measured half of a jar and we discussed how two halves make a whole. Next, they filled their jar halfway full of water. We filled the top half of the jar with shaving cream. We asked the question: “What color is rain?” Friends chose a variety of water colors to work with. They filled the dropper up with watercolor and squirted the top of the shaving cream to determine of the paint would seep through the clouds, creating rain. (Math K.5.1)

After this portion of the exploration was complete, many friends poured their rain jars into a larger sensory bin for more ooey gooey play.

This week’s FABS are: Literacy: K.4.7-Identify pictures and charts as sources of information and begin gathering information from a variety of sources (books, technology). Math: K.5.1-Make direct comparisons of the length, capacity, weight and temperature of objects and recognize which object is shorter, longer, taller, lighter, heavier, warmer, cooler or holds more. K.5.2-Understand concepts of time: morning, afternoon, evening, today, yesterday, tomorrow, week, month, and year. Understand that clocks and calendars are tools that measure time.

We enjoyed spending our morning with two more visitors from Family Connection as they continued to exercise their new assessment tool.

Our Wee Sprouts today are broccoli crowns and carrots. Breakfast was whole wheat cinnamon toast and pear slices. For lunch, Tami prepared whole grain rice with shredded beef, mixed veggies and fruit salad.

What a beautiful day to be alive!

 

While the swimmers were away, the remaining Wees enjoyed having their heads (and airplanes!) in the clouds!

With cotton balls, glue and a cardboard base, WFs began creating a cloudy sky through which their airplanes could fly.

Once there was sufficient cloud coverage, WFs used felt runways to ascend through the air.

When they had finished this part of their exploration, we moved the materials to the sensory bin. Elliott requested an air traffic control tower and the work continued.

Viv found an air traffic controller.

Arleigh discovered that she could pull the cotton balls apart and went on to make a pie.

Later, Viv and Marta practiced the piano.

Parent/Teacher Partnership Info:

On another note, this Saturday the WF staff attended an outstanding conference with Michael Brandwein (www.michaelbrandwein.com) as the keynote. His focus was “Life Skills: Getting Kids Ready for Life”. We were all inspired, affirmed and excited about a formula that he presented to use when communicating with our Wee Friends. When working with our friends, we first DESCRIBE what they are doing. Secondly, we LABEL it in a positive way. Lastly, we ENCOURAGE the positive behavior. An example is: Sally is playing dominoes with her friends. She sees that another friend would like more dominoes. Sally chooses to share her dominoes with her friend.

Teacher: “Sally, I see that you have shared your dominoes with Mary. You are choosing to be very cooperative. When you are cooperative, we can all play together peacefully. Sally, thank you for being cooperative.”

Our Wee Sprouts today are broccoli crowns. Breakfast was Cheerios and clementines. For lunch, we are serving melted cheddar on whole wheat tortillas, fresh beets/peas and fresh fruit salad (strawberries, raisins and clementines.

Have a terrific day!

 

WF Air Flight 123

In the absence of the Blue Bus on Monday, we would like to take all Wee Friends on a field trip to the South Bend Regional Airport. Our days this week have been filled with airport/airplane exploration and we think it will be a great adventure to incorporate into our blossoming study! Tami will email permission slip forms to you. Please return them Monday morning when you bring your WF to school. We will be departing at 9:30 and returning in time for noon lunch. We will take both the Weehicle and Tami’s Honda. While all four teachers will be accompanying the class on the field trip, parent volunteers are welcome!

While we ate lunch, we collected some information from our Wee Friends. When we asked “Where did you fly to on an airplane?” here’s what we learned:

Umi: “Chile!”

Annie: “Disneyworld and somewhere else.”

Ada: “I haven’t been on a plane.”

Nate: “New York!”

Max: “Minnesota and California!”

Vivian: “Minnesota and California!”

Kai: “Arizona and California.”

Alexandra: “I don’t know.”

Marta: “I went on the airplane!”

Finn: “spain!”

Stephen: “To the Batman store!”

Jane: “Grandpa’s house.”

Macy: “Aunt Ashley’s wedding.”

Simon: “To my Grandma’s house, England, New Jersey and Chicago.”

Elliott: “I flew to Florida.”

This morning Melinda read A Little Golden The Airplane Book, and friends worked on creating a runway.

Next, Lisa prepared passengers to board WF Air Flight 123. First, she demonstrated the job of the ground crew.

Next she described the job of the air traffic controller. WF chose who they wanted to be, we set out seats, passed out boarding passes and prepared for a flight to New York.

While on board, friends enjoyed snacks, beverages and entertainment. Flight Attendants passed out instruments when we hit our cruising altitude.

We landed, exited the plane and ran outside before the rain.

Our Wee Sprouts today are carrots. Breakfast was Wheat Chex and cantelope. For lunch we served whole grain brown rice with kidney beans, corn and pineapple.

Have a terrific weekend!

 

 

It has been a beautiful spring morning in our classroom!

Many friends gathered on the rug this morning and pulled out all the building blocks. Stephen began building a tunnel. It morphed into an intensive, morning long airplane exploration. Elliott described and built runways, towers and deemed himself co-pilot to Finn’s pilot role play. Lisa invoked her eight year journey as a flight attendant and, with a perfectly scripted monologue, directed passengers to their seat, asked them to buckle up and put their tray tables up. We added environmental sounds of a jet taking off and inner flight noise. Flight Attendant Lisa gave passengers the choice between chicken and pasta and their choice of beverages. Night fell as we were in the air and the passengers slept as John Denver sang “Leaving on a Jet Plane”. We landed and headed outside!

Fabrezio reminded many friends of the importance of flossing each day!

A small group of friends gathered at the art table after breakfast for a shape exploration. We cut out 7 shapes and identified them. Each friend took a turn creating a picture using the shapes. Other friends guessed the artist’s intention and also shared ideas about what they perceived it to be.

After the shape study, many friends chose to stay at the table and continue creating art. Some friends drew shapes on paper and cut them out. Others created elaborate and detailed ninja creatures! Kai and Vivian dedicated their work of art to Wee Wee and walked over to share their gift.

Umi, Arleigh and Alexandra worked in housekeeping feeding, clothing and loving their babies.

Our Wee Sprouts today are carrots and cherry tomatoes. Breakfast was whole wheat toast with peanut butter and bananas. For lunch Tami prepared whole wheat turkey salad roll ups, roasted asparagus and fruit salad.

Have a great day!

 

 

 

 

Important Parent Reminders!

Breakfast is served from 7:45am-9:00am and Wee Sprouts are served all day. If your child arrives to school after 9:00am, please make sure they have had breakfast!

We prefer that ‘at home’ toys stay at home to avoid conflict in the classroom. If your child does have a toy that is brought in, we ask that it is small enough to fit inside the cubby. We will invite our friends to share/show their toy for the first couple moments after they’ve arrived and then we’ll ask them to put it away until mom and dad come at the end of the day. Thank you so much for honoring this. It truly eliminates additional conflict as we help our Wee Friends navigate other natural conflicts throughout the day.

The bird feeders FLEW and today was the older kids opportunity to make their own.

The second part of the morning dealt with a shape study.

Lisa read Mouse’s First Spring by Lauren Thompson. They discussed the variety of shapes they saw in the illustrations and went to the message board to record their findings.

Afterwards, Lisa and Melinda passed out clipboards, paper and pencils and off they went on a nature shape hunt!

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and bananas. For lunch, Tami prepared melted cheddar on whole wheat tortillas, yellow/green beans and applesauce.

Enjoy this day!

Once I saw a little bird Come hop, hop, hop;

So I cried, “Little bird, Will you stop, stop, stop?”

I was going to the window To say, “How do you do?”

But he shook his little tail, And far away he flew.

While the swimmers were at the Y, our remaining Wee Friends thought about birds. Inspired by the many pine cones they collected on a walk last week, Melinda and Lisa guided a bird feeder creation.

She set out two plates of peanut butter and two bowls of wild bird seed. First friends rolled the pine cone in the peanut butter. Next they dipped it into the seed bowl and covered it with seeds. Next, they attached a string and finally, put them in the refrigerator to set.

 

Reminder: Tomorrow, many of you have signed up for conferences with Tami at her house, 701 S. Ironwood. Call us today if there are any questions or changes! We look forward to seeing you there.
Wee Sprouts today are carrot sticks and radish slices. Breakfast was Kix and bananas. For lunch, we will serve peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat pita, green beans/carrots and apple slices.

Enjoy this beautiful day!

We have some FAB Fabs this week! They are also great examples of how, many times, these kindergarden frameworks for academic balance happen so very naturally throughout the day. Literacy: K.7.2-Share information and ideas, speaking in complete, coherent sentences. Math: K.4.1: Identify and describe common geometric objects: circle, triangle, square, rectangle and cube. K.4.2-Compare and sort common objects by position, shape, size, roundness and number of vertices. K.4.3-Identify and use the terms: inside, outside, between, above and below.

Today was the last day for this session of gymnastics. Jennifer will begin the new session each Monday, April 9-June 18. This morning, both groups of friends practiced backwards rolls and candy stick log rolls. In this exercise, each friend chooses their favorite piece of candy as as they name it, they roll down a mat that is on a rake, similar to rolling down a hill. They navigated an obstacle course that included the balance beam, trampoline and various mats. They finished the course by swinging on the rings. And the best part of all, they each got today’s cute little girl stamp on their arms.

We headed outside early this morning to enjoy this amazing day.

Last week, Tami devised the Rest Time Black Bucket. For our older, non nappers, this bucket is waiting for them after lunch to enjoy during the mid-day quiet time. Tami filled the buckets with paper, markers, sight word books, flashcards of various sorts, an I Spy book, a fictitious book and a step-by-step drawing book. Our Wee Friends have enjoyed this variety of activities while they rest their bodies and voices.

Our beans that we planted last week are sprouting! Below is Kai’s kidney bean.

Today our Wee Sprouts are carrot sticks and radish slices. For breakfast, we served whole wheat toast with peanut butter and apple slices. Lunch was whole wheat pasta with chicken, green peas and bananas. For snack we are serving whole wheat crackers and hummus.

Have a terrific day!