Drama in the Classroom
1/27/2018
When the Beginners begin a new study, the first thing that we have to do is determine what the children already know about the topic and then use that to drive the study to explore what they are interested in learning more about. This week, the Beginners started a new study on clothing. After looking at different types of clothing and making a chart, it is apparent that the Beginners have a good basic understanding of why we need clothes and what purpose different parts of them have (i.e we need pockets to hold wallets). One thing that we want to learn more about in the next few weeks is how is clothing made and where does it come from? We hope to explore this by making some of our own pieces soon. On Monday, the Beginners wrote a journal entry about the clothes they were wearing that day. We talked about the different colors and materials of clothes and where they were on our bodies. We used “Mat Man” to help us visualize the different parts of the body in order to draw accurate representations, and then each child added clothes to their picture. Some children even added small details, like the letters on their shirts, and fingers! The Dramatic Play center was extra busy this week with the children wanting to play “family.” After re-introducing dresses, vests, and hats to the center, they asked for baby dolls, food, dishes and the kitchen, too. It was very exciting to watch them create scenarios and use the props to mimic what they see adults doing at home and at school. At the start of the school year, the Beginners shied away from the Dramatic Play area because they hadn’t yet learned to work together to develop cohesive play scenarios. Now, they are able to assign roles, share toys and make compromises to make their play smooth and cheerful. One of the books we focused on this week is called Caps For Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina. Caps For Sale is a story of a Peddler who sells hats while carrying them on his head, instead of his back. The book is repetitive and simple, makings it a fun and interactive experience. We read the story once while looking at the pictures, then, we read it several more times using the Beginners as actors to portray the story! The Beginners really enjoyed playing both roles of the story, and it was particularly enjoyable to watch. The Beginners used crayons to make watercolor resist caps and designed their own t-shirts by gluing decorations to a felt t-shirt cut out. Here are some extra snapshots of what is happening in our classroom: Lego bear dens and Indoor recess fun!
Fostering Creativity
1/20/2018
This week we wrapped up our author study on Mo Willems. Along the way, we learned several thing about books. 1. Not all pages of books have words. Sometimes they just have pictures that help tell the story 2. All books have characters. A story can't be a story without a character to follow. 3. Some Authors, like Mo Willems, like to make different books with the same characters. Sometimes they even make guest appearances in each other's books. For example, we were able to find the Pigeon in the Elephant and Piggie books AND the Knuffle Bunny books. Elephant and Piggie even found a way to sneak into the Knuffle Bunny books. 4. Authors put their names on the covers of their books. We took some time to explore the process of making a book. They Beginners thought of a character, real or made up, and drew a story about them in their blank books. Some children even "wrote" words in them! They dictated their stories to their friends and wrote their names on the front cover. Each book was unique and highlighted their own personalities perfectly. You can see our books on the bulletin board outside of our classroom. This week, the we also spent time exploring our creative sides. The Beginners spend a lot of their center play time at the art area, drawing, taping, gluing and creating. It's a very busy area and often times, they tell me they don't have enough time to finish what they are working on. In an article in the greater Good magazine, published by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, it explains why young children need opportunities for creativity: "Because it is a key to success in nearly everything we do, creativity is a key component of health and happiness and a core skill to practice with kids. Creativity is not limited to artistic and musical expression—it is also essential for science, math, and even social and emotional intelligence. Creative people are more flexible and better problem solvers, which makes them more able to adapt to technological advances and deal with change—as well as take advantage of new opportunities." Throughout the week the children were able to explore different mediums, canvases and matierials in hopes that it would help satisfy their need for a creative outlet. Using pastel paints, the Beginners painted tree branches. Now, they hang in our classroom for us to admire. Liquid Watercolors are always extra wonderful. They bleed and swirl together to make beautiful colors and patterns. We used a large, absorbent, paper drop cloth to paint the colors onto, then, to finish it up, they Beginners were given small cups of water to pour onto the drop cloth to encourage the paint to spread across the paper. We used the drop cloth as the background of our bulletin board. For our last project, we made a beautiful, colorful mosaic that began with painting foam board with shiny paint. When it had dried, the foam board was cut into "tiles" that the Beginners glued to black paper. It was the bright and cheery art that we needed during these January days. In Music class, Ms. Katie allowed the Beginners to explore musical instruments independently. It was a great way to end the week!
Should I Share My Ice Cream?
1/13/2018
Coming back from winter break was so exciting. All the children were happy to be back to say "hi" to new and old friends. They couldn't wait to get back into the school groove and pick back up where they left off. While we get back into the swing of things, we are taking time to revisit building friendships, making friends and how we can be great friends to each other. While this is something we are always developing throughout our studies, sometimes we need to take time to specifically focus on the characteristics of a good friend and why we should value friendship. With Martin Luther King Day on Monday, it's a good time to reflect on his ideas of love, acceptance, and equal rights and put them into practice. We used books by the author Mo Willems to research what friendship looks like. What are some qualities that a friend should have? How can we be friends? What types of things to friends do together? How to friends talk to each other? We used the book Should I Share My Ice Cream? to explore fairness and sharing. After reading the book, we made ice cream name tags to put on our bulletin board. The characters in these books, Gerald and Piggie, are silly and sometimes serious, and their stories relate well to the children. There are also so many Gerald and Piggie books to learn from! |
Annalee JohnsonEK Teacher Archives
January 2021
Categories |