Beginners' Bakery
10/27/2017
Last week, the Beginners learned how pumpkins grow. They start from a seed, and with a little water and lots of sunshine, they begin to sprout and grow into a long vine. The vine grows flowers, which then turn into little green pumpkins. Once the pumpkin is fully grown, it is picked and then people use the pumpkins for all different things, like jack-o-lanterns, decorations, and baking. This week, we decided to do as much baking as possible with pumpkins. Baking is a very exciting activity, but the Beginners are learning so much through it! Baking teaches how to measure, count and compare. It also exercises motor movements, like scooping, pouring and stirring. On Monday, we made pumpkin pancakes. they were so fluffy and yummy, that almost everyone wanted seconds. On Tuesday we made personal pumpkin pies in-a-cup. To finish out the week, we made pumpkin ice cream . We only touched the surface of the list of things the beginners suggested making out of pumpkin, but we did learn that there are lots of different things you can make with pumpkins, and just because you don't like pumpkin one way, it doesn't mean you can't like it another way!
Pumpkin Chunkin'
10/20/2017
At PNA, we strive to create a community where parents and students can enjoy and be excited about learning together. When young children see their families having fun while learning, it will inspire them. PNA is also a place where learning is hands-on, interactive, exciting and sometimes a little crazy or messy. These moments are what children are going to remember for years to come and the moments that make teachers remember why they love teaching. On Friday, the Beginners hosted their first Parent Breakfast, where parents, students and teachers worked together to build popsicle stick catapults to launch their mini pumpkins across a (artistically painted) pumpkin patch. It was trial and error to get the pumpkins to launch. More rubber band reinforcements here, more popsicle sticks there and adjusting of popsicle stick and spoon placements every so often. The beginners practiced holding their catapult arms and worked out just the right timing to let it go to get their pumpkins to launch. What a great way to learn together! Pumpkin Investigators
10/13/2017
Our pumpkin investigation couldn't get started until we had one very important element: The Pumpkins! On Monday Morning we went on a casual walk to enjoy the autumn colors, but when we got to the upper field, look at what we found! On Tuesday, we measured to see if the Beginner's bellys were wider around than our knuckle head pumpkin. We learned that everyone was smaller than the pumpkin. Tape measures were left out for the Beginners to experiment with measuring pumpkins on their own. Wednesday, we answered the much anticipated question; Do pumpkins sink? Or do they float? The Beginners hypothesized that big ones would float and small ones would sink. But, they all floated. We looked at pictures of big state fair pumokins weighing it at a thousand pounds and talked about how they would also float because they are hollow, or have air in them. What shape are pumpkins? Are they smooth, lumpy, or bumpy? On Thursday, we turned out the lights and put a spotlight on the pumpkins to see what their shadows looked like. Then, using pencils, we traced around their shadows, and later painted them, using primary colors to mix into shades of pumpkin. To finish out the week, we opened a few pumpkins to check out what is happening inside. There were seeds and stringy pulp. Inside the white pumpkin, the seeds were darker than those in the white pumpkin. They smelled good, too, and the texture was frequently compared to pineapple. During the week, the Beginners also worked on pattern recognition and continuation, as well as Letter identification and scissor handling through fun games and activities. Who knew pumpkins could teach us so much?
Pumpkin-palooza
10/6/2017
This Did you know that pumpkins are not just orange? They can be green, yellow, blue and white. They can be bumpy, smooth, oval, circle, tall, short, big and small. There are so many different types of pumpkins that the Beginners are just starting to explore. By the end of the month, I suspect we will have quite a few pumpkin experts among us. To start a study, we first need to find out the things we already know about a topic. This process may also generate questions. For example, we know pumpkins grow from a seed, but do they grow on trees? We know we can buy them in a store, but how do they get to a store and where do they come from? This month, we will be exploring all of these questions, plus more. To get into a autumn state of mind, the dramatic play area was transformed into a pumpkin patch, including leaves to gather into piles with rakes, pumpkins, picnic baskets and a picnic blanket. The writing center was enhanced with pumpkin shapes that the children decorate endlessly and a farm center was added to encourage interest in the harvest season. We used different mediums to create some fun pumpkins, like these puffy paint pumpkins and tissue paper suncatchers. Next week, we will dive into our study and learn about how pumpkins grow. Here are some more pictures from our week. After sharing stars from the shape buckets, we read a story called Stars by Mary Lyn Ray and made some art inspired by the pictures. The Beginners worked their fine motor skills by using pipettes to drip watercolors on their papers. Then, we sprinkle salt on top and watched it make a starry sky. Rain + Boots + 3/4 Year olds = fun. Gotta enjoy it before it freezes!
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Annalee JohnsonEK Teacher Archives
January 2021
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