Construction Site Tour
12/15/2017
Learning at PNA is often an adventure. We love to seek out and create unique experiences for our students to be able to learn first hand about the real world. On Friday, we were able to go on one of those unique adventures right outside our own doors by getting to visit the construction site at Abbott Loop Community Church. It's not every day that a group of 3,4 and 5 year olds get to step foot in a real construction site! This was the perfect capstone for our Buildings unit, as the children were able to see everything we have been talking about for the past several weeks, like what buildings are made out of, how they are built and the different things that buildings need, like pipes and wires. We were also able to see workers using some tools, caterpillar tire tracks and a big scissor lift. Builders and Destroyers
12/8/2017
What have the Beginners been up to the last few weeks? Well, they have been busy designing, engineering, building, constructing and deconstructing. We've learned that buildings are made of lots of different shapes put together. The Beginners used some paper shapes to make different types of buildings. They have also been building different types of structures out of blocks, including airports, zoos, hotels, and houses. To encourage teamwork and communication, the Beginners all worked together to make a structure, using a spotlight and some colorful window blocks. Watch the 10 minutes of work in this one minute video! We learned about different types of tools and what they are used for. We began to use the tools for stamping with paint, but the Beginners had some other plans with the shiny, black paint... We talked about different types of construction vehicles and how those are also tools that people use to build. The Beginners made their own trucks out of many of the shapes that we have studied during our shape of the week activities. While it's fun to build with small blocks, we wanted to know what it was like to build on a larger scale. Over the past few weeks, the Beginners and EKers have been collecting big boxes, but hadn't decided how to use them, until now. We spent a day pretending to be forklifts, bulldozers and flatbeds, moving boxes from where they were stored to where we were going to build. The next day, the children became construction workers and started to stack and tape the boxes to begin forming walls. On Friday, the Beginners hosted a parent breakfast. We read the book The Three Billy Goats Gruff. In the story, the BIlly Goats have to cross a bridge in order to get to a meadow with grass, but the bridge is guarded by a mean, scary troll. After reading the story, the Beginners worked with their parents to construct bridges out of paper. The goal was to make a bridge that was able to hold the weight of 15 small dinosaurs. The activity explored different types of bridges and showed how each bridge supports weight in different ways. Beginners on Broadway
12/2/2017
Teaching young children to be courageous comes in many different forms. They need to be able to stand up for themselves and others, be bold to do what others are not and do the right thing, even when everyone around them tells them otherwise. Courage requires confidence, because without confidence, it is difficult to have the courage to take on intimidating tasks. When I think back to the first week of school and singing songs where each child takes a turn to dance, jump or act silly, many of the Beginners would not participate. But through the weeks and months, we've created a culture within our classroom where it is fun and exciting to be put in the spotlight. We encourage uniqueness and accept each other for their silliest moments and their hardest moments. I truly believe that this acceptance helps build confidence and, therefore, creates children who are courageous and bold. Friday evening the children all lined up, and even though there were some nervous tears right before going on stage, all 14 Beginners were able to perform a masterpiece show tune! If that doesn't exude confidence and courage, I don't know what does. |
Annalee JohnsonEK Teacher Archives
January 2021
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