Shirley G. Moore Lab School

Here are a few photos from the short week. True both stories are related to building, but that might have something to do with the excitement that has come about with the addition of the new door in the block area. Also, this has been one of the main hubs were many children have come together: working with one another and reinforcing many important social goals as well as relationships forming in the classroom. The play has only grown in complexity as well as in popularity over the past 9.5 weeks. We will continue to bring opportunities to practice literacy, art, higher-level/critical think skills, as well as other developmental skills into the block area to support the overall developmental growth of all the children involved in the building excitement. However, I assure you great things are happening in other areas of the classroom as well as outside. Unfortunately we didn't capture as many photos in those areas during this short week. ENJOY!

Juliet, Alexis, and Hadley teamed up and created their own houses on a smaller scale, using the unit blocks, peg people, and carpet squares to furnish their homes. They talked with one another and negotiated where the walls should go, the size of each home, and what carpet they wanted inside. It was a great opportunity for the girls to work collaboratively. We also saw their interest in building carry over to the larger scale, hollow block house building.

The addition of the child-sized door to the block area has caused an explosion of new ideas, collaboration, and excitement in the block area. Many children were already working together with building houses, however there always seemed to be an issue with the houses being too short or too crowded. There was also the trouble with having a useable door that didn't disrupt the roof. The teachers thought about creating an actual door to not only help with the previously mentioned problems, they thought it would be an extension to the play and create new play themes while inviting new children to join in the building experience. It has done exactly that. Upon first use of the door, the houses were too small and could only fit a few children. Through discussions with the teachers as well as one another, the children realized they could expand the walls and make room for many children. Ross also told a story at large group to show the limitless possibilities of the door - sharing a story where a magical door led to the jungle, the ocean, and a new gym (that Ross didn't when he was in preschool). All you needed to do was use your imagination and it would appear on the other side. Ask your child about the story: where the door lead to? what were the things within each newly invented space? if they were to use the magic door, where would it take them and what things would they find? We would love to hear their ideas!

Please click on the following .doc documents for short photos with quotes from the children from the last couple of weeks.

wednesday 18.doc

thursday 11-19.doc

monday 16.doc

making nests 11.23.doc

Enjoy!!

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that the end of this session is coming to an end in just a week! It has been wonderful to watch as the children in this class have come together to create a strong community over the fall term!

The addition of the grocery store has offered new opportunities for social interactions in the dramatic play area. The children have taken on different roles as shoppers and as the cashiers. During the first week of the grocery store, a large group of children created a large house out of hollow blocks for the shoppers to live in. There was a crew who were building the house, asking the "shoppers" what kind of house they wanted. There shoppers began to collect food and make a kitchen area in side the house to store the food and cook.

The science area as been very popular with the addition of the live tadpoles, animal homes that the children have created, a nest making table, and DVD player with short video clips of animal migration. These new materials have renewed the children's interest in science and inquiry.

The children continue to delight at participating in cooking projects. The cooking table is usually busy no matter what the menu is for that day! Encouraged by the teachers, the children discuss which ingredients they are able to taste when we eat the cooking project for snack. The teachers also try to revisit the experience itself and the process of making snack with those who participated and allow them to share what they remember with their peers.

Small groups have been a time for learning as well as developing new friendships and connections. It has been fun to see how excited the children are to be a part of the small groups! Children in each small group were excited to predict what they would see on their field trip and even more excited to reflect on their field trip experiences afterwards. Each small group prepared a final project and are excited to share it with the families on our end of the session party on Thursday, December 3rd, 2:15-3:30. The "Cooking's Small Group" project is now in our memories and tummies, since we ate it for snack last Thursday.

It has been a wonderful experience for me to have the opportunity to get to know the children and families in Dalia's class! You have all been very supportive and kind! Though I am sad to move on, I look forward to coming back to visit! Thank you for allowing me to share in a wonderful learning experience with your children,

Have a wonderful holiday!

Natalie

Weekly Lesson Plan
Week of: Nov. 23 - Dec. 2, 2009
Lead teaching this week: Rachel

Overview and goals
The classroom has been busy thispast week! The children are developing stronger friendships and playing cooperatively this week. A lot of activity has been happening in the block area as the children work together to make large houses for everyone to fit
into! The new activities this week will help encourage higher level thinking, as the students will hypothesize the measurement of different objects and answer questions that have more than one answer for the question of the day. As the first session comes to a close, we have truly seen many friendships blossom during the session. The children have become comfortable with the classroom routines and daily schedule. We feel it is important to establish this strong social community in the fall with the long winter break, as it makes coming back in January that much smoother. We will be opening the focus of the classroom to include more opportunities for higher-level thinking skills to be practiced as well as bringing in more teacher-facilitated activities.

Art center
Sensory material
~The glurch has run its course and we are ready for a new material. It will be
replaced with Plasticine clay. This is oil-based clay that does not dry, allowing the children to mold it into something day after day. This will give the children the opportunity to explore a new material and discover the similarities and differences between the other moldable materials we have had this year.
~We will add soap to the water table and invite the children to wash dishes and other materials around the room. This will support children’s fine-/large-motor skills and social interactions skills as they negotiate the use of tools and discuss what toys need to be washed. We also want to instill a sense of respect/ownership of the toys and
environment within each child. We talked at large group about how keeping
the toys clean and putting them away when they are not being used are two
ways to respect our toys.
Expressive material
~Since paint was a big hit earlier in the year we will bring it back next week at the
easel. There will be a variety of colors, including black and white so children can experiment and make various shades of familiar colors. Smaller paintbrushes will be at the easel in order to let the children practice more fine-motor skills and allow for finer-detailed paintings.
~Weaving boards will be introduced at the art table. Weaving creates great
opportunities to foster fine-motor strength/coordination as well as challenges children to focus on the over/under pattern involved with stringing the yarn through the weaving board. There will be a variety of yarn colors so they children can make their own creations. Later, larger strips of ribbon will be introduced as well as a larger loom for the
children to utilize their new weaving skills!

Science Center
~Many of our beans have sprouted and are growing quite feverishly! The children continue to visit them daily, watering their sprouts and comparing with others. We will hybrid the science focus of plant growth with the math topic of measurement. Unifix
cubes will be added to the table to help chart the growth of each child’s plant. The children will also be encouraged to take the cubes to other areas of the room and measure various objects. This will familiarize the children with the idea of measurement and foster a richer understanding of the comparison terms taller, longer, shorter, bigger, smaller (especially in regards to comparing their plants).

Math and manipulative Center
~Small Legos will be added to the manipulative center in order to support the continued interest in building and constructing. Legos offer a great opportunity to create “just the right thing” needed to extend a dramatic play theme: whether it be a new tool in the construction area or a new control/radio for the spaceship. We are seeing creations being incorporated into dramatic play and want to foster the creativity/imaginations of the children by encouraging them to think of Legos as a material that can be used in limitless ways!
~Marble ramps will be added to the small cave. We want to introduce the children to concept of motion and get them familiar with how the marbles move down the ramps, because later we will introduce the Marbleworks construction set. The children will be able to make a variety of structures using ramps, turns, and a variety of others unique pieces. This supports children’s fine-motor skills as well as their social interactions and
cooperative play as they work together to make structures. Also, it will support problem solving skills as the children experiment with how the marbles will travel through the structures.

Language and Literacy Center
~There has been some book making and note writing at the writing center over the past week. The books have been incorporated into block and dramatic play, being used as
maps and blueprints for a future building project. There will continue to be supplies for the children to create their books and write notes, and the teachers will be checking in to help dictate stories and instructions as needed.
~One big change this week is the closet by the sinks will be turned into a book nook. There will be pillows, comfy seating and books on tape in there. This will allow the children to get away from the busyness of the classroom and have some quiet time. Also, the books support their pre-literacy skills and familiarize them with new books.

Block Center
~This past week the children have been very busy building houses. They have been working together to make large houses and then use other materials around the room in their building, such as dog leashes as “internal electrical wires.” In order to support more house building pipes, string, and wire will be added. Also, there will be pictures of windows, doors and indoor furnishing that can be added/taped to the structures to support their building. One exciting thing that will be added is a door (or two) that the children can use in their house building play! All of this will support their large motor skills but also their problem-solving skills as they think about and figure out how to build
structures. It will also support their social skills as they work together to complete structures and share materials.

Dramatic Play
~Many of the children have expressed an interest in space and gravity, stemming from the science small group. In order to expand on these interests one of the caves will be turned into a spaceship cockpit. The children can go into the cave and pretend like they
are driving a spaceship! Control panels, keyboards, headsets, and walk-talkies will be available to make this cosmic travel come alive. This will support cooperative play as the children pretend to fly together as well as their imaginative play as they take off into space!

Large Motor
~The new set-up in the gym was a huge hit this week! The children loved the rolling hill and jumping to hit the ball. The set-up will be the same next week but there will be minor changes. Scooters will be added to the relay lane so the children can pull each other back and forth. There will also be new large group games for the children to play. This will support the children’s large motor skills and physical fitness.
~On the playground there will be shovels and buckets available in order to encourage the children to continue digging their huge holes. The soccer nets will also be put out so the children can use them to make goals. This will support their cardiovascular endurance.

Announcements/Reminders
~ Mark your calendar…we are having our “Good Bye” party for the student teachers on Thursday, December 3! We invite all the families to come and join us for snack (starting around 10.30a) as well as for a sing-a-long to say goodbye to Elizabeth, Rachel, and Stacy. See the newsletter posted on our classroom webpage for additional information.
~ With the party on Thursday, you may be wondering if we have school on Friday, December 4? Yes, we will have one more “regular” day of school before we take off for break.
~ Be sure to read the newsletter for additional information about important dates and ideas for things to do over our long winter break!
~Small Group groups are wrapping up this week. Elizabeth’s group will be making a trip to the pet store on Wednesday this week, and Stacy’s and Rachel’s groups will be venturing out next week. Permission slips will be sent home soon!

Snack:
Monday: Cheese & Crackers
Tuesday: Open Snack-Fries by made by the children
Wednesday: Open Snack-Rice Cakes
Thursday: NO SCHOOL
Friday: NO SCHOOL
*All snacks served with milk & water, unless otherwise specified*

Dear Families,

Can you believe there are only two more weeks of school before break? The fall semester has gone so fast. The classroom has been a busy and exciting place: children have been engaged in rich dramatic play and our small groups went on several field trips in the community. Last week Jessica's food small group took a field trip to the restaurant Ōm in downtown Minneapolis, and got a tour from the chef (Carolina's dad!). This week, Emily's music small group visited the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis and had a private music class. This coming Wednesday the animal small group will be taking a trip to Como Zoo to conclude their exploration of animal habitats. In the classroom, children planted lettuce and lima bean seeds in dirt and discussed how plants grow. Children also started to work with clay, and will continue to explore clay techniques next week. At the water table, children determined if objects float or sank, and recorded their observations on a chart. This activity introduced children to the idea of forming and testing hypotheses and continued to expand their knowledge of the properties of water. Children's sociodramatic play has also really expanded in the past few weeks; children have become veterinarians, doctors, construction workers, and firefighters as they work on communication, sharing, and creative skills in the dramatic play and block areas.

Small Groups Update:

Music/Movement: The music/movement small group went on a field trip to MacPhail Center for Music in downtown Minneapolis. During our exploratory music class, the children played percussive instruments and the autoharp. We also created an art project, participated in creative movement activities and concluded with a parachute game. The children expanded on what we had talked about in our small group meetings about tone, rhythm and pitch by participating in all these activities.

Food: Over the past two weeks, our group has been discussing restaurants. We read books about restaurants and talked our own experiences at restaurants. We talked about different parts of a restaurant, such as the dining room and kitchen, and discussed different jobs at a restaurant. Our field trip to Ōm was very exciting! After putting our coats in the coat check and getting a coat check number, we went into the kitchen. We saw a big tandoor oven, smelled spices, squirted a giant hose in the sink, saw a huge mixer, an oven, and walked into a huge refrigerator. We saw the storeroom and soda machine. Then, children drew their favorite part of the kitchen and were treated to delicious cookies and fresh naan bread. This week, children have been representing their knowledge of restaurants by playing restaurant in the classroom. Children have taken on the roles of cooks, waiters/waitresses, and customers. Next week we will have cooking projects to wrap up our food small group.

Animals: Children expanded their discussion of animal habitats to the classroom pets. After examining the rats, the cockroaches, and the crayfish, children talked about what things the animals had in their habitats. Then, armed with magnifying glasses, the children headed out to the small playground to find signs of wild animal habitats.

End of term party:

We have had such a wonderful time working with all of the children and watching them grow, learn, and build friendships. To say goodbye to Nyna and the student teachers and also celebrate the end of a great semester, please mark your calendars for our last day of school event! On Thursday, December 3rd at 2:15, we will be having a party with a special snack and a sing-along. Family members are invited! Everyone will get a chance to meet Jenn, the new lead teacher, at the sing-along party. You will probably also see Jenn in the classroom during the last week of school as she visits and gets to know the children.

Thanks so much and have a great holiday weekend,
Jessica

During the past week, the children experienced some exciting changes to the room! Jessica introduced clay at large group and discussed how it is used to create objects, such as mugs, bowls and sculptures. To build on this awareness, the children were given the opportunity to freely explore the clay and used tools such as rolling pins and hammers. This week, as the children continue to explore the properties of clay, teachers will model and encourage representational designs. Last week, the children explored the scientific concepts of sinking and floating at the water table, and formulated their own hypothesis as to whether objects such as ping pong balls, feathers and golf balls would sink or float. Last week, the children also planted seeds into individual cups with potting soil while reviewing what a seed needs to grow. This week, we will explore a new topic at our science table as we continue to check for growth in the seeds. The children are now able to use magnetic balls and rods in order to explore the properties of magnetism. Finally, the back of the room has been busy with construction workers designing and constructing buildings. This week, the interest in construction will be expanded by providing materials such as pipes, carpet squares, representational pictures from the environment, and real doors to enhance the level of creative play.

Expressive materials:
- The drawing and collage table continues to feature a variety of collage and sculpture objects, such as tissue paper, caps, pom-pom balls, small wooden shapes, and yarn. These items strengthen children's symbolic representation, creative, and fine motor skills. Small chalkboards, chalk and erasers are a new addition to this area. As a result, children can continue to explore the properties of chalk which was previously available at the easel. The art table remains a place where children's fine motor skills and creativity are fostered in addition to opportunities for social interaction as the children share materials and collaborate with one another.

-As chalk exploration moves over to the art table, sponge painting with brightly colored paints is available at the floor easel. Children continue to show an interest in experimenting with textures as well as discussing creations with one another. Hand-eye coordination and fine-motor control continue to be promoted in this area.

-New musical instruments have been added to the middle cave this week to provide the children with a wider variety of sounds to include in their ever growing musical creations. Clackers, ethnic drums, maracas, tambourines, and triangles are available alongside the keyboard. The children continue to explore the CD player featuring Ella Jenkins rhythm songs. A voice recorder is also available so children may create their own recordings. Musical instruments promote the development of psychomotor, perceptual and listening skills, as well as developing creativity!

-The water table takes an exciting direction this week as children have the opportunity to wash toys and objects in our classroom! Recently, children have shown an interest in cleaning and dish-washing in the housekeeping area. Furthermore, this activity promotes a discussion of the various ways in which we use water. Soap has been added to the water as well as scrub brushes, drying racks, and water pitchers for the children to use. This activity will be initiated by washing toy dishes and giving the children an opportunity to locate other items in need of washing. The water table continues to be a place where social interactions are fostered.

-Clay continues to be available at the sensory table this week. New tools such as textured hammers allow children to enhance their creations with elements of design. Clay knives and rolling pins continue to be available. As the children continue to gain familiarity with how this material is used, teachers will begin modeling and facilitating discussions at the table about how to mold, shape and create symbolic representations with the clay. Clay art will be featured in the center of the table as a way to promote these discussions.

-Over the past week, the block area has literally been under construction as children have built houses, cars, and various buildings. Screwdrivers, hammers, saws, and pliers continue to be available alongside the hard hats and caution tape. This week, the hollow blocks have been expanded to include wooden doors. These doors complete any home or building the children create. In addition, piping and carpet squares are available to enhance construction projects. Finally, there are representational photographs of items such as store fronts, clocks, and windows. These may provide children with ideas of what to build, or what other elements could be included within their structure. The block area encourages the development of spatial terminology and explorations into balance and stability. In addition, blocks encourage the development of representational thinking and socio-dramatic play.

-The first cave features a new dramatic play opportunity this week. The cave has been transformed into a spaceship! A control panel, head phones and walkie-talkies are available. Furthermore, children are surrounded by stars, moons, and pictures of the solar system. By creating this set-up, it is hoped that new children will be drawn into the cave and that cooperative play, communication, and discussions of outer-space will be fostered.

- The housekeeping area continues to be a central area of play for many children. To build on the restaurant-themed play of some of the children, restaurant props such as menus and chef hats are available, along with the usual dolls, dishes, and plastic food. The housekeeping area strengthens children's perspective-taking, sharing, symbolic representation, problem solving, and communication skills.

-The computers continue to be available offering Millie's Math House and Sammy's Science House. These games build sequencing, 1-1 correspondence, and letter recognition skills. In addition, children are learning how to operate a computer, use a mouse, take turns and interact with each other while using computers.

-Thick parquetry blocks, also known as tangram shapes, continue to be available. These foster the development of shape, color, patterning, 1-1 correspondence, part-to-whole recognition, and matching skills. Counting games, and the abacus, also remain available. These activities foster 1-1 correspondence and counting skills.

-A beginning memory game is available this week. Children turn over picture cards, until they find a matching pair. In addition to memory, this activity supports concepts of recognizing similarities and differences as well as turn-taking.

-Assorted collection of puzzles fostering fine motor development, visual discrimination, shape recognition, and part-whole relations continue to be available.

-The third cave features the small Legos. Many children continue to show an interest in constructing with these miniature sets. Lego construction builds children's fine motor skills, representational skills, and social skills such as turn-taking and cooperative play. Dramatic play is also seen as many children are creating structures for the Lego people and interacting with one another.

-This past week, children followed written pictorial directions in order to plant their own seeds. We also discussed how seeds have roots that grow out of the seed. This week, we will continue to water and observe any changes to these seeds.

- Magnets are now being explored at the science center. We feel the children are ready for a new topic and magnets allow vast opportunities for critical thinking and question asking. Magnetic balls and rods serve many purposes as children can manipulate and play with them, while also observing magnetic properties and interactions. Furthermore, bar magnets and magnetic balls are available. As the children explore, it is anticipated that they will discover that not all objects stick to the magnet. This hypothesis will be tested as children experiment with applying the magnet to various objects. With this new topic we have attempted to provide a variety of activities to allow the children to investigate and enquire about the properties of magnets. Also, because the force of magnetism is a more abstract topic, we will introduce the idea now and may revisit similar experiments later in the school year to expand on prior knowledge. The science table continues to foster social interactions by allowing children to make discoveries and share ideas together.

-For the first time this year, the back room adjacent to the art table is available as a space for children to gather. This area was created with the intent of giving children a place to relax from the noisy activity of the classroom. Children are invited into this cozy area to listen to books on tape. Fabric and strings of lights drape overhead while a rug, couch and over-sized pillows provide comfortable areas for lounging.

-The book area continues to be another quiet space for children to relax. Books relating to building and construction are available as a way to tie into the activity in the block area. Classic stories that focus on familiar songs, rhyme and repetition are also available, building phonemic awareness and phonological skills. By reading a book and looking at illustrations, children are expanding their print awareness, while continuing to increase their vocabulary.

-The writing center continues to be a place where children write letters, and seal special projects into envelopes. Alphabet stickers and alphabet paper letters continue to be available in order to foster alphabetic identification.

-In the gym, there continues to be the rolling hill to promote balance and vestibular awareness. The A-frame allows children to jump and hit a hanging ball from the light supporting hand-eye coordination, depth perception, as well as jumping and landing skills. The monkey bars "attached" to the climbing wall create a raised climbing structure that challenges the children's eye-hand/eye-foot coordination and creates opportunities to safely take risks in the gym. Throughout the week, teachers will lead various relay games in a running lane to promote endurance, cooperation, and muscular strength.

-The playground continues to feature the climbing equipment, boat, and swings. Balls, tricycles, rakes, wheelbarrows, shovels, and wagons continue to be available. The playground is a place where children continue to develop gross motor skills and meaningful social interactions, while engaging in the natural world.

Snack:
Monday: String Cheese & Apples
Wednesday: Open Snack-Letter Cheese-Its
Thursday: Special party snack

Overview and Goals

This session is coming to an end and we will spend time talking about saying good-bye to our wonderful student teachers and winter break approaching. I will emphasize that I will be in the classroom when the children come back from break. We will continue to draw children's attention to life cycles all around us. We continue to notice the changes taking place with the trees and nature in general around our school, comparing the way these looked like at the beginning of the year and how these look now. We have talked about how these will look like during the winter. Full cycle will take place after spring and summer next year! Discussion about hibernation and other ways animals survive winter have allowed us to make one more connection to life cycles. During the next couple of weeks, we will expand and deepen our exploration of animals in winter and reintroduce the topic of migration. The tadpoles, our new classroom pets, will allow us to reinforce the cycle's concept as well as that of transformation. We will continue to support children's expression of what they know and what is interesting to them through art, conversations, songs and movement.

Expressive Arts

~We will introduce watercolors to our art area and encourage the children to use this new media to represent their ideas.
~Construction paper, natural collage materials, glue, scissors, tape, and markers are always available for the children to express themselves creatively.

Sensory Materials
~Glurch will be available this Monday. Next Monday the popular play-dough will be back and stay for the remainder of the session. We will allow the children to continue to create homes for animals while taking note and documenting their thoughts.

Dramatic and Symbolic Play

~The back of our classroom continues to be a busy place, where customers buy groceries and take them to their homes (built with our own hollow blocks). The teachers will spend more time supporting children's understanding of buying, taking groceries home, unpacking, and preparing meals out of them. We will also talk about money and give the children the experience of dealing with it.
~ Our hibernating cave continues to draw the children's attention and interest. Many children have gotten together to have "bear parties" and "look for food" before winter comes. Children's interest in bears is apparent to us; we will continue to provide opportunities for them to discover and discuss "bear life."
~Dresses, purses, ties, and vests are available in this area to support children's dramatic play scenarios.
~Tools and hard hats continue to be available by the hollow blocks area. Children seemed curious about building and excited to build their own homes out of blocks.

Science Center

~Our large science area continues to support different yet related topics of interest in our classroom. A variety of furs are available for the children to explore and think about which animals would need that kind of fur and why.
~ We are reintroducing the topic of migration as a solution for animals during wintertime. We will deepen children's explorations of these topic by allowing children to watch short clips related to migration, asking interesting questions and sparking children's curiosity around this theme. A short story, part told by the teacher and part filled in by the children will encourage children to ask questions and figure out their own theories related to this topic.
~The empty nests found in our playground will allow us to not only talk about which animals used to live in those nests and where have they gone... we have a nest weaving station by the science area to support children's inquiries on the migration topic as well as engage their problem solving skills while trying to make one!

Language and Literacy

~An assortment of papers, envelopes, colored pencils, staplers, tape is located in the writing center along with an alphabet. ~Mailboxes are situated in the literacy area. This week we will put children's pictures on designated spots and formally introduce how to use the mailbox.
~An assortment of books about hibernation, trees, animals in winter and old favorites are available in different areas of the classroom.

Math, Manipulative and Games

We continue to offer opportunities to deepen the children's understanding of seriation and sequencing. We also have patterning materials available. Patterning reinforces the concept of cycles by allowing the children to see and experience first hand the creation of cycles with simple materials. They are able to notice predictability and recognize relationships.
~Sequencing cards related to frogs and tress are available. Real tree photos at showing season changes are available for the children to order. The frog pictures allow children to follow the frogs' life cycle from egg to adult frog.
~Self-correcting Montessori cylinders are still popular in this area. Children feel proud and successful as they figure out the "rule" behind this activity.
~Mini pegs are available at the light table for patterning and creative expression.
~Mobilos, K-nex and pop oids are still popular creative building materials available in one of our caves. These creative building materials foster symbolic representation, creative thinking, manual dexterity and hand strength. We also have paper and pencils to encourage the children to plan or draw their already built creations and support symbolic representation.
~Puzzles support the development of part/whole relationships, synthesizing and had-eye coordination.
~Games with rules are a popular classroom activity. The children enjoy our "home" made memory and bingo games with our own classroom photos and photos related to topics of interest.

Block area

~Hollow blocks along with tools for building and hard hats continue to be part of our back of the room environment. Children have started to create more complex structures and use these to store the food bought in the store.
~The grocery store continues to be a popular place to socialize; this is especially true for the "small cooking group" participants, who had a first hand experience with going to the grocery store and finding specific ingredients for a cooking project (which the whole classroom delighted eating during snack last Thursday).
~The Unit blocks are often used to complement creations made with the pop-oids. K-nex or to add to animals homes. Children also use the unit blocks to add to the hollow block structures.
If there are any avid block builders within our families, we would love to have you in our classroom during free play and spark some new ideas during our construction times.

Large Motor

~Scheduled gym time is on Mondays. A relay running lane has been created to support teamwork and cardiovascular endurance. This lane will also provide space to practice motor patterns such as, skipping, galloping and hopping. The matted rolling hill promotes spatial awareness, directional awareness, and the ability to start and stop. It also promotes the development of core strength and cardiovascular and muscular endurance. The monkey bars are now attached to the climbing wall to promote climbing, reaching, and grasping. It also promotes the development of children's directional awareness, risk taking, and muscular strength and endurance. The children's depth perception, hand-eye coordination, climbing and jumping skills are addressed as they try out our new jumping station. This station features a hanging ball as a target for children to hit with their hand before landing. The beanbag toss fosters skills such as throwing, aim and accuracy, and hand-eye coordination.
~Our playground continues to provide the children with wonderful opportunities for running, ride tricycles, digging, climbing, balancing, crossing monkey bars and enjoy nature. Some days we bring a variety of toys and equipment for the children to use and other days they enjoy what nature provides.
If we have snow this week, we will introduce our wonderful sledding hill!!
Parent volunteers are always welcomed during this time, not only to support the teachers during this activity, but also to enjoy the children's shrieks and expressive faces.

Music and Movement/Large Group

~This week we will talk about saying good-bye to the student teachers.
~We will count-down how many days until winter break and how many days until school starts again.
~The concept of Migration; one more cycle in life will be reintroduced during large group and connect it to other cycles we have talked about. It will also connect with our bird nests' items and furs available in the science area.
~We will sing a new hibernation/migration song.

*Our End of the Session party will take place on Thursday, December 3rd: 2:15-3:30. All families are invited for snack, show of our small group documentation panels and sing-along. Please mark your calendars and join us!!

Hope to see you all,
Dalia

As we begin to wrap up the autumn session of the school year (wow...we're almost a third of the way done with the school year!), we want open our focus to include the fostering of higher-level thinking. With a strong social community established in the classroom, we feel we can really begin to challenge the critical thinking skills of the children through richer scientific question asking and hypothesis testing. The photos from this week are meant to reflect of some the ways we facilitating these opportunities.

Large group has become not only a time to sing songs, tell stories, and have fun...it has become a means of proposing questions and challenging the critical thinking skills of the children. One day Rachel brought the magnets from the science table to large group and asked the children what they knew about magnets. The children knew that magnets were things that stuck together, however Rachel challenged them with the question of why the magnets stick together. She also asked what things do magnets stick to, as the children also knew magnets don't stick to everything. One of the most puzzling concepts came about when Rachel faced the north sides of two magnets towards each other on a pencil (look closely at the first photo). As one magnet floated above the other, she challenged the children to get them to stick together. No one could...not even the other teachers. When she turned the top magnet over, they stuck! Although these concepts are very abstract, it is important for children to activities such as these to challenge their thinking and use their brains in new ways. The expectation is not to fully grasp why, but rather fuel the inquisitive mind and pushing the children to think about things in a new way: supporting the many areas of critical/scientific thinking skill development.

We have seen the higher-level thinking (hypothesis creating and testing) taking place in the water table as the children conduct "sink or float" experiments. With a variety of materials to investigate, the children have been overheard talking about whether the objects they were about to place in the water would sink or float. The repetition of the experiments from day to day also reinforced the child's understanding of the concept by consistently yielding the same results (i.e. every time Otto and Helena put the ping pong balls in the water, the floated...every time they put the golf balls in, they sank).

Another area where exploration and inquiry has been taking place is at the science table while the children have been exploring glurch. The children initially explored its properties by touching and stretching the material, however quickly became curious with figuring out how far it could stretch. Children held the glurch in outstretched arms and watch in amazement and wonder as it slowly made its way to the floor. Then, children began pulling it with a partner (as seen in the second photo), resulting in glurch strands longer than 10ft! These interesting discoveries will be leading us into a new focus on measurement as our fall session comes to a close.

We have also been creating small stories and looking at photos from the previous day with the children to help extend their play as well as help them recall what they did the day prior. As you know, house build has been very popular lately. By looking at pictures of the previous day's constructions, the children were more motivated to revisit the play theme as well as add more detail to their structures based off of what they saw in the photos (as exemplified in the last 2 photos with the plethora of "food" options located inside the large hollow blocks).

As there were field trips occurring throughout the week, there were many more opportunities to engage in one-on-one-conversation and intimate interactions with smaller groups of children. The teachers were able to model and support conversation in dramatic play as well as normal interactions.

Bob leading an activity that emphasizes body awareness and isolates body part movements, such as moving the mouth and elbows (shown above).

The children began noticing the pile of leaves and started raking them, lying in them, and throwing them up in the air to see them blow in the wind and land on each other.

The children were experimenting with flashlights and mixing colors using colored disks, stimulating perceptual awareness and cognition.

Doctor play has been emerging outside in the playground. Here, Katie told a couple of children, "Help, my eyebrows are falling off!" Maia and Beatrix took turns giving Katie "shots" on the eyebrows to fix them.

Kitty play is continuing in the classroom. The children were negotiating roles as the caretaker and kitties.

As the U of M grounds people were chopping up part of an oak branch, some of children had an opportunity to see the process. Some of the logs were transferred to our sand box area in the playground. Here the children were observing the logs and the mysterious hole that was created in the logs. Questions were asked, "how did this happen?" "What do you think happened here?" and "why?" One child answered, "The branches were cut so we can play with them...But the tree is sad because it got cut!"

Madeline writing a letter to Mom and Dad. As she was writing "Dad," she saw me write a D on another paper and said, "That's not how you write a 'D,' this is a 'D'!"

November 16, 2009

Dear families,

Another exciting week at the lab school is behind us! As our time as student teachers is winding down, it is consistently a pleasure to come to school and witness the joy and curiosity in each of your children. They have each shown growth over the past several weeks, and I have a great sense of pride to have been a part of this important time in their lives.

I enjoyed my week as lead teacher, and it was wonderful see all of my curricular ideas come to life in the classroom. The body awareness aspect of my curriculum took off with great gusto! The different sized paper cut outs of hands and feet sparked a lot of interest in size. Many of the children placed their hands over the cut outs to find "their" size. One of the children in Frances' class demonstrated his developing understanding of size by saying, "here's the baby feet, and here's the daddy feet." The mirrors in the classroom were a fun spot for children to examine their facial features and compare them with other children's features. Many funny faces were enjoyed as well.

Our large groups for the week were also focused on body awareness. The children enjoyed a new rendition of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." In Ayuko's class, we added a verse to one of our classroom favorites, "Open, Shut Them," which involved blinking and winking! Children in both classes had fun dancing to "The Freeze Song" in the gym, and they did a great job listening for the musical changes that indicated freezing and dancing.

Painting in the classroom took on a new life this past week as the children explored painting on pieces of standing plexiglass. Many of the children in the classroom are regulars at the easel and art table, but this plexiglass set-up seemed to invite some new children into the realm of art. Children enjoyed looking through the plexiglass to see one another. One child in Ayuko's class was thrilled to learn that he could paint over and cover up a teacher's hand that was behind the plexiglass. The game interested two other children who came over to join in the activity.

The music and dancing center have also been a highly-frequented area in the classroom. The children are becoming more familiar with manipulating the mouse on the computer to select one of five song buttons It is such a joy to watch the children as they experiment with the cause and effect of clicking and hearing music! Children in both classes have enjoyed listening to the different genres of music and dancing accordingly. We have seen a great deal of marching to The Imperial March from "Stars Wars" and lots of movement with flowing scarves to a classical piece by Johann Strauss. I was surprised to see how many of the children have shown preferences for certain types of music and musical instruments. Overall, this area has been a great creative outlet for many children, and teachers (just ask to see Teacher Bob's jig).

The dramatic play areas are an ever-popular place. We have been reveling in the amount of group play that has been happening in both classes. Many of the children in Frances' class took a trip on a train made of cardboard boxes. One child even declared, "We need tickets!" We have been seeing whole litters of kitty cats in Ayuko's class, complete with human caregivers and delicious cat food! These group play experiences are truly creating a sense of community between the children. I have enjoyed watching the blossoming relationships and emerging social skills as the children learn to share materials and negotiate play themes.

After a long and successful run, our grocery store recently came to a close. We send thanks to all of you who sent in your food containers, and to those of you who were able to clue us in as to what types of foods your child likes to eat and cook. This information was so helpful as we supported play from the grocery store into the play kitchen. The children were tickled when we offered just the right spice for their mac and cheese or knew that they liked soy nut butter on their toast. This home-school connection makes our classroom community lively and meaningful.

I have enjoyed my time as lead teacher. The children teach me so much each day; their curiosity and excitement is a reminder of the kind of attitude I hope to bring with me to class. So, it is with that curiosity and excitement that I look forward to lead teaching again next week!

Sincerely,
Becky Barth

Announcements
• We are looking for a family to care for Peely during Thanksgiving break. If you are interested in helping out with our classroom gerbil, please let a teacher know!
• Please mark your calendars for our goodbye snack on Wednesday, December 2nd. It will take place on our second to last day of school at 10:15am. Please come and then spend the rest of the morning with us on the playground.
• Please consider hosting a playdate at an area park during the month of December. It will be nice for the children (and families) to connect during the long break. Let Eva know so the info can be in the calendar being prepared.
• During large group this week we will begin to talk about the winter break and the up-coming transitions. We will discuss how the student teachers will be going off to new schools soon, and how the children will have new student teachers when they return from break. Discussing these big transitions will help the children prepare for and process the changes, and it would benefit both the teachers and the children if you could discuss this at home as well.
• School will be closed on November 26th and 27th, due to Thanksgiving break. School will resume on Monday, November 30th.

Lesson Plan for Ayuko's Class
Lead Teacher: Becky
Week of November 23, 2009

Goals:
As the curriculum for this week developed, themes of opposites emerged; concepts of light and dark, wet and dry, tall and short, and large and small will be embedded in the various curriculum areas and large group times. In addition to supporting the children's exploration of opposites, we as teachers will also help them refine these explorations by highlighting "medium" and the middle of the extremes. We will continue this theme of finding a happy middle ground during play by supporting the children as they learn to consider their own desires as well as the desires of others.

Art
•Easel: After a two week break, the easel will return to the classroom. We will present dark paper and chalk for the children to explore. Students will learn color concepts, such as light and dark, and they will be able to use their fine motor skills to manipulate the chalk by blending and smearing.

Manipulatives
• Children will have the opportunity to use scissors at one of the manipulative ta-bles. We will present the children with lined paper and magazines so that they can practice the fine motor skill of cutting.
• New puzzles surrounding the themes of color, doctor, and animals will be avail-able. We will also incorporate a puzzle with interlocking pieces to scaffold de-veloping part-whole skills.

Sensory
• Modeling clay will be available this week at the play doh table. Modeling clay offers a unique opportunity as it will dry when exposed to air. Finished products can be painted and kept. Pictures of towers and tall buildings will be posted as inspiration for the children during their exploration of the new medium. Building with clay will support fine motor strength and precision, as well as creative ex-pression.
• Water will be added to the sand table so the children can experiment with the concepts of wet and dry. Molds and buckets will be available for the children to make sand castles and other structures. The sand table promotes sensory aware-ness as children feel and manipulate the sand; it is also a wonderful area for de-veloping social skills such as turn-taking.

Science
• A new, large light table will be presented in the cave area this week. Children will ex-plore the concepts of light and dark, as well as shadows. Translucent colored gels and discs will be available, along with flashlights and various natural materials to create shadows. The science area will enhance children's skills of inquiry, prediction, and ex-perimentation.

Math
• We will continue our exploration of weight and measurement this week. Children will be given the opportunity to use various measuring tools such as scales, tape-measures, and unit blocks. These mathematic opportunities will give children the chance to use their comparative thinking by finding out which item is longest, shortest, heaviest, and lightest.

Dramatic Play
• One of the dramatic play elements this week will be an area for playing doctor or vet, complete with tools and dress-up clothes. The area will be arranged in a spacious and thoughtful way so as to encourage social interaction. We as teachers will support the play by promoting empathy and other care-giving qualities.
• The kitchen and home area will be another focus in the dramatic play area. Children will have the opportunity to experiment in the play kitchen and go back and forth be-tween "home" and the "doctor" or "vet." This area will also promote social skills such as cooperation and play negotiation.
• The "little people" play will continue with the dollhouse and garages. Here, we will encourage children to act out scenarios that will help them learn conversation schemes and build the skill of symbolic representation.

Language and Literacy
• A new writing center will be presented for the children to practice writing on lined paper and exploring tools such as alphabet stencils and rulers. This area will help the children develop a concept of print, such as recognizing directionality of print, symbolic representation, and alphabet awareness.
• We will also be incorporating literacy elements into the doctor/vet office. Children will be able to write "prescriptions," fill in medical charts, and take phone messages. Writing that is embedded in play will help children realize the importance and usefulness of writ-ten language.
• The children have also been showing an interest in the workings of the computer. As such, we are going to have an alphabet program running so the children get the practice of pointing and clicking the mouse, as well as an animated phonics experience.

Construction
• In addition to the large, hollow blocks, new duplo blocks will be added to the construc-tion area. These blocks that click together will help the children build large, sturdy struc-tures that can easily be manipulated or combined with someone else's structure. We will also have a variety of duplo vehicles for the children to use and explore. Construction gives children the opportunity to use creative expression as well as learn the basic princi-ples needed for building, such as creating sturdy bases and symmetry. The large area for construction also encourages cooperation and group projects.

Music
• During large groups we will be singing some old favorites as well as some new songs. The theme of opposites will come up in songs such as "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Open, Shut Them." We will also be singing some silly songs that bring the children's attention to rhyming, such as "Willaby, Wallaby" and "The Name Game."

Large Group
• During large group this week we will begin to talk about the winter break and the up-coming transitions. We will discuss how the student teachers will be going off to new schools soon, and how the children will have new student teachers when they return from break. Discussing these big transitions will help the children prepare for and process the changes.

Large Motor
• During large group time in the gym, we will start to explore the parachute. Children will experiment with making the parachute go up, down, fast, and slow. This activity will strengthen large muscle groups while simultaneously allowing the children to work cooperatively.
• On the playground, we will be incorporating animal dress-up materials to en-courage large animal play. Children will be encouraged to become different ani-mals and move in new, interesting ways. Large muscle coordination and strength will be emphasized as the children hop, jump, crawl, gallop, and run.

Snack
Monday: Homemade Fries made by class & B-Day snack
Wednesday: Cheddar Bunnies & B-Day snack
Thursday: No School.

songs
"Open, Shut Them" (finger play)
Open shut them open shut them (open your hands and close them into a fist)
Give a little clap clap clap
Open shut them open shut them
Lay them in your lap lap lap
Creeping crawling creeping crawling, (walk your fingers up from your legs to your chin)
Right up to your chin chin chin (point to your chin)
Open wide, your little mouth (open your mouth wide and pretend to put your fingers in)
But do not let them in (hide your hands behind your back)

"Willaby, Wallaby"
Willaby wallaby (Name, but replace the first sound with a W: ie. Waia instead of Maia)
An elephant sat on (real name)
*Repeat

Goals:
As the curriculum for this week developed, themes of opposites emerged; concepts of light and dark, wet and dry, tall and short, and large and small will be embedded in the various curriculum areas and large group times. In addition to supporting the children's exploration of opposites, we as teachers will also help them refine these explorations by highlighting "medium" and the middle of the extremes. We will continue this theme of finding a happy middle ground during play by supporting the children as they learn to consider their own desires as well as the desires of others.

Art
•Easel: After a two week break, the easel will return to the classroom. We will present dark paper and chalk for the children to explore. Students will learn color concepts, such as light and dark, and they will be able to use their fine motor skills to manipulate the chalk by blending and smearing.

Manipulatives
• Children will have the opportunity to use scissors at one of the manipulative ta-bles. We will present the children with lined paper and magazines so that they can practice the fine motor skill of cutting.
• New puzzles surrounding the themes of color, doctor, and animals will be avail-able. We will also incorporate a puzzle with interlocking pieces to scaffold de-veloping part-whole skills.

Sensory
• Modeling clay will be available this week at the play doh table. Modeling clay offers a unique opportunity as it will dry when exposed to air. Finished products can be painted and kept. Pictures of towers and tall buildings will be posted as inspiration for the children during their exploration of the new medium. Building with clay will support fine motor strength and precision, as well as creative ex-pression.
• Water will be added to the sand table so the children can experiment with the concepts of wet and dry. Molds and buckets will be available for the children to make sand castles and other structures. The sand table promotes sensory aware-ness as children feel and manipulate the sand; it is also a wonderful area for de-veloping social skills such as turn-taking.

Science
• A new, large light table will be presented in the cave area this week. Children will explore the concepts of light and dark, as well as shadows. Translucent colored gels and discs will be available, along with flashlights and various natural materials to create shadows. The science area will enhance children's skills of inquiry, prediction, and ex-perimentation.

Math
• We will continue our exploration of weight and measurement this week. Children will be given the opportunity to use various measuring tools such as scales, tape-measures, and unit blocks. These mathematic opportunities will give children the chance to use their comparative thinking by finding out which item is longest, shortest, heaviest, and lightest.

Dramatic Play
• One of the dramatic play elements this week will be an area for playing doctor or vet, complete with tools and dress-up clothes. The area will be arranged in a spacious and thoughtful way so as to encourages social interaction. We as teachers will support the play by promoting empathy and other caregiving qualities.
• The kitchen and home area will be another focus in the dramatic play area. Children will have the opportunity to experiment in the play kitchen and go back and forth be-tween "home" and the "doctor" or "vet." This area will also promote social skills such as cooperation and play negotiation.
• The "little people" play will continue with the dollhouse and garages. Here, we will encourage children to act out scenarios that will help them learn conversation schemes and build the skill of symbolic representation.

Language and Literacy
• A new writing center will be presented for the children to practice writing on lined paper and exploring tools such as alphabet stencils and rulers. This area will help the children develop a concept of print, such as recognizing directionality of print, symbolic representation, and alphabet awareness.
• We will also be incorporating literacy elements into the doctor/vet office. Children will be able to write "prescriptions," fill in medical charts, and take phone messages. Writing that is embedded in play will help children realize the importance and usefulness of writ-ten language.
• The children have also been showing an interest in the workings of the computer. As such, we are going to have an alphabet program running so the children get the practice of pointing and clicking the mouse, as well as an animated phonics experience.

Construction
• In addition to the large, hollow blocks, new duplo blocks will be added to the construc-tion area. These blocks that click together will help the children build large, sturdy struc-tures that can easily be manipulated or combined with someone else's structure. We will also have a variety of duplo vehicles for the children to use and explore. Construction gives children the opportunity to use creative expression as well as learn the basic princi-ples needed for building, such as creating sturdy bases and symmetry. The large area for construction also encourages cooperation and group projects.

Music
During large groups we will be singing some old favorites as well as some new songs. The theme of opposites will come up in songs such as "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Open, Shut Them." We will also be singing some silly songs that bring the children's attention to rhym-ing, such as "Willaby, Wallaby" and "The Name Game."

Large Group
• During large group this week we will begin to talk about the winter break and the up-coming transitions. We will discuss how the student teachers will be going off to new schools soon, and how the children will have new student teachers when they return from break. Discussing these big transitions will help the children prepare for and process the changes.

Large Motor
• During large group time in the gym, we will start to explore the parachute. Children will experiment with making the parachute go up, down, fast, and slow. This activity will strengthen large muscle groups while simultaneously allowing the children to work cooperatively.
• On the playground, we will be incorporating animal dress-up materials to en-courage large animal play. Children will be encouraged to become different ani-mals and move in new, interesting ways. Large muscle coordination and strength will be emphasized as the children hop, jump, crawl, gallop, and run.

Announcements
• As winter break approaches, we are beginning to look for a family to care for Peely during the break. If you are interested in helping out with our classroom gerbil, please let a teacher know!
• Please mark your calendars for our goodbye snack on Tuesday, December 1st. It will take place on our second to last day of school at 10:15am. Please come and then spend the rest of the morning with us on the playground.
• Please consider hosting a playdate at an area park during the month of December. It will be nice for the children (and families) to connect during the long break. Let Eva know so the info can be in the calendar being prepared.

Snack
Tuesday: We may make our own toast for snack, Also banana.
Friday: No school

We have had a wonderful week with many new materials capturing the children's interest - and lovely fall weather for extended play outside. Please look at these photos in conjuction with next week's lesson plan, as many of the changes were introduced in the classroom today. For the first time since September, the water table was replaced with the sand table. As often happens, there was lots of activity on the first day, exploring sand with vehicles.

Today, we changed things up and added water to the sand to create sand that would pack and fill molds. Here Quinn explores the "pond" of water which children drew from to mix with the sand. Some added water to sand, others added sand to the water.

The scales still intrigued children - these were quite popular on the first day, today Naomi copied a teacher by putting two little animals on each side, giggling when the balance went lower as it contained more animals. Then she simply decided to pile many animals into one side.

The scissors had been out in the beginning of the year, but children were frequently frustrated by their use, or wanted to carry them around the entire classroom. We reintroduced them today and wondered what would happen. With more one on one attention, children experimented in their own way with using them to snip with one or two hands.

A new block arrangement trying to help children incorporate using cars with roads successful in inspiring children to do new types of building/driving. Here Beck uses the arches to make tunnels for his car.

We are also encouraging more use of the unit blocks. On Tuesday, Raya used them blocks to make a cage for the animals in the zoo.

Andreas and Henry Da also began to build a cage for the tigers. It became more and more complex. When Henry used the triagular block it seemed to remind him of a slide.

Sure enough, he began to see how the tiger cubs and even the pretend people could slide down his "slide."

On Friday, a new doctor office (combo vet and people) was opened. As usual, there was lots of interest at first as children, sensitive to novelty and curious about new materials, came to explore. We wonder if children have been to have their flu shots, this may be something they are recently familiar with.

To use the materials in a socially connective way, we encouraged children to check each other's stomachs, or their own, or a teacher's tummy. Many children brought their dolls in to be checked out. From their language, it's clear they are familiar with the story of getting sick:

Raya: "He's hurting," (said about the baby)
Teacher: "What part?"
Raya: "This part, his tummy."
Said to Eleanor, who's doll it was, "There, he's better."

Henry De: "Thumpa, Thumpa, Thumpa" (with stethescope on baby's chest.) He had observed Teacher Becky do this once on her doll.

Henry Da: "My fix my ear!" said after putting the otoscope into his ear.

Both days this week a small group went to the hallway for a jumping exercise. Thanks to Raya's mom, we have some photos of the Tuesday group. Jade and Naomi jump into the hoop from the step.

Brenna jumped between the two hoops. We are hoping that the occasional placement of children into small groups of two and three will help foster awareness of each other and social connection.

When we met for large group, we sang the wheels on the bus song - there's the bus.

We also had a guest visit from a pretend animal - ask your child what animal Teacher Bob pretended to be. We wanted the children to be aware of the animal fabric "costumes" which would be outside on the playground.

The new center of attention in the gym is the rolling hill. Children are learning to access it by going up the stairs. While many children attempted a log roll on Tuesday (as it was demonstrated by a teacher) today we left things more open. As you can see in this photo, a variety of methods were used to get down the hill. Lucia is hopping, Max has come down on his bottom, and Brenna appears to be preparing to crawl down on all fours. Other children came down "lizard style" on their tummies.

On Tuesday, Teacher Bob led us in a bean bag song. Troy is listening to the music, concentrating on where to place his bean bag next.

Lucia is placing it on her head,

Naomi has put hers on her ear - this is exactly the sort of body- vocabulary- motor planning we were hoping this week's curriculum would allow us to explore.

Who's this? It's Lucia's Grandpa Ron - he's got the beanbag on his tummy!

Outside we are beginning to see more and more whispers of social connection - whispers because you have to pay very close attention to spot them and occasionally help them along. Still they are there - when three children sit together at the picnic table, originally not interacting, but then pouring tea for each other when a teacher suggests that they are having a picnic together and models the tea pouring.

A Swing Story

Naomi is pushing the swing with her body. A teacher, noticing that Raya is near and is not engaged in play, suggests that she might want to help her push it. Sometimes the fun of a joint physical project can connect two children.

After a bit of pushing, Naomi starts climbing ON the swing. Sure enough, they are connected enough that Raya follows her on the swing.

After they both climb on, they get a push from the teacher and soon a new group has collected seeking a turn.

A Salad Story

Teacher Becky and Lucia are pretending to make and eat salad. When Henry De overhears their play, he calls out, "I want some salad." When he comes over, Lucia serves him a dried oak leaf and pretends to eat some herself. These beginning whispers of connection are growing daily and will likely intensify in the spring, as children increasingly move out of their own orbit and begin to find social connection more and more satisfying.