January 2012 Archives

Work with patterns

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Stories in the dramatic play/block area

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Sink and float experiment

Weekly Lesson Plan For Ross' Class
Week of: January 30-February 3, 2012
Lead teaching this week: Addy

Overview: The children continue to be busy both inside and outside this week! The long-awaited snow has allowed us to finally start sledding, and the children are loving it! With small groups starting, the children are excited and talking about the things that will come in their small groups. Our groups this session will be exploring rats, numbers, and storytelling. After only one day of meetings, the children are already excited to share what is taking place with one another. As we continue to take a closer look at growth and change, some of the children are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new pet rat. We will watch our new pet grow and change alongside our amaryllis plant that is finally coming to life!

Expressive Arts (paint, collage, clay)
• Materials: Art table - ¼"-1" ceramic tiles, collage materials (cotton balls, dried out flowers/plants/leaves, sticks) mosaic materials (ceramic tiles, mirror tiles), paints, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue. Clay table - clay, wood tools, thick wire, glass gems, small planting pots
• Rationale: With the continued interest in mosaic pictures, we have decided to continue working with the ceramic tiles. This week we will explore what mosaics look like and the materials that are used in mosaics. We will encourage the children to move away from gluing their tiles to paper, and start making their mosaics on larger ceramic tiles. With that, we're still willing to take those old tiles off your hands! In addition to the mosaic materials, we are also going to offer wintery-collage materials for children to continue collage work with. The new winter-materials will allow the children to create things that they might be seeing. At the clay table we will continue to ask the children what the amaryllis plant will look like, and are saving their creations to compare to the growing bulb.
• Skills: creativity, fine-motor strength/coordination, prediction/hypothesizing, artistic expression, symbolic representation, opportunities for social interaction/discussion

Sensory (water table)
• Materials: items that "sink and float" (golf balls, small wiffle balls, bottle caps, rocks/glass gems, bolts, etc.), plastic containers and bowls (boats), a checklist of items, abacus, paper/pencils, ice cubes/blocks
• Rationale: The children have remained interested in what things sink and float. We have been exploring how many glass gems, rocks, or bolts it takes to sink various plastic containers. Last week we put up signs that ask the children to count how many bolts/rocks/gems it takes to sink the boats, and record their findings. The abacus was moved to the sink/float area to help the children keep track of the numbers. The challenge to discover what sinks/floats and "why" will continue this week.
• Skills: prediction/hypothesizing, critical thinking/reasoning, problem solving skills, data recording, observation skills, opportunities for cooperation/collaboration skills.

Science
• Materials: "How tall am I" chart, amaryllis bulb (and growing/observation chart), the new pet rat
• Rationale: We are so excited that our amaryllis plant is finally growing! This week we will continue to monitor it's growth. The children will compare their predictions with the actual plant and continue to make predictions about it's height, as well as what the plant will look like when it is taller. We are also going to bring some of the plants from around the classroom to the science table for the children to examine and learn about. The children are also still excited about their heights, and we are going to begin checking our height every Monday morning during check-in. Many of them have noticed that their growth it much slower than the plants. Going along with the interesting in growing "bigger," we will be introducing our new pet rat on Wednesday. She is pregnant (shh, don't tell the children!), and we are hoping that the surprise birth of her babies the children will give us the chance to watch the baby rats grow and change.
• Skills: data observation/recording, prediction/hypothesis testing, comparison between charts, recalling prior knowledge, making measurements

Math and Manipulatives
• Materials: Fruit pattern games, NEW challenging puzzles, mosaic pattern blocks, "Tetris-style" block/problem solving game, unifix cubes
• Rationale: We have continued to infuse noticeable patterns throughout the classroom (blocks, marble ramps, art materials, Question of Day, etc.), and it is clear that many of the children are beginning to catch on! In large group we made patterns with our seating arrangements and voices, as well as with our trail mix during snack on Wednesday. The children have also been challenging one another to continue their own patterns. This week, teachers plan on bringing in some new materials that will continue to support patterning, and begin to extend into more complex patterns (ABCA, ABBA, etc.) to challenge children's thinking. We also hope to continue the peer interaction by bringing in games and activities that take more than one child.
• Skills: 1-to-1 correspondence, recognition of patterns by various characteristics (e.g. color, shape, size, etc.), rational counting (one number for each item), problem solving, critical thinking skills, social interaction

Language and Literacy
• Materials: writing supplies (e.g. pens, pencils, markers, paper, etc), pictures of each child, Our Alphabet books, various mail materials including a mailbox, book making materials, word cards, word wall
• Rationale: The addition of a mailbox to our literacy center has brought excitement about writing and delivering letters to classmates. To encourage children to begin using more words in their letters, we will be adding a "words we know" wall next to the literacy center. We will have the children write the words they know/have learned on precut cards and tape them to the wall. Children will also be encouraged to draw a picture to go alongside their word for children that do not yet know certain words. This week the children will also find construction paper books in the literacy center to encourage the storytelling that has been taking place throughout the room.
• Skills: pre-/early-literacy skills, concepts of print, letter/word awareness/recognition, supporting/fostering social skills, fine-motor strength/coordination/endurance supported by writing

Dramatic Play
• Materials: house furniture (sink, stove, refrigerator, stove, etc.), play dishes/food items, small door, fabric, dress-up materials, cell phones/walkie-talkies, keys, toy jewelry, pets, and pet supplies (leashes, dishes, brushes)
• Rational: The dragon and wolves play has taken over the dramatic play area! Children are using the dramatic play materials to enhance their wolf dens, and fight evil dragons. Volcanoes and tornadoes have also made their way into the play and have got children running for cover. With the children's imagination's running wild, we plan on leaving the materials as they are and seeing where the children will take it on their own. This week teachers will continue to introduce ideas and characters while supporting the children's play.
• Skills: storytelling, imaginative/creative play, symbolic representation, social skills (negotiation, cooperation, awareness, inclusion)

Blocks
• Materials: large hollow blocks, unit blocks, peg people, house-related props, work trucks, construction helmets
• Rationale: As the ground has frozen, so has the demolition across the street. We will be taking the observation area down this week and replacing it with something related to the exciting stories we are hearing about wolves, volcanoes, dragons, and princesses. The blocks have continued to be the homes of wolves and princesses fighting for good. Many of the children are still interested in the trucks and helmets, so we hope to keep those around to support the rich play that has been taking place throughout the classroom. Teachers again hope to extend play by adding props/plot challenges to the play.
• Skills: symbolic representation, imagination/creativity, spatial awareness skills, socials skills (collaboration, negotiation, communication), large-/fine-motor coordination/strength

Large Motor
• Materials: Gym: climbing wall, race track, tricycles, slide-climber with triangle-slide, jumping hurdles
Playground: shovels, sleds (finally!)
• Rationale: We are excited about the new gym set up! Last week we moved the mats to the middle of the gym and created a racetrack (complete with "tunnel"). The addition of tricycles will allow the children to work on their lower body strength and coordination, which is often difficult in the winter months. On the mats, we replaced the rolling slide with the triangle slide. We will also have jumping hurdles, and a bolster climbing challenge as an alternative to taking the stairs to the slide. We also plan to bring in beanbag/ball tossing games to work on throwing/catching skills with the children. Outside, sledding continues to be a hit, as nearly all the children make their way to the top of the hill every day. However, the wolves and dragons (from the block area) can sometimes be spotted lurking on the playground, as well!
• Skills: lower-body strength/coordination, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-to-hand/eye-to-foot coordination, directional/spatial/temporal awareness, muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular endurance, upper body strength/coordination, social interactions (turn taking)

Special Interest/Announcements
• Small groups will be in full swing this week...be sure to ask your child about their group, and if you have any talents/personal interests that you feel you could share (related to any of the topics), please let the teachers know!
• The Parent Discussion groups are happening this week (Wednesday at 1.30p and Friday at 9a). More details on the flyer found on the Lab School main page!
• Conferences are coming soon. If you have not yet done so, please sign up for a time. Also, you are always welcome (and encouraged to hop in the booth to observe your child in action before we meet.

Snack
Monday: Multigrain crackers and cucumber slices
Tuesday: Pretzel sticks and oranges
Wednesday: Pasta and red sauce
Thursday: Cheerios and raisins
Friday: Making waffles with Addy!
** All snacks served with a choice of milk and water unless otherwise noted **

Overview
Last week the fresh snow allowed us to open up the hill on the playground for sledding. There was even enough snow for us to bring into the classroom sensory table where digging and snow mountain building ensued. This coming week we added an ice melting station to the science table to build on the children's interest and observations of melting both inside and outdoors. The Bell Museum field trip was another highlight from last week and certainly added to the children's enthusiasm for learning about birds. We will continue to explore the physical characteristics of birds by focusing on the relationship between beak shape and the food they eat.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Watercolor painting - paper, brushes, liquid watercolor paint. Beak making - paper head pieces with a variety of "loose parts" which could be used to represent the wide range of beak shapes. Easel- brushes, paint, paper.
-Rationale: As the children learn more about a bird's physical features, they will be given the opportunity to create their own beaks. The variety of materials provided will allow the children to express their creativity while representing their understanding of a bird beaks. They will be wearable so will compliment the wings that many made last week. The watercolor table will give the children an opportunity for creative expression and symbolic representation with a new medium. As an extension, we will invite the children to bring the liquid watercolor outside in the cold to experiment with freezing. Once the paint is frozen, the children will bring it back in to experiment with melting.
-Skills: Self-expression, fine motor, creative expression, sensory input, symbolic representation

Sensory
-Materials: Sensory table with snow, ice, colored water, eyedroppers, and shovels -Rationale: To provide materials for children to explore snow and ice while providing them with materials to discover colors and what happens when colors and snow or ice mix. - -Skills: mixing of colors, sensory input, knowledge of physical properties,

Math and Manipulatives
-Materials: Small legos, seriated cylinders, nesting cups, themed interlocking puzzles featuring winter, animals, and birds.
- Rationale: The legos have been added as an additional construction material near the unit blocks, which have been used daily for building. Seriation will continue to be explored as the children will be provided with manipulatives that can be sorted and ordered by size.
-Skills: Matching, sorting, classification, ordering, seriation, positional concepts, construction skills

Science
-Materials: Ice cubes, salt, forks, wing span poster, beak diagram, animal tracks (birds and mammals), stuffed pheasant, and magnifying glasses.
-Rationale: An ice melting experiment that uses salt will be added to the science table for investigation. The children will be able to investigate, discover and wonder about what causes ice to melt. A poster of an eagle's wingspan has been added to the wall for the children to visualize the size of the wingspans of birds in comparison to their own arm spans. Images of bird beaks will also be placed in the science area for children to explore and discover some similarities and differences in beaks.
-Skills: Scientific inquiry, experimentation, observation, generalizing, reasoning, grouping, matching, comparison, conceptual knowledge, knowledge of the natural world, descriptive language, heuristic language, informative language, symbolic representation, peer interactions

Language and Literacy
-Materials: Photo and name cards, visual prompts for addressing letters, an assortment of writing materials such as pens, pencils, paper, envelopes, tape and staplers. A variety of books have been chosen that relate to our curriculum.
-Rationale: The words used in addressing letters have been displayed in the writing center for children to refer to as they write to peers and family members. We will also continue our discussions of different types of messages: invitations, get well cards, thank you cards etc.
-Skills: Fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, fine motor, and letter recognition

Blocks
-Materials: Legos, wooden cars, hollow blocks, unit blocks, ramps, wood boards, and big fabric pieces
-Rationale: The children have been engaged in building sledding hills and ramps to roll wooden cars down. By adding legos and the wooden cars to the blocks area the children will be able to build their own cars and other obstacles. The legos and cars will provide them with more opportunities to practice construction skills.
-Skills: Creative building, spatial skills, geometry, role-play, knowledge of force and motion, physical knowledge, social skills, construction skills and large motor.

Dramatic Play
-Materials: In the loft, we have clipboards with paper, pencils and bird books to motivate children to express their thoughts and ideas about birds. Under the loft, we have bird costumes, big bears, raccoons, bunnies, and pillows. The cave has stuffed raptor birds and wood pieces. Kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots along with different fruits in baskets. Near the blocks there are construction tools. -Rationale: By adding the clipboards and paper to draw the children will be given an opportunity to develop fine motor skills while expressing their creativity and observations of birds.
-Skills: Fine motor, creativity, Role-play, symbolic play, peer interactions, support general social skills, problem solving, sharing.

Large Motor
-Materials: Gym- tricycle track, mats, hurdles, rope, climbing ladder. Outdoors-sledding, shovels, and buckets.
-Rationale: The trike track provides opportunities for the children to continue to develop their propulsive skills. Outside the children have thoroughly enjoyed the sledding hill. It has been an exciting and unifying experience.
-Skills: propulsion skills, upper and lower body strength, climbing, dynamic balance, jumping, and cardiovascular endurance.

Overview: As we enter into our fifth week, the children's interests continue to blossom in many interesting ways. Cooperative building and idea sharing continues to thrive in the block area, as the children plan and work together to create elaborate houses and airplanes. Last week, the children became interested in creating three-dimensional artwork by layering their tile creations and building upwards. This week, small pieces of carpet, popsicle sticks, and new collage materials are made available to extend the collage exploration and encourage divergent thinking regarding building with novel art materials. The children are still interested in the patterning items made available in the math area, so we will keep those to give the children a chance to create more complex patterns. A unifix cube measuring board will also be provided in the math area to introduce the idea of measuring. During group time last week, the children listend to a book about the life cycle of a seed and they had given ideas on what the seed needs to turn into a plant. Thus, in the science area, the children can investigate different sized plants to compare and contrast and record their findings.

Sensory
•Materials: water, various containers, measuring cups, measuring spoons.
•Rationale: to cooperatively work together while exploring a familiar sensory experience while furthering the children's understanding of water by exploring ways to measure water. Encourage prediction making, active experimentation, and idea sharing. To include interesting and novel materials and give the children a chance to explore the idea of measuring volume.
•Skills: large and fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, knowledge of conservation, scientific exploration, cooperative play, social relationships building, sharing materials, observation and recording, prediction-making, comparing and contrasting.

Math and Manipulatives
•Materials: puzzles, memory games, unifix cubes and grids, rectangular "problem-solving" puzzle, multi-colored stones sorting and patterning games, patterning pegs and pegboards, fruit patterning grids.
•Rationale: to encourage children to work with open-ended materials where they can develop more complex skills and collaborate to support each other's learning, to encourage beginning mathematical concepts, such as counting, sorting, measuring, and patterning. To support complex problem-solving skills. To encourage cooperation and communication between peers while highlighting new mathematic concepts such as patterning, measuring, and numeral recognition. To specifically highlight the skill of patterning, so children become aware of how to create or extend increasingly complex patterns. To introduce the concept of measurement using a standardized unit of measurement.
•Skills: number/numeral recognition, patterning skills, matching, one-to-one correspondence, counting, fine motor development, problem solving, measuring.

Blocks

•Materials: Large hollow blocks, small multi-shaped unit blocks, furniture, peg people, construction materials (construction vehicles).
•Rationale: To support children's creativity and problem solving skills, to develop mathematical skills/awareness of geometry and spatial reasoning, and to allow for opportunities for social interaction as children collaborate and build together. To continue the already rich social and creative play surrounding building with hollow blocks, by allowing children to reflect and build upon previous block experiences, while bringing together block play with current dramatic play interests - most recently, in building and playing in an "airplane" and "house."
•Skills: Large motor development, expressive creation, symbolic representation, cooperative play, creative problem-solving, social problem-solving, and fine motor development

Dramatic Play
•Materials: Housekeeping materials (furniture, dishes, food), dress-up fabric and shoes; the caves are set as bedrooms with "beds," baby dolls, and baby-care items such as diapers and baby powder, stuffed animals and animal care items (leashes, food dishes, brushes, etc). The block area is also available for dramatic play (specifically, in the airplane and house the children have built), mailbox. Plastic animals, logs (in the cave).
•Rationale: To allow for the expression of family life and to encourage social interaction while playing with familiar props. To support the extended, cooperative play as children work together to sustain a pretend play session. Extend airplane play into imagined journeys, with the rich creative and cognitive ideas, options and information/learning inherent in such play. To connect writing activities with dramatic play. To extend animal play into discussion of Zoo animals, their habitats, and their relationships.
•Skills: Gross- and fine-motor skills, creative role-play, peer interaction, social problem solving, and symbolic representation.

Expressive Art
•Materials: primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) mixing at the easel and at the table, natural materials and tiles for collage, clay, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, bottle caps, glue, and tape, long boards for group tile collage, posicle sticks, carpet squares.
•Rationale: to explore with hands and tools to promote sensory awareness, increase fine motor skills, foster social relationships as children observe and work together with their peers, engage in an in-depth investigation of a basic elements of art. To continue the ongoing exploration of collage by using differently sized tiles. To extend the social and collaborative nature of art by offering materials the children could use to construct more complex houses and structures.
•Skills: fine motor development (strength, coordination), creativity, symbolic representation, sensory input, color recognition, identification of texture.

Science
•Materials: cockroaches, beetles, mealworms, salamander, flower bulb, books on growing plants, and pre-grown plants.
•Rationale: to support children's curiosity of the natural world around us and to encourage the investigation of nature. To encourage children to begin using different tools to observe, investigate and record. To encourage deeper investigation into growth, change, and measurement by watching and caring for a plant in our classroom as it grows from bulb to flowering plant. To introduce ideas of measurement by offering a graph to chart the growth of the flower bulb in the classroom.
•Skills: observation, measurement, scientific investigation and inquiry, outdoor/indoor connection, making comparisons, recording change over time.

Language and Literacy
•Materials: the writing center has a variety of writing utensils, paper, envelopes, staplers, tape, pictures of children in our classroom, alphabet chart, dictionary, and samples of written words, mailbox, and a book of the children's names and pictures.
•Rationale: to involve children in writing and the social activity of note and letter writing. To expand interest in children to write letters to people. To give children the opportunity to create their own stories and writings. Name cards are added to encourage familiarity with letters, writing, and to enable children to copy the names of their peers to use in "mailing letters." To connect writing to social and dramatic play activities by adding a mailbox to dramatic play as a place for children to place their writings.
•Skills: fine motor, pre-writing, and letter recognition, using texts in a variety of ways.
•Materials: The library continues to provide familiar stories, as well as books that highlight the alphabet and numerals. Books based on animal growth and change have also been added.
•Rationale: to encourage reading time with friends and teachers, encourage exploration of fiction and nonfiction texts. In addition, the children are also encouraged to regard books as a source of information.
•Skills: receptive language, early literacy, listening, measuring, growth, and community building.

Large Motor (Gym)
•Materials: Gym: mats are positioned in the middle providing a tiled space surrounding the mats for the children to bike on; a ladder leading up to a platform; climbing structure leading to a roller-slide (padded rollers lined up along a slope for children to slide/roll down, as on a slide); and climbing bars along one wall.
•Rationale: With the frigid temperatures of late outdoors on the playground, we will be planning to spend our physical-play time primarily in the gym, with the playground available as backup, weather allowing. The children have become reacquainted with the gym and its equipment in recent weeks, although this week we have changed some of the equipment available for play. Bikes have been added for the children to practice peddling. This will give students the opportunity to practice different kinds of large motor skills and use their bodies differently.
•Skills: The bikes are provided for the children to develop coordination to get the bike to move as well as strengthen their leg muscles. The other climbing, sliding/rolling and jumping equipment will also encourage large motor skill development, cooperative play and social problem-solving, such as turn-taking. All areas are intended to generate skill training in balance, spatial relationships, jumping and landing, core strength, risk-taking, full-body coordination, and hand-eye

Snacks:
Will be added soon!

Special announcements:
April will be lead teaching this week.

Small groups begin this week: The Sculpture group, the Measurement group, and the Vehicles group will have their first meetings this week. Stay tuned for updates!

Conferences begin next week! Make sure you sign up for a meeting time.

Overview and Goals
Last week the children began to develop rich play scenarios stemming from their various, multiple experiences learning about birds. As the children built "nests", defended their "eggs", and "hatched" chicks, teachers were delighted to see so much of their knowledge manifesting itself through their dramatic play. This week we will continue to support the children's explorations and investigations into the world of birds by providing them with opportunities to compare and contrast different features of birds, paying special attention to the distinguishing features of raptors (beaks, talons, and superior eyesight!). In response to the children's excitement about the recent snowy weather will also being to explore the physical properties of snow and ice by bringing those materials into the science and sensory centers. We are looking forward to another active week!

Expressive Arts
~Materials: Easel, brushes, blue and white paint with thick brushes, brown paint with thin brushes, and paper. Watercolor paints, thin brushes, watercolor paper, and constructions paper.
~Rationale: Offer further opportunities for creative expression and symbolic representation by adding a new medium. Support children's explorations of, and experimentation with, color mixing. ~Skills: Self-expression, fine motor, symbolic representation, and creative expression, and sensory input.

Sensory Materials
~Materials: Snow, molding materials, food coloring, spray bottles, scoops, and containers.
~Rationale: To bring the children's experiences outdoors into the classroom by learning about the properties of snow and ice through play. The materials at the sensory table will also support the experiments being conducted with the new materials in the science center. Later in the week we will add food coloring and spray bottles in order to allow the children to continue their explorations with color mixing in a novel environment.
~Skills: Creative expression, sensory input, knowledge of physical properties, and symbolic representation.

Science We continue our exploration of birds, but have shifted our focus from nests and habitats to the differences between raptors and other types of birds. Our visit to the Raptor Center sparked an interest in birds' beaks and talons, and the way they use those tools to procure food. In addition to our bird focus, we have introduced an opportunity for children to extend their explorations of the physical properties of snow and ice.
~Materials: Stuffed pheasant, laminated pictures of birds beaks and talons, measuring tools, magnifying glasses. A wingspan chart depicting the wingspans of familiar birds. Blocks of ice, warming trays, table salt, rock salt.
~Rationale: Continue to explore birds and the distinguishing features of raptors. Increase students' awareness of the physical properties of snow and ice. Give the children the opportunity use their knowledge, memory and observation skills as we ask them to compare the beaks, bills, talons and wingspans of various birds. ~Skills: Scientific inquiry, observation, generalizing, reasoning, grouping, knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the physical properties of ice and snow, descriptive language, heuristic language, informative language, symbolic representation, peer interactions.

Math, Manipulatives and Games
We continue our focus on the concepts of seriation, rote counting, and one-to-one correspondence. ~Materials: Legos and lego bases, Montessori cylinders, nesting cups, puzzles featuring winter and seriation concepts, animals in general and birds in particular in both inset and interlocking versions.
~Rationale: Seriation skills support children's understand of arranging objects (and concepts, later on) according to a specific dimension (size, width, weight, what happened first, next and last). Seriation skills are related to more complex math concepts, such as ordination or placing numbers in the correct order (for example, 1,2,3). Seriation also helps develop higher-order thinking and problem solving skills such as arranging smallest to largest. The seriation concepts being explored in this area dovetail nicely with the categorizing and comparing going on in the science center.
~Skills: Seriation, rote counting, rational counting, one-to-one correspondence, whole and part relationships, analyzing and synthesizing, fine motor strength.

Dramatic, Symbolic Play and Blocks/Creative Building
~Materials: Woodland plastic animals, forest animals, birds stuffed animals, tree cuttings, logs, fabric, pillows, books about animals and hibernation. Kitchen set and utensils. Construction tools and hats. Fabric to use as animal costumes. Cd player and cd of various bird sounds. Triangular construction paper, feathers, scissors, and glue.
~Rationale: We continue to explore hibernation and winter survival. The dramatic and symbolic play areas continue to feature materials to support children's discussions and understanding of this topic. The addition of the art materials into the dramatic play area will provide further opportunities for self-expression, creative expression, imagination and creativity.
~Skills: Role-play, symbolic representation, social interactions, storytelling, problem solving, and sharing.
Blocks
~Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks, ramps, wood boards, big fabric pieces, pillows and woodland stuffed animals.
~Rationale: Continue to offer the children opportunities for creative building. Last week many of the children became very involved in building "nests" out of the blocks and creating accompanying play scenarios that extended and enriched their interactions with the materials and one another. This week we will continue to offer opportunities to extend/create dramatic play scenarios with the addition of soft materials. The materials also provide opportunities for social play and the practice of a variety of social skills (problem solving, sharing, dealing with space, working together, discussing).
~Skills: Mathematical concepts such as symmetry, dimensions and fractions. Spatial skills, creative building, large motor, strength, and social skills.

Language and Literacy
~Materials: Books related to topics discussed in the classroom (hibernating, birds, snow and snowy weather, etc.), fun and familiar books, pencils, thin markers, paper, envelopes, glue sticks, staplers, tape, clipboards. Cards with children's photos and names written on them. Writing prompts featuring basic words commonly used in letters and cards (to, from, etc.).
~Rationale: To continue to build community, we will offer the children hands-on opportunities to write their own and their classmates' names. Nest week we will re-introduce the mailboxes in order to encourage the exchange of messages within the classroom. ~Skills: Letter recognition and use, fine motor, pre-/ early-literacy skills, building community, encourage friendships and written communication.
Large Motor
~Materials: The new gym set up features an obstacle course consisting of opportunities for children to pedal bikes, jump over low hurdles, walk on a variety of uneven surfaces, and climb in, over and around obstacles! ~Skills: Coordination, jumping, depth perception and turn taking, upper and lower body and core strength, climbing up and down, spatial recognition.
~Our time in the playground will be dedicated to unstructured and structured large motor activities as well as fostering the children's exploration of the natural world. Last week we finally had enough snow to go sledding! We will continue to provide children with the opportunity to participate in that highly motivating activity!

Music and Movement/Large Group
~Rhythm and patterned clapping songs. ~Tools used for measurement. ~Card and letter writing and cards for Marais.

REMINDERS
~Dalia will be gone on Monday, January 30. She will be back in class on Wednesday
~At large group on Monday Marie will be telling the children that Marais is sick and will not be a school until she is feeling better. We are not sharing the details of Marais' illness with the children, but will instead be concentrating on things we can do in our classroom to let her know that we care about her and are thinking of her while she is not at school (writing cards, etc.).

Marie

Lesson plan
Ashley lead teaching

Overview
As the children continue to form relationships we will work on cooperation and collaboration while building on the children's play. We will continue to raise the awareness of each other and our growth by extending the face recognition game. The children will be able to compare their recent picture of each other to the pictures that were taken of them in the beginning of the school year. We have learned that many children accompany their parents to different coffee shops throughout the twin cities. This area will continue to be highlighted in the classroom to foster their skills on collaboration. Now that we have snow and ice, we are going to be highlighting these materials in the classroom, emphasizing on the sense of touch by comparing and contrasting between soft and hard materials.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, white paper, dark colors, sponge brushes
Rationale: To provide the children with materials that creates a contrast with light and dark colors. To explore how different types of painting tools work.
Skills: creativity, symbolic representation, artistic expression, fine motor skills
**Materials: chalk, crayons, markers, scissors, tape, tissue paper. yarn, collage materials.
Rationale: To enhance the children's creativity by allowing them to experiment with different materials. To provide the children the opportunity to continue their interest with cutting by providing them with tape, yarn and tissue paper. Encourage children to express their ideas using the different writing and drawing materials.
Skills: Persistence, symbolic representation, fine motor skills, creativity, artistic expression
**Materials: paper, markers
Rationale: By tracing the child's hand or footprint this activity will promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. This activity will also encourage children to notice differences about their classmates over time as well as comparing and contrasting between sizes of hands and feet.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, comparison, conversation, observation
**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, animal figurines, animal molds, twigs
Rationale: To continue exploring objects that leave impressions, prints, and tracks. To promote the use of a different medium for the continued exploration of what animals do during the winter, including building animal homes, making coats for the animals to keep them warm, and animals getting stuck in the snow.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, observation, creative expression, manual dexterity, cause and effect, trying out new things, symbolic representation, problem solving

Sensory
**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, funnels, scoops, pitchers, tongs, water
Rationale: To expand on the children's ideas of adding water and expanding on their interest of using different materials in the sand table. To continue to expand on the construction that is happening across from the school.
Skills: investigating, questioning, collaborating, observation, turn taking, imitation, prediction, sensory exploration, sensory input

Science
**Materials: light table, white paper, markers, translucent duplo blocks, flashlights
Rationale: To continue to promote exploration of light and color and to experiment with what happens when the colors and lights are combined. To continue with exploration of light and dark. To continue to promote creative exploration through children experimenting with the effects of light.
Skills: fine motor skills, speaking, communication, word formation, trying new things
**Materials: snow, ice, trays
Rationale: To expand on the sense of touch using different soft and hard materials while incorporating what is happening in the environment.
Skills: sensory input, exploring, creating, sensory exploration, investigating, questioning, exploring real life materials, cause and effect
**Materials: Ice with fish frozen inside, tools, and magnifying glasses
Rationale: To provide opportunities for the children to explore the properties of ice and what happens to it when it is left inside or manipulated with tools. To promote problem solving and experimentation with materials.
Skills: Observation, conversation, experimentation, cause and effect, sharing ideas, sensory input, scientific thinking, problem solving, fine motor skills
**Materials: Ice on the playground, shovels, mallets, tools, colored ice cubes
Rationale: To promote the observation and manipulation of ice with a variety of tools. To engage the children in searching for and collecting materials outside.
Skills: Observation, conversation, experimentation, cause and effect, predicting, sharing ideas, sensory input, scientific thinking

Dramatic Play
** Materials: foam blocks, wooden blocks, construction trucks
Rationale: To expand on the construction that is occurring across the street from the school by having the children use the blocks and trucks to reenact what they have seen.
Skills: building skills, large and fine motor skills, role play, social skills, creativity, collaboration, communication, observation, symbolic representation
**Materials: Babies that are different sizes and ethnicities, baby clothes, bottles, blankets, high chair, cribs, changing table, books
Rationale: To expand on the children's interest of care taking by using symbolic play in representing their experiences and curiosities about babies. To have the children continue thinking about growth in babies and in turn, ourselves. To discover how we grow and what makes us bigger.
Skills: self help skills, social skills, role play, symbolic representation, collaboration, communication
**Materials: kitchen furniture, coffee pots, tea boxes, coffee creamer jug, coffee cups, lids, stirrers, cups, plates, utensils, baked goods, milk containers, fruit
Rationale: To expand on the children's interest of going to the coffee shop, baking food,serving food for themselves and classmates. Providing the children with an opportunity to symbolically represent their experiences.
Skills: social skills, collaboration, cooperation, communication, creative expression, role play, symbolic representation
**Materials: wooden trains, chairs, table, blocks
Rationale: To expand on role play scenarios that encourage children to collaborate with one another, such as creating a train using the chairs. Providing the children with an opportunity to expand on their interests in trains by allowing exploration.
Skills: social skills, fine and large motor skills, communication, collaboration, cooperation, role play, symbolic representation

Math and Manipulative
**Materials: Updated Face puzzle
Rationale: Children will match new pictures of their classmates to the older class picture. This will promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, matching, comparing and contrasting.

Art Table
Materials: Paper, markers
Rational: By tracing the child's hand or footprint this activity will promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. This activity will also encourage children to notice differences about their classmates over time as well as comparing and contrasting between sizes of hands and feet.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, comparison.

Language and Literacy
**Materials: letter stencils, paper, crayons, markers
Rationale: To enhance the children's language and literacy skills by providing them with opportunities to expand on the interest of letter recognition. To provide the opportunity of creative expression and communication using tracing and word formation.
Skills: Alphabetical awareness, fine motor skills, speaking, communication, word formation, trying new things
**Materials: A variety of books displayed in different curriculum areas throughout the classroom and also in the reading nook. The variety of books includes animals, winter, trains, and babies.
Rationale: To expand on the current play themes by providing the children with current knowledge and new knowledge of the play themes. To create awareness for the children of what is going on in their environment.
Skills: phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, reading, application of prior knowledge and experiences, speaking, listening, conversation, turn taking
**Materials: letters
Rationale: To play I Spy with the children to search for the first letter of their first name
Skills: alphabetical awareness, communication, trying to things, application of prior knowledge, listening, understanding rules

Blocks
**Materials: Hollow blocks, wooden blocks
Rationale: To encourage children to build a construction site, homes, train tracks, and tunnels
Skills: fine and large motor skills, spatial concepts, symbolic representation, construction skills, creativity, trying out new ideas, creativity, collaboration, communication, cooperation

Large Motor Skills
**Materials Indoors: trikes, wall ladder, climbing and sliding equipment, race track
**Materials outdoors: sleds, shovels, molding buckets, buckets, ice with food coloring
Rationale: To provide opportunities to practice propulsion and balance skills during winter time. To provide children with materials to enhance their exploration of winter weather. To create a scavenger hunt using "jewels" made out of ice and food coloring to expand on outdoor play.
Skills: Balance, turn taking, motor coordination, propulsion skills, hand-eye coordination, visual discrimination, muscular endurance.

Large Group
**Materials: songs and rhymes led by teacher, read: The Snowy Day, introducing the Snow Flake song
Rationale: To introduce a new song and book to children to focus on what has been happening in the environment.
Skills: attention span, respect for one another, following directions, sharing ideas, attending and orientating

Music
**Materials: drums, tone bells, rainmakers, a variety of mallets, display of songs
Rationale: To expand on the children's use of instruments and songs by having a display of instruments and a variety of different songs options for children to sing. Also, to encourage the children to create their own songs.
Skills: sensory exploration, sensory input, fine and large motor, observing, questioning, creating

Lesson plan
Ashley lead teaching

Overview
As the children continue to form relationships we will work on cooperation and collaboration while building on the children's play. We will continue to raise the awareness of each other and our growth by extending the face recognition game. The children will be able to compare their recent picture of each other to the pictures that were taken of them in the beginning of the school year. We have learned that many children accompany their parents to different coffee shops throughout the twin cities. This area will continue to be highlighted in the classroom to foster their skills on collaboration. Now that we have snow and ice, we are going to be highlighting these materials in the classroom, emphasizing on the sense of touch by comparing and contrasting between soft and hard materials.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, white paper, dark colors, sponge brushes
Rationale: To provide the children with materials that creates a contrast with light and dark colors. To explore how different types of painting tools work.
Skills: creativity, symbolic representation, artistic expression, fine motor skills
**Materials: chalk, crayons, markers, scissors, tape, tissue paper. yarn, collage materials.
Rationale: To enhance the children's creativity by allowing them to experiment with different materials. To provide the children the opportunity to continue their interest with cutting by providing them with tape, yarn and tissue paper. Encourage children to express their ideas using the different writing and drawing materials.
Skills: Persistence, symbolic representation, fine motor skills, creativity, artistic expression
**Materials: paper, markers
Rationale: By tracing the child's hand or footprint this activity will promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. This activity will also encourage children to notice differences about their classmates over time as well as comparing and contrasting between sizes of hands and feet.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, comparison, conversation, observation
**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, animal figurines, animal molds, twigs
Rationale: To continue exploring objects that leave impressions, prints, and tracks. To promote the use of a different medium for the continued exploration of what animals do during the winter, including building animal homes, making coats for the animals to keep them warm, and animals getting stuck in the snow.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, observation, creative expression, manual dexterity, cause and effect, trying out new things, symbolic representation, problem solving

Sensory
**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, funnels, scoops, pitchers, tongs, water
Rationale: To expand on the children's ideas of adding water and expanding on their interest of using different materials in the sand table. To continue to expand on the construction that is happening across from the school.
Skills: investigating, questioning, collaborating, observation, turn taking, imitation, prediction, sensory exploration, sensory input

Science
**Materials: light table, white paper, markers, translucent duplo blocks, flashlights
Rationale: To continue to promote exploration of light and color and to experiment with what happens when the colors and lights are combined. To continue with exploration of light and dark. To continue to promote creative exploration through children experimenting with the effects of light.
Skills: fine motor skills, speaking, communication, word formation, trying new things
**Materials: snow, ice, trays
Rationale: To expand on the sense of touch using different soft and hard materials while incorporating what is happening in the environment.
Skills: sensory input, exploring, creating, sensory exploration, investigating, questioning, exploring real life materials, cause and effect
**Materials: Ice with fish frozen inside, tools, and magnifying glasses
Rationale: To provide opportunities for the children to explore the properties of ice and what happens to it when it is left inside or manipulated with tools. To promote problem solving and experimentation with materials.
Skills: Observation, conversation, experimentation, cause and effect, sharing ideas, sensory input, scientific thinking, problem solving, fine motor skills
**Materials: Ice on the playground, shovels, mallets, tools, colored ice cubes
Rationale: To promote the observation and manipulation of ice with a variety of tools. To engage the children in searching for and collecting materials outside.
Skills: Observation, conversation, experimentation, cause and effect, predicting, sharing ideas, sensory input, scientific thinking

Dramatic Play
** Materials: foam blocks, wooden blocks, construction trucks
Rationale: To expand on the construction that is occurring across the street from the school by having the children use the blocks and trucks to reenact what they have seen.
Skills: building skills, large and fine motor skills, role play, social skills, creativity, collaboration, communication, observation, symbolic representation
**Materials: Babies that are different sizes and ethnicities, baby clothes, bottles, blankets, high chair, cribs, changing table, books
Rationale: To expand on the children's interest of care taking by using symbolic play in representing their experiences and curiosities about babies. To have the children continue thinking about growth in babies and in turn, ourselves. To discover how we grow and what makes us bigger.
Skills: self help skills, social skills, role play, symbolic representation, collaboration, communication
**Materials: kitchen furniture, coffee pots, tea boxes, coffee creamer jug, coffee cups, lids, stirrers, cups, plates, utensils, baked goods, milk containers, fruit
Rationale: To expand on the children's interest of going to the coffee shop, baking food,serving food for themselves and classmates. Providing the children with an opportunity to symbolically represent their experiences.
Skills: social skills, collaboration, cooperation, communication, creative expression, role play, symbolic representation
**Materials: wooden trains, chairs, table, blocks
Rationale: To expand on role play scenarios that encourage children to collaborate with one another, such as creating a train using the chairs. Providing the children with an opportunity to expand on their interests in trains by allowing exploration.
Skills: social skills, fine and large motor skills, communication, collaboration, cooperation, role play, symbolic representation

Math and Manipulative
**Materials: Updated Face puzzle
Rationale: Children will match new pictures of their classmates to the older class picture. This will promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, matching, comparing and contrasting.

Art Table
Materials: Paper, markers
Rational: By tracing the child's hand or footprint this activity will promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. This activity will also encourage children to notice differences about their classmates over time as well as comparing and contrasting between sizes of hands and feet.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, comparison.

Language and Literacy
**Materials: letter stencils, paper, crayons, markers
Rationale: To enhance the children's language and literacy skills by providing them with opportunities to expand on the interest of letter recognition. To provide the opportunity of creative expression and communication using tracing and word formation.
Skills: Alphabetical awareness, fine motor skills, speaking, communication, word formation, trying new things
**Materials: A variety of books displayed in different curriculum areas throughout the classroom and also in the reading nook. The variety of books includes animals, winter, trains, and babies.
Rationale: To expand on the current play themes by providing the children with current knowledge and new knowledge of the play themes. To create awareness for the children of what is going on in their environment.
Skills: phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, reading, application of prior knowledge and experiences, speaking, listening, conversation, turn taking
**Materials: letters
Rationale: To play I Spy with the children to search for the first letter of their first name
Skills: alphabetical awareness, communication, trying to things, application of prior knowledge, listening, understanding rules

Blocks
**Materials: Hollow blocks, wooden blocks
Rationale: To encourage children to build a construction site, homes, train tracks, and tunnels
Skills: fine and large motor skills, spatial concepts, symbolic representation, construction skills, creativity, trying out new ideas, creativity, collaboration, communication, cooperation

Large Motor Skills
**Materials Indoors: trikes, wall ladder, climbing and sliding equipment, race track
**Materials outdoors: sleds, shovels, molding buckets, buckets, ice with food coloring
Rationale: To provide opportunities to practice propulsion and balance skills during winter time. To provide children with materials to enhance their exploration of winter weather. To create a scavenger hunt using "jewels" made out of ice and food coloring to expand on outdoor play.
Skills: Balance, turn taking, motor coordination, propulsion skills, hand-eye coordination, visual discrimination, muscular endurance.

Large Group
**Materials: songs and rhymes led by teacher, read: The Snowy Day, introducing the Snow Flake song
Rationale: To introduce a new song and book to children to focus on what has been happening in the environment.
Skills: attention span, respect for one another, following directions, sharing ideas, attending and orientating

Music
**Materials: drums, tone bells, rainmakers, a variety of mallets, display of songs
Rationale: To expand on the children's use of instruments and songs by having a display of instruments and a variety of different songs options for children to sing. Also, to encourage the children to create their own songs.
Skills: sensory exploration, sensory input, fine and large motor, observing, questioning, creating

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Focused Small Groups- Birds' Beaks

Math and Manipulatives

Dramatic Play

click bellow for a super short video clip of the block-nests
Birds' Nests-Large.m4v

Sensory

Art

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Weekly Lesson Plan For Ross' Class
Week of: January 23-27, 2012
Lead teaching this week: Team teaching

Overview: The temperatures may have dropped by the energy remains high in the class! The social connections/relationships continue to blossom in the room as rich, inventive play themes continue to unfold. With the demolition seemingly wrapped up for the time being, we will bring closure to the focus for the time being - taking a closer look at the areas of growth and change happening at the science table; specifically looking at ourselves as well as the new plants in the room. We will also extend this focus of how things grow and change to our small groups, which will be starting very soon. The teachers are still discussing potential topics/ideas, but will be decided within the week. An email will come out with further details about the group topics, teachers, and members...keep an eye out!

Expressive Arts (paint, collage, clay)
• Materials: Art table - ¼"-1" ceramic tiles, collage materials (gravel, rocks, sticks, bottle caps, corks, spools), markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue. Clay table - clay, wood tools, thick wire, glass gems, small planting pots
• Rationale: The demolition collage has wrapped up, however during the process the children begin intrigued by the array of tiles available at the table. Some children even took it upon themselves to make a "mosaic picture" using just the tiles. To build off this interest (while supporting our focus on patterning), we will begin to explore the possibility of creating mosaics using various materials, but first taking a look at various pieces of art to figure out just "what is a mosaic exactly?" On the topic, if you have extra small tiles from various home projects, we'd be glad to take them off your hands for you! At the clay table, there as been a growing interest in representing the ideas of what the amaryllis plant will look like. To support this, we will add small planting pots to the area.
• Skills: creativity, supporting intrinsic motivation, prediction/hypothesizing, artistic expression, symbolic representation, fine-motor strength/coordination, opportunities for social interaction/discussion

Sensory (water table)
• Materials: items that "sink and float" (golf balls, small wiffle balls, bottle caps, rocks, etc.), containers and bowls, a checklist of items
• Rationale: The children have remained interested in what things sink and float. They have been collecting items from around the room to test in the water table, including items from the dramatic play area and the manipulatives area. In the past week the teachers have begun to ask the children about why some items sink and others float. The charts and challenge to discover what sinks/floats and "why" will remain this week.
• Skills: critical thinking/reasoning, problem solving skills, data recording, observation skills, prediction making/testing, opportunities for cooperation/collaboration skills.

Science
• Materials: "How tall am I" chart, amaryllis bulb (and growing/observation chart)
• Rationale: Big observations taking place in the science area last week. Molly invited a group of children to observe the amaryllis bulb that we planted and asked the children to make a "prediction" on how tall the plant will grow. They were also given the opportunity to watch a time-lapse video of an amaryllis bulb grow, bloom, and then die (to give them more information). This week we will continue with having the rest of the class plot their prediction on the chart. Hopefully over this next week the plant will grow and change enough to encourage the children to document the changes that occurred while they were away from school. We also introduced the height chart. The children were really excited to compare and contrast their heights after marking them on the chart. We will continue to check in with our heights to see if we are growing as fast as the amaryllis bulb Molly and a few of the children planted last week. As the week continues, we hope to notice that our bodies change much slower than the plant.
• Skills: data observation/recording, prediction/hypothesis testing, comparison between charts, recalling prior knowledge

Math and Manipulatives
• Materials: Fruit pattern games (I GRABBED THEM THIS WEEKEND), challenging puzzles, mosaic pattern blocks, "Tetris-style" block/problem solving game, various shaped/colored rocks for sorting and pattern making 

• Rationale: Over the last week, we began infusing various noticeable patterns throughout the classroom (block arrangements, organization of art materials, Question of the Day, etc). We spent time during large group discussing what a pattern actually is and then followed that up by having each Question of the Day support the expansion of their knowledge based on this topic. For next week, we plan to encourage the children to notice patterns that are around them daily (snack table arrangement, etc). We are also planning on creating patterns during large group with the seating arrangement to help them create a pattern during every-day life.
• Skills: part-to-whole relationships, 1-to-1 correspondence, recognition of patterns by various characteristics (e.g. color, shape, size, etc.), rational counting (one number for each item), problem solving

Language and Literacy
• Materials: writing supplies (e.g. pens, pencils, markers, paper, etc), pictures of each child, Our Alphabet books, various mail materials including a mailbox

• Rationale: Letter writing and picture drawing still are the continuing driving forces for the literacy area. Over the last week, we had many questions about how children who were absent due to illness would know about what was happening in the classroom. We encouraged them to write letters to the absent children. For further encouragement, we plan to add a mailbox into the literacy area to encourage more letter writing. We also might see the addition of the mail-person of the day next week to help deliver all the day's letters!
• Skills: alphabetic letter recognition/awareness, pre-/early-literacy skills, supporting/fostering social skills, concepts of print, fine-motor strength/coordination/endurance supported by writing

Dramatic Play
• Materials: house furniture (sink, stove, refrigerator, stove, etc.), play dishes/food items, small door, fabric, dress-up materials, cell phones/walkie-talkies, keys, toy jewelry, pets, and pet supplies (leashes, dishes, brushes)
• Rational: Lots has been happening this week in the dramatic play area! While meals, houses, and parties have continued, some new play themes are unfolding. The children have assumed the role of Peter Pan characters and introduced dragons/wolves into their stories, as well. We hope to continue this storyline by leaving the materials as they are. The teachers hope to introduce additional characters and provide children with opportunities and space to continue their self-driven play.
• Skills: imaginative/creative play, symbolic representation, social skills, storytelling

Blocks
• Materials: large hollow blocks, unit blocks, peg people, demolition observation station, house-related props, work trucks, styrofoam "demolition" site, construction helmets
• Rationale: As the week has progressed, we have noticed a shift from houses to castles and dens/caves. The children are now using the hollow blocks and other props to extend their dramatic Peter Pan storyline. The demolition continues to be a popular activity with the unit blocks. The addition of the construction helmets has added an element of safety and precaution as they children build and destroy structures. This week we will continue to foster the demolition activity, although it may die down now that the weather seems to be coming into season. We will also continue to invite the children to extend their Peter Pan storyline using the various blocks/props.
• Skills: large-/fine-motor coordination/strength, symbolic representation, imagination/creativity, spatial awareness skills, socials skills (collaboration, negotiation, communication)

Large Motor
• Materials: Gym: climbing wall, jumping station, slide-climber with roller-slide, "rickety bridge," and bowling alley Playground: shovels, sleds (finally!), and snow building blocks
• Rationale: We've made a few modifications to the gym. Last week, we clipped together a few large bolsters to create the "rickety bridge" that challenges children's balance and core strength. We connected this bridge to the rolling slide this week to encourage more climbing and balance. We brought back the donut beneath the jumping station. We also brought the addition of bowling into the open space on the side of the gym. This is being used to foster skills related to various throwing and kicking activities, as well as the practicing of taking turns. For next week, Molly has planned to bring in different yoga and plyometric activities to show how our bodies grow and change (by getting stronger) as we get older.
• Skills: core strength, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-to-hand/eye-to-foot coordination, lower body strength/coordination, spatial skills, body awareness, turn taking, social interactions (turn taking)

Special Interest
• Due to all the business (and bitter cold), we will have our fire drill on Monday
• The GYM JAM was a blast! Thanks to all that could make it. There are still shirts available to purchase with Sheila
• Parent Discussion Group: talk by Pete Ralston about relational aggression and how parents can deal with it.
Wednesday Feb.1 from 1.30-2.30p
Friday Feb. 3 from 9-10a

Snack
Monday - Oranges & pretzels
Tuesday - Trail mix
Wednesday - Cream of wheat & raisins
Thursday - Cinnamon toast
Friday- Applesauce & animal crackers
*All snacks served with milk/water unless otherwise noted*

Overview: Despite last having only two school days last week, the children's interests continue to blossom in many interesting ways. Cooperative building and idea sharing continues to thrive in the block area, as the children plan and work together to create airplanes and fly each other to exciting new places. Additionally, the children recently began using 1 inch tiles, instead of the larger tiles, to create small but extremely detailed collages. As we head into a new week, large boards are made available so the children can include their tile creations in a larger, mosiac-inspired, piece of collaborative art. This may also provide an opportunity to combine this art adventure with a new mathematical concept the children have been discussing: patterning. The children participated in completing ABAB patterns at large group last week, excited cheering what color they thought might come next in a sequence. New patterning items are made available in the math area this week to extend this new interest and to give the children a chance to create more complex patterns.

Sensory
•Materials: water, various containers, materials for sinking and floating, dry erase charts to record findings of what sink and float.
•Rationale: to cooperatively work together while exploring a familiar sensory experience while furthering the children's understanding of water by exploring with what materials will sink and float. Encourage prediction making, active experimentation, idea sharing, and recording of findings. To include interesting and novel materials and think about the characteristics that cause objects to float or to sink.
•Skills: large and fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, knowledge of conservation, scientific exploration, cooperative play, social relationships building, sharing materials, observation and recording, prediction-making, comparing and contrasting.

Math and Manipulatives
•Materials: puzzles, memory games, mosaic tiles and grids, rectangular "problem-solving" puzzle, multi-colored stones sorting and patterning games, patterning pegs and pegboards
•Rationale: to encourage children to work with open-ended materials where they can develop more complex skills and collaborate to support each other's learning, to encourage beginning mathematical concepts, such as counting, sorting, and patterning. To support complex problem-solving skills. To encourage cooperation and communication between peers while highlighting new mathematic concepts such as patterning and numeral recognition. To specifically highlight the skill of patterning, so children become aware of how to create or extend increasingly complex patterns
•Skills: number/numeral recognition, patterning skills, matching, one-to-one correspondence, counting, fine motor development, problem solving.

Blocks

•Materials: Large hollow blocks, small multi-shaped unit blocks, furniture, peg people, construction materials (boards, some tools, etc.), dramatic play props for vet's office, and Legos in the cave.
•Rationale: To support children's creativity and problem solving skills, to develop mathematical skills/awareness of geometry and spatial reasoning, and to allow for opportunities for social interaction as children collaborate and build together. To continue the already rich social and creative play surrounding building with hollow blocks, by allowing children to reflect and build upon previous block experiences, while bringing together block play with current dramatic play interests - most recently, in building and playing in an "airplane." Legos (in the cave) provide a different building experience on a smaller scale with different materials, such as wheels.
•Skills: Large motor development, expressive creation, symbolic representation, cooperative play, creative problem-solving, social problem-solving, and fine motor development

Dramatic Play
•Materials: Housekeeping materials (furniture, dishes, food), dress-up fabric and shoes; the caves are set as bedrooms with "beds," baby dolls, and baby-care items such as diapers and baby powder, stuffed animals and animal care items (leashes, food dishes, brushes, etc), and office supplies. The block area is also available for dramatic play (specifically, in the airplane the children have built), mailbox.
•Rationale: To allow for the expression of family life and to encourage social interaction while playing with familiar props. To support the extended, cooperative play as children work together to sustain a pretend play session. Extend airplane play into imagined journeys, with the rich creative and cognitive ideas, options and information/learning inherent in such play. To connect writing activities with dramatic play.
•Skills: Gross- and fine-motor skills, creative role-play, peer interaction, social problem solving, and symbolic representation

Expressive Art
•Materials: primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) mixing at the easel and at the table, natural materials and tiles for collage, clay, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, bottle caps, glue, and tape, long boards for group tile collage.
•Rationale: to explore with hands and tools to promote sensory awareness, increase fine motor skills, foster social relationships as children observe and work together with their peers, engage in an in-depth investigation of a basic elements of art. To continue the ongoing exploration of collage by using differently sized tiles. To extend the social and collaborative nature of art by offering larger boards so children can work together to make a mosiac.
•Skills: fine motor development (strength, coordination), creativity, symbolic representation, sensory input, color recognition, identification of texture.

Science
•Materials: cockroaches, beetles, mealworms, salamander, flower bulb, rulers, and pre-grown plants.
•Rationale: to support children's curiosity of the natural world around us and to encourage the investigation of nature. To encourage children to begin using different tools to observe, investigate and record. To encourage deeper investigation into growth, change, and measurement by watching and caring for a plant in our classroom as it grows from bulb to flowering plant. To introduce ideas of measurment by offering tools such as rules to measure and chart the growth of plants in the classroom.
•Skills: observation, measurement, scientific investigation and inquiry, outdoor/indoor connection, making comparisons, recording change over time.

Language and Literacy
•Materials: the writing center has a variety of writing utensils, paper, envelopes, staplers, tape, pictures of children in our classroom, alphabet chart, dictionary, and samples of written words, mailbox.
•Rationale: to involve children in writing and the social activity of note and letter writing. To expand interest in children to write letters to people. To give children the opportunity to create their own stories and writings. New resource texts are available to encourage familiarity with print and to show the many uses of the written word. To connect writing to social and dramatic play activities by adding a mailbox to dramatic play as a place for children to place their writings.
•Skills: fine motor, pre-writing, and letter recognition, using texts in a variety of ways.
•Materials: The library has been updated with texts to focus on the changes experienced in winter, as well as books that highlight the alphabet and numerals.
•Rationale: to encourage reading time with friends and teachers, encourage exploration of fiction and nonfiction texts. In addition, the children are also encouraged to regard books as a source of information.
•Skills: receptive language, early literacy, listening, measuring, growth, and community building.

Large Motor (Gym)
•Materials: Gym: bowling set (small plastic bowling pins and balls) set up along one side of gym with room to bowl; climbing platform leading to jumping donut (circular/cylindrical padded pit lined with large bean bags inside the hole); climbing structure leading to a roller-slide (padded rollers lined up along a slope for children to slide/roll down, as on a slide); and climbing bars along one wall.
•Rationale: With the frigid temperatures of late outdoors on the playground, we will be planning to spend our physical-play time primarily in the gym, with the playground available as backup, weather allowing. The children have become reacquainted with the gym and its equipment in recent weeks, although this week we have changed some of the equipment available for play. A plastic bowling set has been added, and some large padded cylinders have been attached to the roller-slide climbing structure. This will give students the opportunity to practice different kinds of large motor skills and use their bodies differently.
•Skills: The bowling set provides opportunities for turn-taking, social and cooperative play, large and fine motor development, and counting (one-to-one correspondence). The other climbing, sliding/rolling and jumping equipment will also encourage large motor skill development, cooperative play and social problem-solving, such as turn-taking. All areas are intended to generate skill training in balance, spatial relationships, jumping and landing, core strength, risk-taking, full-body coordination, and hand-eye coordination.

Special Announcements:
Don't forget to sign up for a conference! The sign up sheet is available on the classroom door.

Snacks

Monday - Oranges & pretzels
Wednesday - Cinnamon toast & milk
Thursday - Frozen peas & crackers

January 23rd - 27th
Kristina Lead Teaching
Overview:
As the children continue building new relationships and strengthening existing ones with the teachers and their peers, our focus will be on fostering these relationships while building on the play the children have been engaging in throughout the classroom. Face recognition games and student figurines will continue to be highlighted to promote awareness of each other and encourage the children to interact with one another in their play. With the colder temperatures keeping us inside over the course of the last week, the children have begun thinking about winter weather and what happens when it gets cold. To encourage further exploration of what happens during the winter we will continue featuring winter animals in the dramatic play area and encourage the children to observe and experiment with ice on the playground. Along with the cold weather we have noticed that many of the children have runny noses and coughs, so we will also be focusing on basic hygiene to promote ways the children can keep themselves healthy while at school.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, white paper, pastel paint colors, large brushes
Rationale: To promote creativity and artistic representation of what is happening in the environment by providing colors that represent ice and snow.
Skills: Fine motor, creativity, artistic expression, symbolic representation, observation, trying out new things

**Materials: Scissors, chalk, string, ribbon, scotch tape, markers, crayons, letter stencils
Rationale: To continue promoting the use of a variety of different materials to create collages. To support the children's interest in cutting and taping materials. To encourage the children to express their thoughts and ideas through drawing and writing.
Skills: Fine motor, creativity, artistic expression, persistence, symbolic representation

**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, impression tools, animal figurines
Rationale: To continue experimenting with a variety of new tools. To promote awareness of objects that leave impressions, prints, and tracks. To support the children's interest in thinking about winter and the cold weather, such as making coats for the animals to keep them warm and acting out animals getting stuck in the snow.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, observation, creative expression, manual dexterity, cause and effect, trying out new things, symbolic representation

Sensory
**Materials: Shaving Cream, food coloring or watercolors
Rationale: To expand on the children's exploration of shaving cream we will add colors that are in the paint area that represent the winter time. Blue and Pink coloring will be added to create a soft pastel color of each for the children to connect painting at the easel with finger painting using different types of materials.
Skills: sensory exploration, sensory input, investigating, exploring, questioning, creating, exploring new materials, cause and effect
**Materials: Small wooden blocks
Rationale: To engage the children in sensory exploration of materials that are hard. To provide hard materials that contrast with the softness of the shaving cream. To provide opportunities for the children to begin noticing the differences between soft and hard materials.
Skills: Sensory exploration, sensory input, prediction, exploring, exploring new materials, contrasting, noticing similarities and differences

**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, rakes, rocks, funnels, rollers, shovels
Rationale: To continue exploring and making sense out of the construction scene happening outside of the classroom.
Skills: Sensory exploration, sensory input, observation, imitation, prediction, fine motor, investigating, questioning, collaboration, turn-taking

Science
**Materials: Light table, translucent duplo blocks, flashlights, white paper, markers
Rationale: To promote continued exploration of light, colors, and what happens when colors and/or light are combined. To provide opportunities for creative expression using the effects of light. To promote exploration of the concepts of light and dark.
Skills: Observation, prediction, fine motor, creativity, artistic expression, comparison, collaboration

**Materials: Ice on the playground, shovels, mallets
Rationale: To engage in observing and manipulating ice to explore what it is made out of and what happens to it in different conditions.
Skills: Observation, conversation, experimentation, cause and effect, predicting, sharing ideas, sensory input, scientific thinking

Dramatic Play
**Materials: Unit blocks, foam blocks, arch blocks, animal figures, baskets, twigs, fabric, animal furs and costumes
Rationale: To continue promoting awareness and exploration of where animals live and what they do during the winter.
Skills: Symbolic representation, communication, creativity, collaboration, large and fine motor, observation, construction skills (building), role play, social skills

**Materials: Household kitchen furniture, plates, cups, fruit, baked goods, coffee cups, tea boxes, coffee pots
Rationale: A coffee shop has been created to expand on the children's interest in making and serving food for themselves and others. To provide opportunities for the children to symbolically represent their experiences. Parents, please let us know if you and your children visit any coffee shops together and which ones they may be familiar with.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills

**Materials: Babies of different sizes, baby clothes, blankets, bottles, cribs, changing table, high chair
Rationale: To expand on the children's interest in taking care of babies by providing them with opportunities to symbolically represent their experiences with and curiosity about babies. To get the children thinking about what happens when you grow and get bigger.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, social skills, self-help skills

**Materials: Wooden trains, chairs, blocks
Rationale: To promote the creation of role play scenarios that encourage groups of children to collaborate with one another, such as going on a train ride using chairs. To continue providing opportunities for the children to explore their interests in trains and what one does when traveling.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, social skills, large and fine motor

Math and Manipulatives
**Materials: Picture face puzzle
Rationale: To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, matching

**Materials: Sewing cards, number counting manipulative, pegs and peg boards, puzzles
Rationale: To support awareness of numbers and counting. To provide materials that support hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. To support problem-solving and understanding of part to whole relationships in putting together a puzzle.
Skills: Fine motor control, hand-eye coordination, persistence, counting, comparison

Language and Literacy
**Materials: A variety of books being displayed in different curriculum areas as well as the reading nook relating to emerging and current play themes, including winter, music, babies, food, and trains.
Rationale: To promote the use of books and stories as resources for new knowledge and inspiration for play, while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language.
Skills: Listening, speaking, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, conversation, application of prior knowledge and experiences, reading, turn taking

**Materials: Letter stencils, paper, crayons, markers
Rationale: To support the children's interest in letters. To provide opportunities for communication and creative expression through drawing and writing.
Skills: Fine motor, observation, communication, speaking, alphabetical awareness, creative expression, persistence, trying new things

Blocks
**Materials: Blocks with the children's pictures on them
Rational: To promote children's dramatic play in the block area by using the picture blocks as figurines that symbolize their classmates and teachers. To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills

**Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks
Rationale: To encourage the use of blocks to build airports, houses, train tracks, and bridges to support the story lines of traveling, construction, and hibernation.
Skills: Creativity, symbolic representation, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), cooperation, collaboration, trying out new ideas

Large Motor
**Materials: Indoors: Pedalo, bumpy slide, A-Frame ladders and bridge, wall ladders, mats
Rationale: To support the development of large motor skills such as coordination, propulsion, balance, jumping, running, and climbing.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, balance, coordination, creativity, turn-taking, spatial awareness, physical fitness

**Materials: Outdoors: Buckets, shovels, ice, mallets, dump trucks, food, dishes, sleds
Rationale: To promote the observation, exploration, and manipulation of ice using different tools. To provide the children with opportunities to extend their construction and restaurant play into another setting. To provide opportunities for the children to explore the natural environment and the snow.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, role play, sensory input and exploration, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, observation, experimentation

Large Group
**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), reading Bear Snores On, a rhyming story about a hibernating bear, dance and instrument activities, and modeling of activities.
Rationale: To sing songs that are familiar to the children as they continue to get used to the school routine again. To introduce and promote awareness of the new materials and model activities.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions, sharing ideas

Music
** Materials: drums, rainmakers, scrapers, different size and shape mallets, other objects
Rationale: Allow children to explore the materials through manipulation and have them create their own music. To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction. To expand on the children's exploration in the music area we will provide the children with different types of mallets that create different sounds when hit on the drums. The children will also think of different objects they could use to create different sounds.
Skills: sensory input, sensory exploration, investing, questioning, creating, exploring, large motor, fine motor, exploring instruments

Snacks
Monday: Oranges and Pretzels
Wednesday: Trail mix and milk
Thursday: Animal crackers and milk

January 23rd - 27th
Kristina Lead Teaching
Overview:
As the children continue building new relationships and strengthening existing ones with the teachers and their peers, our focus will be on fostering these relationships while building on the play the children have been engaging in throughout the classroom. Face recognition games and student figurines will continue to be highlighted to promote awareness of each other and encourage the children to interact with one another in their play. With the colder temperatures keeping us inside over the course of the last week, the children have begun thinking about winter weather and what happens when it gets cold. To encourage further exploration of what happens during the winter we will continue featuring winter animals in the dramatic play area and encourage the children to observe and experiment with ice on the playground. Along with the cold weather we have noticed that many of the children have runny noses and coughs, so we will also be focusing on basic hygiene to promote ways the children can keep themselves healthy while at school.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, white paper, pastel paint colors, large brushes
Rationale: To promote creativity and artistic representation of what is happening in the environment by providing colors that represent ice and snow.
Skills: Fine motor, creativity, artistic expression, symbolic representation, observation, trying out new things

**Materials: Scissors, chalk, string, ribbon, scotch tape, markers, crayons, letter stencils
Rationale: To continue promoting the use of a variety of different materials to create collages. To support the children's interest in cutting and taping materials. To encourage the children to express their thoughts and ideas through drawing and writing.
Skills: Fine motor, creativity, artistic expression, persistence, symbolic representation

**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, impression tools, animal figurines
Rationale: To continue experimenting with a variety of new tools. To promote awareness of objects that leave impressions, prints, and tracks. To support the children's interest in thinking about winter and the cold weather, such as making coats for the animals to keep them warm and acting out animals getting stuck in the snow.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, observation, creative expression, manual dexterity, cause and effect, trying out new things, symbolic representation

Sensory
**Materials: Shaving Cream, food coloring or watercolors
Rationale: To expand on the children's exploration of shaving cream we will add colors that are in the paint area that represent the winter time. Blue and Pink coloring will be added to create a soft pastel color of each for the children to connect painting at the easel with finger painting using different types of materials.
Skills: sensory exploration, sensory input, investigating, exploring, questioning, creating, exploring new materials, cause and effect
**Materials: Small wooden blocks
Rationale: To engage the children in sensory exploration of materials that are hard. To provide hard materials that contrast with the softness of the shaving cream. To provide opportunities for the children to begin noticing the differences between soft and hard materials.
Skills: Sensory exploration, sensory input, prediction, exploring, exploring new materials, contrasting, noticing similarities and differences

**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, rakes, rocks, funnels, rollers, shovels
Rationale: To continue exploring and making sense out of the construction scene happening outside of the classroom.
Skills: Sensory exploration, sensory input, observation, imitation, prediction, fine motor, investigating, questioning, collaboration, turn-taking

Science
**Materials: Light table, translucent duplo blocks, flashlights, white paper, markers
Rationale: To promote continued exploration of light, colors, and what happens when colors and/or light are combined. To provide opportunities for creative expression using the effects of light. To promote exploration of the concepts of light and dark.
Skills: Observation, prediction, fine motor, creativity, artistic expression, comparison, collaboration

**Materials: Ice on the playground, shovels, mallets
Rationale: To engage in observing and manipulating ice to explore what it is made out of and what happens to it in different conditions.
Skills: Observation, conversation, experimentation, cause and effect, predicting, sharing ideas, sensory input, scientific thinking

Dramatic Play
**Materials: Unit blocks, foam blocks, arch blocks, animal figures, baskets, twigs, fabric, animal furs and costumes
Rationale: To continue promoting awareness and exploration of where animals live and what they do during the winter.
Skills: Symbolic representation, communication, creativity, collaboration, large and fine motor, observation, construction skills (building), role play, social skills

**Materials: Household kitchen furniture, plates, cups, fruit, baked goods, coffee cups, tea boxes, coffee pots
Rationale: A coffee shop has been created to expand on the children's interest in making and serving food for themselves and others. To provide opportunities for the children to symbolically represent their experiences. Parents, please let us know if you and your children visit any coffee shops together and which ones they may be familiar with.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills

**Materials: Babies of different sizes, baby clothes, blankets, bottles, cribs, changing table, high chair
Rationale: To expand on the children's interest in taking care of babies by providing them with opportunities to symbolically represent their experiences with and curiosity about babies. To get the children thinking about what happens when you grow and get bigger.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, social skills, self-help skills

**Materials: Wooden trains, chairs, blocks
Rationale: To promote the creation of role play scenarios that encourage groups of children to collaborate with one another, such as going on a train ride using chairs. To continue providing opportunities for the children to explore their interests in trains and what one does when traveling.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, social skills, large and fine motor

Math and Manipulatives
**Materials: Picture face puzzle
Rationale: To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, matching

**Materials: Sewing cards, number counting manipulative, pegs and peg boards, puzzles
Rationale: To support awareness of numbers and counting. To provide materials that support hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. To support problem-solving and understanding of part to whole relationships in putting together a puzzle.
Skills: Fine motor control, hand-eye coordination, persistence, counting, comparison

Language and Literacy
**Materials: A variety of books being displayed in different curriculum areas as well as the reading nook relating to emerging and current play themes, including winter, music, babies, food, and trains.
Rationale: To promote the use of books and stories as resources for new knowledge and inspiration for play, while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language.
Skills: Listening, speaking, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, conversation, application of prior knowledge and experiences, reading, turn taking

**Materials: Letter stencils, paper, crayons, markers
Rationale: To support the children's interest in letters. To provide opportunities for communication and creative expression through drawing and writing.
Skills: Fine motor, observation, communication, speaking, alphabetical awareness, creative expression, persistence, trying new things

Blocks
**Materials: Blocks with the children's pictures on them
Rational: To promote children's dramatic play in the block area by using the picture blocks as figurines that symbolize their classmates and teachers. To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills

**Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks
Rationale: To encourage the use of blocks to build airports, houses, train tracks, and bridges to support the story lines of traveling, construction, and hibernation.
Skills: Creativity, symbolic representation, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), cooperation, collaboration, trying out new ideas

Large Motor
**Materials: Indoors: Pedalo, bumpy slide, A-Frame ladders and bridge, wall ladders, mats
Rationale: To support the development of large motor skills such as coordination, propulsion, balance, jumping, running, and climbing.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, balance, coordination, creativity, turn-taking, spatial awareness, physical fitness

**Materials: Outdoors: Buckets, shovels, ice, mallets, dump trucks, food, dishes, sleds
Rationale: To promote the observation, exploration, and manipulation of ice using different tools. To provide the children with opportunities to extend their construction and restaurant play into another setting. To provide opportunities for the children to explore the natural environment and the snow.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, role play, sensory input and exploration, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, observation, experimentation

Large Group
**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), reading Bear Snores On, a rhyming story about a hibernating bear, dance and instrument activities, and modeling of activities.
Rationale: To sing songs that are familiar to the children as they continue to get used to the school routine again. To introduce and promote awareness of the new materials and model activities.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions, sharing ideas

Music
** Materials: drums, rainmakers, scrapers, different size and shape mallets, other objects
Rationale: Allow children to explore the materials through manipulation and have them create their own music. To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction. To expand on the children's exploration in the music area we will provide the children with different types of mallets that create different sounds when hit on the drums. The children will also think of different objects they could use to create different sounds.
Skills: sensory input, sensory exploration, investing, questioning, creating, exploring, large motor, fine motor, exploring instruments

Snack:
Tuesday:Trail mix and milk
Friday: Muffins (cooking project with Sheila) and milk

Focused Groups-Representing what we know about Birds' Nests

Baking on Thursdays

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Blocks

•Materials: large hollow blocks, small multi-shaped unit blocks, furniture, peg people, construction materials, dramatic play props for vet's office, Legos in the cave.
•Rationale: to support children's creativity and problem solving skills, to develop mathematical skills/awareness of geometry, and to allow for opportunities for social interaction as children collaborate and build together. To continue the already rich social and creative play surrounding building with hollow blocks, by allowing children to reflect and build upon previous block experiences, while bringing together block play with current dramatic play interests. Legos provide a different building experience on a smaller scale with different materials, such as wheels.
•Skills: large motor development, expressive creation, symbolic representation, cooperative play, creative problem solving, social problem solving, mathematical thinking, and counting (one-to-one correspondence), fine motor development

Sensory
•Materials: water, various containers, materials for sinking and floating, dry erase charts to record findings of what sink and float.
•Rationale: to cooperatively work together while exploring a familiar sensory experience while furthering the children's understanding of water by exploring with what materials will sink and float. Encourage prediction making, active experimentation, idea sharing, and recording of findings.
•Skills: large and fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, knowledge of conservation, scientific exploration, cooperative play, social relationships building, sharing materials, observation and recording, prediction-making, comparing and contrasting.

Math and Manipulatives
•Materials: puzzles, memory games, mosaic tiles and grids, rectangular "problem-solving" puzzle, multi-colored stones sorting and patterning games.
•Rationale: to encourage children to work with open-ended materials where they can develop more complex skills and collaborate to support each other's learning, to encourage beginning mathematical concepts, such as counting, sorting, and patterning. To support complex problem-solving skills. To encourage cooperation and communication between peers while highlighting new mathematic concepts such as patterning and numeral recognition.
•Skills: number/numeral recognition, patterning skills, matching, one-to-one correspondence, counting, fine motor development, problem solving.

Expressive Art
•Materials: primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) mixing at the easel, natural materials and tiles for collage, clay, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, bottle caps, glue, and tape.
•Rationale: to explore with hands and tools to promote sensory awareness, increase fine motor skills, foster social relationships as children observe and work together with their peers, engage in an in-depth investigation of a basic elements of art, and to extend visual collage through the use of a new medium: tiles.
•Skills: fine motor development (strength, coordination), creativity, symbolic representation, sensory input, color recognition, identification of texture.
Science
•Materials: cockroaches, beetles, mealworms, salamander, flower bulb.
•Rationale: to support children's curiosity of the natural world around us and to encourage the investigation of nature. To encourage children to begin using different tools to observe, investigate and record. To encourage deeper investigation into growth and change by watching and caring for a plant in our classroom as it grows from bulb to flowering plant. To finish the long-term investigation of a decomposing pumpkin via one final observation.
•Skills: observation, scientific investigation and inquiry, outdoor/indoor connection, making comparisons, recording change over time.

Language and Literacy
•Materials: the writing center has a variety of writing utensils, paper, envelopes, staplers, tape, pictures of children in our classroom, alphabet chart, dictionary, and samples of written words.
•Rationale: to involve children in writing and the social activity of note and letter writing. To expand interest in children to write letters to people. To give children the opportunity to create their own stories and writings. New resource texts are available to encourage familiarity with print and to show the many uses of the written word.
•Skills: fine motor, pre-writing, and letter recognition, using texts in a variety of ways.
•Materials: The library has been updated with texts to focus on the changes experience in winter, as well as books that highlight the alphabet and numerals as well as books that discuss construction and building to help extend our investigation of the construction site next door.
•Rationale: to encourage reading time with friends and teachers, encourage exploration of fiction and nonfiction texts. In addition, the children are also encouraged to regard books as a source of information.
•Skills: receptive language, early literacy, listening, and community building.

Large Motor
• Materials: Gym: climbing wall, jumping donut, monkey bars, slide-climber. Playground: shovels, buckets, sleds
• Rationale: We will be going back a minimal set up in the gym to let the children get reacquainted with the equipment (as well as help the student teachers get comfortable in the gym!). We will be leading several games this week: including Sleeping Children, several parachute games, and yoga. As for the playground, because we are at the mercy of Mother Nature, we will bring out materials based on the weather for the day. We had fun creating our own games as well as exploring the natural beauty of the playground during the fall, and we will keep that alive during the winter months, as well!
• Skills: locomotor skills of walking and running, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-to-hand/eye-to-foot coordination, spatial skills, body awareness, turn taking, social interaction

Special Announcements:
The teachers will be co-teaching this week.
Elizabeth will be cooking granola with the children on Wednesday.
Friday, January 20th-Gym Jam in Bierman Gym

Snacks:
Monday - No School
Wednesday - Granola and yogurt
Thursday - Cornbread muffins & milk

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Weekly Lesson Plan For Ross' Class
Week of: January 17-20, 2012
Lead teaching this week: Ross

Overview: Well it's quite clear that the children were very excited to be back - with many quick reconnections between friends as well as the revisiting of many familiar play themes that we saw at the end of the fall session (specifically, building houses and building/traveling on planes to various destinations). However, a growing interest in the demolition site (as we realized they are not constructing anything) has manifested this week thanks to the field trips, continual discussions, and supporting materials we have added to the room. We will continue exploring the demolition site, and begin thinking about "what are they going to put there?" The children had discussions about "green spaces" and made a model that you can see in the daily docs section of our class webpage. This week we will also revisit the growth and change topics from the fall; with Addy taking a look at how the children will grow "bigger" be starting a height/weight chart, and Molly exploring the (hopefully) quick changes that will take place with our "mystery" bulb (the amaryllis stems have already started sprouting over the weekend!).
We're looking forward to seeing all that will be "growing and changing" this week!

Expressive Arts (paint, collage, clay)
• Materials: Art table - 3-dimensional "demolition" collage materials (gravel, rocks, sticks, bottle caps, corks, spools), markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue. Clay table - clay, wood tools, thick wire, glass gems
• Rationale: After our trips to take a closer look at the demolition site, we wanted to create several opportunities for the children to show us their interpretation of what was happening across the driveway. Various "demolition-esk" materials have been added to the art shelves with the intention that the children can recreate/show the changes taking place at the demolition site. In a related focus, the clay will be used to record/show the changes taking place with the amaryllis bulb that was planted last week. Each day the children will be invite to recreate the progress they see as the stem continues to grow taller.
• Skills: connecting real-life experiences and representing them through different mediums, prediction/hypothesizing, creativity, artistic expression, symbolic representation, fine-motor strength/coordination, opportunities for social interaction/discussion

Sensory (water table)
• Materials: larger containers, a plethora of items that "sink and float" (e.g. ping-pong balls, bouncy balls, wood pieces, rocks)
• Rationale: During the past week, the children have been very interested in figuring out what sinks and floats in the water table. The teachers have continued to provide new materials throughout the week, however are now inviting the children to collect and test items from around the room (under the supervision of the teachers, of course!). Charts have also been added to record the findings as the children conduct new tests.
• Skills: critical thinking/reasoning, hypothesis creating/testing, data recording, problem-solving skills, opportunities for collaboration/cooperation/negotiation

Science
• Materials: amaryllis bulb, "watch me grow" charts, the various classroom pets
• Rationale: Last week, Molly invited a group of children to plant the "mystery" bulb (as we described it at large group), and this week the children we get a chance to record its daily changes - recording how much taller it is from the day before. We will make a chart to shows it's growth and ask the children how tall they think it will get. The second focus of the area related to how tall things are will be the addition of Addy's height chart. Over the week, we will record everyone's heights and see if they grow as fast as the amaryllis.
• Skills: Scientific thinking, data observing/recording, hypothesizing/prediction, comparison, rationalizing (when discussing differences between amaryllis and themselves and their different growing patterns)

Math and Manipulatives
• Materials: challenging puzzles, mosaic pattern blocks, shape-sorting game/stacker, "Tetris-style" block/problem solving game, various shaped/colored rocks for sorting and pattern making
• Rationale: The children have really enjoyed the new puzzles, often working with a teacher or classmate to help complete them. Now that the children have settled back into the daily routines, we want to start talking about patterns and "just what exactly makes a pattern." We will have several "Question(s) of the Day" related to patterning this week and will play patterning games in the gym as well as at large group.
• Skills: part-to-whole relationships, 1-to-1 correspondence, recognition of patterns by various characteristics (e.g. color, shape, size, etc.), rational counting (one number for each item), problem solving

Language and Literacy
• Materials: writing supplies (e.g. pens, pencils, markers, paper, etc), pictures of each child, Our Alphabet books
• Rationale: Letter writing and picture drawing continues to drive the literacy area. This week, we will start the "Words We Know" wall (rather than the book), as children have asked to spell various words/names while at the table. It will be a continually growing wall, and we will have slips of paper readily available so the children can add words at any time.
• Skills: alphabetic letter recognition/awareness, pre-/early-literacy skills, supporting/fostering social skills, concepts of print, fine-motor strength/coordination/endurance supported by writing

Dramatic Play
• Materials: house furniture (stove, sink, pantry, etc.), child-size door, fabric, dress-up shoes, capes, keys, scarves, play food/flatware
• Rationale: Meals, parties, and general good-times are happening in the dramatic play house. Every day, children visit the area and prepare/serve meals to one another - allowing great opportunities to reconnect with old friends as well as continue to make new friends. We have also noticed a considerable interest in the "pets" (various stuffed animals). We will add a few more pets, as well as a few more supportive pet-related materials, to the area. We also may begin to take a closer look at the real pets that the children have a home. Stay tuned for more details.
• Skills: social skills, imaginative/creative play, symbolic representation, generalization, strengthening the home-to-school connection

Blocks
• Materials: large hollow blocks, unit blocks, peg people, work trucks, "rumble" and "cargo" blocks, demolition site observation station, small "house-related" pictures (e.g. windows, flower boxes, house address numbers)
• Rationale: The block area continues to be a very busy area! The house play sprawls to the hollow-block area daily, and to support it, we have added pictures to help "improve" the details on the children's houses. Another popular activity is - and you guessed it - related to the demolition. We had job sites built with both the small unit blocks as well as with the big blocks. We have added construction helmets to the area to ensure "maximum safety during any and all demolition projects." We will continue to invite/foster various demolition-related activities in the back to help strengthen the children's understanding of all that is taking place just outside out window!
• Skills: large-/fine-motor strength/coordination, symbolic representation, imagination/creativity, spatial awareness skills, social skills (e.g. communication, expressing feelings, negotiation, compromising, collaboration)

Large Motor
• Materials: Gym: climbing wall, A-frame bridge and jumping station, slide-climber with roller-slide, "rickety bridge," the "hamster wheel." Playground: shovels, buckets, large construction trucks
• Rationale: We've made a few modifications to the gym. We clipped together a few large bolsters to create the "rickety bridge" that challenges children's balance and core strength. We have also taken away the jumping donut and are challenging the children to jump and land on the feet - supporting their dynamic balance and lower body strength/coordination/balance. The donut will be flipped on its edge and be used as the "hamster wheel," challenging the children to crawl forward in order to move it (under close teacher supervision/spotting). The student teachers will also begin planning focused activities in the gym, so ask your child if they played any fun games in the game that day. As for the playground, the snow is (kind of) here, however the constructions trucks are in full swing - some days working on the demolition site, other days building a new building. We will continue to support this interest by facilitating conversations between the children. If they snow stays/accumulates, we will also take out the sleds...however we will need a few more inches until that happens.
• Skills: core strength, locomotor skills of walking and running, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-to-hand/eye-to-foot coordination, lower body strength/coordination, spatial skills, body awareness, turn taking, social interactions

Special Interest (large group, music, cooking, fire drill, etc)
• NO SCHOOL MONDAY - in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• PAC meeting on Thursday from 7-8.30p. Hope you can make it!
• The GYM JAM is Friday from 6.30-8.30p! Check out the flyer on the website for more details!
• GYM JAM t-shirts (that's right, they're back!) will be available for pre-sale this week. Sheila will have them in her office and they're only $10! We've got child AND adult sizes available!
• The research project (that was sent out last week via email) will be starting this week. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask Ross
• We will have a fire drill this week. The sign will be posted on the door the day of the drill.

Snack
Monday - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday - Cucumbers & Pretzels
Wednesday - Saltine & sunbutter sandwiches
Thursday - Oatmeal & raisins
Friday - Cornbread muffins
*All snacks served with milk/water unless otherwise noted*

January 16th-20th
All teachers Co-Teaching

Overview:
As the children and new teachers settle in, our focus will be on building new relationships and strengthening existing ones. Face recognition games and student figurines will be highlighted to promote awareness of each other. The children will be encouraged to begin noticing similarities and differences amongst each other. We will also be focusing on collaboration and cooperation as the children work together. Themes of transportation and construction will continue to be highlighted to allow children to deepen and develop current play themes. Winter weather and winter animals will be featured in the dramatic play area and in large group discussions to bring awareness of the surrounding environment.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, black paper, white and pastel paint colors.
Rationale: To promote creative expression while providing colors that represent snow. To create a contrast between light paint and dark background.
Skills: Fine motor, try out new things, symbolic representation, creativity, artistic expression.

**Materials: Scissors, chalk, string, ribbons, scotch tape, markers, crayons.
Rationale: To promote collage making by cutting and taping the materials. To provide opportunities to draw and write their thoughts and ideas.
Skills: Fine motor, persistence, artistic expression, symbolic representation, creativity.

**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, impression tools.
Rationale: To experiment with a variety of new tools. To try out materials for cause and effect relationship.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, turn taking, creative expression, manual dexterity, observation, cause and effect, try out, creativity.

Sensory
**Materials: shaving cream
Rationale: To provide the children with an opportunity to use their sense of touch by exploring materials that are soft.
Skills: sensory exploration, sensory input, investigating, exploring, questioning, creating, exploring new materials

**Materials: ice on the playground
Rationale: To observe, feel, manipulate, and begin wondering about what ice is made out of and what happens to it in different conditions.
Skills: observation, discussion, experimentation, cause and effect, predicting, sharing ideas, sensory input

**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, rakes, cups, rocks, shells, funnels, rollers.
Rationale: To make sense out of the construction/destruction scenery outside the classroom in Norris Hall. To support interest in digging and excavating hidden "treasures."
Skills: Sensory input, turn-taking, observation, imitation, prediction, trying out new ideas, fine motor

Science
**Materials: Light table, translucent duplo blocks, flashlights, color gels and Petri dishes.
Rationale: To provide opportunity to build with small translucent manipulatives to see the effects of color combination through light. To provide the opportunity to explore colors and mixing them by combining the materials together. To provide experimentation with light and dark.
Skills: Observation, prediction, fine motor, symbolic representation, comparison, try out

**Materials: Sensory touch materials.
Rationale: To learn and use the sense of touch. To compare two materials and learn new vocabulary such as soft, rough, smooth, bumpy.
Skills: Ideas, discussion, observation, sensory input

Dramatic Play
**Materials: unit blocks, foam blocks, arch blocks, animal figures, baskets, twigs, fabric
Rationale: To promote an awareness of where animals live and what they do during the winter.
Skills: symbolic representation, communication, creativity, collaboration, large and fine motor, observation, construction skills (building)

**Materials: Household kitchen furniture, plates, bowls, cups, food, babies, baby clothes, blankets, bottles, and crib.
Rationale: To continue to provide opportunities to symbolically represent the children's experiences or curiosity of taking care of babies, making, and serving food for themselves and others.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills.


**Materials: Wooden trains, chairs, airplanes, cars, maps, small pictures of airplanes to stick on the map.
Rationale: To create role playing scenarios that includes groups of children to collaborate together, such as going on a train ride or an airplane ride using chairs. To continue to provide an opportunity to reenact some of the travel experiences the children may have had over winter break.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills


Math and Manipulatives 

**Materials: Picture Face puzzle
Rationale: To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, matching.

**Materials: sewing blocks, problem solving stacker, number counting manipulative, puzzles
Rationale: To support awareness of numbers and counting. To provide materials that support hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. To understand part to whole relationships in putting together a puzzle.
Skills: Counting, comparison, persistence, fine motor control, hand-eye coordination

Language and Literacy 

**Materials: A variety of books being displayed in different curriculum areas as well as the reading nook.

Rationale: To promote finding and applying new information in books to their knowledge and play, while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language. 

Skills: Listening, speaking, reading, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, heuristic language, give and ask for information, turn taking. 


Blocks 

**Materials: Blocks with the children's pictures on them
Rational: To promote children's dramatic play in the block area by using the picture blocks as figurines that symbolize their classmates and teachers. To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills

**Materials: Hollow blocks and unit blocks.
Rationale: To encourage block building to make airports, houses, train tracks, and bridges, to support the story lines of traveling and hibernation.
Skills: Cooperation, collaboration, creativity, symbolic representation, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), try out new ideas

Large Motor 

**Materials: Indoors: Pedalo, bumpy slide, A-Frame ladders and bridge, monkey bars, and wall ladders.
Rationale: To provide and promote opportunities to support propulsion skills and motor coordination skills.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, balance, coordination, creativity, turn-taking

**Materials: Outdoors: Buckets, shovels, rocking boat, ice, mallets, yellow scooter cars
Rationale: To provide children opportunities for social interaction and to collaborate in rocking a boat together. To facilitate activities that promote usage of ice.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, turn-taking

Large group 

**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), reading "Eeny Miney Mouse," a rhyming story, dance and instrument activities, modeling of activities
Rationale: To introduce the children to the new student teachers. To sings songs that are familiar to them as they get used to the school routine again.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions.

Music 

** Materials: drums, rainmakers, scrappers
Rationale: Allow children to explore the materials through manipulation and have them create their own music. To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction.
Skills: sensory input, sensory exploration, investing, questioning, creating, exploring, large motor, fine motor, exploring instruments

January 17th-20th
All teachers Co-Teaching

Overview:
As the children and new teachers settle in, our focus will be on building new relationships and strengthening existing ones. Face recognition games and student figurines will be highlighted to promote awareness of each other. As the children become more aware of each other, we will encourage interaction by using the materials that are available. We will also support their conversation by gently repeating or narrating their actions and words to them. Themes of transportation and construction will continue to be highlighted to allow children to deepen and develop current play themes. Winter weather and winter animals will be featured in the dramatic play area and in large group discussions to bring awareness of the surrounding environment.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, black paper, white and pastel paint colors.
Rationale: To promote creative expression while providing colors that represent snow. To create a contrast between light paint and dark background.
Skills: Fine motor, try out new things, symbolic representation, creativity, artistic expression.

**Materials: Scissors, chalk, string, ribbons, scotch tape, markers, crayons.
Rationale: To promote collage making by cutting and taping the materials. To provide opportunities to draw and write their thoughts and ideas.
Skills: Fine motor, persistence, artistic expression, symbolic representation, creativity.

**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, impression tools.
Rationale: To experiment with a variety of new tools. To try out materials for cause and effect relationship.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, turn taking, creative expression, manual dexterity, observation, cause and effect, try out, creativity.

Sensory
**Materials: shaving cream
Rationale: To provide the children with an opportunity to use their sense of touch by exploring materials that are soft.
Skills: sensory exploration, sensory input, investigating, exploring, questioning, creating, exploring new materials

**Materials: ice on the playground
Rationale: To observe, feel, manipulate, and begin wondering about what ice is made out of and what happens to it in different conditions.
Skills: observation, discussion, experimentation, cause and effect, predicting, sharing ideas, sensory input

**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, rakes, cups, rocks, shells, funnels, rollers.
Rationale: To make sense out of the construction/destruction scenery outside the classroom in Norris Hall. To support interest in digging and excavating hidden "treasures."
Skills: Sensory input, turn-taking, observation, imitation, prediction, trying out new ideas, fine motor

Science
**Materials: Light table, translucent duplo blocks, flashlights, color gels and Petri dishes.
Rationale: To provide opportunity to build with small translucent manipulatives to see the effects of color combination through light. To provide the opportunity to explore colors and mixing them by combining the materials together. To provide experimentation with light and dark.
Skills: Observation, prediction, fine motor, symbolic representation, comparison, try out

**Materials: Sensory touch materials.
Rationale: To learn and use the sense of touch. To compare two materials and learn new vocabulary such as soft, rough, smooth, bumpy.
Skills: Ideas, discussion, observation, sensory input

Dramatic Play
**Materials: unit blocks, foam blocks, arch blocks, animal figures, baskets, twigs, fabric
Rationale: To promote an awareness of where animals live and what they do during the winter.
Skills: symbolic representation, communication, creativity, collaboration, large and fine motor, observation, construction skills (building)

**Materials: Household kitchen furniture, plates, bowls, cups, food, babies, baby clothes, blankets, bottles, and crib.
Rationale: To continue to provide opportunities to symbolically represent the children's experiences or curiosity of taking care of babies, making, and serving food for themselves and others.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills.


**Materials: Wooden trains, chairs, airplanes, cars, maps, small pictures of airplanes to stick on the map.
Rationale: To create role playing scenarios that includes groups of children to collaborate together, such as going on a train ride or an airplane ride using chairs. To continue to provide an opportunity to reenact some of the travel experiences the children may have had over winter break.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills


Math and Manipulatives 

**Materials: Picture Face puzzle
Rationale: To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills, matching.

**Materials: sewing blocks, problem solving stacker, number counting manipulative, puzzles
Rationale: To support awareness of numbers and counting. To provide materials that support hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. To understand part to whole relationships in putting together a puzzle.
Skills: Counting, comparison, persistence, fine motor control, hand-eye coordination

Language and Literacy 

**Materials: A variety of books being displayed in different curriculum areas as well as the reading nook.

Rationale: To promote finding and applying new information in books to their knowledge and play, while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language. 

Skills: Listening, speaking, reading, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, heuristic language, give and ask for information, turn taking. 


Blocks 

**Materials: Blocks with the children's pictures on them
Rational: To promote children's dramatic play in the block area by using the picture blocks as figurines that symbolize their classmates and teachers. To promote the awareness of self, as well as the children's classmates. To encourage children to notice similarities and differences about their classmates over time.
Skills: Self-awareness, awareness of others, fine motor skills

**Materials: Hollow blocks and unit blocks.
Rationale: To encourage block building to make airports, houses, train tracks, and bridges, to support the story lines of traveling and hibernation.
Skills: Cooperation, collaboration, creativity, symbolic representation, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), try out new ideas

Large Motor 

**Materials: Indoors: Pedalo, bumpy slide, A-Frame ladders and bridge, monkey bars, and wall ladders.
Rationale: To provide and promote opportunities to support propulsion skills and motor coordination skills.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, balance, coordination, creativity, turn-taking

**Materials: Outdoors: Buckets, shovels, rocking boat, ice, mallets, yellow scooter cars
Rationale: To provide children opportunities for social interaction and to collaborate in rocking a boat together. To facilitate activities that promote usage of ice.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, turn-taking

Large group 

**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), reading "Eeny Miney Mouse," a rhyming story, dance and instrument activities, modeling of activities
Rationale: To introduce the children to the new student teachers. To sings songs that are familiar to them as they get used to the school routine again.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions.

Music 

** Materials: drums, rainmakers, scrappers
Rationale: Allow children to explore the materials through manipulation and have them create their own music. To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction.
Skills: sensory input, sensory exploration, investing, questioning, creating, exploring, large motor, fine motor, exploring instruments

Overview
The children are clearly glad to be back and have embraced all that that the classroom has to offer. In particular the mounted birds, birds at the feeder, and nest making video have intrigued them. We will pursue this topic by viewing additional birds at the Bell Museum, observing behavior, and by trying to make nests of our own. Now that the temperatures have dropped again, we will investigate how non-hibernating animals survive in the winter. We will compare what we learn to the ways humans adjust to colder temperatures, how they stay warm and healthy.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Watercolor painting - paper, feathers, brushes, watercolor paint. Clay- clay, utensils, nest materials. Easel- brushes, paint, paper.
-Rationale: As the children become more adept at using the clay and clay tools to represent their creative ideas, we will begin to incorporate nest materials into the clay area to promote discussion and creation of nests. The watercolor table will give the children an opportunity for creative expression and symbolic representation with a new medium. The feathers at the watercolor table may encourage children's thinking about different types of feathers as well as inspire paintings using a variety of colors. The addition of a new paint (brown) to the easel will give the children a way to extend their paintings and thinking about winter.
-Skills: Self-expression, fine motor, creative expression, sensory input, symbolic representation.

Sensory
-Materials: Sensory table with gravel, rocks, shovels, small earthmover trucks
-Rationale: To provide materials that allow the children to recreate the changes they witness at the work site across from the school.
-Skills: Sensory input, knowledge of physical properties, connection between indoors and outdoors.

Math and Manipulatives
-Materials: Seriated cylinders, nesting cups, button mosaics, themed interlocking puzzles featuring winter, animals, and birds.
-Rationale: We will introduce the concept of seriation by providing manipulatives that can be sorted and ordered by size. This will allow the children to use previously acquired skills such as matching and sorting according to size, and foster further growth of their mathematical concept development by practicing ordering from largest to smallest.
-Skills: Matching, sorting, classification, ordering, seriation, positional concepts, patterning, one-to-one correspondence and whole/part relationships.

Science
-Materials: Nests, animal tracks (birds and mammals), stuffed crow and pheasant, feathers, and magnifying glasses.
-Rationale: A variety of bird nests will be added to the science table for investigation. The children will be able to discover what kinds of materials are used to make nests as well as discuss ideas such as the purpose of nests and how nests are constructed. The light dusting of snow has led to the discovery of animal tracks on the playground. We added a track matching game to the light table to foster growth of the children's ability to discriminate the differences between animals based on the marks they leave. We will extend this learning to the playground and attempt to identify the animals that share our outdoor space.
-Skills: Scientific inquiry, observation, generalizing, making use of appropriate sources of information, reasoning, grouping, matching, comparison, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, descriptive language, heuristic language, informative language, symbolic representation, peer interactions.

Language and Literacy
-Materials: Photo and name cards, an assortment of writing materials such as pens, pencils, paper, tape and staplers. A variety of books have been chosen that relate to our curriculum.
-Rationale: We added photo and name cards for each child in the class to foster the children's independence in writing their own name or the names of their classmates. We introduced the idea of writing letters to one another during morning meeting and as a group, addressed a letter to Ross' class before delivering it. Not only are writing letters and drawing pictures for classmates great ways to practice writing and promote literacy, they also enhance feelings of friendship and build classroom community.
-Skills: Fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, fine motor, and letter recognition.

Blocks
-Materials: Construction helmets, construction vests, hollow blocks, unit blocks, ramps, wood boards, and big fabric pieces.
-Rationale: The children have been intrigued with the demolition site outside of the preschool. Along with visits to view the changes at the site, these dramatic play props will encourage and inspire the children to create their own construction site with the blocks.
-Skills: Creative building, spatial skills, geometry, role-play, knowledge of force and motion, physical knowledge, social skills, and large motor.

Dramatic Play
-Materials: In the loft, we have stuffed raptor birds and squirrels. Under the loft, we have bird costumes, big bears, raccoons, bunnies, and pillows. The cave has plastic animals, photos depicting hibernating animals, and wood pieces. Kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots along with different fruits in baskets. Near the blocks there are construction tools.
-Rationale: The addition of the bird costumes under the loft will give the children the opportunity to extend their thinking and represent what they are learning about birds. The dramatic play materials encourage children to engage in make-believe play, to support conversations related to animals and their habitats and provide opportunities for self-expression, imagination, and creativity.
-Skills: Role-play, symbolic play, peer interactions, support general social skills, problem solving, sharing.

Large Motor
-Materials: Gym- monkey bars, A-frame ladder bridge with jumping station, climber with rolling slide, and ladders. Outdoors-playground equipment, shovels, buckets, construction vehicles.
-Rationale: The gym equipment fosters a overall strength and balance. There is an open area that is used for group games that focus on specific skills such as isolated body movements, stretching, and spatial awareness. Outside, the children will have opportunities to enjoy the cold fresh air. We will draw their attention to birds and signs of animals.
-Skills: Balance and coordination, endurance, upper and lower body strength, depth perception, climbing up and down.

Snack
Monday - No School
Tuesday - Oatmeal & orange juice
Wednesday - Cucumbers & Pretzels
Thursday - Saltine & sunbutter sandwiches
Friday- Cornbread muffins

Overview and Goals
We will spend the next week and a half immersed in fieldwork related to "Birds!" Since the end of the fall session, and beginning of this one, we have been setting up the stage for the intense work we will be busy with starting this coming week. The children's homework and our daily discussions related to this topic have brought interesting questions and we are planning on sharing and discussing our thoughts about these. Art endeavors and science investigations will go hand in hand and support each other.

Expressive Arts
~Materials: Easel, brushes, blue and white paint with thick brushes, brown paint with thin brushes, and paper. Clay, clay utensils, dirt, hay, and natural materials found outdoors.
~Rationale: Offer opportunities for creative expression and symbolic representation. To support children' exploration of birds' nests by building with clay and natural materials.
~Skills: Self-expression, fine motor, symbolic representation, and creative expression.
We will add watercolors next week to begin becoming aware of color mixing, and light.

Sensory Materials
~Materials: Small and big rocks, small construction trucks, scoops, containers.
~Rationale: Mirror the outdoors' construction site.
~Skills: Creative expression, sensory input, and symbolic representation.

Science
We continue to focus our attention on animal life, focusing on "birds." Our two field trips will add to our discussions and spark new topics of conversation, as well as give us hand-on (eyes-on) opportunities. We will also start discussing other animals that are seen in winter (sometimes we only notice their tracks left on the snow).
~Materials: Stuffed crow and pheasant, feathers, nests, magnifying glasses, animal tracks. Fish. Laminated picture of animal possible environments and homes and an assortment of animal pictures. We will add photos taken from our field trips.
~Rationale: Continue to explore birds and begin to become aware of other animals found in our environment during the winter months; how do they survive and where can we find them. Give the children the opportunity to use their knowledge, memory and noticing skills as we ask them to place photos of animals in their appropriate environments.
~Skills: Scientific inquiry, observation, generalizing, making use of appropriate sources of information, reasoning, grouping, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, descriptive language, heuristic language, informative language, symbolic representation, peer interactions.

Math, Manipulatives and Games
These next couple of weeks we will focus on the concept of seriation. We have also started to pay attention to rote counting and rational counting.
~Materials: Button mosaics, Montessori cylinders, nesting cups, puzzles featuring winter, animals in general and birds in particular in both inset and interlocking versions. Snow bingo.
~Rationale: Seriation skills support children's understand of arranging objects (and concepts, later on) according to a specific dimension (size, width, weight, what happened first, next and last). Seriation skills are related to more complex math concepts, such as ordination or placing numbers in the correct order (for example, 1,2,3). Seriation also helps develop higher-order thinking and problem solving skills such as arranging smallest to largest.
~Skills: Seriation, rote counting, rational counting, one-to-one correspondence, whole and part relationships, analyzing and synthesizing, games with rules, and cooperation.

Dramatic, Symbolic Play and Blocks/Creative Building
~Materials: Woodland plastic animals, forest animals, birds stuffed animals, tree cuttings, logs, fabric, pillows, books about animals and hibernation. Kitchen set and utensils. Construction tools and hats. Fabric to use as animal costumes.
~Rationale: We continue to explore hibernation and winter survival. The dramatic and symbolic play areas continue to feature materials to support children's discussions and understanding of this topic. Provide opportunities for self-expression, creative expression, imagination and creativity. Opportunity for the children to replicate what there are seeing outdoors (in the construction site right across from our school).
~Skills: Role-play, symbolic representation, social interactions, discussions and conversations related to animals and their habitats as well as yearly cycles, problem solving, and sharing.
Blocks
~Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks, ramps, wood boards, and big fabric pieces.
~Rationale: Offer the children opportunities for creative building. Opportunities to enhance dramatic play scenarios or create dramatic play scenarios. Opportunities for social play and practice a variety of social skills (problem solving, sharing, dealing with space, working together, discussing).
~Skills: Mathematical concepts such as symmetry, dimensions and fractions. Spatial skills, creative building, large motor, strength, and social skills.

Language and Literacy
~Materials: Books related to topics discussed in the classroom, fun and old favorite books, pencils, thin markers, paper, envelopes, glue sticks, staplers, tape, clipboards. Cards with children's photos and names written on them. Birds' stamps and stamp pads...
~Rationale: To continue to build community, we will offer the children hands-on opportunities to notice and/or copy, write their own and their classmates' names. We will re-introduce the mailboxes during the following week, and encourage friendship messages within the classroom. Stamps will add a touch to children's notes, encourage children to expand on the birds' pictures.
~Skills: Letter recognition and use, fine motor, descriptive and creative writing, dictation, building community, encourage friendships and written communication. Fine motor strength.

Large Motor
~Materials: The gym set up displays the climbing/jumping wall, A-frame, metal bridge, and jumping station, rolling slide, and pedalo.
~Skills: Coordination, jumping, depth perception and turn taking, upper and lower body and core strength, climbing up and down.
Elizabeth's and our team will make some modifications on Thursday. I will let you know what changes we decided on.
~Our time in the playground will be dedicated to unstructured and structured large motor activities as well as deepen children's interest on science related explorations. We have been lucky to be able to use shovels, construction cars and tricycles in the past weeks. If we have snow, we will take advantage of it and finally use our sleds!

Music and Movement/Large Group
~Songs about birds. How do birds move; different birds move differently and make different sounds.

REMINDERS
~Field trip to the Bell Museum on Wednesday, January 18th.
~Field trip to the Raptor Center on Wednesday, January 25th.
WE ASK YOU THAT YOU PLEASE HAVE THE CHILDREN AT THE LAB SCHOOL AT 12:30! Details for each field trip will be sent the day before. Please make sure that you check your emails!

GYM JAM!! Friday, January 20, 6:30-8:30. Don't miss this fun winter event for the whole school, and invite your friends and neighbors to join you!!

Dalia

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Large Group

Sensory

Science

Blocks

Sensory/Symbolic Play

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Playground

Math and Manipulatives

Science

Math and Manipulatives

Symbolic Play

Weekly Lesson Plan for Ross' Class
January 3 - 13, 2012
Lead Teaching These Weeks: Ross

Overview: Welcome back everybody and happy 2012! I hope your time away from school was relaxing, restorative, and enjoyable! Because we have been away for quite some time, we will take the first few days back to get settled into our daily schedule as well as reconnect with one another: especially our new student teachers Addy and Molly. We will also have a regular volunteer joining us on Fridays, and his name is Andy. To make a comfortable and smooth adjustment back to school, we will have many familiar materials available: the airplane building props in the blocks, the house props and dress up clothes in the dramatic play area, and lots of open-ended collage materials. We will also continue our focus on "growth and change;" continuing to look at ourselves as well as our trees (and even our rotting pumpkin!), however we will also begin to explore/observe how other things grow and change: looking specifically at how plants and animals. We're excited to start our winter session and are glad to have everyone back!

Expressive Arts (paint, collage, clay)
• Materials: Art table - 3-dimensional collage materials (shiny wrappers, bottle caps, corks, spools, packing peanuts), markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue, an interesting collection of "loose pieces" from the Art Cart, Clay table - clay, wood tools, wire
• Rationale: The art table was a popular place last session, with the creation of many creative masterpieces. We want to continue that excitement by introducing new and interesting materials that allow for new opportunities for self-expression. Two-dimensional art was a heavy focus in the fall, so to start the winter we are highlighting the third dimension - bringing the art to a whole new "level." The clay will also be available, with new provocations and stories to retell - bringing the children back to the table to revisit this amazing material.
• Skills: creativity, artistic expression, symbolic representation, fine-motor strength/coordination, opportunities for social interaction/negotiations

Sensory (snow/water table)
• Materials: water, containers, funnels, hoses
• Rationale: Unlike last year (when we had 4ft of accumulated snow at this time), we've got little-to-no snow available. But worry not!...we will introduce it in the class as it falls. Until then, we will bring back the water table, however this time with materials to support water movement. Hoses, funnels, and jugs will be available for the children to explore various ways for moving water from one container to another.
• Skills: exploration of the physical properties of water, problem solving/critical thinking skills, opportunities for collaboration/cooperation/negotiation

Science
• Materials: prisms, kaleidoscopes, various hand lenses, the classroom "critters," rotting pumpkin
• Rationale: We will continue our exploration of growth and change in the science area as we revisit the topics of our bodies and trees. Over break, we all grew a little bit older (some of us having birthdays) as well as bigger/taller, and now we will begin record that information - seeing what changes over the winter session. We have also added various hand lenses and kaleidoscopes as we begin exploring our sense of sight and how it can change when we look through different things. In regards to our trees, I think it's safe to say they all look relatively the same by now, however we will use the information we gathered about how our trees grew/changed as we take a closer look at how our plants (and rotting pumpkin) have changed in our room over break.

Math and Manipulatives
• Materials: new ("more challenging") puzzles, mosaic pattern blocks, shape-sorting game/stacker, "tetris-style" block/problem solving game
• Rationale: As we finished up the fall session, there was some discussion of making patterns. We want to revisit that topic and go further into exploring the questions, "What is a patter?" and "Where do I find patters in the world?" There are also new puzzles to challenge our young puzzle experts: one the specifically uses "tetris-style" shaped pieces that can fit into the board only with careful spatial planning!
• Skills: part-to-whole relationships, 1-to-1 correspondence, recognition of patterns by various characteristics (e.g. color, shape, size, etc.), rational counting (one number for each item), problem solving

Language and Literacy
• Materials: writing supplies (e.g. pens, pencils, markers, paper, etc), pictures of each child, the Words We Know and Our Alphabet books
• Rationale: We saw a lot of action at the writing table in the fall - with letters and pictures being made for classmates and family members. We also saw the creation of maps and signs for extensions of dramatic play. We want to continue supporting the interest in writing, as well as foster more intention with writing/using the alphabetic letters. To start, we will encourage the children to write their names, the names of the classmates, and simple words/labels as they visit the area - referencing the Words We Know and Our Alphabet books as needed.
• Skills: alphabetic letter recognition/awareness, pre-/early-literacy skills, supporting/fostering social skills, concepts of print, fine-motor strength/coordination/endurance supported by writing

Dramatic Play
• Materials: house furniture (stove, sink, pantry, etc.), child-size door, fabric, dress-up shoes, capes, keys, scarves, play food/flatware
• Rationale: The house was one of the most popular spots during the fall; seeing many visitors every day. We want to continue supporting the strong dramatic play taking place while helping the stories go further. We have moved the babies from the smaller cave to the larger cave: creating a "nursery," as caring for the babies was very popular. The smaller cave has transformed into the pet area: with stuffed animals and props to support pet-care play. We hope this rearrangement will help create new stories.
• Skills: social skills, imaginative/creative play, symbolic representation, generalization

Blocks
• Materials: large hollow blocks, unit blocks, peg people, doll house, wood furniture, long/short planks
• Rationale: Like the dramatic play area, the block area was another popular spot. The play and discovery taking place was primarily child-directed: involving elaborate structures and complex storylines that were often revisited for days at a time. To foster/promote this intrinsic motivation for building after the long break, the airplane props will remain available. We will also facilitate more symbolic representational building with the unit blocks as the teachers use small-block structures to help create various stories in the block area - using the large doll house as a provocation.
• Skills: large-/fine-motor strength/coordination, symbolic representation, imagination/creativity, spatial awareness skills, social skills (e.g. communication, expressing feelings, negotiation, compromising, collaboration)

Large Motor
• Materials: Gym: climbing wall, jumping donut, monkey bars, slide-climber. Playground: shovels, buckets, sleds
• Rationale: We will be going back a minimal set up in the gym to let the children get reacquainted with the equipment (as well as help the student teachers get comfortable in the gym!). We will be leading several games this week: including Sleeping Children, several parachute games, and yoga. As for the playground, because we are at the mercy of Mother Nature, we will bring out materials based on the weather for the day. We had fun creating our own games as well as exploring the natural beauty of the playground during the fall, and we will keep that alive during the winter months, as well!
• Skills: locomotor skills of walking and running, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-to-hand/eye-to-foot coordination, spatial skills, body awareness, turn taking, social interaction

Special Interest (large group, music, cooking, fire drill, etc)
• Be sure to stop in and introduce yourself to the student teachers - they're excited to meet you all!
• Even though the snow hasn't completely dropped, the temps have! Please send your child's LABELED snow gear every day, as it makes getting ready to go outside much smoother when we have everything accounted for. Thanks!
• REMEMBER - we start school on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4.
• NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 16 - in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Mark your calendars - the ever-popular GYM JAM is on Friday, January 20th. Tell your friends and invite them to join us! Take a look on the school's main page for the flyer/additional details.

Snack
Monday - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday - NO SCHOOL
Wednesday - raisins and rice cakes
Thursday - popcorn (made by the children) and apples
Friday - trail mix
*All snacks served with milk/water unless otherwise noted*

January 4th -13th
Ayuko Lead Teaching

Overview:
As we welcome the children and families back from the long winter break, we plan to keep things simple to allow easy interactions with our new student teacher team. We are assuming that some children may have had travel experiences during break so we will have trains, planes, cars, and maps available to capitalize on the memories. Familiar items will continue to be available so that the children could seek comfort when they come back to the classroom. Learning the basic steps of dressing for the winter outdoors (snowpants and boots and the rest) will be a big focus of our early days together.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, black paper, white and pastel paint colors.
Rationale: To promote creative expression while providing colors that represent snow. To create a contrast between light paint and dark background.
Skills: Fine motor, try out new things, symbolic representation, creativity, artistic expression.

**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, impression tools.
Rationale: To experiment with a variety of new tools. To try out materials for cause and effect relationship.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, turn taking, creative expression, manual dexterity, observation, cause and effect, try out, creativity.

Sensory
**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, rakes, cups, rocks.
Rationale: To make sense out of and act out the construction/destruction scenery outside the classroom in Norris Hall. To support interest in digging and excavating hidden "treasures."
Skills: Sensory input, turn-taking, observation, imitation, prediction, trying out new ideas, fine motor

Science
**Materials: Light table, primary color gels, Petri dishes, flashlights.
Rationale: To provide the opportunity to explore colors and mixing them by combining the materials together. To provide experimentation with light and dark.
Skills: Observation, prediction, fine motor, comparison, try out

**Materials: Sensory touch materials.
Rationale: To learn and use the sense of touch. To compare two materials and learn new vocabulary such as soft, rough, smooth, bumpy.
Skills: Ideas, discussion, observation, sensory input

**Materials: Snow and Ice in the playground.
Rationale: To compare, observe, mold, feel, and begin wondering the difference between snow and ice and what it is made out of. To begin thinking about what type of animals enjoy the cold.
Skills: Ideas, discussion, experimenting, observation, try out ideas, cause and effect, predicting.

Dramatic Play
**Materials: Household kitchen furniture, plates, bowls, cups, food, babies, baby clothes, blankets, bottles, and crib.
Rationale: To provide an opportunity to symbolically represent the children's experiences or curiosity of taking care of babies, making, and serving food for themselves and others.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills.


**Materials: Wooden trains, airplanes, cars, maps, small pictures of airplanes to stick on the map.
Rationale: To provide an opportunity to reenact some of the travel experiences the children may have had over winter break.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills


Math and Manipulatives 

**Materials: beading, peg and peg boards, problem solving stacker, puzzles
Rationale: To support awareness of numbers and counting. To provide materials that support hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. To understand part to whole relationships in putting together a puzzle.
Skills: Counting, comparison, persistence, fine motor control, hand-eye coordination

Language and Literacy 

**Materials: A variety of books being displayed in different curriculum areas as well as the reading nook.

Rationale: To promote finding and applying new information in books to their knowledge and play, while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language. 

Skills: Listening, speaking, reading, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, heuristic language, give and ask for information, turn taking. 


Blocks 

**Materials: Hollow blocks and unit blocks.
Rationale: To encourage block building and make airports, houses, garage, train tracks, and bridges, to support the story lines of traveling.
Skills: Cooperation, collaboration, creativity, symbolic representation, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), try out new ideas

Large Motor 

**Materials: Indoors: basic gym set up for the first week.
Rationale: To provide and promote opportunities to engage in activities that enhance and challenge their physical skills.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, balance, coordination, symbolic representation, creativity, turn-taking

**Materials: Outdoors: Buckets, shovels, balance beam, ice (and hopefully snow), yellow scooter cars
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills including a focus on balancing coordination skills. To facilitate activities that promote usage of snow and ice.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, turn-taking

Large group 

**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), reading "Eeny Miney Mouse," a rhyming story, dance and instrument activities, modeling of activities
Rationale: To introduce the children to the new student teachers. To sings songs that are familiar to them as they get used to the school routine again.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions.

Music 

**Materials: Drums, shakers, and clappers. 

Rationale: To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction. To promote social interaction by encouraging the children to play instruments both in large group and during free play
Skills: Creative expression and movement, mathematical concepts (beats and patterns), imitation, call and answer, communication.

January 6th -13th
Ayuko Lead Teaching

Overview:
As we welcome the children and families back from the long winter break, we plan to keep things simple to allow easy interactions with our new student teacher team. We are assuming that some children may have had travel experiences during break so we will have trains, planes, cars, and maps available to capitalize on the memories. Familiar items will continue to be available so that the children could seek comfort when they come back to the classroom. Learning the basic steps of dressing for the winter outdoors (snowpants and boots and the rest) will be a big focus of our early days together.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Easel, black paper, white and pastel paint colors.
Rationale: To promote creative expression while providing colors that represent snow. To create a contrast between light paint and dark background.
Skills: Fine motor, try out new things, symbolic representation, creativity, artistic expression.

**Materials: Playdoh, rolling pins, cheese slicers, impression tools.
Rationale: To experiment with a variety of new tools. To try out materials for cause and effect relationship.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, turn taking, creative expression, manual dexterity, observation, cause and effect, try out, creativity.

Sensory
**Materials: Sand, dump trucks, rakes, cups, rocks.
Rationale: To make sense out of and act out the construction/destruction scenery outside the classroom in Norris Hall. To support interest in digging and excavating hidden "treasures."
Skills: Sensory input, turn-taking, observation, imitation, prediction, trying out new ideas, fine motor

Science
**Materials: Light table, primary color gels, Petri dishes, flashlights.
Rationale: To provide the opportunity to explore colors and mixing them by combining the materials together. To provide experimentation with light and dark.
Skills: Observation, prediction, fine motor, comparison, try out

**Materials: Sensory touch materials.
Rationale: To learn and use the sense of touch. To compare two materials and learn new vocabulary such as soft, rough, smooth, bumpy.
Skills: Ideas, discussion, observation, sensory input

**Materials: Snow and Ice in the playground.
Rationale: To compare, observe, mold, feel, and begin wondering the difference between snow and ice and what it is made out of. To begin thinking about what type of animals enjoy the cold.
Skills: Ideas, discussion, experimenting, observation, try out ideas, cause and effect, predicting.

Dramatic Play
**Materials: Household kitchen furniture, plates, bowls, cups, food, babies, baby clothes, blankets, bottles, and crib.
Rationale: To provide an opportunity to symbolically represent the children's experiences or curiosity of taking care of babies, making, and serving food for themselves and others.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills.


**Materials: Wooden trains, airplanes, cars, maps, small pictures of airplanes to stick on the map.
Rationale: To provide an opportunity to reenact some of the travel experiences the children may have had over winter break.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills


Math and Manipulatives 

**Materials: beading, peg and peg boards, problem solving stacker, puzzles
Rationale: To support awareness of numbers and counting. To provide materials that support hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. To understand part to whole relationships in putting together a puzzle.
Skills: Counting, comparison, persistence, fine motor control, hand-eye coordination

Language and Literacy 

**Materials: A variety of books being displayed in different curriculum areas as well as the reading nook.

Rationale: To promote finding and applying new information in books to their knowledge and play, while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language. 

Skills: Listening, speaking, reading, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, heuristic language, give and ask for information, turn taking. 


Blocks 

**Materials: Hollow blocks and unit blocks.
Rationale: To encourage block building and make airports, houses, garage, train tracks, and bridges, to support the story lines of traveling.
Skills: Cooperation, collaboration, creativity, symbolic representation, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), try out new ideas

Large Motor 

**Materials: Indoors: basic gym set up for the first week.
Rationale: To provide and promote opportunities to engage in activities that enhance and challenge their physical skills.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, balance, coordination, symbolic representation, creativity, turn-taking

**Materials: Outdoors: Buckets, shovels, balance beam, ice (and hopefully snow), yellow scooter cars
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills including a focus on balancing coordination skills. To facilitate activities that promote usage of snow and ice.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, turn-taking

Large group 

**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), reading "Eeny Miney Mouse," a rhyming story, dance and instrument activities, modeling of activities
Rationale: To introduce the children to the new student teachers. To sings songs that are familiar to them as they get used to the school routine again.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions.

Music 

**Materials: Drums, shakers, and clappers. 

Rationale: To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction. To promote social interaction by encouraging the children to play instruments both in large group and during free play
Skills: Creative expression and movement, mathematical concepts (beats and patterns), imitation, call and answer, communication.

Overview
Welcome back to school! This first week back will be a period of readjustment. It won't take too long however, for all of us to settle back into our routines. The children may express some concern about having new teachers Julia and Emma. If your child is having reservations about the changes please let me know and I will provide extra support. Our focus for this week and next will be on classroom routines, establishing relationships with the new teachers and getting reacquainted with friends. The curriculum includes revisiting the topic healthy living by talking about the importance of our relationships with one another. The classroom has been set up to foster interaction and cooperation and will have plenty of familiar materials as well as some new arrangements and materials to pique their curiosity.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Easel- brushes, paint, paper. Winter collage-an assortment of materials along with glue and tape. Clay-clay and utensils.
-Rationale: There are opportunities for creative expression and symbolic representation by "creating winter" using collage materials. We will work with small groups of children to get reacquainted with the clay and clay tools so they can become more adept at using it to represent their creative ideas.
-Skills: Self-expression, fine motor, creative expression, sensory input, symbolic representation.

Sensory
-Materials: Sensory table, snow (or ice if it doesn't snow soon!), molding materials.
-Rationale: To connect to the outdoors by providing opportunities for the children to learn about the properties of snow/ice through play. We will encourage the children to build with the snow/ice and these ideas will also be extended to the playground.
-Skills: Creative building, sensory input, knowledge of physical properties, connection between indoors and outdoors.

Math and Manipulatives
-Materials: Button mosaics, lacing beads, themed puzzles featuring winter, animals, and birds.
-Rationale: We have provided specific materials that can be used for patterning, an important pre-mathematical skill. Teaching and learning about patterns will take place not only in small group interactions with teachers, but will also be incorporated into large group activities and discussions.
-Skills: Patterning, concept knowledge, one-to-one correspondence and whole/part relationships.

Science
-Materials: Stuffed crow and pheasant, feathers, nests, magnifying glasses, sorting cards. Fish.
-Rationale: Another way we will pursue the topic of healthy living is through examining birds and other animals in terms of how they survive cold winter temperatures. The children can share their "homework" bird observations as well as watch bird behavior at our classroom feeder. The death of our tadpole will provide us with the opportunity to discuss animal life cycles.
-Skills: Scientific inquiry, observation, generalizing, making use of appropriate sources of information, reasoning, grouping, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, descriptive language, heuristic language, informative language, symbolic representation, peer interactions.

Language and Literacy
-Materials: An assortment of writing materials such as pens, pencils, paper, tape and staplers. A variety of books have been chosen that relate to our curriculum.
-Rationale: We have set-up several writing areas in the classroom. One is located in the front of the classroom near the bird feeder to spark children's interest in writing and/or dictating what they observe there. We will use the writing center in the back of the room to support the sign and prop making that often accompanies dramatic play. The books we have selected are meant to accompany, inform, and expand on children's explorations in the different areas of the classroom. We also have a variety of old favorites for the pure enjoyment of reading!
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, fine motor, and letter recognition.

Blocks
-Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks, ramps, wood boards, and big fabric pieces.
-Rationale: Block building provides opportunities for social interaction as well as problem solving and creativity. Last session the children were inspired by the ramp small group and began building ramps using the wood planks. We will provide photos of their previous work so they can add depth to their creations and experiment with ramps in new ways.
-Skills: creative building, spatial skills, geometry, knowledge of force and motion, physical knowledge, social skills, and large motor.

Dramatic Play
-Materials: In the loft, we have stuffed raptor birds and squirrels. Under the loft, we have big bears, raccoons, bunnies, animal costumes, and pillows. The cave has plastic animals, photos depicting hibernating animals, and wood pieces. Kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots along with different fruits in baskets. Near the blocks there are construction tools.
-Rationale: To encourage children to engage in make-believe play, to support conversations related to animals and their habitats and provide opportunities for self-expression, imagination, and creativity. The construction tools have been provided in light of the big demolition project near the school. As they engage in play around this theme, it will give them a chance to talk about, and make sense of the changes they observe.
-Skills: Role-play, symbolic play, peer interactions, support general social skills, problem solving, sharing.

Large Motor
-Materials: Gym- monkey bars, A-frame ladder bridge with jumping station, climber with rolling slide, and ladders. Outdoors-playground equipment, shovels, buckets, construction vehicles.
-Rationale: The gym set-up is basic and familiar. Outside, the children will have opportunities to enjoy the cold fresh air. We will draw their attention to birds and signs of animals.
-Skills: Balance and coordination, endurance, upper and lower body strength, depth perception, climbing up and down.

Snack
Monday - No School
Tuesday - No School
Wednesday - Graham crackers & milk
Thursday - Saltines & raisins
Friday- Cereal mix & milk