Recently in Dalia's Weekly Plans F10 Category

Overview and goals
We will spend the next two weeks wrapping up the year! Small groups will meet for the last time on Monday and we will dedicate time to discuss the learning that took place and share this with the whole class. Our field trip was the perfect way to bring together all the topics we visited and revisited this session and we will use this last experience to support the children in tying everything together and seeing the big picture; "Healthy Living" is connected to everything we do! We await the hatching this week!
Expressive Arts
~Materials: Clay, paints, large paint brushes, paper, colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, staplers, tape. The top of the loft holds paper, scissors, markers, staplers, and tape.
~Rationale: Clay has been very popular the past couple of weeks and we want to offer the children the opportunity to create and express themselves through this media one more week. Children are especially excited to have the opportunity to work on their pieces over time, and paint them. Clay offers opportunities to include detail and strengthen fingers, wrists, and hands.
~Skills: Creative expression, creative risk taking, hand-eye coordination, fine motor strength and development.
Science
~Materials: Chicken eggs, incubator, insects found in the playground, mealworms and beetles, glass-coated insects, plants, rulers, pencils, paper, and magnifying glasses.
~Rationale: Life continues to manifest itself in the science area. This week, our long-anticipated baby chicks will hatch and we will be able to watch the miracle of life!
~Skills: Observation, scientific inquiry, comparison, reasoning, descriptive and scientific language, self-expression, and communication.
Math Manipulative and Games
~Materials: Legos, Lego bases, puzzles.
~Rationale: The children continue to pursue creative building and Legos continue to be their favorite material. ~Skills: Creative building, hand-eye coordination, fine motor development and finger strength.
Dramatic and Symbolic Play
~Materials: A few materials from the flower shop remain on top of the loft: baskets, flowers. The dramatic play area is focusing its attention on a kindergarten like set up with a chalkboard, desk, and school supplies. In the animal cave: small plastic turtles and frogs, wooden disks, stuffed squirrels, beavers and hedgehogs, and fabric pieces.
~Rationale: The kindergarten set up offers those who are going to kindergarten next year a little snapshot of what they might find in their classroom. For the children who have one more year at the Lab School it gives a little taste of what is to come ☺.
~Skills: Perspective taking, communication, sharing, social interactions, imaginary play, collaboration, and symbolic play.
Blocks
~Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks, and ramps.
~Rationale: Blocks will be available for children to extend and expand their dramatic play scenarios and symbolic play.
~Skills: Large motor development, fine motor development, creating, number concepts, spatial relationships, measurement, communication, and cooperation.
Language and Literacy
~Materials: Bound dictionary, blank papers, alphabetical dividers, books; pencils, thin markers, paper, envelopes, folded paper, stamp-sized paper, glue sticks, staplers, tape, cards with children's photos and names. Books related to: insects/bugs, spring, plants, flowers, and baby chicks.
~Rationale: Each area in the classroom holds special books connected to the topics explored and the teachers encourage the children to use these as sources of information. Writing materials encourage children to write letters to family and friends; teachers are always available to help with spelling and letter recognition.
~Skills: Pre-/ early-literacy skills, community, symbolic representation, vocabulary expansion, speaking, and self-expression.
Large Motor
Playground
~Materials: Balance beam, bikes, playground equipment, swings, shovels, rakes, buckets, scoops, hill, path, basketball hoop, basketballs, monkey bars, climbing structure, and swinging rope.
~Rationale: To encourage children to use their bodies in a variety to ways and strengthen skills already available to them and develop new ones.
~Skills: Cardiovascular endurance, balance, coordination, grasping, climbing, jumping, upper body and lower body strength, core strength, flexibility, coordination, communication, large motor development, and cooperation.
Gym
~Materials: Steps platform, tetherball, climber, metal bridge, raised monkey bars, bumpy rolling slide with climbing rope, trampoline, beanbag toss.
~Rationale: The gym offers opportunities to strengthen very specific skills and for the teachers to notice change and development of previous skills.
~Skills: Upper body and lower body strength, core strength, coordination, balance, risk taking, grasping, climbing, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, eye-arm coordination, propulsion skills, dynamic balance, and turn taking.

End of the Year Celebration of Learning will take place on Thursday, May 31 at 2:15!

Overview
As the school year is sadly coming to a close, topics and concepts are starting to wrap up. As the classroom underwent big changes last week, there will minor additions throughout the classroom for this week. Children are busy finishing up small groups and enjoying time outside as well as in the classroom. We will look at the marigolds one last time this week and then send them home to continue to observe and care for them. Last week, we released the butterflies that hatched inside the classroom and we are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby chicks.

Expressive Arts
- Materials: projector, transparencies with designs, blank transparencies, thick and thin markers, colored pencils, crayons, tape, glue, staplers, paper punchers, construction paper, paint, thin brushes, standing easel, tissue paper, pipe cleaners.
- Rationale: We will be keeping the easel and projector to build on children's understanding of lines, symmetry, and shapes while exploring insects and flowers to expand on their opportunities to freely represent what they see and think of.
- Skills: exploration of lines and shapes, exploration of materials, observation, fine motor strength and control, self-expression.

Sensory
-Materials: Glurch
-Rationale: We are keeping the glurch! We've made much more so the children can freely explore this materials. We will add small materials to encourage symbolic play and conversations.
-Skills: Sensory input, imagination, fine motor.

Science
- Materials: Incubator with chick eggs, butterflies, beetles, crickets, cockroach, mealworms, tadpole, fish, photo of the chick life cycle, Marigold plants, clipboards, pencils, rulers, magnifying glasses, books, insect aquarium.
- Rationale: We will continue to connect life cycles with our spring curriculum topics. Provide opportunities to enrich social interactions and knowledge as we observe and examine the life cycles of insects and chicks. We will also be focusing on what insects we see outside and which ones we see inside the school.
- Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation, explorations, social skills, sorting, descriptive language, self-expression

Language and Literacy
- Materials: books about: spring, weather, insects, plants, flowers and chicks. Spring Bingo, journals, foam letters, glue, pens, pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelops, stencils, chalkboard, workbooks and worksheets.
- Rationale: Encourage children to make their last entries on their journals before we send their Marigold plants home. We will also encourage them to entry their observations of insects, the chicken eggs and spring in general. The children will be encouraged to use information resources to explore the topics of spring, senses, insects, and plants present in the classroom. The "Welcome to Kindergarten" area will offer opportunities for plenty of print and writing, comparing, and number recognition, and opportunities to work together to master different phonemic awareness skills.
- Skills: awareness of print, self-expression, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, social skills, observation, recording.

Math and Manipulatives
- Materials: Puzzles of: spring insects, plants, flowers, and seeds (fruit). Rulers, journals, spring and insect Bingo, unifix cubes, and weather bar graph.
- Rationale: We will continue to provide opportunities for children to explore symmetry though puzzles, images, and projector transparencies. Measure and graph plant growth of our Marigold plants. Children will continue tracking and measuring spring weather using a bar graph and calendar.
- Skills: geometry, symmetry, measuring, number recognition, patterns, reasoning, observation, classification, comparison, matching, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
- Materials: Back of the Classroom: kitchen furniture, utensils, dishes, pots and pans, pretend food, small table, flowers, baskets and vases, animal costumes, blankets. Symbolic Play Cave: insects, spider web (use ropes and nets to create the feel of being in a web).
- Rationale: Foster socio-dramatic play by offering opportunities for peer interactions; provoke children's thinking of insect life.
- Skills: role-play, peer interactions, cooperation, symbolic representation, social problem solving.

Blocks
- Materials: hollow wood blocks, until blocks, thin boards, wood shapes, and stuffed plastic animals.
- Rationale: Provide opportunities for creative play, creative building, and symbolic play.
- Skills: balance, spatial awareness, cooperative play, creative building, gross motor, social skills, symbolic representation.

Large Motor

Gym
- Materials: bolsters, green mats, assembled to create "mat mountain." 

- Skills: Upper and lower body strength, climbing skills, tumbling, body control, risk taking, turn taking.

- Materials: A-frame climbing structure, blue foam donut. 

- Skills: Risk taking, hand-eye coordination, jumping and landing, upper body strength, turn taking.

- Materials: Blue stairs, foam roller slide. 

- Skills: Stair climbing, coordination, risk taking, core strength.

- Materials: Climbing wall. 

- Skills: Hand-eye coordination, upper and lower body strength, stamina, risk taking, jumping and landing.

- Materials: Monkey bars, basketball hoop, foam balls. 

- Skills: Throwing and catching, turn taking, accuracy, hand-eye coordination.
- Materials: Painted hopscotch track.
- Skills: Number sense, counting, one-to-one correspondence, coordination, balance, jumping.
Playground
- Materials: shovels, buckets, bikes, wagons, swings, traffic signs, chalk. 

- Rationale: reconnect with the outdoors! The children have been enjoying digging and transporting the sand with the wagons, pulling the wagons around with their friends and riding the bikes while following the traffic signs placed around the playground. They will swing, dig, run, ride, pull, and climb while engaging in socio-dramatic play.
- Skills: cardio vascular, social skills, endurance, upper and lower body strength, balance and coordination.

Special Interest

Large Group and Parent Involvement

During large group we will continue to track spring weather. We will discuss what new insects are finally emerging now that spring weather is finally here to stay. On Monday, we will be going on a walk to explore insects and where they live. Also, we will focus on different homes and how different insects can protect themselves. On Monday, we will enjoy the treats Isaac's mom helped us bake for his birthday. Wednesday, we will enjoy listening to stories read by Otto's mom, Anjula. Thank you for spending time with us this week.

I hope you all have a great week!
Heather

Overview
As we are exploring all of the marvelous changes that spring brings. We will continue to observe insects and plants in our classroom and follow the development of our chicken eggs. an exciting change in our classroom is the introduction of a "Welcome to Kindergarten" area in the back of the classroom. We have 12 children going onto kindergarten next year and this connection seems natural and meaningful in our classroom life.

Expressive Arts
- Materials: Insects, flowers, projector, transparencies with designs, black transparencies, thick and thin markers, colored pencils, crayons, tape, glue, staplers, paper punchers, construction paper, paint, thin brushes, standing easel, tissue paper, pipe cleaners.
- Rationale: To build on children's understanding of lines, symmetry, and shapes while exploring insects and flowers to expand their knowledge and offer opportunities for creative endeavors.
- Skills: exploration of lines and shapes, exploration of materials, observation, fine motor strength and control, self-expression.

Sensory
-Materials: Glurch
-Rationale: To offer an exciting and novel material to explore.
-Skills: Sensory input, imagination, fine motor.

Science
- Materials: Incubator with chick eggs, butterflies, beetles, crickets, cockroach, mealworms, tadpole, fish, photo of the chick life cycle, Marigold plants, clipboards, pencils, rulers, magnifying glasses, books.
- Rationale: To connect life cycles with our spring curriculum topics. Provide opportunities to enrich social interactions and knowledge as we observe and examine the different life cycles of insects and chicks. Use of five senses as we continue to explore spring.
- Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation, explorations, social skills, sorting, descriptive language, self-expression

Language and Literacy
- Materials: books about: spring, weather, insects, plants and flowers. Spring Bingo, journals, foam letters, glue, pens, pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelops, stencils, chalkboard, workbooks and worksheets.
- Rationale: Our journals will be used to keep track of our Marigold seed growth along with children's comments and drawings about insects, chicks, and spring. The children will be encouraged to use information resources to explore the topics of spring, senses, insects, and plants present in the classroom. The "Welcome to Kindergarten" area will offer opportunities for plenty of print and writing, comparing, and number recognition.
- Skills: awareness of print, self-expression, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, social skills, observation, recording.

Math and Manipulatives
- Materials: Puzzles of: spring insects, plants, flowers, and seeds (fruit). Rulers, journals, spring and insect Bingo, unifix cubes, and weather bar graph.
- Rationale: To continue to provide opportunities for children to explore symmetry though puzzles, images, and projector transparencies. Measure and graph plant growth of our Marigold plants. Track and measure spring weather using a bar graph and calendar.
- Skills: geometry, symmetry, patterns, reasoning, observation, classification, comparison, matching, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
- Materials: Back of the Classroom: kitchen furniture, utensils, dishes, pots and pans, pretend food, small table, flowers, baskets and vases, animal costumes, blankets. Symbolic Play Cave: insects, spider web (use ropes and nets to create the feel of being in a web).
- Rationale: Foster socio-dramatic play by offering opportunities for peer interactions; provoke children's thinking of insect life.
- Skills: role-play, peer interactions, cooperation, symbolic representation, social problem solving.

Blocks
- Materials: hollow wood blocks, until blocks, thin boards, wood shapes, and stuffed plastic animals.
- Rationale: Provide opportunities for creative play, creative building, and symbolic play.
- Skills: balance, spatial awareness, cooperative play, creative building, gross motor, social skills, symbolic representation.

Large Motor

Gym
- Materials: bolsters, green mats, assembled to create "mat mountain." 

- Skills: Upper and lower body strength, climbing skills, tumbling, body control, risk taking, turn taking.

- Materials: A-frame climbing structure, blue foam donut. 

- Skills: Risk taking, hand-eye coordination, jumping and landing, upper body strength, turn taking.

- Materials: Blue stairs, foam roller slide. 

- Skills: Stair climbing, coordination, risk taking, core strength.

- Materials: Climbing wall. 

- Skills: Hand-eye coordination, upper and lower body strength, stamina, risk taking, jumping and landing.

- Materials: Monkey bars, basketball hoop, foam balls. 

- Skills: Throwing and catching, turn taking, accuracy, hand-eye coordination.
- Materials: Painted hopscotch track.
- Skills: Number sense, counting, one-to-one correspondence, coordination, balance, jumping.
Playground
- Materials: shovels, buckets, bikes, wagons, swings, traffic signs, chalk. 

- Rationale: The children have been enjoying digging and transporting the sand with the wagons, pulling the wagons around with their friends and riding the bikes while following the traffic signs placed around the playground. They will swing, dig, run, ride, pull, and climb while engaging in socio-dramatic play.
- Skills: cardio vascular, social skills, endurance, upper and lower body strength, balance and coordination.

Special Interest

Large Group and Parent Involvement

During large group we will continue to track spring weather. We will discuss our five senses and how we use them in our everyday life. On Monday, we will use them to explore outside; looking, listening, touching, and smelling items found during spring. Jen, Inga's mom will be visiting our class on Monday to share a story with the children.
Allison, Isaac's mom will visit us next Thursday and facilitate a treat making activity for Isaac's birthday the following Monday. Thank you for joining us!

I hope you all have a great week!

Amanda

Overview
The classroom has slowly transformed into a spring oasis. The classroom will be home to baby chicks over the course of the next few weeks. We will have an incubator with chick eggs and the children will have the opportunity to watch them hatch! The children will also continue to observe and measure their Marigolds. We have recently transferred the caterpillars, now in cocoons, into the butterfly net! We will patiently wait for the moment they turn into butterflies!

Expressive Arts
- Materials: Insects, flowers, projector, transparencies with designs, blank transparencies, crayons, thin and thick markers, colored pencils, tape, staplers, glue, paper punchers, construction paper, paint, standing easel thin and thick brushes.
- Rationale: To allow children to connect and express their knowledge of insects and flowers while providing opportunities for them to continue working with the concept of lines and symmetry.
- Skills: Exploration of lines and symmetry, exploration of new materials, fine motor strength and control, self-expression.

Science
- Materials: Cocoons, beetles, crickets, cockroach, fish, tadpole, mealworms, photos of insects, bee hive, symmetric insect cutouts, insect sorting baskets, photos of butterfly life cycle, clipboards, pencils, rulers, magnifying glasses, incubator with chick eggs.
- Rationale: To encourage children to explore insects and gain knowledge of the certain characteristics specific to insects. To deepen the children's understanding of the life cycles by observing the life science in our classroom.
- Skills: Scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation of the natural world, peer interactions, sorting, descriptive language.

Language and Literacy
- Materials: Books about spring, plants and insects. Pens, pencils, colored pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelopes. Magnetic boards, magnetic letters and pictures, stencils, journals, letter stamps.
- Rationale: The journals will be used to allow children to continue to track the growth of their Marigold plants and express their ideas of what insects look like.
- Skills: Awareness of print, self-expression through talking, writing and drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, and social interactions.

Math and Manipulatives
- Materials: Interlocking puzzles, rulers, journals, button mosaics, insect and spring bingo, unifix cubes, weather graph, large chick puzzle.
- Rationale: To provide children the opportunity to continue to explore symmetry with the button mosaics, puzzles and images. Measure and record the growth of children's Marigold plants. Continue to track and graph the spring weather.
- Skills: Geometry, symmetry, patterns, reasoning, observations, classification, measuring, graphing, comparison, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
- Materials: Back of the classroom: kitchen furniture, dishes, utensils, pots and pans, pretend food, small table, flowers, baskets and vases, animal costumes. Symbolic play caves: stuffed squirrels and owls, plastic woodland creatures, small and large wood pieces, turtles, cloth pieces, books, animal costumes.
- Rationale: Continue to explore spring and offer opportunities for social interactions and socio-dramatic play.
- Skills: Role-play, social interactions, large and fine motor skills, cooperation, problem solving skills, symbolic representation.

Blocks
- Materials: hollow wood blocks, unit blocks, thin boards, wood shapes, and plastic insects.
- Rationale: We continue to offer opportunities to experiment with symmetry. Children have been interested in creating habitats for insects and greenhouses for the plants. To provide children opportunities for creative play, creative building and symbolic play.
- Skills: balance, spatial awareness, cooperative play, creative building, large motor skills, social skills, symbolic representation.

Large Motor
Gym
Materials: bolsters, green mats, assembled to create "mat mountain."
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, climbing skills, tumbling, body control, risk taking, turn taking.
Materials: A-frame climbing structure, blue foam donut.
Skills: Risk taking, hand-eye coordination, jumping and landing, upper body strength, turn taking.
Materials: Blue stairs, foam roller slide.
Skills: Stair climbing, coordination, risk taking, core strength.
Materials: Climbing wall.
Skills: Hand-eye coordination, upper and lower body strength, stamina, risk taking, jumping and landing.
Materials: Monkey bars, basketball hoop, foam balls.
Skills: Throwing and catching, turn taking, accuracy, hand-eye coordination.
Materials: Painted hopscotch track.
Skills: Number sense, counting, one-to-one correspondence, coordination, balance, jumping.
Playground
- Materials: Shovels, buckets, bikes, wagons.
- Rationale: Children are still very interested in using the bikes and wagons! They enjoy digging, running, and engaging in socio-dramatic play.
- Skills: cardio vascular, endurance, upper and lower body strength, social skills, balance, movement through space, body awareness.
We have been incorporating many classroom games to offer opportunities to the children to practice specific skills, continue to strengthen our sense of community and have fun together!

Special Interest
Large Group
During large group, we will continue our discussion and tracking of spring weather. Maia's mom will be coming into the classroom on Monday to share a story with the children. We are excited to have her in the classroom! We will also take a look at the Marigold seeds that we planted in the polluted soil. We will talk about how they have grown or why they have not.

Have a great week!
Courtney

Overview
Spring has sprung! And there is no shortage of spring discussions and activities in the classroom. We have continued to add new plants and insects to the classroom atmosphere to get the children excited about springtime. We will continue to work on symmetry and lines this week by allowing the children to paint symmetrical insects as well as work with the projector to create their own symmetrical images and insects. The discussion of spring weather will continue as well as a new focus on different insects, plants and the weather. This week we will focus our discussions on insects; their life cycles, why do they emerge in spring, and where they hide to protect themselves. We will also begin to track the growth and development of the caterpillars that were added to the classroom. We will begin a journal of the insects that we can see outside, so please start to watch outside and track the new insects that are emerging in and around your house.

Expressive Arts
- Materials: Insects, flowers, projector, transparencies, crayons, thin and thick markers, colored pencils, tape, staplers, glue, paper punchers, construction paper, paint, table easels, think and thick brushes.
- Rationale: To allow children to connect their knowledge of insects and flowers while providing opportunities for children to continue working with lines and symmetry.
- Skills: Exploration of lines and symmetry, exploration of new materials, fine motor strength and control, self expression.

Science:
- Materials: Caterpillars, beetles, crickets, cockroach, fish, tadpole, mealworms, photos of insects, bee hive, symmetric insect cutouts, insect sorting baskets, photos of butterfly life cycle, clipboards, pencils, rulers.
- Rationale: To encourage children to explore insects and gain knowledge of the certain characteristics specific to insects. To deepen the children's understanding of the life cycles of certain insects while watching the caterpillars go through each stage.
- Skills: Scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation of the natural world, peer interactions, sorting, descriptive language.

Language and Literacy
- Materials: Books about spring, plants and insects. Pens, pencils, colored pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelopes. Magnetic boards, magnetic letters and pictures, stencils, journals.
- Rationale: The journals will be used to allow children to continue to track the growth of their Marigold plants and express their ideas of what insects look like. Children will be encouraged to use resources to continue to expand their knowledge of spring, plants and insects.
- Skills: Awareness of print, awareness of print that displays symmetry, self expression through talking, writing and drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, and social interactions.

Math and Manipulatives
- Materials: Interlocking puzzles, rulers, journals, button mosaics, insect and spring bingo, unifix cubes, weather graph.
- Rationale: To provide children the opportunity to continue to explore symmetry with the button mosaics, puzzles and images. Measure and record the growth of children's Marigold plants. Continue to track and graph the spring weather.
- Skills: Geometry, symmetry, patterns, reasoning, observations, classification, measuring, graphing, comparison, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
- Materials: Back of the classroom: kitchen furniture, dishes, utensils, pots and pans, pretend food, small table, flowers, baskets and vases, animal costumes. Symbolic play caves: stuffed squirrels and owls, plastic woodland creatures, small and large wood pieces, turtles, cloth pieces, books, animal costumes.
- Rationale: Continue to explore spring and offer opportunities for social interactions and socio-dramatic play.
- Skills: Role-play, social interactions, large and fine motor skills, cooperation, problem solving skills, symbolic representation.

Blocks
- Materials: hollow wood blocks, unit blocks, thin boards, wood shapes, and plastic insects.
- Rationale: We continue to focus on symmetry. To provide children opportunities for creative play, creative building and symbolic play.
- Skills: balance, spatial awareness, cooperative play, creative building, large motor skills, social skills, symbolic representation.

Large Motor
Gym
- Materials: throw to the target, balls, upside down rocking boats, big foam triangle, donut, rolling mountain, hurdles, stairs, big foams shapes, wobbly bridge, ladder, A-frame, ropes, empty boxes.
- Rationale: To encourage children's planning and directional awareness. Engage in a start to finish obstacle course.
- Skills: Hand eye coordination, throwing, dynamic balance, core strength, balance and stability, jumping and landing, stepping up and down, coordination, body awareness, twisting, bending, fine and large motor, creative building and spatial awareness.
Playground
- Materials: Shovels, buckets, bikes, wagons.
- Rationale: Children are still very interested in using the bikes and wagons! They are also happy to dig, run and engage with peers.
- Skills: cardio vascular, endurance, upper and lower body strength, social skills, balance, movement through space, body awareness.

Special Interest
Large Group
During large group, we will continue our discussion and tracking of spring weather. We will also be discussing all the different insects that can be seen in spring around school as well as home. Children will be introduced to and focusing on the life cycles of insects while also focusing on the features that make up insects.

Parents
We would love to have you discuss with children the different insects that are emerging outside and if possible have the children track and journal about which insects they have seen outside at home. Thank you and we appreciate the help!

Have a great week!
Heather

Overview
As we are exploring all of the marvelous changes that spring brings we will continue to bring new insects and plants into our classroom. We will incorporate symmetry and lines this week by painting images that have show symmetry and lines. We will expand on the topic of spring weather by discussing why plants bloom in the spring, why insects come out of hibernation, and why can plants and insects survive during the springtime as we experience new bugs in our classroom and track our Marigold seed growth. We will also start a spring weather journal for our classroom, so please keep quotes and drawings coming, to add those to it!

Expressive Arts
- Materials: various seeds, flowers, insects, thick and thin markers, colored pencils, crayons, tape, glue, staplers, paper punchers, construction paper, paint, thin brushes, table easels.
- Rationale: To build on children's understanding of lines, symmetry, and shapes.
- Skills: exploration of lines and shapes, exploration of materials, observation, fine motor strength and control, self-expression.

Sensory
- Materials: sensory table with sand, water, frogs, lizards, snakes, trees, sticks, and rocks.
- Rationale: To offer opportunities for sensory exploration while connecting our topic of life cycles with objects found during spring. Springtime bring lots of rain and precipitation so we will incorporate water to show the effects that water can have on the ground (sand), insects, plants, animals and environment. Provide opportunities for social interactions and symbolic-dramatic play.
- Skills: sensory stimulations, free exploration, symbolic representations, social interactions.

Science
- Materials: baby caterpillars, beetles, and crickets on light table, photos of insects, symmetric insects cutouts, insects, insect sorting baskets (depending on characteristics), photos of flowers, Marigold plants, clipboards, pencils, rulers, mealworms, caterpillars, tadpole, fish.
- Rationale: To connect life cycles with our spring curriculum topics. Provide opportunities to enrich social interactions and knowledge about life cycles as we observe and examine how different insects and plants grow. Understanding how the weather can affect plant growth and insect life.
- Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation, explorations, social skills, sorting, descriptive language, self-expression (journal entries, Marigold growth tracking)

Language and Literacy
- Materials: books about: spring, weather, insects, plants and flowers. Spring Bingo, journals, magnetic letter tiles, pens, pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelopes, stencils.
- Rationale: Our journals will be used to keep track of our Marigold seed growth along with children's comments and drawings. The children will be encouraged to use information resources to explore the topics of weather, insects, and plant growth present in the classroom.
- Skills: awareness of print, self-expression, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, social skills, observation, recording.

Math and Manipulatives
- Materials: Puzzles of: spring insects, plants, flowers, and seeds (fruit). Button mosaics, rulers, journals, spring and insect Bingo, unifix cubes, measuring our plants' growth and tracking it in our journals, and weather graph.
- Rationale: To continue to provide opportunities for children to explore symmetry though puzzles, images, and button mosaics. Measure and graph plant growth of our Marigold seeds. Track and measure spring weather using a bar graph.
- Skills: geometry, symmetry, patterns, reasoning, observation, classification, comparison, matching, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
- Materials: Back of the Classroom: kitchen furniture, utensils, dishes, pots and pans, pretend food, small table, flowers, baskets and vases, animal costumes. Symbolic Play Cave: stuffed squirrels, stuffed owls, plastic woodland animals, turtles, pieces of wood, cloth pieces, animal costumes, books.
- Rationale: Foster socio-dramatic play through peer interactions. Continue to explore insects and plants that we see in spring.
- Skills: role-play, peer interactions, cooperation, symbolic representation, social problem solving.

Blocks
- Materials: hollow wood blocks, until blocks, thin boards, wood shapes, and plastic insects.
- Rationale: Provide opportunities for creative play, creative building, and symbolic play while focusing on creating symmetrical structures.
- Skills: balance, spatial awareness, cooperative play, creative building, gross motor, social skills, symbolic representation.

Large Motor

Gym
- Materials: throw to the target, upside down rocking boats, big foam triangle, donut, rolling mountain, hurdles, stairs, big foam shapes, wobbly bridge, A-frame, empty boxes.
- Rationale: To encourage children planning and directional awareness. Engage in start to finish an obstacle course.
- Skills: hand-eye coordination, throwing, dynamic balance, core strength, balance and stability, jumping and landing, stepping up and down, coordination, body awareness, twisting, bending, fine motor, creative building and spatial awareness.
Playground
- Materials: shovels, buckets, bikes, wagons, swings 

- Rationale: The children have been enjoying digging and transporting the sand with the wagons, pulling the wagons around with their friends and riding the bikes. They are happy to run, swing, and dig while engaging in socio-dramatic play.
- Skills: cardio vascular, social skills, endurance, upper and lower body strength, balance and coordination.

Special Interest

Large Group

During large group we will be expand our discussion about Spring weather. We will create a weather journal for our classroom, so the children will be able to observe and track the weather through the remainder of the session. We will also learn about the plants and insects that are present in spring, we will discuss what they need to survive and why they bloom or come out of hibernation this time of year.

I hope you all have a great week!

Amanda

Overview
Now that spring is upon us the classroom is full of fun and exciting springtime activities. We will continue to incorporate symmetry and lines throughout the week and use what we saw and heard at the Conservatory to enrich our experiences in the classroom. We will continue to discuss, explore, and provoke children's questions regarding seeds and spring. Seeds were introduced last week and this week we will plant our own and keep track of our plants' growth. We are planning on starting small groups on Thursday; stay tuned for more details.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: various seeds, flowers, thick and thin markers, colored pencils, crayons, tape, glue, staplers, paper punchers, construction paper.
-Rationale: To continue to work on children's understanding of lines and symmetry. Provide opportunities for children to create their own shapes and symmetrical designs.
-Skills: exploration of seeds and symmetry, observation, fine motor strength and control, self-expression.

Sensory
-Materials: individual trays with sand, frogs, lizards, and snakes.
-Rationale: To connect with our topic of life cycles and provide opportunities for social interaction and sensory manipulation.
-Skills: sensory stimulation, free exploration with sand, symbolic play, social interactions.

Science
-Materials: variety of seeds to plant, variety of seeds on the light table, soil, paint, vegetable oil, photos of insects and plants, magnifying glasses, tweezers, clipboards, fish, mealworms, tadpole.
-Rationale: To encourage children's observation and examination of different kinds of seeds; how they grow, what they need and how they look like after they begin to grow. To deepen our understanding of life cycles. Understand the concept of pollution and how it affects plant growth.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation of the natural world and exploration, peer interactions, sorting, descriptive language, self-expression (journal entries).

Language and Literacy
-Materials: books about spring, flowers, insects and plants. Pens, pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelopes, and stencils. Magnetic boards with magnetic letters, and journals.
-Rationale: We continue to focus on print awareness and incorporation of the concept of symmetry by exploring alphabet letters that show symmetry as well as words that display this quality. We will continue to encourage talking, writing, and using books as informational resources. The children will use their journals to record how their plants are growing.
-Skills: awareness of print, awareness of print that displays symmetry, self-expression through talking, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, social interactions, observing and recording.

Math and Manipulatives
-Materials: rulers, journals, a variety of interlocking puzzles, pattern mosaics, button mosaics.
-Rationale: To continue providing opportunities of symmetry exploration. Measuring and graphing plant growth.
-Skills: geometry, symmetry, patterns, reasoning, observation, classification, comparison, matching, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
-Materials: back of the classroom: kitchen with dishes, flowers, fruits and veggies. In the symbolic play cave we have an assortment of stuffed owls and squirrels, plastic woodland animals, frogs and turtles, wood piece and small pieces of cloth.
-Rationale: Continue to explore spring and offer opportunities for social interactions and socio-dramatic play. Connection between the flowers we saw at the Conservatory and growth in our classroom.
-Skills: role-play, peer interactions, social problem solving, cooperation, symbolic representation.

Blocks
-Materials: hollow blocks, unit blocks, thin boards, clipboards, and additional wood shapes.
-Rationale: To provide opportunities for creative play in general and creative building in particular. We continue to focus on symmetry. 


-Skills: creative building, spatial awareness, symmetry, large motor skills, balance, directional awareness, symbolic representation, and social interaction skills.

Large Motor
Gym
-Materials: wall ladders, half circle foam balance piece, monkey bars, A-frame with ladder bridge, climber with donut slide.
-Rationale: To provide climbing opportunities as well as risk taking. Work on balancing and agility.
-Skills: climbing, upper and lower body strength, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, depth perception, physical risk, core strength and balance.
Playground
-Materials: shovels, buckets, bikes, wagons
-Rationale: The children have been enjoying the wagons and taking-turns pulling their friends. They are happy to run, swing, and climb the monkey bars while engaging in socio-dramatic play.
-Skills: cardio vascular, endurance, upper and lower body strength, balance, movement through space, social skills.

Special Interest
Large Group
During large group we will be demonstrating how to plant seeds. We will also be doing an activity that illustrates polluted soil. The children will be able to observe the different soil and discuss the differences in plant growth among natural soil and polluted soil.
Parents

We would love to have parents bring in fresh flowers to display around the classroom. We will also use the flowers for multiple art activities.

Have a great week!

Courtney

Overview
Spring has officially arrived. We are taking each and every opportunity to explore this wonderful season. We will continue to use the artistic concept of lines and shapes to express our understandings. We will discuss, explore and continue to provoke children's questions regarding spring and connecting this idea with our overarching topic of life cycles. Our classroom now offers opportunities to start the investigation of plants and insects and their connection to this spring season. Our field trip to the Conservatory will inspire us and allow us to further our investigations.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: thin and thick markers, crayons, colored pencils, tape, staplers, glue sticks, construction paper, paper punchers.
-Rationale: To continue to work on children's understanding of the artistic element of line, making shapes and using these to make compositions.
-Skills: exploration of lines and shapes, observation, fine motor strength and control, self-expression.
Sensory
-Materials: sensory table filled with fine sand, tree, sticks and frogs, lizards, and snakes.
-Rationale: To connect with our topic of life cycles and provide opportunities for rich social interactions.
-Skills: sensory stimulation, free exploration of sand, symbolic play, social interactions.
Science
-Materials: variety of seeds on the light table, photos of insects, clipboards, pencils, mealworms, tadpole, fish.
-Rationale: To encourage children's observation and examination of different kinds of seeds; how they grow, what they need and how they look like after grown. To deepen our understanding of life cycles.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation of the natural world and exploration, peer interactions, sorting, descriptive language, self-expression (journal entries).
Language and Literacy

-Materials: books about, spring, birds, and plants. Letter tiles, pens, pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelopes, and stencils.
-Rationale: we continue to focus on print awareness and incorporation of the concept of symmetry by exploring alphabet letters that show symmetry as well as words that display this quality. We will continue to encourage talking, writing, and using books as informational resources. 

-Skills: awareness of print, awareness of print that displays symmetry, self-expression through talking, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, social interactions.
Math and Manipulatives

We continue to focus on symmetry. Our field trip to the Como Conservatory will give us an additional opportunity to experience this concept first hand.
-Materials: variety of interlocking puzzles, mosaic pattern blocks, button mosaic.
-Rationale: To provide opportunities to become aware and explore the quality of symmetry.
-Skills: geometry, symmetry, patterns, reasoning, observation, classification, sorting, comparison, matching, logical thinking.
Dramatic Play
- Materials: Back of the classroom: kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies. Animal inspired costumes. In the symbolic play cave we have an assortment of stuffed owls and squirrels, plastic woodland animals, frogs and turtles, wood piece and small pieces of cloth.
-Rationale: Continue to explore spring and offer opportunities for social interactions and socio-dramatic play.
-Skills: role-play, peer interactions, social problem solving, cooperation, symbolic representation.
Blocks 

-Materials: hollow blocks, unit blocks, thin boards, clipboards, and additional wood shapes.
-Rationale: To provide opportunities for creative play in general and creative building in particular. We continue to focus on symmetry. 


-Skills: creative building, spatial awareness, symmetry, large motor skills, balance, directional awareness, symbolic representation, and social interaction skills.
Large Motor
Gym
-Materials: climbing ladders, monkey bars, notch blocks, climber with donut slide, A-frame with ladder bridge, half circle foam piece.
-Rationale: To provide climbing challenges along with opportunities for risk taking. The notch blocks will allow the children to creatively build their own designs for motor challenges.
Skills: climbing, upper and lower body strength, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, depth perception, physical risk, construction skills, core strength and balance.
Playground
-Materials: shovels, buckets, bikes.
-Rationale: The children have been enjoying using the wheeled equipment! We are happy to dig, climb, run and engage in socio dramatic play.
-Skills: cardio vascular, endurance, upper and lower body strength, social skills, balance, movement through space.

Special interest
Large Group


Preparation for our field trip to the Como Conservatory and follow up.

Field trip
Visit the Como Conservatory on Wednesday, April 13th. We will meet at the entrance between 12:45-12:50. Those taking a ride from the Lab School will meet at the curb by 12:30. We would like to be on our way by 12:35.
Thank you!!

See you all around,

Dalia

Overview
Welcome back to school everyone and Happy Spring! I hope you all had a relaxing break.
We will start this session by getting acquainted with our new student teachers, Amanda, Courtney, and Heather. Although there are several wonderful activities and topics to explore in the classroom there are three major themes that are threaded through all of them. This session we will explore the artistic concepts of lines and shapes; we will investigate the qualities of symmetry and will observe and witness the renewal that spring brings with it!

Expressive Arts
-Materials: thin and thick markers, crayons, colored pencils, tape, staplers, glue sticks, construction paper, paper punchers.
-Rationale: To spark children's awareness of the artistic element of line; thin and thick lines, zigzag lines, curvy lines, etc.
-Skills: awareness and beginning exploring of lines and shapes, observation, fine motor strength and control, self-expression.
Sensory
-Materials: sensory table filled with fine sand, small scoops and spoons, bottles and funnels.
-Rationale: To build awareness of the concept of conservation and volume.
-Skills: sensory stimulation, free exploration of sand, conservation, volume, fine motor coordination, social interactions.
Science
-Materials: rocks, magnifying glasses, books about rocks, sorting trays, clipboards, pencils, mealworms, tadpole, fish.
-Rationale: To encourage children's observation and examination of the properties of rocks, such as size, color, texture, and shape.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, comparison, reasoning, investigation of the natural world and exploration, peer interactions, sorting, descriptive language, self-expression (journal entries).
Language and Literacy

-Materials: books about owls, spring, birds, and plants. Letter tiles, pens, pencils, markers, staplers, tape, paper, envelopes, and stencils.
-Rationale: we will focus on print awareness and incorporation of the concept of symmetry by exploring alphabet letters that show symmetry as well as words that display this quality. We will continue to encourage talking, writing, and using books as informational resources. 

-Skills: awareness of print, awareness of print that displays symmetry, self-expression through talking, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and connecting speech to print and print to speech, fine motor, vocabulary, social interactions.
Math and Manipulatives

Our focus the next several weeks will be on symmetry.
-Materials: variety of interlocking puzzles, mosaic pattern blocks, magnet board and geometric shapes, mirrors, light table and gems on top of the loft. Legos and Cosntrux builders.
-Rationale: To provide opportunities to become aware and explore the quality of symmetry. To offer opportunities for creative expression through building.
-Skills: geometry, symmetry, patterns, reasoning, observation, classification, sorting, comparison, matching, logical thinking. Creative building, creative expression, fine motor strength and dexterity.
Dramatic Play
- Materials: kitchen furniture, vegetables, fruit.
-Rationale: To begin to explore spring and the changes it brings through symbolic play. Offer opportunities for creative play and expression as well as social play and cooperation.
-Skills: role-play, peer interactions, social problem solving, cooperation, symbolic representation.
Blocks 

-Materials: hollow blocks, unit blocks, thin boards, clipboards, and additional wood shapes.
-Rationale: To provide opportunities for creative play in general and creative building in particular. Our focus these next weeks will be on symmetry. 


-Skills: creative building, spatial awareness, symmetry, large motor skills, balance, directional awareness, symbolic representation, and social interaction skills.
Large Motor
Gym- new basic gym set-up for the first week back to school.
Playground-
Explore our snow free playground!
Become reacquainted with our snow free playground. Depending on its conditions we will be able to use some of our equipment on the sidewalks. Monkey bars, tricycles, cars, wagons, shovels and buckets.
-Skills: upper and lower body strength, cardiovascular endurance, coordination.
Special interest
Large Group


Welcoming everyone back from spring break and sharing some of the things we've done.
Build classroom awareness of lines and shapes: different kinds and uses.
Classroom awareness of symmetry.
Field trip
We will visit the Como Conservatory on Wednesday, April 13th. More details on the way.

See you all very soon,

Dalia

----------------

Overview
Our classroom has gone through a mid-winter makeover. When the children arrive on Monday, they will be surprised to find most of the old things in new places. We're anticipating that this change will ignite a creative spark in the children's classroom experience. Seeing the kitchen under the loft will give a new perspective to socio-dramatic play. Discovering the light table and Legos and K-nex in the front of the classroom will attract new attention to this fun building opportunity. Using the measurement tools inside the cave will add dimension to this experience. In the science area we continue our study of water. The children will be able to examine charts of the water cycle that we have discussed over the past few weeks. This week we will continue to explore the concepts of floating and sinking. With the new classroom layout and the interest it will generate, we are looking forward to a week filled with joyful learning.

Expressive Arts
With the new classroom arrangement, we are combining the writing and art centers at the front of the room. We have replaced the sensory table with an easel, large paper, and tempera paints. We will continue to offer opportunities to work with clay.
-Materials: Easel, large paper, smocks, tempera paint, brushes
-Rationale: The art center will provide great opportunities for children to mix colors and express themselves on a larger scale. This painting experience will encourage the children's creative process. The children will also have an opportunity to share and appreciate each other's art works.
-Skills: creative and self-expression, creating new colors, fine motor, symbolic representation, and pure enjoyment of the creative process
We will continue to present small pieces of clay to encourage children to experiment with sculpting.
-Materials: clay, clay tools, add-ons.
-Rationale: Sculpting in clay gives the children an opportunity to explore representational and freeform art. -Skills: self-expression, fine motor, problem-solving, creative expression, sensory input, and fine motor.

Science
This week we will continue our experiments with water, specifically exploring the concepts of floating and sinking. We will have two tubs of water and several objects for prediction and experimentation.
-Materials: tub of water, various floating and sinking materials, journal paper, pencils.
-Rationale: Children will have the opportunity to predict whether objects will float or sink. They can build theories as to why they think objects float or sink and then test their theories. They can record their findings in their journals.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, making connections and predictions, comparisons
We will continue to focus our attention on life cycles.
-Materials: tadpole, fish, mealworms, water thermometer, life cycle charts
-Rationale: Children will be exposed to different life cycles in our world, leading them to understand and recognize stages of cycles as they encounter them in further scientific explorations.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, generalizing, grouping, conceptual knowledge, knowledge of the natural world, descriptive language, peer interactions.

Language and Literacy
Writing centers continue to be offered in more than one location. The writing table that used to be in the science is now in the back of the classroom. The art area houses writing materials as well.We will continue to encourage the children to express their ideas and observations through text and pictures to be added in their journals. We continue to encourage the use of the journals in all areas of the classroom.
-Materials: personal journals, stencils, envelopes, pens, pencils, markers, color pencils, rulers, stamps and stamps pads, paper punchers, glue, staplers, and tape.
-Rationale: As children explore the writing centers they will see the importance of documenting their ideas and observations, see the progress in their own learning, and deepen their understanding that print carries messages.
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge, observation, awareness of print, awareness of the purpose of print, social interactions.

Math and Manipulatives
The measurement center has been moved to one of the caves. Children will still have opportunities to experiment independently with the various measurement tools to measure themselves, each other, and objects and to record their findings.
-Materials: scales, rulers, tape measures, and thermometers, measuring cups and spoons
-Rational: Children will develop an understanding of the concept that things can be measured. They will continue to use measurement tools. This helps them see how math is used in daily life.
-Skills: logical thinking; comparison; real life connection; connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge; observation
We continue to offer seriating and sequencing materials.
-Materials: self-correcting materials, nesting cups, wood blocks in various shapes of stain for ordering, shape puzzles and interlocking puzzles, shaded and tinted color tiles
-Rationale: Children will have opportunities to compare sizes and order objects on the basis of one or more physical attributes.
-Skills: seriating, ordering, sequencing, comparison, logical thinking.
We moved the light table and placed Legos and K-nex from under the loft and placed it in the middle of the classroom by the library. Children will be able to experiment with light while they build.
-Materials: large light table, Legos and K-nex .
-Rationale: The light table adds a new dimension to the Lego building experience.
-Skills: fine motor skills, creative building, problem solving, spatial awareness, peer interactions.

Dramatic Play
The kitchen area has been moved to the back of the room under the loft. The new space will generate new socio-dramatic play interests. We will continue to support the children's interest in picnics, highlighting winter picnic scenarios.
-Materials: kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots, pretend food, milk cartons, half and half cartons, table cloth, picnic baskets, pencils, paper, clipboards.
-Rationale: Socio-dramatic play fosters children's peer interactions. It can be expanded through literacy opportunities.
-Skills: role-play, peer interactions, symbolic play, social skills, problem solving skills, awareness of print
The symbolic play area continues in its same location in a cave under the observation booth. All of the stuffed animals and other materials are now going to be placed in baskets, allowing the children to arrange them into various settings and motifs.
-Materials: stuffed animals, items from nature, baskets
-Rationale: By placing the materials in baskets, the children will be able to generate all of the creative play in this area from start to finish.
-Skills: role-play, peer interactions, problem solving, creativity, symbolic play, social skills, access of prior knowledge.

Blocks
The blocks have not moved. The children will continue to have access to the blocks, and teachers will continue to document the various structures created by the children, adding photos to the "We Built It" book. We are adding toolboxes to encourage children to transfer what they are learning in the "measurement center" to their play in this area.
-Materials: unit blocks, hollow blocks.
-Rationale: Building with blocks supports mathematical concepts such as symmetry, understanding of dimensions and fractions, balance and center of gravity. It can also become a basis of socio-dramatic play when children build a setting and then create a storyline.
-Skills: mathematical concepts; cooperative play; creativity; spatial skills; gross motor; social interactions.

Large Motor
Gym
Because of our snow day last Monday, this will be our first opportunity to explore the new gym set-up. The children will delight in finding and exploring the new opportunities for active play.
-Materials: rope ladder, hopscotch painted on the tile floor, ball jump station, trampoline, climber, pitch back, soccer kick.
-Rationale: Children benefit from opportunities to swing, climb, balance, and throw without all the bulky winter weather gear on. This set up will also promote the practice of negotiating space as well as taking turns as they move throughout the gym.
-Skills: Rope ladder: core strength, coordination, balance, climbing, grasping. New hopscotch: dynamic/static balance. Ball jump station: risk taking, spatial, temporal and body awareness, depth perception. Trampoline: endurance, flexibility and lower body strength, turn taking. Pitch back: over hand throw and catching skills. Soccer kick: social interaction, kicking, eye-foot coordination
Outdoors
In addition to the usual activities during the children's free choice time, weather permitting, we will take the children to the playground to have fun with snow.
-Materials: playground equipment, shovels, buckets, molding materials, sledding hill.
-Rationale: Outdoor winter activities support large muscle skills and help children enjoy winter.
-Skills: creative expression, balance and coordination, endurance

Overview
Our school session is quickly coming to an end and it was great to have a break from the cold arctic chill last week, we had a great time outdoors. The children had missed it so much that when they played outside they were not in a hurry to get back inside. This week we will continue to enjoy the outdoors, weather permitting of course, as well as indoors with amazing learning opportunities. The classroom has a few changes and focus centers; the main attraction continues being the Measurement center in the back of the classroom. We will add more measurement tools for length and volume. In the very near future we hope to have a guest come in and speak to us about tool boxes and the measurement tools they have to expand on the children's learning about measurement. A lot of children have made a connection between measurement and tool boxes.

Expressive Arts
In the expressive arts area we are bringing in the melting trays with crayon shavings for drawing, creating and color mixing.

-Materials: melting trays, crayon shavings, wax paper, crayons.
-Rationale: the children will have an opportunity to create their own 3-D sculptures. The art materials presented will encourage the creative process to develop as the learners interact with art materials to create with limitless possibilities. The children will also have an opportunity to share and appreciate each others art works. The melting tray will provide an alternative perspective on self expression.
-Skills: creative and self- expression, problem solving, creating new colors, fine motor, symbolic representation, and pure enjoyment of the creative process.
We will continue to present clay in flattened pieces to encourage children to experiment with impressions.
-Materials: clay, small plastic animals, clay tools, other various objects to make impressions.
-Rationale: to give the children an opportunity to use clay in a different manner; to create an opportunity for the children to compare the impressions of different objects
-Skills: self-expression, fine motor, problem-solving, creative expression, sensory input, and fine motor.

Sensory
The sensory table has had snow and ice from the beginning of the school session, last week we started transitioning to water, and this week we will offer water with measuring tools for scooping and pouring and we will also explore things that float and sink in the water.
-Materials: sensory table, funnels, measuring cups, measuring spoons, floating and sinking items. -Rationale: scooping and pouring with measuring tools will continue the measurement theme with an emphasis on volume. To wonder while we explore why do things float or sink? -Skills: conservation, awareness of volume, physics of sink and float, fine motor skills, sensory input, symbolic play, problem solving, sense of wonder, questioning.

Science
This week we will introduce the evaporation concept. Which evaporates faster snow or water? A couple weeks ago we compared the melting of ice and snow. Evaporation will bring us full circle with the water cycle and the states of matter; ice, snow, water and vapor.
-Materials: heating trays, mittens, aluminum foil and droppers.
-Rationale: to allow the children to explore the transformation of materials from one state of matter to the next. -Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, making connections and predictions, comparisons.
We will continue to focus our attention on life cycles.
-Materials: tadpole, fish, mealworms, water thermometer, bee lifecycle activities.
-Rationale: to expose the children to the idea of the many different life cycles in our world; to encourage the children to document their observations.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, generalizing, grouping, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, descriptive language, peer interactions.

Language and Literacy
We will continue to encourage the children to express their ideas and observations through text and pictures to be added in their journals. We have expanded the use of the journals to all areas of the classroom.
-Materials: personal journals, pens, pencils, markers, color pencils, rulers
-Rationale: to help the children see the importance of documenting their ideas and observations; to help the children see the progress in their own learning, we will use print to extend dramatic play in the classroom and build awareness that words are all around us.
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge, observation, awareness of print, awareness of the purpose of print, social interactions.

Math and Manipulatives
We will continue to add measurement tools in the measurement center after introducing them in large group. We will give the children the opportunity to independently experiment with the various measurement tools to measure themselves, each other, objects and record their findings.
-Materials: scales, rulers, unifix cubes, tape measures, and thermometers, measuring cups and spoons
-Rational: to give the children the opportunity to use the measurement tools that were introduced in large group; to see how math is used in daily life.
-Skills: logical thinking; comparison; real life connection; connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge; observation.
We will continue to offer seriating and sequencing materials.
-Materials: self-correcting materials, nesting cups, wood blocks in various shapes of stain for ordering, shape puzzles and interlocking puzzles, shaded and tinted color tiles.
-Rationale: to offer opportunities to understand how sizes compare; to become comfortable in ordering by one or more physical attributes.
-Skills: seriating, ordering, sequencing, comparison, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
The interest in the kitchen is switching to picnic fun, following the children's interest. We will continue to support this interest with print and pictures for sequencing.
Materials: kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots, pretend food, menus, signs, cafe' cups, milk cartons, half and half cartons, table cloth, pencils, paper, clipboards.
-Rationale: to help the children build awareness of written words; to make a connection with real life experiences.
-Skills: role-play, peer interactions, symbolic play, social skills, problem solving skills, awareness of print.

Blocks
The children will continue to have access to the block areas in the classroom. Teachers will continue to document the various structures created by the children and will add those to the "We Built It" book.
-Materials: unit blocks, hollow blocks.
-Rationale: to support mathematical concepts such as symmetry, understanding of dimensions and fractions; to give the children an opportunity to develop an understanding of special concepts such as balance, and center of gravity.
-Skills: mathematical concepts; cooperative play; creativity; spatial skills; gross motor; social interactions.

Large Motor
Gym
-Materials: rope ladder, hopscotch painted on the tile floor, ball jump station, trampoline, climber, pitch back, soccer kick.
-Rationale: to give the have opportunities to swing, climb, balance, and throw without all the bulky winter-weather gear on. This set up will also promote the practice of negotiating space as well as taking turns as they move throughout the gym.
-Skills: rope ladder: core strength, coordination, balance, climbing, grasping; new hopscotch: dynamic/static balance; ball jump station: risk taking, spatial, temporal and body awareness, depth perception; trampoline: endurance, flexibility and lower body strength, turn taking; pitch back: over hand throw and catching skills; soccer kick: social interaction, kicking, eye-foot coordination.
Outdoors
In addition to the usual activities during the children's free choice time, weather permitting, we will take the children to the playground to have fun with snow, creating with snow and mud, and playing.
-Materials: playground equipment, shovels, buckets, molding materials, sledding hill.
-Rationale: opportunities to enjoy winter activities and support large motor skills.
-Skills: creative expression, balance and coordination, endurance.

Overview
Time is just flying as the children and the teachers are continuing to find joy in learning. Because of the extra cold days last week, we spent more time utilizing our indoor learning opportunities. Although those are wonderful, we all are excited to see that next week's weather will be more conducive to being outdoors. There are a few minor changes in our classroom environment. We have created a measurement center in the back corner of the classroom. Here the children are given all the tools they to measure by weight, height, size, and temperature. What used to be a bear cave under the loft is now a new manipulative center where children can create with translucent duplos on a light table. Lastly, we are adding the life cycle of bees to our science area at the request of several children.

Expressive Arts
In the expressive arts area we are continuing with the boxes and other recycled materials that the children can use to create three-dimensional pieces of art.
-Materials: boxes, heavy paper, colored construction paper, small cardboard pieces, bottle caps, buttons, paper punchers, fun scissors, glue, tape, staplers, crayons, colored pencils, paint, and markers.
-Rationale: The children will have an opportunity to create their own 3-D sculptures. The art materials presented will encourage the creative process to flourish as the learners interact with art materials to create with limitless possibilities.
-Skills: creative and self- expression, problem solving, fine motor, and pure enjoyment of the creative process.
We will offer the children the opportunity to use watercolor paint to paint the self-portraits they made previously this school year.
-Materials: watercolors, fine brushes, watercolor paper, printed self-portraits.
-Rationale: To offer the children a chance to further develop their creative process by adding color to a black and white picture; to offer a different way to express creativity through watercolor paint.
-Skills: self-expression, symbolic representation, fine motor, creative expression.
We will continue to present clay in flattened pieces to encourage children to experiment with impressions.
-Materials: clay, small plastic animals, clay tools, other various objects to make impressions
-Rationale: To give the children an opportunity to use clay in a different manner; to create an opportunity for the children to compare the impressions of different objects
-Skills: self-expression, fine motor, problem-solving, creative expression, sensory input, fine motor

Sensory
We will continue to offer colored water and droppers at the snow table. In addition to this, we will add colored ice pieces for the children to compare how the colored water reacts to the ice and snow.
-Materials: sensory table, snow, ice, molding materials, droppers, cups of colored water
-Rationale: To explore the outcomes of mixing colors; to compare how water reacts to snow and ice
-Skills: creative building, fine motor skills, sensory input, symbolic play, self-expression, problem solving, and problem solving

Science
We will continue exploring crayon melting and will add crayon shavings and chunks to the center.
-Materials: heating trays, mittens, crayons, crayon shavings, crayon chunks, and wax paper
-Rationale: To allow the children to explore the transformation of materials that melt; to give the children another creative outlet.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, and making connections, comparison, fine motor
We continue to focus our attention on life cycles. We will add the life cycle of bees to our science area.
-Materials: tadpole, fish, mealworms, water thermometer, bee lifecycle activities
-Rationale: To expose the children to the idea of the many different life cycles in our world; to encourage the children to document their observations
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, generalizing, grouping, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, descriptive language, peer interactions.

Language and Literacy
We will continue developing our class café through the making of signs, prices, and using the menus made by the children.
-Materials: Menus, signs, cafe' cups, milk cartons, half and half cartons, table cloth, pencils, paper, clipboards
-Rationale: We will use print to extend dramatic play in the classroom and build awareness that words are all around us.
-Skills: Awareness of print, awareness of the purpose of print, social interactions
We will continue to encourage the children to express their ideas and observations through text and pictures to be added in their journals. We have expanded the use of the journals to all areas of the classroom.
-Materials: personal journals, pens, pencils, markers, color pencils, rulers
-Rationale: To help the children see the importance of documenting their ideas and observations; to help the children see the progress in their own learning
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge, observation.

Math and Manipulatives
The addition of the measurement center will give the children the opportunity to independently experiment with the various measurement tools introduced in large group. Here the children will be able to measure themselves, each other, and objects and record their findings.
-Materials: scales, rulers, unifix cubes, tape measures, and thermometers
-Rational: To give the children the opportunity to use the measurement tools that were introduced in large group; to see how math is used in daily life
-Skills: logical thinking; comparison; real life connection; connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge; observation
We will continue to offer seriating and sequencing materials for the children to independently strengthen their skills.
-Materials: self-correcting materials, nesting cups, wood blocks in various shapes of stain for ordering, shape puzzles and interlocking puzzles, shaded and tinted color tiles.
-Rationale: To offer opportunities to understand how sizes compare; to become comfortable in ordering by one or more physical attributes
-Skills: seriating, ordering, sequencing, comparison, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
We will continue to enjoy the class café.
Materials: kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots, pretend food, menus, signs, cafe' cups, milk cartons, half and half cartons, table cloth, pencils, paper, clipboards
-Rationale: To help the children build awareness of written words; to make a connection with real life experiences
-Skills: role-play, peer interactions, symbolic play, social skills, problem solving skills, awareness of print.

Blocks
The children will continue to have access to the block areas in the classroom. Teachers will continue to document the various structures created by the children and will add those to the "We Built It" book.
-Materials: unit blocks, hollow blocks.
-Rationale: To support mathematical concepts such as symmetry, understanding of dimensions and fractions; to give the children an opportunity to develop an understanding of special concepts
-Skills: mathematical concepts; cooperative play; creativity; spatial skills; gross motor; social interactions.

Large Motor
Gym
-Materials: rope swing, balance beams, bean bag throwing/targeting box, "bolster island" (all the red, green, and blue tumbling blocks linked together for climbing fun, hopscotch painted on tile floor
-Rationale: fun common outdoor activities indoors! The children have opportunities to swing, climb, balance, and throw without all the bulky winter-weather gear on. This set up will also promote the practice of negotiating space as well as taking turns as the move throughout the gym.
-Skills: upper-/lower-body strength/coordination, muscular endurance, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-foot coordination, spatial awareness, targeting, over-/under-hand throwing strength/coordination
Outdoors
In addition to the usual activities during the children's free choice time, if weather permits, we will lead them on a "bear hunt" through, around, over, and under the playground equipment.
-Materials: playground equipment, shovels, buckets, molding materials, sledding hill.
-Rationale: opportunities to enjoy winter activities and support large motor skills.
-Skills: creative expression, balance and coordination, endurance.

Overview
Last week our introduction of measurement was successful as we began to explore the measurement of temperature and length. Our mystery word was "measurement." The children related well to this concept and we are going to build on their interest this week by adding the measurement of weight to our exploration. We will use large and small scales and will weigh and measure the children in the classroom, among other things. We will also continue a strong focus on language and literacy as we develop the Lab School Café in the dramatic play area. Literacy is the foundation of many life skills. It affects reading, of course, but is also a key to success in science, math, social studies, and creative development. Our hands will be busy as we create 3-D art and make impressions in flat clay in the expressive arts area. We look forward to a fun, exciting week of exploration and learning.

Expressive Arts
In the expressive arts area we are adding boxes to the assortment of other materials that the children can use to create three-dimensional pieces of art. The boxes will expand the children's opportunities for creative endeavors.
-Materials: boxes, heavy paper, colored construction paper, small cardboard pieces, paper punchers, fun scissors, glue, tape, staplers, crayons, colored pencils, and markers.
-Rationale: The children will have an opportunity to spontaneously begin creating their own 3-D sculptures. The 3D art materials will encourage the creative process to thrive as the learners interact with art materials to create with limitless possibilities. We hoe that the use of these materials will lead to discussions about recycling and reusing paper.
-Skills: creative and self- expression, problem solving, fine motor, and pure enjoyment of the creative process.

We will continue to offer opportunities for the children to choose to paint with watercolors on vellum and watercolor paper on top of the light table. The children have shown interest in mixing colors. This week, to open this experience for the participation of more children at a time, we will spend the week mixing colors in the snow at the sensory table. (See below.)
-Materials: watercolors, fine brushes, watercolor paper, Vellum paper, light table.
-Rationale: Continue to offer an additional way to self-express and symbolically represent using watercolor paper, vellum paper, and an assortment of colored paints. -Skills: self-expression, symbolic representation, fine motor, creative expression, comparison

We were so busy last week that we did not have enough time to fully explore the clay and clay tools. So this week we will again present clay in flattened pieces so children can create animal tracks impressions, and we will add the suggestion that they can make impressions of the animals themselves.
-Materials: clay, small plastic animals, clay tools, sequins, beads, small wooden pieces.
-Rationale: offer children opportunities for self-expression and compare different animal tracks impressions. Exploring animal tracks impressions on clay will create a special learning challenge due to their similarities and differences.
-Skills: self-expression, fine motor, problem-solving, creative expression, sensory input, fine motor.

Sensory
The children have shown interest in mixing colors. In order to give them a different medium to work with (in addition to the paint in the expressive arts area), we will spend the week mixing colors in the snow at the sensory table. After making snow towers and snow caves, the children will be able to use droppers of colored water decorate their creations.
-Materials: sensory table, snow, molding materials, droppers, cups of colored water
-Rationale: We're taking the interest shown in mixing colors at the watercolor table and creating a more successful experience at the sensory table.
-Skills: creative building, fine motor skills, sensory input, symbolic play, self-expression, problem solving, and pure enjoyment of the creative process.

Science
This week we will continue to learn about how things melt. Last week we transformed ice and snow into water. Now we are going to give children the opportunity to place a sheet of paper on a heating tray while they draw with their crayons. They can compare what happens to the crayons and the drawings when drawn on a heated surface and when drawn on a cool table surface.
-Materials: heating table, trays, mittens, crayons, and paper
-Rationale: Expose the children to transformation of materials that melt (other than snow/water) and let them experiment with the melting process.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, and making connections, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, comparison, reasoning, fine motor

We continue to focus our attention on life cycles. We are excited that our pupas are going through the metamorphosis, and we now have beetles. This transformation will continue to make for exciting journal entries.
-Materials: tadpole, fish, mealworms, water thermometer, journals
-Rationale: To continue to observe the animals and document our observations in our journals. To expose the children to the idea of life cycles. Explore the idea that animals, as well as human, must maintain certain temperature in their surroundings for survival.
-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
Last week we converted our kitchen area into the Lab School Cafe to enhance the children's awareness of words all around them and to emphasize the concept that print carries messages. To enrich this activity the teachers will be encouraging the children to decorate covers of menus and create word labels for the pictures they glued in last week.
-Materials: Menus, signs, cafe' cups, milk cartons, half and half cartons, table cloth, pencils, paper, clipboards
-Rationale: We will use print to extend dramatic play in the classroom and build awareness that words are all around us.
-Skills: Awareness of print, self-expression through talking, writing and drawing, awareness of the purpose of print.

Our two writing areas continue in their previous locations, one in the front of the room by the science area and the second one on top of the loft in the back of the classroom. Last week we offered opportunities to add children's thoughts and representations of what they know to their individual journals. We will encourage our learners to write or draw changes noticed in the different life cycles either by dictation or by themselves.
-Materials: personal journals, pens, pencils, markers, color pencils, rulers
-Rationale: The children have been excited to share their thoughts and ideas about what they are seeing in the science area. This week the learners will have an opportunity to collect and add new changes in the life cycles with the emergence of the beetles. The journals give the children a way to preserve their works for future reference.
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge, comparison, observation.

Math and Manipulatives
Last week we introduced the concept of "Measurement" and we will continue to offer opportunities to understand length and temperature. This week we will add the concept of measuring weight. In the manipulative area we will add creative building sets.
-Materials Measurement: scales, rulers, unifix cubes, scales, tape measures, and thermometers, creative building sets. Seriating materials: self-correcting materials, nesting cups, wood blocks in various shapes of stain for ordering, music instruments that support the concept of seriating: tone blocks, xylophone, shakers. Shape puzzles and interlocking puzzles. Shaded and tinted color tiles. Sequencing materials: card games with steps for familiar activities.
-Rationale: offer opportunities to understand measurement, different measuring tools, ways to measure and things to measure.
-Skills: measurement of length and weight, seriating, ordering, sequencing, comparison, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
Last week we converted our kitchen area into a Lab School Café. The children are beginning to play the different related roles found in a café, including server, order taker, short order cook, and customer. The dramatic involvement of the children has been extended by our emphasis on incorporating words and literacy activities (menus, order forms, and signage).
Materials: kitchen furniture (now café furniture), spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots along with different fruits in baskets, menus, signs, cafe' cups, milk cartons, half and half cartons, table cloth, pencils, paper, clipboards
-Rationale: We will use print to extend dramatic play in the classroom and build awareness that words are all around us.
-Skills: Awareness of print, self-expression through talking, writing and drawing, awareness of the purpose of print.

In our other two dramatic/symbolic play areas we will continue to offer opportunities for role play and symbolic representation. We continue to focus on animal homes and will encourage the children to think of where different animals live and what they need to survive. We will encourage them to create homes out of hollow blocks and unit blocks.
-Materials: In the cave: stuffed animals (bears, raccoons, squirrels, owls, raptor birds), wood pieces, acorns, and photos depicting hibernating animals. Under the loft: big stuffed bears, raccoons, bunnies, animal costumes, and pillows.
-Rationale: opportunities for make-believe play, conversations related to animals and their habitats. Expand on the children's understanding of animal homes and dwellings. Provide opportunities for self-expression, imagination, and creativity.
-Skills: role-play, symbolic play, peer interactions, support general social skills, problem solving, sharing, social skills

Blocks
This week we will create a book entitled "Remember How We Made It," featuring photos that we have been taking of the children's block creations. This is in direct response to the children's interest and excitement. We will add pages to the book in the coming weeks.

The children have two places in the classroom where they can engage with blocks. The unit blocks are located in the front and the back of the classroom, and the hollow blocks are placed in the back of the classroom to be used with or without dramatic play materials.
-Materials: unit blocks, hollow blocks.
-Rationale: Both types of blocks support mathematical concepts such as symmetry, understanding of dimensions and fractions. While engaged in block building children experience sizes and relationships, dimensions and spatial concepts. It is also a great opportunity to enhance social skills in meaningful and playful ways.
-Skills: social connections, awareness of geometry and directions, cooperative play, creative building, spatial skills, social skills, large motor.

Large Motor
Gym
-Materials: rope swing, balance beams, bean bag throwing/targeting box, "bolster island" (all the red, green, and blue tumbling blocks linked together for climbing fun, hopscotch painted on tile floor
-Rationale: fun common outdoor activities indoors! The children have opportunities to swing, climb, balance, and throw without all the bulky winter-weather gear on. This set up will also promote the practice of negotiating space as well as taking turns as the move throughout the gym.
-Skills: upper-/lower-body strength/coordination, muscular endurance, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-foot coordination, spatial awareness, targeting, over-/under-hand throwing strength/coordination
Outdoors
In addition to the usual activities during the children's free choice time, if weather permits, we will lead them on a "bear hunt" through, around, over, and under the playground equipment.
-Materials: playground equipment, shovels, buckets, molding materials, sledding hill.
-Rationale: opportunities to enjoy winter activities and support large motor skills.
-Skills: creative expression, balance and coordination, endurance.

Overview
Last week the weather favored us and we had a blast in the great outdoors and we hope to continue with the learning fun this week, both indoors and outdoors. This week we will be placing special emphasis on various mathematical skills throughout the classroom and further expand on understanding Life Cycles by adding another perspective by way of comparison and measurement. These mathematical skills lay down the foundation for cognitive, art and scientific skills. We will introduce an assortment of measuring tools to help spark interest in measuring a variety of things such as frog tank's temperature, indoor and outdoor temperature, distance, height, and weight. We will also seek to help our learners to establish connections between measurement and all the serious construction of animal homes that has been going on lately. Look out for more great learning experience reports from your children this week.

Expressive Arts
We will continue to explore clay and clay tools. This week we will present the clay in flattened pieces for use to create animal tracks impressions for comparison.
-Materials: clay, small plastic animals, clay tools, sequins, beads, small wooden pieces.
-Rationale: offer children opportunities for self-expression and compare different animal tracks impressions. The children have had opportunities to create with clay and make other impressions with shells and other small manipulatives. Exploring animal tracks impressions on clay will create a special learning challenge due to their similarities and differences. -Skills: self-expression, fine motor, problem-solving, creative expression, sensory input, fine motor.

Watercolors on vellum and watercolor paper on top of the light table.
-Materials: watercolors, fine brushes, watercolor paper, Vellum paper, light table.
-Rationale: Continue to offer an additional way to self-express and symbolically represent using watercolor paper, vellum paper, and an assortment of colored paints. Opportunity to mix colors to create and to compare art in two different media will be evident. -Skills: self-expression, symbolic representation, fine motor, creative expression, comparison
Our expressive arts area holds an assortment of materials the children can use to create 3-D pieces of art.
-Materials: heavy paper, colored construction paper, small cardboard pieces, paper punchers, fun scissors, glue, tape, staplers, crayons, colored pencils, and markers.
-Rationale: The children will have an opportunity to spontaneously begin creating their own 3-D sculptures. The 3D art materials will encourage the creative process to thrive as the learners interact with art materials to create with limitless possibilities. We hoe that the use of these materials will lead to discussions about recycling and reusing paper.
-Skills: creative and self- expression, problem solving, fine motor, and pure enjoyment of the creative process.

Sensory
This week we will continue to support the connection between the indoors and the outdoors at the sensory center by adding colored ice blocks, small animals, trees and twigs which will expand the sensory experience and provide opportunities for symbolic play and social interactions.
-Materials: sensory table, snow, molding materials, large ice blocks, small toy trees and twigs, small animals
-Rationale: The children are forming a connection between indoors and outdoors. The addition of trees and twigs to our sensory table gives a more realistic representation of what happens outdoors. The learners will be able to recreate the outdoors as they see it in the winter. The large ice blocks will continue to support creation of animal homes which is in line with life cycles. We will also continue to expand on the idea of the water's life cycle.
-Skills: creative building, sensory input, connection and comparison between indoors and outdoors, scientific reasoning, symbolic play, and social interactions.

Science
We continue to focus our attention on Life Cycles
-Materials: tadpole, fish, mealworms, water thermometer
-Rationale: To continue to expose the children to the idea of life cycles. Explore the idea that animals, as well as human, must maintain certain temperature in their surroundings for survival.
-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.
In the back of the classroom will we continue to explore light, shadow and reflection as part of our choice time. Now that the children have had an opportunity to project different materials on the wall, we will offer opportunities to project their own creations, representations and expressions.
-Materials: projector, transparencies, markers.
-Rationale: offer opportunities to investigate light, shadows and reflection. How do things project on the wall? Do things look different (size, shape) on the projector and when they are already projected on the wall? What happens when the sun comes out? Can you see your shadow? What other shadows can you make with your body and or body parts?
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, and making connections.
We continue to focus on transformation of ice and snow into water. We are adding salt to expand on this investigation.
-Materials: heating table, trays, mittens, ice, salt
-Rationale: The children have experienced melting of the ice and snow in the sensory table and the heating table. Comparing melting of ice and salted ice will expand on their ice melting experience to help make real life connections in relation to water's life cycle. This will eventually lead to discussions about salting ice to melt it on our sidewalks.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, and making connections, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, estimation, comparison, reasoning

Language and Literacy
Our two writing areas continue in their previous locations, one in the front of the room by the science area and the second one on top of the loft in the back of the classroom. Last week we began creating individual journals that already have some pages. This week we will continue to offer opportunities to add children's thoughts and representations of what they know to their individual journals. We will encourage our learners to write or draw changes noticed in the different life cycles either by dictation or by themselves.
-Materials: personal journals, pens, pencils, markers, color pencils, rulers
-Rationale: The children have been excited to share their thoughts and ideas about what they are seeing in the science area. This week the learners will have an opportunity to collect and add new changes in the life cycles and new information to their journals which is temperature readings in the fish and tadpole tanks and using rulers to draw various length lines. The journals give the children a way to preserve their works for future reference.
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge, comparison, observation
We will convert our kitchen area into a Lab School Cafe to enhance the children's awareness of words all around them and to emphasize the concept that print carries messages.
-Materials: Menus, signs, cafe' cups, milk cartons, half and half cartons, table cloth, pencils, paper, clipboards
-Rationale: We will use print to extend dramatic play in the classroom and build awareness that words are all around us.
-Skills: Awareness of print, self-expression through talking, writing and drawing, awareness of the purpose of print.

Math and Manipulatives
This week we will introduce the concept of "Measurement" and we will continue to offer opportunities to understand seriating and sequencing.
-Materials Measurement: rulers, unifix cubes, scales, tape measures, and thermometers.
Seriating materials: self-correcting materials, nesting cups, wood blocks in various shapes of stain for ordering, music instruments that support the concept of seriating: tone blocks, xylophone, shakers. Shape puzzles and interlocking puzzles. Shaded and tinted color tiles. Sequencing materials: card games with steps for familiar activities. -Rationale: offer opportunities to understand measurement; different measuring tools, ways to measure and things to measure.
-Skills: seriating, ordering, sequencing, comparison, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
In our different dramatic/symbolic play areas will continue to offer opportunities for role play and symbolic representation. We will focus on animal homes and will continue to encourage the children to think of where different animals live and what they need to survive. We will encourage them to create homes out of hollow blocks and unit blocks. -Materials: kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots along with different fruits in baskets. In the cave, we have stuffed animals (bears, raccoons, squirrels, owls, raptor birds, wood pieces, acorns, photos depicting hibernating animals. Under the loft, in the back of the classroom we have big bears, raccoons, bunnies, animal costumes, and pillows.
-Rationale: opportunities for make-believe play, conversations related to animals and their habitats. Expand on the children's understanding of animal homes and dwellings. Provide opportunities for self-expression, imagination, and creativity.
-Skills: role-play, symbolic play, peer interactions, support general social skills, problem solving, sharing, social skills

Blocks
Unit blocks are located in the front and the back of the classroom. Hollow blocks are placed in the back of the classroom to be used with or without dramatic play materials. Both types of blocks support mathematical concepts such as symmetry, understanding of dimensions and fractions. While engaged in block building children experience sizes and relationships, dimensions and spatial concepts. It is also a great opportunity to enhance social skills in meaningful and playful ways.
-Materials: unit blocks, hollow blocks.
-Rationale: We will highlight the use of these materials to enhance dramatic play by their use in creating animal homes. Children will also expand on their social connections, awareness of geometry and directions. Encourage cooperative play.
Skills: creative building, spatial skills, social skills, large motor.

Large Motor
Gym:
-Materials: rope swing, balance beams, bean bag throwing/targeting box, "bolster island" (all the red, green, and blue tumbling blocks linked together for climbing fun, hopscotch painted on tile floor
-Rationale: fun common outdoor activities indoors! The children have opportunities to swing, climb, balance, and throw without all the bulky winter-weather gear on. This set up will also promote the practice of negotiating space as well as taking turns as the move throughout the gym.
-Skills: upper-/lower-body strength/coordination, muscular endurance, dynamic/static balance, depth perception, eye-foot coordination, spatial awareness, targeting, over-/under-hand throwing strength/coordination
Outdoors
-Materials: playground equipment, shovels, buckets, molding materials, sledding hill.
-Rationale: opportunities to enjoy winter activities and support large motor skills.
-Skills: creative expression, balance and coordination, endurance.

Overview
I hope that you all survived the frigid cold that was last week. The good news is that this week is supposed to be much warmer than our last. This will be great since the children and teachers alike have missed spending time outdoors. But last week was not wasted, the classroom had been buzzing with excitement and learning. We hope to continue on that note with some expansions added to areas this week. This week we will be focusing on expanding the understanding of life cycles by seeing the life cycle of water and on expanding our understanding of animal homes in both the block and the dramatic play areas. These opportunities will be highlighted throughout the week during large group to bring them to the children's attention.

Expressive Arts
We will continue to explore clay and clay tools. We will provide an assortment of "add-ons" and visual examples of clay art to extend on children's artistic endeavors. We will present the clay in different forms (balls, flattened squares, etc.).
-Materials: clay, clay tools, sequins, beads, small wooden pieces.
-Rationale: offer children opportunities for self-expression. The children have had opportunities to experiment with these materials already and we plan to build off their understanding and exploration. By prepping the table differently with the clay in different forms, the children will be presented with a new experience in which their understanding of the material will be challenged. This brings opportunity for developmental growth.
-Skills: self-expression, fine motor, problem-solving, creative expression, sensory input, fine motor.
Watercolors on watercolor paper on top of the light table.
-Materials: watercolors, fine brushes, watercolor paper, light table.
-Rationale: offer an additional way to self-express and symbolically represent. We will offer the children the opportunity to work with the same media, but with a different paper/recipient. We will support the children in noticing the differences between the vellum (transparent) paper and the watercolor (opaque) paper. How the light table shines or doesn't through the paper, how the paint reacts to the two types of paper, the ease of controlling brush strokes on the two types of paper.
-Skills: self-expression, symbolic representation, fine motor, creative expression, comparison, reasoning
Our expressive arts area holds an assortment of materials the children can use to create 3-D pieces of art.
-Materials: heavy paper, colored construction paper, small cardboard pieces, paper punchers, fun scissors, glue, tape, staplers, crayons, colored pencils, and markers.
-Rationale: The children spontaneously began creating their own 3-D sculptures. We though the addition of new material would help them further development their ideas. Like with the pieces of colorful paper, we ultimately will discuss the idea of paper recycling and reusing other materials. Offers the children a place to create while supporting fine motor skills.
-Skills: creative and self- expression, problem solving, fine motor, and pure enjoyment of the creative process.

Sensory
-Materials: sensory table, snow, molding materials, ice
-Rationale: The children are forming a connection between indoors and outdoors. The addition of ice to our sensory table gives a more realistic representation of what happens outdoors. We are also looking forward to expanding on the idea of the water's life cycle.
-Skills: creative building, sensory input, connection and comparison between indoors and outdoors, scientific reasoning.

Science
We continue to focus our attention on life cycles.
-Materials: tadpole, fish, mealworms
-Rationale: To continue to expose the children to the idea of 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.
In the back of the classroom will we continue to explore light and shadow as part of our choice time.
-Materials: projector, interesting small materials to put on the projector.
-Rationale: offer opportunities to investigate light and reflection. How do things project on the wall? Do things look different (size, shape) on the projector and when they are already projected on the wall? What happens when the sun comes out? Can you see your shadow?
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, and making connections.
We will focus on the transformation of ice/snow to water.
-Materials: heating table, mittens, ice
-Rationale: The children are have experienced melting of the ice and snow in the sensory table and we wanted to make a more concrete connection. This is a precursor to speaking to the children about the life cycle of water.
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, and making connections, conceptual knowledge-knowledge of the natural world, estimation.

Language and Literacy
Our two writing area continue in their previous locations, one in the front of the room by the science area and the second one on top of the loft in the back of the classroom. Our main focus will be the creation of scientific journals. This will be done with the children early in the week during large group. These journals will be used for the children to document the life cycles they see in the science area. They will be encouraged to depict what they see and describe either in writing or dictation what they notice about the different life cycles.
-Materials: personal journals made by each child, pens, pencils, markers, color pencils
-Rationale: The children have been excited to share their thoughts and ideas about what they are seeing the in science area. The journals give the children a way to express themselves while focusing their attention.
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, connection of prior knowledge to new knowledge.

Math and Manipulatives
We will continue to focus on seriating and sequencing.
Materials: seriating materials, self-correcting materials, nesting cups, wood blocks in various shapes of stain for ordering, music instruments that support the concept of seriating: tone blocks, xylophone, shakers. Shape puzzles and interlocking puzzles. Shaded and tinted color tiles. Sequencing materials: card games with steps for familiar activities. Life-cycle cards.
-Rationale: provide opportunities to better understand relationships based on common characteristics: classification and seriating. Understanding these relationships is the beginning of math learning. Offer opportunities and support logical thinking.
-Skills: seriating, ordering, sequencing, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
In our different dramatic/symbolic play areas will continue to offer opportunities for role play and symbolic representation. We will focus on animal homes and try to incorporate this into our play areas.
-Materials: kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots along with different fruits in baskets. In the cave, we have stuffed animals (bears, raccoons, squirrels, owls, raptor birds, wood pieces, acorns, photos depicting hibernating animals. Under the loft, in the back of the classroom we have big bears, raccoons, bunnies, animal costumes, and pillows.
-Rationale: encourage children to engage in make-believe play, conversations related to animals and their habitats. To expand on the children's understanding of animal homes and dwellings. Provide opportunities for self-expression, imagination, and creativity.
-Skills: role-play, symbolic play, peer interactions, support general social skills, problem solving, sharing.

Blocks
Unit blocks are located in the front and the back of the classroom. Hollow blocks are placed in the back of the classroom to be used with or without dramatic play materials. Both types of blocks support mathematical concepts such as symmetry, understanding of dimensions and fractions. While engaged in block building children experience sizes and relationships, dimensions and spatial concepts. It is also a great opportunity to enhance social skills in meaningful and playful ways.
-Materials: unit blocks, hollow blocks.
-Rationale: We will highlight the use of these materials to enhance dramatic play by their use in creating animal homes. Children will also expand on their social connections, awareness of geometry and directions. Encourage cooperative play.
Skills: creative building, spatial skills, social skills, large motor.

Large Motor
Gym
-Materials: wall ladder, monkey bars with rope swings, blue slide and foam cylinders with climbing rope, A-frame ladders with the donut hold and a connecting bridge, and Pedalo.
-Rationale: To promote physical development through balance, coordination, upper body and core strength. To foster social interaction through sharing the same equipment.
-Skills: Core strength, coordination, balance, risk taking, spatial awareness, depth perception, bilateral movement, climbing, upper and lower body strength, motor planning, grasping, turn taking, and social interaction
Outdoors
-Materials: playground equipment, shovels, buckets, molding materials, sledding hill.
-Rationale: opportunities to enjoy winter activities and support large motor skills.
-Skills: creative expression, balance and coordination, endurance.

Overview
Welcome back to school everyone! I hope you had a relaxing and wonderful winter break and enjoyed ALL the snow we got! These first couple of weeks we will focus on getting reacquainted with each other and getting used to our schedules and routines once more. We will also work on getting to know our new student teachers: Becky, Cathy and Helen. If you happen to be around, please make sure that you introduce yourselves and warmly welcome them to our wonderful classroom community! The classroom has undergone a few changes. We have worked hard to make sure that it always feels welcoming, warm, cozy, and that children feel the connection between what was happening before break and what we have now. At the same time we have consciously tried to keep things simple yet inviting and exciting to draw children's attention right away!

Expressive Arts
We will continue to explore clay and clay tools. We will also provide an assortment of "add-ons" to extend on children's creative endeavors.
-Materials: clay, clay tools, sequins, beads, small wooden pieces.
-Rationale: offer children opportunities for self-expression.
-Skills: self-expression, fine motor, problem-solving, creative expression, sensory input, fine motor.
We will introduce watercolors on vellum paper on top of the light table.
-Materials: watercolors, fine brushes, vellum paper, light table.
-Rationale: offer an additional way to self-express and symbolically represent. We have worked with opaque paint throughout the first session. We want to offer a different experience with see through paints, paper and light coming from under.
-Skills: self-expression, symbolic representation, fine motor, creative expression.
Our expressive arts area also holds a new and attractive assortment of collage papers.
-Materials: interesting strips of paper, colored construction paper, paper punchers, fun scissors, glue, tape, staplers, crayons, colored pencils, and markers.
-Rationale: focus children's attention to paper collage and its endless possibilities, ultimately discussing the idea of paper recycling. Offer the children plenty of opportunities to engage in the creative process. Add interesting touches to their creations while supporting fine motor skills.
-Skills: creative and self- expression, problem solving, fine motor, and pure enjoyment of the creative process.

Sensory
-Materials: sensory table, snow, molding materials.
-Rationale: provide opportunities for creative building combined with opportunities to get familiar with and experience seriation. The idea of building with snow will be carried outside to the playground.
-Skills: creative building, sensory input, seriation, connection between indoors and outdoors.

Science
We will focus our attention on life cycles. We will draw children's attention to life cycles taking place right in front of us, outdoors and in our classroom.
-Materials: tadpole, fish, mealworms
-Rationale: we will formally introduce the idea of life cycles and support the children into making the connections between this concept and past, current and new experiences.
-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.
In the back of the classroom we will begin exploring light, shadows, and reflection.
-Materials: projector, interesting small materials to put on the projector.
-Rationale: offer opportunities to investigate light and reflection. How do things project on the wall? Do things look different (size, shape) on the projector and when they are already projected on the wall? What happens when the sun comes out? Can you see your shadow?
-Skills: scientific inquiry, observation, and making connections.

Language and Literacy
We have set-up two major writing areas in the classroom. One is located in the front of the classroom facing the science area and the second is located on top of the loft in the back of the classroom.
-Materials: an assortment of writing materials such as pens, pencils. Paper, tape, staplers, stencils (with letter shapes and general shapes). Collections of selected books are located in different areas of the classroom.
-Rationale: we are hoping to spark children's interest in writing and/or dictating what they observe in the science area. We are interested in providing many opportunities for letter recognition and usage. The children's names along with their picture are located in this area, as well as the mailboxes. We also have few seriating materials to connect this area with the second cave, which holds additional materials that support this concept. We are hoping that children's inspiration to describe what they see in the science transfer to the back of the classroom and children describe what they see outside from the windows, their play, or their own make up stories. The book selections 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 mere enjoyment of reading!
-Skills: fine motor, descriptive and creative writing/dictation, fine motor, and letter recognition.

Math and Manipulatives
We will focus on seriating and sequencing. Seriating is the ability to arrange objects in a sequential order according to one aspect such as size, weight or volume. The preschool years are a good time to support children's focus while engaged in the process of seriating supporting the basics for future arithmetic. Sequencing is the ability to put events of a story in order in which they occurred. This requires the use of logical thinking, fundamental piece for reading and everyday life.
Materials: seriating materials, nesting cups, wood blocks in various shapes of stain for ordering, music instruments that support the concept of seriating: tone blocks, xylophone. Shape puzzles and interlocking puzzles.
Sequencing materials: card games with steps for familiar activities. Life-cycle cards.
-Rationale: provide opportunities to better understand relationships based on common characteristics: classification and seriating. Understanding these relationships is the beginning of math learning. Offer opportunities and support logical thinking.
-Skills: seriating, ordering, sequencing, logical thinking.

Dramatic Play
We have three dramatic/symbolic play areas. The complete kitchen area is located in the front of the classroom, by the big windows and close by the couch and reading area. The first cave is set up as a winter wonderland. In the back of the classroom, under the loft we have an additional winter cave.
-Materials: kitchen furniture, spoons, forks, knives, cups, dishes and cooking pots along with different fruits in baskets. In the cave, we have stuffed animals (bears, raccoons, squirrels, owls, raptor birds, wood pieces, acorns, photos depicting hibernating animals. Under the loft, in the back of the classroom we have big bears, raccoons, bunnies, animal costumes, and pillows.
-Rationale: encourage children to engage in make-believe play, conversations related to animals and their habitats. Provide opportunities for self-expression, imagination, and creativity.
-Skills: role-play, symbolic play, peer interactions, support general social skills, problem solving, sharing.

Blocks
Unit blocks are located in the front and the back of the classroom. Hollow blocks are placed in the back of the classroom to be used with or without dramatic play materials. Both types of blocks support mathematical concepts such as symmetry, understanding of dimensions and fractions. While engaged in block building children experience sizes and relationships, dimensions and spatial concepts. It is also a great opportunity to enhance social skills in meaningful and playful ways.
-Materials: unit blocks, hollow blocks.
-Rationale: offer materials to enhance dramatic play, social connections, awareness of geometry and directions. Encourage cooperative play.
Skills: creative building, spatial skills, social skills, large motor.

Large Motor
Gym: the gym will have a basic set-up the first couple of weeks. I will send a separate e-mail letting you know once it is set-up.
Outdoors
-Materials: playground equipment, shovels, buckets, molding materials, sledding hill.
-Rationale: opportunities to enjoy winter activities and support large motor skills.
-Skills: creative expression, balance and coordination, endurance.

Overview

We've been busy wrapping up our small groups and excited to share our culminating work with our families! The children have been sharing and applying their new knowledge from our small groups in their daily play. Many have been building nests and beehives using hollow blocks; talking about birds and music; and manipulating colors. We will continue exploring animals in winter and with the cold and snow and continue talking about hibernation.

Expressive Arts
We will continue to explore clay and clay tools. There will be different materials available for the children to add to their clay. To extend the color mixing from the light table, we will provide primary colors at the painting easels. Everybody has been adding a piece of our found natural material to our whole class fall sculpture and we plan to finish it up to display this week!!
-Materials: Clay, clay tools, wire, natural materials, easel, paper, red, blue, and yellow paints, paintbrushes, natural materials, yarn, wire, branch.
-Rationale: The clay tools and added material will give the children opportunities to creatively express themselves. The wire and natural materials will allow the children to extend their experiences making collages into creating clay sculptures. The paint color mixing will give the children the opportunity to continue exploring color mixing using primary colors to create new colors. The whole class fall sculpture will build a sense of community and ownership as children continue adding to it.
-Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, observation, sensory input, fine motor, and community strengthening.

Science
We will continue to weave using the weaving looms, using different ribbons and other materials. The children will be encouraged to weave and discuss their weaving patterns. We will also continue to observe the tadpole and talk in-depth with the children about things they've noticed about the tadpole. For example, observations about size and other physical changes. The light table will have the different color shapes for exploration.
-Materials: Weaving looms, ribbons, other long materials, tadpole tank, magnifying glasses, paper, colored pencils, primary colored shapes.
-Skills: Scientific inquiry, peer interactions, fine motor, patterning.

Dramatic Play
We will continue exploring the underground "cave" for bears or birds hibernating or "nesting" inside a tree. To create a quiet area and sense of community, the loft will have table games such as Bingo, matching, and patterns.
-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies, dress up clothes, animal costumes, restaurant supplies, cookbooks, menus, paper, pencils, and food photos. We will add more animal food (nuts, acorns, corn on the cob, etc.) The Animal Cave has a little bit more of a winter look now. It has stuffed woodland animals, logs, wood blocks, books about animal homes and animal hibernation. We have added questions about hibernation and photos of animals hibernating in the cave.
-Rationale: The dramatic play area is set up to encourage social interactions, symbolic play, literacy, and expression of children's ideas about their experiences. The animal food will encourage children to extend the restaurant and pet theme to an animal café theme. Children have been showing interest in hibernation, so the cave is set up for small group interactions and discussions about woodland animals, their homes, and hibernation.

-Skills: Role-play, peer interactions, social problem solving, symbolic representation, and print awareness, community building.

Language and Literacy

The children have really enjoyed drawing pictures for others and writing their own and their friends' names on their pictures. We will continue to have the name cards and mailboxes available.
-Materials: Books about bears, hibernation, winter, birds, trees, and snow in the classroom within science area, animal cave, and cozy couch. There are also cookbooks in the dramatic play area. The dramatic play, bird watching station, tadpole table and writing table all have pencils and paper.

-Rationale: We will continue to encourage talking, writing, print awareness, and using books as informational resources. 

-Skills: Self-expression through talking, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and connecting speech to print and print to speech.

Blocks 

The blocks will be available during free play and during some small group activities. The children incorporate their dramatic play themes with the blocks frequently.
-Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks, tree blocks, wheels, and street signs. Cloth material and notch blocks will be added to extend children's explorations of building different structures.

-Rationale: To provide materials for symbolic play, awareness of geometry and directions, to encourage cooperative play and collaboration. 


-Skills: Large motor skills, balance, directional awareness, symbolic representation, and social interaction skills.

Math and Manipulatives

We will keep the mobilos and matching games available this week.
-Materials: Number sense puzzle, mobilos, new peg puzzles and matching game. 

-Rationale: To provide opportunity to practice one-to-one correspondence, matching, seriating and measurement. We will also encourage creative building and expression. To encourage and support social interactions. 

-Skills: One to one correspondence, comparing, matching, seriating, and number sense. Creative building.

Large Motor
We will focus on getting on all of the snow clothes a little early so that everyone can play outdoors at the end of the day. The children will be encouraged to put on their winter clothing independently and remembering what order to put the clothing on.
-Materials
Gym- climbing wall, slide, stairs, A-frame and balancing beams, donut hole, monkey bars, basketball hoops, balls, and mats.

Playground- Lots of snow, sleds, shovels, buckets, cups, rakes, ropes, lots of space to run and climb, and big straw bales! The children have begun using these in their dramatic play outdoors! 


-Rationale
We will continue to provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills. Children will have opportunities to practice climbing, use their upper and lower body strength, practice using their receptive skills (throwing, catching, and grasping). 

In the playground we want to give children space for additional large motor endeavors and support them into noticing what is happening outside. The "bird call game" remains popular with the children initiating the game!!
-Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, receptive skills (throwing, grasping, reaching, catching), balance, visual/spatial discrimination, propulsion skills, dramatic play, cooperation, turn taking, problems solving, and following directions.

Special interest
Isaac's mom, Allison, will be coming in on Thursday to help us bake a special snack for our end of session party!

Large Group


There will be a primary color paint mixing demonstration. We will also be reading The Bear Snores On. Patterning has been a big part of our classroom lately. We've been patterning our snacks and playing patterning games. We will continue to support the children's interests in patterning by offering more opportunities and reading books that have patterning themes.
END OF SESSION PARTY: MONDAY, DECEMBER 6TH, 2-3:30. Please make sure to mark you calendars!! We will have a special snack prepared by the children, share our Small Group happenings, say good-bye to our wonderful student teachers, sing a few of our favorite songs, and surprise!

Pat, Ellen, Linda and Dalia

Overview

Our small groups are getting deeply immersed in nature, birds and the arts and bringing some of those ideas back to the classroom. Linda's group will be visiting the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on Wednesday this week. We will have two birthdays this week - Aoife's and Otto's! Otto's mom will be baking on Wednesday and Aoife's dad will be doing a creative project with the class on Thursday. We will build on children's enjoyment of dramatic play with animal themes by adding a "cozy cave" under the loft. We will continue our exploration of animal tracks and hope to see some outdoors now in the snow! Children are interested in writing and drawing pictures for each other; there will be a mailbox in the room by the writing center as well as picture/name cards for every child so they can practice writing names. 


Expressive Arts
Next Monday we will be making a class sculpture with wire and materials from our nature hunt last week. The children are experimenting with the snow to see what they can make outside.
-Materials: Natural collage materials collected and sorted from outside, large stick, and wire for a whole class fall hanging sculpture. Paints, clay, clay utensils.

-Rationale: The whole class fall sculpture will help foster a sense of community and ownership by creating one project together. Continue to provide opportunities for the children to express themselves creatively and represent what they know and learn. The clay provides one more option to express children's thoughts, ideas and understandings. It also provides opportunities for creative expression.

-Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, observation, sensory input, fine motor, and community strengthening. The clay allows children to experience conservation.

Science
We have a Nest-Building Station! Children can experience for themselves the process of making a nest. There is also a Weaving Wall with chicken wire and colorful ribbons to add and support the nest creating experience.
-Materials: We have added a weaving station where a few children can work on weaving ribbons in and out of the mesh wall, animal tracks' matching game, light table. Fish tank and tadpole tank. Nest building table with natural materials and playdough to create cozy homes for birds.

-Rationale: To continue to facilitate children's interests in nest building. To experience how much work it is for birds to make their nests by weaving materials together. To encourage hypothesis testing regarding what materials make a good nest. Observe our classroom fish and tadpole. 

-Skills: Sorting nest-building materials, predicting what makes a good nest, experimenting with different materials, fine motor skills, collaboration.

Dramatic Play
We are adding an underground "cave" for bears or birds hibernating or "nesting" inside a tree.
-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies, dress up clothes, animal costumes, restaurant supplies, cookbooks, menus, paper, pencils, and food photos. We will add more animal food (nuts, acorns, corn on the cob, etc.) The Animal Cave has a little bit more of a winter look now. It has stuffed woodland animals, logs, wood blocks, books about animal homes and animal hibernation. We have added questions about hibernation and photos of animals hibernating in the cave.
-Rationale: The dramatic play area is set up to encourage social interactions, symbolic play, literacy, and expression of children's ideas about their experiences. The animal food will encourage children to extend the restaurant and pet theme to an animal café theme. Children have been showing interest in hibernation, so the cave is set up for small group interactions and discussions about woodland animals, their homes, and hibernation.

-Skills: Role-play, peer interactions, social problem solving, symbolic representation, and print awareness.

Language and Literacy

We will introduce our new mailboxes and encourage letter-writing this week and next. Our latest "mystery word" was "Inspiration." Cormac has introduced us to a new song: "Happy Birthday" in Chinese which we hope to hear again this week! 

-Materials: Books about bears, birds, trees, and snow in the classroom within science area, animal cave, and cozy couch. There are also cookbooks in the dramatic play area. The dramatic play, bird watching station, tadpole table and writing table all have pencils and paper.

-Rationale: We will continue to encourage talking, writing, print awareness, and using books as informational resources. 

-Skills: Self-expression through talking, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and connecting speech to print and print to speech.

Blocks 

The blocks will be available during free play and during some small group activities. The children incorporate their dramatic play themes with the blocks frequently.
-Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks, tree blocks, wheels, and street signs. Cloth material and notch blocks will be added to extend children's explorations of building different structures.

-Rationale: To provide materials for symbolic play, awareness of geometry and directions, to encourage cooperative play and collaboration. 


-Skills: Large motor skills, balance, directional awareness, symbolic representation, and social interaction skills.

Math and Manipulatives

We will keep the mobilos and matching games available this week.
-Materials: Number sense puzzle, mobilos, new peg puzzles and matching game. 
--Rationale: To provide opportunity to practice one-to-one correspondence, matching, seriating and measurement. We will also encourage creative building and expression. To encourage and support social interactions. 

-Skills: One to one correspondence, comparing, matching, seriating, and number sense. Creative building.

Large Motor
We will focus on getting on all of the snow clothes a little early so that everyone can play outdoors at the end of the day. On Wednesday, we may play in the gym instead of the playground to maximize our large motor time.
-Materials
Gym- climbing wall, slide, stairs, A-frame and balancing beams, donut hole, monkey bars, basketball hoops, balls, and mats.
On Friday, November 19th the gym will be rearranged. We will send a separate e mail with a description of the new set-up.
Playground- Lots of snow, sleds, shovels, buckets, cups, rakes, ropes, lots of space to run and climb, and big straw bales! The children have begun using these in their dramatic play outdoors! 


-Rationale
We will continue to provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills. Children will have opportunities to practice climbing, use their upper and lower body strength, practice using their receptive skills (throwing, catching, and grasping). 

In the playground we want to give children space for additional large motor endeavors and support them into noticing what is happening outside. We will play the "bird call game" again, with new birds next time!! 

-Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, receptive skills (throwing, grasping, reaching, catching), balance, visual/spatial discrimination, propulsion skills, dramatic play, cooperation, turn taking, problems solving, and following directions.

Special interest
We have a new class member! His name is Abdiaziz and he just started on Monday this week.
Large Group


We will introduce some new songs (Miss Mary Mack and Many Pretty Trees by Ella Jenkins) and stories (Cupcake! and Fall is Not Easy) this week.
Snack
We will be having a special birthday snack on Wednesday for Otto's birthday.
Field Trip
On Wednesday, Linda's "All Kinds of Art" group will go to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Coming up...

• The Lab School will be closed on Thursday, November 25th (We are open on Wednesday, November 24th
Aoife's aunt Fiona will visit our classroom on Wednesday, Nov. 24th during large group to show us some Yoga moves!

• Discussion on: "Everything you wanted to know about the transition to Kindergarten" facilitated by Ann Rhul Carlson will take place on Wednesday, December 1st from 9-10:30; Wednesday, December 1st from 1:30-3; and Thursday, December 2nd from 7-8:30.

•The last day of the fall session is Monday, December 6th.
END OF SESSION PARTY: MONDAY, DECEMBER 6TH, 2-3:30. Please make sure to mark you calendars!! We will have a special snack prepared by the children, share our Small Group happenings, say good-bye to our wonderful student teachers and sing a few of our favorite songs!

Pat, Ellen, Linda and Dalia

Overview


The children continue to make observations and ask meaningful questions about what they notice outdoors. We will continue to take the time to listen to their questions and incorporate their wondering into our classroom set-ups and activities. We will keep on exploring the topics from last week of animals, animal homes, and what different animals do to get ready for winter. Our small group topics and experiences are becoming more focused based on the children's interests. Children are forming ownership and identity within their groups. The children are taking what they experience in small groups and using it in their play in other areas of the classroom. The Naturalists group will be taking a field trip to the Harriet Nature Center this Thursday.
The teachers will continue to support and provide opportunities for meaningful and positive social interactions throughout our afternoons at school.

Expressive Arts


-Materials: Tempera paint (6 colors), small paintbrushes, and standing easels. Natural collage materials collected and sorted from outside, large stick, and wire for a whole class fall hanging sculpture.
-Rationale: To provide the children with a variety of opportunities for self and creative expression and story telling. The smaller brushes and added color will help encourage children to give more details to their paintings and story. The whole class fall sculpture will help foster a sense of community and ownership by creating one project together.
-Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, observation, sensory input, fine motor, and community strengthening.
-Materials: Clay and sculpting tools.
-Rationale: Continue to encourage children to experience clay as a sensory input, promote social interactions, representation skills, and conservation skills. 

-Skills: Sensory awareness, peer interactions, sharing materials, and conservation.

Science


-Materials: Animal tracks' matching game, light table, and an animal sorting game. Fish tank and tadpole tank. Feathers, nest building, and pictures of birds using their feathers for camouflage.
-Rationale: To continue to facilitate children's interests and higher level thinking (questions, predictions, hypotheses) of where animals live, what animals do during winter, and why and how animals hibernate, migrate, or stay active. Continue to pay attention to our pet fish and tadpole. The pictures of birds using their feathers for camouflage will help spark children's interests in the colors and patterns in the feathers.
-Skills: Observation, exploration, investigating, identify/describe objects by physical characteristics, make comparisons between objects that have been collected or observed, and peer interactions.

Dramatic Play


-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies, dress up clothes, animal costumes, restaurant supplies, cookbooks, menus, paper, pencils, and food photos. We will add more animal food (nuts, acorns, corn on the cob, etc.) The Animal Cave has stuffed woodland animals, logs, wood blocks, books about animal homes and animal hibernation. We have added questions about hibernation and photos of animals hibernating in the cave. 

-Rationale: The dramatic play area is set up to encourage social interactions, symbolic play, literacy, and expression of children's ideas about their experiences. The animal food will encourage children to extend the restaurant and pet theme to an animal café theme. Children have been showing interest in hibernation, so the cave is set up for small group interactions and discussions about woodland animals, their homes, and hibernation.
-Skills: Role-play, peer interactions, social problem solving, symbolic representation, and print awareness.

Language and Literacy


-Materials: Books about birds, seeds, and animals in the classroom within science area, animal cave, and cozy couch. There are also cookbooks in the dramatic play area. The dramatic play, bird watching station, and writing table all have pencils and paper.
-Rationale: We will continue to encourage talking, writing, print awareness, and using books as informational resources. 
Children are enjoying using the writing materials in the dramatic play area for menus, for taking orders, and for drawing construction plans.
Skills: Self-expression through talking, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and connecting speech to print and print to speech.

Blocks 


-Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks, tree blocks, wheels, and street signs. Cloth material and notch blocks will be added to extend children's explorations of building different structures.
-Rationale: To provide materials for symbolic play, awareness of geometry and directions, to encourage cooperative play and collaboration. 

-Skills: Large motor skills, balance, directional awareness, symbolic representation, and social interaction skills.

Math and Manipulatives


-Materials: Unifix cubes, number sense puzzle, mobilos, new peg puzzles and matching game. We will add different sized handprint cut outs for children to match the size of their hands.
-Rationale: To provide opportunity to practice one-to-one correspondence, matching, seriating and measurement. To encourage and support social interactions. The handprints will help children explore and connect the idea of animal tracks to themselves.
-Skills: One to one correspondence, comparing, matching, seriating, and number sense. Creative building.

Large Motor


-Materials: Gym- climbing wall, slide, stairs, A-frame and balancing beams, donut hole, monkey bars, basketball hoops, balls, and mats.
Playground- tricycles, shovels, buckets, cups, rakes, ropes, lots of space to run and climb, and bird tickets for children and teachers. 

-Rationale: Children enjoyed the new gym set up, especially the basketball hoop and balancing beams. We will continue to provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills. Children will have opportunities to practice climbing, use their upper and lower body strength, practice using their receptive skills (throwing, catching, and grasping).
In the playground we want to give children space for additional large motor endeavors and support them into noticing what is happening outside. We will also play a large motor game outside to foster locomotor skills, group identity, and following directions. Children will be given 3 different pictures of birds, 3 teachers will make different bird sounds, and children will run to the corresponding bird sound.
-Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, receptive skills (throwing, grasping, reaching, catching), balance, visual/spatial discrimination, propulsion skills, dramatic play, cooperation, turn taking, problems solving, and following directions.

Special interest

Large Group

Discussions about imagination and transformations will continue. We will continue talking about animals in the fall and focusing on hibernating and migrating. This week we will also introduce musical instruments in large group and then put them at the top of the loft for children to explore.
Snack
One of our snacks this week will focus on making patterns.
Field Trip
On Thursday, November 11th, the "Naturalists" small group is going on a field trip to the Harriet Nature Center.

Coming up...

• "Tantrum Talks" on Thursday, November 11th at 2:30 and Friday, November 12th at 10 in room 105 (Kelley sent a flyer last week).

• Oleanna book sale will take place on Thursday and Friday, November 11th and 12th in our gym. 

• The Lab School will be closed on Thursday, November 25th (We are open on Wednesday, November 24th)
• Discussion on: "Everything you wanted to know about the transition to Kindergarten" facilitated by Ann Rhul Carlson will take place on Wednesday, December 1st from 9-10:30; Wednesday, December 1st from 1:30-3; and Thursday, December 2nd from 7-8:30.
•The last day of the fall session is Monday, December 6th.

Pat, Ellen, Linda and Dalia

Overview
We will continue support children's exploration of the natural world. Our topic this week will be animals, animal homes, and animals getting ready for winter! The children have been using the different animal costumes in the room and continue observing the bird feeder. We will be taking some things out of some areas of the classroom and adding new activities that relate to our animals theme. We've also been very busy in our small groups discussing the children's interests within each group. The Birds group will visit the Bell Musem this week!
The teachers will continue to support the children in making thoughtful choices among the activities at choice time, providing opportunities for meaningful and positive social interactions and discussions throughout the afternoon.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Tempera paint (primary colors), paintbrushes, table easels. Natural collage materials, glue, scissors, markers, crayons and colored pencils.
-Rationale: To provide the children with a variety of opportunities for self and creative expression and story telling.
Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, observation, sensory input, fine motor.

Sensory
-Materials: Flax seeds, bottles, scoops, spoons, funnels
-Rationale: Continue to encourage children to experience a different sensory input, promote social interactions, experience conservation
-Skills: Sensory awareness, peer interactions, sharing materials, conservation.

Science
-Materials: Animal tracks' matching game, light table, pictures of animals. Animal sorting game, pictures of different types of animals. Animals home display where children can move different animal pictures and place them according to their homes.
-Rationale: To foster children's development of one-to-one correspondence, the children will have the opportunity to sort animals according to their characteristics, whether or not they hibernate, migrate, or stay active. The animal homes display will include a land, a tree, underground, sky, and pond. There will also be common Minnesota animals that the children can place in which home they think the animals live in. The light table will be set up for an animal tracks matching game. There will be shadows of an animal track and the children can match the track to its animal.
-Skills: Observation, exploration, investigating, identify/describe objects by physical characteristics, make comparisons between objects that have been collected or observed, peer interactions

Dramatic Play
-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies and dress up clothes. We have added restaurant supplies, cookbooks, menus, paper, pencils and food photos. The loft has a reading area next to the large windows and a table for writing. The Animal Cave has stuffed woodland animals, logs, wood blocks, books about animal homes and animal hibernation.
-Rationale: The dramatic play area is set up to encourage social interactions, symbolic play, literacy, and expression of children's ideas about their experiences. The cave is set up for small group interactions and discussions about woodland animals, their homes, and hibernation.
-Skills: Role-play, peer interactions, social problem-solving, symbolic representation, print awareness.

Math and Manipulatives
Materials: Unifix cubes, number sense puzzle, lego builders, new peg puzzles and matching game. Matching handprint cut outs
-Rationale: To provide opportunity to practice one-to-one correspondence, seriating and measurement. Encourage and support social interactions.
-Skills: One to one correspondence, comparing, matching, seriating, numerical sense.

Large Motor
-Materials: Indoors- climbing wall, slide, stairs, A-frame and balancing beams, donut hole, monkey bars, basketball hoops, balls, and mats. In the playground we have tricycles, shovels, buckets, cups, rakes, and ropes, as well as lots of space to run, and climb.
-Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills. To provide opportunities for the children to practice climbing and upper and lower body strength. To focus on receptive skills including throwing, catching, and grasping. In the playground we want to give children space for additional large motor endeavors and support them into noticing what is happening outside.
-Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, receptive skills (throwing, grasping, reaching, catching), balance, visual/spatial discrimination. In the playground offer opportunities for children to run, climb up and down, balance, propulsion skills, balance, dramatic play, cooperation.

Special interest:
Large Group
Discussions about imagination will continue. We will also discuss the word "transformation."
We will continue talking about animals in the fall and focusing on hibernating, migrating, and different types of animal homes.
• Wednesday, November 3rd is Picture Day!
• On Thursday, November 4th, the "Birds" small group is going on a field trip to the Bell Museum.
• On Thursday, November 4th, Karla (Quinn's mom) will facilitate banana-chocolate chip muffins baking in the classroom.

Coming up...
• "Tantrum Talks" on Thursday, November 11th at 2:30 and Friday, November 12th at 10 in room 105 (Kelley sent a flyer last week).
• Oleanna book sale will take place on Thursday and Friday, November 11th and 12th in our gym.
• On Thursday, November 11th, the "Naturalists" small group will go on a field trip the Harriet Nature Center.

Linda, Ellen, Pat and Dalia

Overview
We continue to encourage and support children's exploration of the natural world. Birds, animals, and traveling seeds are just a few of the topics we have been exploring and discussing indoors and outdoors. Children have been observing birds and squirrels at the window with the birdfeeder. We continue to discuss our explorations inside and outside of the classroom, and at home. We have been checking on our tree seeds and now have planted burrs right on the socks that picked them up with. Many children are wondering whether they will sprout. This week, we will talk about seeds that float and seeds that fly! Teachers support children in making thoughtful choices among the activities at choice time, providing many opportunities for meaningful interactions and discussions. We are taking full advantage of what it seems to be our last warm October days and spending as much time outdoors as we can!

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Clay, sticks, utensils to make impressions. Pencils, crayons, markers, natural collage materials, and glue. Table easels with paint cups.
-Rationale: To provide materials for the children to be creative and to express their understandings of the concepts being introduced in the classroom (tadpoles, seeds, animals, gourds). -Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, observation, and fine motor development.

Sensory
-Materials: Birdseed, a pumpkin opened up for scooping and carving.
-Rationale: To provide a different sensory experience (from water), to explore plant science life, and to promote social interactions.
-Skills: Sensory awareness, peer interactions, sharing materials, experimentation, and observation.

Science
-Materials: Bird watching station, light table with feathers and nests, seeds, float and sink tubs, burr planting materials, measuring tape at the seed-blowing table, and tadpoles and fish in aquariums.
-Rationale: To notice different types of birds at the feeder and different colors and patterns of feathers at the light table. Our nature walks have given us more seasonal ideas to explore: what kinds of seeds will sink or float as they travel? And will our burr seeds grow? When we blow on seeds, which ones will fly? We will ask children about how and why seeds travel the way they do. Tadpoles (have they seen one of them start to grow legs?) and fish give children the opportunity to observe living things close up.
-Skills: Observation, exploration, peer interactions, forming questions, and testing our hypotheses.

Dramatic Play
-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies and dress up clothes. We have added restaurant supplies, cookbooks, menus, paper, pencils and food photos. The loft has a reading area next to the large windows and a table for writing. The Animal Cave has stuffed woodland animals, logs, wood blocks.
-Rationale: The dramatic play area is set up to encourage social interactions, symbolic play, literacy, and expression of children's ideas about their experiences. The cave is set up for small group interactions and discussions about woodland animals and their homes.
-Skills: Role-play, peer interactions, social problem-solving, symbolic representation, print awareness.

Math and Manipulatives
Materials: Unifix cubes, number sense puzzle, lego builders, new peg puzzles and matching game. Seed matching game, classroom fall bingo, classroom pictures memory game.
-Rationale: To provide opportunity to practice one-to-one correspondence and numerical sense. Encourage and support social interactions.
-Skills: One to one correspondence, matching, sorting, games with rules, taking turns.

Language and Literacy
-Materials: Books about birds, seeds, and animals in the classroom within science area, cozy couch, and loft area. Cookbooks in the dramatic play area. Our cooking activity will also have a recipe displayed. The loft, dramatic play, bird watching station, and writing table all have pencils and paper.
-Rationale: To encourage talking, writing, print awareness and listening to stories.
-Skills: Self-expression through talking, writing, drawing, awareness of the purpose of print and letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and connecting speech to print and print to speech.

Blocks
-Materials: Hollow blocks, unit blocks and tree blocks. Wheels and street signs have been added to the block area. Our gym setup has similar signage and wheeled cars on a "track."
-Rationale: To provide materials for symbolic play, awareness of geometry and directions, to encourage cooperative play and collaboration.
-Skills: Large motor skills, balance, directional awareness, and social interaction skills.

Large Motor
-Materials: Gym - remains set up as a bumpy road and jumping challenge for walkers and a car track with stop sign, arrows. New additions include a beanbag toss and trampoline added to the footpath. We will head outdoors and participate in a group fitness activity. In the playground we have shovels, buckets, scoops, tricycles, cups and pitchers.
-Rationale: To encourage balance, endurance, and directional awareness. The beanbag toss provides practice throwing, aiming and taking turns. The playground provides opportunities for endurance, propulsion skills, coordination, climbing, arm strength and dramatic play.
-Skills: Endurance, balance, directional awareness, sharing, cooperation, self-regulation, risk-taking, climbing, coordination, jumping and running.

Special Interest
-Materials: Items and/or stories brought from home about weekend explorations.
-Rationale: To encourage discussion, observation and the connection between classroom and home environments.
-Skills: Observation, comparing/contrasting, sorting, describing, self-expression, and peer interactions.
-Large Group
This week we will continue our discussions about animals in fall and the signs they leave. We will also explore how seeds travel in the fall.
-Rationale: To deepen understandings of the concepts we have introduced; to build community and share ideas with one another.
-Skills: Inquiry, observation. To listen to others, discuss experiences and compare ideas.

Reminders
The Lab School will be closed on Thursday, October 21st for Staff Development. Conferences will continue next week.

Ellen, Pat, Linda and Dalia

Overview
We are busy exploring the outdoors and discussing what we see, find and notice. The children continue to work on forming connections with each other and we already have a feeling of community. The children notice if someone is missing and are pretty good at remembering each others' names.
Exploration and inquiry fill our classroom corners and the children are deeply engaged in observing, noticing and discussing their observations and sharing what they know. Our large groups will continue to engage the whole classroom in conversations related to meaningful topics. The teachers continue to support the children into making thoughtful choices during "choice time." All the teachers prepare for discussions and interactions in the different areas of the classroom and provide the children with plenty of opportunities for focused interactions. We will continue to take full advantage of the weather and spend as much time as possible exploring the outdoors. We complement our outdoors explorations' with indoor set-ups and activities. Although our classroom looks pretty similar to last week, we have made interesting small changes to different areas. We have removed materials that weren't used and added materials in areas we thought the children could use some provocations. Our main addition is our "Bird Watching" station by our outdoors bird feeder. We are hoping to spark children's thinking by allowing them to notice birds and squirrels up close.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Clay and animals to make tracks and leave impressions, pencils and crayons, natural collage materials
-Rationale: To provide materials for children to express creatively and note their observations about classroom experiences (tadpoles, squash, animal tracks)
- Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, observation, fine motor development.

Sensory
-Materials: Water, frogs, turtles, rocks, sponges, and foliage.
-Rationale: To provide a soothing sensory experience, promote social interactions and opportunities for symbolic play.
-Skills: Sensory awareness, peer initiation, sharing materials, experimentation, pond vocabulary

Science
-Materials: The outdoors! We will take 2 nature walks, focusing the children's attention on fall plants and animals surrounding the Lab School.
Inside, the science table holds squash and a variety of gourds, balancing scales, a weighing scale, measuring tape, 2 aquariums with fish and tadpoles, planted seeds in the window, and an assortment of natural found materials such as seeds, pinecones, rocks, leaves and acorns on the light table.
We have also set up a bird watching station by the window close to the writing area, which holds the bird feeder. We have pictures of the different animals that might visit our birds feeder, paper, pencils, board to keep track of these animals.
-Rationale: To continue to scaffold the children's understandings about the natural world and the changes taking place during the fall. The children will build on previous experiences with seeds, leaves and vegetables by asking questions and investigating interest areas in the classroom, and extending their observations to include animals as well as plants. We want to give the children the opportunity to notice the birds living in our surroundings and see if they can track their movements.
-Skills: Observation, communicating ideas, hypothesizing, and testing ideas through activities including sorting, weighing, asking questions, comparing and contrasting.

Dramatic Play
-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies, and dress-up clothes. In the animal cave there are stuffed woodland animals, natural pieces of wood, and logs
-Rationale: To encourage social interactions and the expression of children's knowledge of family life by taking on familiar roles. The cave provides a cozy close place that promotes small group interactions and discussions related to the animals found in the cave.
-Skills: Role-play, peer interaction, social problem solving, creating imaginary scenarios

Math and Manipulatives
-Materials: Measuring tape and a single balance will be introduced to measure the length and weight of the gourds bought at the farmers' market. Panel to keep track of our observations of the bird feeder and our tracking of animals visiting it.
Colored shape sorter/stacker, matching games, color and shape lotto, seed matching game, leaves for matching according to colors and shapes, and interlocking puzzles reflecting natural themes such as animals, plants, fruits and vegetables.
-Rationale: This week we will introduce the concept of measuring length and weight. We will also encourage the children to compare and use terms such as heavier/lighter, longer/shorter.
The new bird watching station will provide children with opportunities to compare quantities and kinds of animals that visit our bird feeder. We continue to provide the children with plenty of opportunities to classify by shape and color. Sorting and classifying are foundational skills that will support and allow children's development of more complex skills.
-Skills: Measurement of weight and length, comparison, reasoning, color and shape recognition, matching, one-to-one correspondence and whole/part relationships, fine motor development

Language and Literacy
-Materials: A variety of writing materials, paper, envelopes, and a posting of the upper and lower case alphabet. Pictures of students with their names printed next to them will be available for students to use at the writing center. A well stocked library with books about animals, vegetables, school and families. The cozy book area and writing materials will remain in the loft. Children will also receive a small booklet for recording their measurements of their gourds.
-Rationale: To provide children with many opportunities to enjoy the spoken and written world. To provide opportunities for writing children's own names and those of their classmates.
-Skills: Letter recognition, listening and receptive abilities, fine motor control connecting print to speech and speech to print.

Blocks
-Materials: Hollow blocks and unit blocks with farm animals and small fabric squares.
-Rationale: To support children's creative and problem solving abilities, symbolic play, to develop awareness of geometry, construction and allow for opportunities for social interactions and collaboration.
-Skills: Construction skills, dramatic play, symbolic representation, problem solving, collaboration.

Large Motor
-Materials: Gym - Mats for obstacle course (bumpy, smooth, different heights), climbing and jumping stations, low set bars for stepping, jumping, or hopping over. Driving track includes cars for scooting around the track, stop and go areas; mechanic's area with toolboxes and tools; a gas station with 3 "gas pumps."
Playground - large climber, shovels, buckets, bikes, wagons, scooters, swings, and swinging rope.
-Rationale: The gym will be set up as an obstacle course. Children will have an opportunity to go through the course: on foot involves a bumpy road (balance, perception), running (endurance), climbing (endurance), and jumping areas (balance and perception). The car track will allow children to practice using their legs to propel their cars safely around the track. The children will also have opportunities to work at the mechanic's stand or gas station to foster their dramatic-play. This setup will allow the children to work on their gross-motor skills and confidence.
-Skills: Risk-taking, climbing, coordination, depth perception, balance, jumping, and landing, running. Playground skills include digging, balance, hauling, running, swinging, and climbing.

Special Interest:
Large Group: This week we will read a book about different animal tracks, including footprints and animal tracks in the city. We will take two nature walks. One nature walk will be in big white socks to see what types of seeds will stick to our socks. The next nature walk will be to look for animal tracks in the dirt and try to identify them.
-Rationale: To extend and deepen children's understanding of the topics discussed, to build awareness of nature and our immediate environment, and to share ideas and experiences with one another.
-Skills: Inquiry, exploration, observation. To share, listen, and discuss experiences and knowledge. Matching, one-to-one correspondence, and grouping.

Please remember that fall conferences are coming up! Don't forget to e mail Dalia your conference forms.

Thank you and we will see you around!

Ellen, Linda, Pat, and Dalia

Weekly Plan-Dalia's Class
October 4th-8th
Dalia Lead Teaching

Overview
The children have fully adapted to our classroom routines. We've had time to get to know our classmates and student teachers. Children seem happy, comfortable and safe at school. It is wonderful to see how children build new relationships based on previous experiences, mutual interests and teachers' support. This week we will continue to pay attention and support these new connections. The teachers continue to work with and support small groups of children throughout the day. This allow us to really understand how new friendships work, notice what children are interested in, appreciate the children's unique personalities and later discuss how to better plan our classroom curriculum. Children continue to be encouraged to make thoughtful choices after large group and take full advantage before moving on to a different activity.

The teachers will continue to draw the children's attention to our seasonal changes and encourage them to share these verbally and symbolically. Most of the materials in the classroom will remain this week, with just a few additions and replacements in the science and manipulatives areas.

The idea of CHANGE has been already brought up by the children in relation to our new classroom pets (tow bullfrog tadpoles) and we will continue to support them into generalizing this idea and apply it to other topics in and outside of the classroom, slowly guiding them into understanding and noticing Life Cycles all around us.

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Clay, colored pencils, markers, crayons, scissors, glue, natural collage materials. "Provocations" such as vegetables, tadpoles and fish are used to inspire children's art.
-Rationale: To provide materials to inspire children's creative expression. Our emphasis is to use natural fall materials since we have started discussing seasonal changes and noticing what we can find outdoors this time of the year
-Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, symbolic representation, fine motor development

Sensory
-Materials: Water, cups, pitchers, bottles, funnels, and frogs, foliage and rocks.
-Rationale: The water table is a popular space to share with each other, especially at the beginning of the day. The soothing and familiar experience provides children with opportunities not only to enjoy the sensory input, but also opportunities for symbolic play and practice social skills such as turn taking and sharing and promotes social interactions.
-Skills: Experimentation, sensory stimulation and pleasure, beginning to understand the concept of conservation, provide opportunities for symbolic play, practice discussing and problem solving with classmates, opportunities to discuss and share knowledge about the natural world, taking turns and sharing materials.

Science
-Materials: Vegetables, knives for cutting vegetables, balancing scale for weighting and comparing weights, tweezers for seed removal and sorting, containers for sorting by size. Aquarium with four fish, aquarium with two tadpoles. Our natural environment: trees, leaves, grass, animals
-Rationale: To support children's intrinsic curiosity of the world around us. Use our observations to spark conversations and discussions and encourage the children to share what they know, listen to their classmates' ideas and wonder about things they don't understand. Continue to draw children's attention to seasonal changes.
-Skills: Observation, inquiry, sorting, weighing, comparing, asking questions, hypothesizing, interpreting and reasoning about events

Dramatic Play
-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies, and dress-up clothes. In the animal cave there are stuffed woodland animals, natural pieces of wood, and logs
-Rationale: To encourage social interactions and the expression of children's knowledge of family life by taking on familiar roles. The cave provides a cozy close place that promotes small group interaction.
-Skills: Role-play, peer interaction, social problem solving, creating imaginary scenarios

Math and Manipulatives
-Materials: Colored shape sorter/stacker, matching games, color and shape lotto, seed matching game, leaves for matching according to colors and shapes, and new interlocking puzzles reflecting natural themes such as animals, plants, fruits and vegetables
-Rationale: We continue to focus on sorting and classifying by shape and color. Sorting and classifying are foundational skills that will support and allow children's development of more complex skills.
-Skills: Color and shape recognition, matching, one-to-one correspondence and whole/part relationships, fine motor development

Language and Literacy
-Materials: A variety of writing materials, paper, envelopes, and a posting of the upper and lower case alphabet. A well stocked library with books about animals, vegetables, school and families.
-Rationale: To provide children with many opportunities to enjoy the spoken and written world. Our official library is placed by the big couch close to the writing area. We have also created an additional cozy reading area on top of the loft.
-Skills: Letter recognition, listening and receptive abilities, fine motor control

Blocks
-Materials: Hollow blocks and unit blocks with farm animals and small fabric squares; people and furniture.
-Rationale: To support children's creative and problem solving abilities, symbolic play, to develop awareness of geometry and allow for opportunities for social interactions.
-Skills: Construction skills, dramatic play, symbolic representation, problem solving, cooperation

Large Motor
-Materials: Slide climber, wall mounted ladders, monkey bars, rocking boat, A-frame jumping station. The playground will offer shovels, buckets, bikes, and wagons.
-Rationale: A simple set-up in the gym is inviting and allows us to assess gross motor abilities and confidence.
-Skills: Risk taking, climbing, coordination, upper body strength, depth perception, balance, jumping and landing. On the playground there are opportunities for digging, hauling, pedaling, running.

Special Interest
- Large Group: Topical conversations, continue to build awareness of our classroom community, enjoy sharing with others,
- -Rationale: To support children's ability to discuss and share with others; to encourage self-control, to introduce topical conversations. Continue to build a sense of community.
- Skills: Listening, discussing, enjoyment of group activities

Dear Families,

I can't help but wonder and marvel at the children's unique capabilities and abilities to connect with each other, to be naturally willing to learn, to quickly get used to classroom routines. I notice this year after year, with different groups of children and LOVE my job! The children seem comfortable and acclimated; they are eager to share about themselves as well as take in all that teachers and classmates have to give. There are joyful and enthusiastic learners and it is a pleasure to be able to support them and guide their growth.

We started the year with familiar and highly appealing materials, to draw children's attention from the beginning. We were also aware of the fact that we wanted children to feel interested yet not overwhelmed and so we tried to find the perfect balance for them. A somewhat different approach to "Free Play" is being implemented this year in our classroom. Like I mentioned briefly in previous e-mail, we are calling this part of the day with a slightly different name "Choice Time." The reason for this change is that we would like to encourage the children to make thoughtful choices and reduce the amount of wandering and "eye shopping." This doesn't mean that children will not be allowed to make their own choices. What it means is, that right after large group, one of the teachers will let the children know what their options are to start their day. These activities will be assisted by the teachers (who will be prepared with good questions and thoughtful conversation starters). Once the children feel that they are done, they will let the teacher know that they are ready to try a different activity. Before moving on, children will be asked to take a moment to make another choice. We are striving to strengthen children's ability to focus and stretch their thinking to the maximum.

We've had two focused activities outdoors with two small groups of children and we are hoping to repeat this with a few other interested groups. During this activity children were encouraged to observe and represent, talk about, share and discuss the seasonal changes and what they noticed outdoors.

We are paying special attention and to get to know each child and their unique interests, favorite activities, strengths and challenges. We are paying close attention to what their passions are in order to incorporate these into our daily curriculum and make their learning meaningful and enjoyable. Offering the children the opportunity to influence our curriculum communicates our respect for them, who they are and what they are interested in knowing more about. It also gives the children a feeling of ownership in the classroom. One of our main goals is for the children to have a positive experience at school and foster their joy for learning.

Even though the children seem quite excited to be at school we know that they work hard to find their place in the classroom and make connections with the teachers and other classmates. Sometimes these connections happen quickly and others it takes a little time. The teachers' role is to facilitate and encourage these interactions. We are doing so slowly and respectfully, following the children's lead and readiness. Please make sure you are aware of the hard work they put into their school days!!

You will receive an e-mail from me each time I update our classroom website, letting you know which section has new information. This will keep you informed of the classroom activities, happenings, small groups, field trips, etc. The lesson plans posted, are the teacher's intentions for the week; sometimes children perceive or take the activities and materials presented to different places and we try to be in tune with these perceptions and make adaptations in our classroom in order to be true to the children and to the concepts that are being presented.

We have folders for each child and all additional information and artwork will be placed in these. *Please take a moment to empty your children's folders during drop-off and/or pick-up. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me; we can set a time to talk over the phone or a time to meet before or after class if necessary.

Reminders and Announcements

Parent Advisory Committee Meeting
The first meeting of our Parent Advisory Committee will be this Monday, October 4th, from 7-8:30. ALL parents are welcomed and encouraged to attend; the parents work in order to support the school in many different ways. Please come and get involved in your children's school. Classroom Parents are especially encouraged, since they will become the link between the Advisory Committee and our Classroom Community.

Parent Involvement
Parents are a major component of our program; their involvement makes it richer and meaningful. I value, and ask for your involvement in any way possible. There are many ways for you to contribute. Some parents like to spend the afternoon in the classroom and play; it is very attractive to have parents take part in helping with different centers in the classroom (reading books, modeling with clay, creating at the art table, building with blocks, etc). It is also fun to have parents come to school and share their hobbies with the children...some parents may want to have cooking activity or share another special project you are interested in! Please let us know how you would like to participate. I will post a sign-up sheet by the end of the week.

*Families with young siblings...are encouraged to read the Parent Handbook. We want to give opportunities to all families to get involved in our classroom everyday happenings. It is not always our recommendation to include younger siblings when parents are volunteering in the classroom. This takes away from your preschool child's experience and his/her enjoyment of having you share his/her day. Also, remember that we have a classroom full of materials appropriate for preschool age children and not younger children. Sometimes younger siblings are a distraction to the classroom and we ask you that you respect and honor all the children by making sure that this doesn't happen.

Family Photo Board
Almost everybody has sent a family picture. If you haven't done so yet, please send me these A.S.A.P We would like start creating our Classroom Family Photo Board. Also don't forget to send a photo of your child engaged in a summer activity outdoors. I will ask you for a few more of these during the year to support our overall classroom theme this year "Life Cycles." We will discuss about different cycles in our lives; some of these cycles are the ones that we are involved in as families. For example, visiting family during the holidays, go swimming during the summer, sledding during winter, planting in the spring, etc. As we continue to talk about this topic, these pictures will support our discussions and make them more meaningful.

Birthdays
Please contact me when your child's birthday is approaching and if you are interested in bringing or preparing a special snack. The State of Minnesota requires that all snacks be either store bought or prepared at school. You are welcomed to come to school on that day and prepare a snack here. We have a peanut free environment. We are also very concerned with children's nutrition and our snack choices and will have some ideas for you regarding healthy birthday snacks. Please approach and consult with me before you bring something for these special days.

Holiday Celebrations
Generally, our school does not hold any holiday parties. We acknowledge family traditions and celebrations and invite you to share these with us. For Halloween, we ask you to NOT HAVE CHILDREN DRESSED UP when they come to school. We understand that this is a special children's holiday in America and will have some appropriate special stories and colorful materials for the children to use; but there will be no big party and/or dressing up. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Extra Clothes/Ready for the Weather
Thank you for bringing extra clothes for your children. The Lab School has some extra clothes, but it is always best if each child has a bag with labeled extra clothes in case we need to change. If for some reason your child wears any school clothes home, please remember to return these as soon as possible. I also want to remind you that as days get colder please remember to send you children dressed in layers and appropriately for the weather. Long sleeve shirts or hoodies are always helpful (if it is warm, we can always take these off). Make sure you label all of your children's clothing; some times, they don't remember which one is theirs and with all the sweaters and jackets together it is helpful and faster for the teachers if these are labeled.

Toys from Home
Security items, such as stuffed animals, blankets might be helpful for children who are getting used to new routines, people and places. We encourage you to explain to the children that toys and other items may get lost during the afternoons and it is best if they keep these at home or inside their backpacks. I believe that if your child needs something from home in order to feel more comfortable at school, it is OK for him/her to bring it.

Bringing toys from home has proven difficult for the children who bring them and for their classmates in the classroom. If your child really wants to show something to their classmates it is best to take a picture of it and bring it to school. I don't usually have a show and tell during large group...it becomes too long for some children to participate in what we have planed and wait for the show and tell. I do give children opportunities to talk and share their adventures but I try to limit the sharing of items and try to make sure these are related to our topics at hand.

We have an absolute NO WEAPONS POLICY at school. Please do not let your children bring these kinds of items to school. Thank you for your cooperation.

Fall Conferences
Almost all parents have signed for fall conferences. I will send home an e-mail with questions to help me prepare for this conference. Once you receive these questions, I ask you to send me your comments so that our conference is productive and we make the most of our time. During these early conferences, we will discuss your child's adjustment to school and establish some initial goals for this year. Our conferences are held at school in the kitchen lounge. I plan for 30-40 minutes with the children's parents. The conferences are for parents only.

I always appreciate parents' feedback and comments during the year. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, suggestions and/or concerns that may come up. I look forward to seeing you around!

Warmly,
Dalia

Overview
It was wonderful to have so many children and parents visit our classroom during Open House! It is quite obvious that the children are ready for school to start. Home visits and Open House are the first steps into building relationships between the teachers and the children. During the first weeks of school we will focus on getting to know each other and continue to build relationships between children and teachers and children between themselves striving to achieve a sense of community. The staggered and slow start during the first few days will allow us to get a good sense of the children and their unique personalities. We will be vigilant and aware of children who might need extra support during the first weeks. Please don't be surprised if the first transition days to school seem easy and children have a challenge later on. We will work with each family individually to make this transition successful for all.

We have put lots of thought into the classroom set-up and have made intentional choices regarding materials and activities. We wanted to make sure that we had enough exciting and appealing materials for the children these first weeks. We also wanted to make sure that the classroom projects warmth and is welcoming without overwhelming the children. As the days go by, and the student teachers and I will observe and record the children's passion and interests as well as consider the classroom and individual goals'; we will make the necessary changes and adaptations. It is very important that the children feel ownership of their classroom and understand that their needs and interests are important and respected.

Our umbrella topic for the year will be "Life Cycles" and "Transformations." We will expose the children to these ideas and work on expanding their current understanding of these topics through a variety of ways. I will provide additional information as the weeks go by and welcome any insight from you!

Expressive Arts
-Materials: Clay, paint, colored pencils, collage materials
-Rationale: To provide materials to inspire children's creative expression.
-Skills: Self-expression, creative risk-taking, fine motor development

Sensory
-Materials: Water, cups, pitchers, bottles, and funnels
-Rationale: To provide the children with a soothing and familiar sensory experience and to promote social interactions.
-Skills: Experimentation, sensory stimulation and pleasure, beginning to understand the concept of conservation, taking turns and sharing materials.

Science
-Materials: Vegetables, balancing scales, vegetable matching by color; variety of natural found items on light table; aquarium with six fish.
When we head outdoors we will draw children's attention to explore their surroundings, paying attention and noticing the changes taking place. We will draw their attention to the vegetable garden, animal and plant life.
-Rationale: To support children's intrinsic curiosity of the world around us. Pay extra attention to the natural world available in our own playground and use these observations to spark conversations and discussions. Encourage children to develop their own theories and engage in discussions to expand their knowledge of the natural world. Draw children's attention to seasonal changes.
-Skills: Observation, inquiry, sorting, weighing, asking questions, hypothesizing, interpreting and reasoning about events

Dramatic Play
-Materials: Kitchen with dishes, fruits and veggies, and dress-up clothes. In the animal cave there are stuffed woodland animals.
-Rationale: To encourage social interaction and the expression of children's knowledge of family life by taking on familiar roles. The cave provides a cozy close place that promotes small group interaction.
-Skills: Role-play, peer interaction, social problem solving, creating imaginary scenarios

Math and Manipulatives
-Materials: Colored shape sorter/stacker, inset puzzles emphasizing color/shape, interlocking puzzles reflecting natural themes such as animals, plants, fruits and vegetables
-Rationale: Our focus to start the year will be on sorting and classification by shape, color. We will also encourage children to find other unique ways to sort and classify materials available in the classroom. Sorting and classifying are foundational skills that will support and allow children's development of more complex skills.
-Skills: Color and shape recognition, matching, one to one correspondence and whole/part relationships, fine motor development

Language and Literacy
-Materials: A variety of writing materials, paper, envelopes, and a posting of the upper and lower case alphabet. A well stocked library with books about animals, vegetables, school and families.
-Rationale: To provide children with many opportunities to enjoy the spoken and written world.
-Skills: Letter recognition, listening and receptive abilities, fine motor control

Blocks
-Materials: Hollow blocks and unit blocks with farm animals and small fabric squares.
-Rationale: To support children's creative and problem solving abilities, develop awareness of geometry and allow for opportunities for social interactions.
-Skills: Construction skills, dramatic play, symbolic representation, problem solving, cooperation

Large Motor
-Materials: Slide climber, wall mounted ladders, monkey bars, rocking boat, A-frame jumping station. The playground will offer shovels, buckets, bikes, and wagons.
-Rationale: A simple set-up in the gym is inviting and allows us to assess gross motor abilities and confidence.
-Skills: Risk taking, climbing, coordination, upper body strength, depth perception, balance, jumping and landing. On the playground there are opportunities for digging, hauling, pedaling, running.

Special Interest
- Large Group: Music conversations
- -Rationale: Introduce the children to classroom routines, each other, and start building a sense of community.
- Skills: Listening, discussing, enjoyment of group activities

See you all soon!!
Dalia