Sunnybrook Montessori School

Montessori preschool & kindergarten in New Hampshire's North Country

Rattlin’ Bones

teetering and totteringEveryone bundled into winter jackets, hats, mittens, and scarves to keep insulated in the cold, damp, windy weather.  It was such a chilly week, but everyone stayed warm running around playing chase and tag, raking leaves, and driving their trucks. loading up the dump truckescaping from the tunneltheir structurebusy playgroundsmile!putting leaves in the bucketFor Monday art the children were introduced to the artist Paul Klee, who used geometric shapes in his art.  We observed his paintings “Castle and Sun,” “Highway and Biways,” “Cat and Bird,” “Fire Evening,” and “Flora on sand.”  We then used colored paper shapes to create our own artwork, which is displayed in the classroom.  This continued to be a popular activity with all students throughout the week. Paul Kleeshape artcreating shape artcreating the "factory"Paul Klee artThe sensory table was switched from water to beach sand, and the children asked to keep the rocks and fish to play as well.
fish and rocks in the ocean sandsand and sea creaturesThe vehicles returned to the block area as some new traffic signs were added, and this initiated some sign making.  The children used the picture, letter, and color clues on the traffic signs to figure out what each one means.
traffic signsramps and roadsblocks, vehicles & traffic signsin the garageeach one has a spotparking the vehicles in the garageThe children had fun scooping out three pumpkins. They reached down into them using some tools and their fingers to pull out the insieds. They separated the seeds from the pulp and placed them in two different bowls.
digging right inscoopingdigging out the pumpkinpulp and seedsWe wrapped up our ocean unit by reading about the sun’s role in the ocean food chain and the three zones of the ocean in the book, Ocean Sunlight.  We also read about various animals that live in the Atlantic Ocean, the ocean closest to us.  We sang our ocean songs, including “Phytoplankton” and “There Are 5 Oceans on the Earth” to help solidify how all life depends on other life for survival, and that there are 5 oceans, their names, and where they are located.n writing practiceconnecting gearslacing cardssound sortingmovable alphabetpirate puzzleletter formationcleaning up from plant wateringcolor mixingking of the puzzles!ocean nomenclaturepaintingmat workocean nomenclature cardsfraction familyTingshas and Tibetan singing bowlplacing beadslockspuzzlingletter writing practicetens boardafternoon literacy workmetal insetsbuilding the skeletonspreading her peanut butterwatering our sad, dying treeundersea puzzleteen boardcounting and number correspondence with spindle boxesOur first Spanish circle with Zeanny on Thursday was so much fun!  Zeanny introduced the vocabulary “abajo” (down) and “arriba” (up/above) with a Simon Says type game.  She then introduced la caja magica (the magic box).  Inside she found the story Arriba, Abajo y Alrededor about plants that grow above the ground, down in the dirt, and all around, which she read.  She then introduced “manzana,” the word for apple and the phrase “yo me llamo,” which means “my name is.”  In la caja magica she also found some paper manzanas, which she laid out and flipped over one at a time.  Each one had a name on it, and whoever’s name was on the manzana said if it was in the row abajo or arriba. la caja magicaSpanish echoWe celebrated Halloween by dressing up, playing Halloween games, doing Halloween art, enjoying special Halloween snacks, singing Halloween songs, and reading Halloween stories.  Thank you so much to everyone who sent in yummy snacks to share, they were very much enjoyed! beading braceletsspooning shellsis it this way?where is it?an orange hat on a black catmorning explorationsorange play doughthrowing the worms into the cauldronpumpkin face tracingpin the hat on the catworm and rat tosscrayons on gray paperhalloween workHalloween picturesthe nesting dollgluingcreating with connecting gearsHalloween treatssnacks with friendsFor Friday science the children made boats out of wax.  They molded the wax into various shapes, then tested them to see if they could hold marble “passengers” without sinking.  We observed that the boats with higher sides and flatter bottoms were less likely to sink or tip. will it hold a marble?floating boatsThe lyrics to the Phytoplankton song:

Phytoplankton, phytoplankton, floating in the water

Phytoplankton, phytoplankton, gulp, gulp, gulp

It’s been eaten by a .  .  .

Bivalve mollusk, bivalve mollusk, sitting in the water

Bivalve mollusk, bivalve mollusk, gulp, gulp, gulp

It’s been eaten by a .  .  .

Green crab, green crab, crawling through the water

Green crab, green crab, gulp, gulp, gulp

It’s been eaten by an .  .  .

Octopus, octopus, swimming through the water

Octopus, octopus, gulp, gulp, gulp

It’s been eaten by a .  .  .

Harbor seal, harbor seal, gliding through the water

Harbor seal, harbor seal, chomp, chomp, chomp

It’s been eaten by a .  .  .

Great white shark, great white shark, cruising through the water

Great white shark, great white shark, CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP!

Books we read this week: Our stories
Burt Dow, Deep Water Man by, Robert McCloskey

Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas by, Molly Bang

My First Big Ocean Book by, Catherine D. Hughes

Halloween by, Harry Behn

Only a Witch Can Fly by, Alison McGhee

By the Light of the Halloween Moon by, Caroline Stutson

Is Anyone Here? by, Mina Lewiton Simon

The Owl and the Pussycat by, Edward Lear

Too Many Pumpkins by, Linda White

 

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