Some much needed rain came down, but luckily it only kept us in one day.  We spent our cloudy but warm days setting up and running through an obstacle course that put our gross motor (big muscle) skills to use.  We alternated feet running through hoops, crossed a balance beam, step walked across big blocks, zig zagged around the stumps, stepped up and over a table, hopped the hoppy ball, and crawled through the tunnel.  Some students had so much fun they did it over, and over, and over!   We also did a lot of raking, and pulled out the sleds to haul our loads of leaves to deposit in our garden for compost.  When we discovered a fantastic puddle under the apple tree, some students took off shoes and had fun in the mud, or stomped through in rain boots.  It was a busy, messy week!
Monday students were introduced to the artist Mary Cassatt, who is well known for her family portraits.  We discussed who would be included in a family portrait for each student, then they used pastels to create their own family portraits.
At the art table for the week there was black paper, gray paper, pastels, and chalk.  The pastels and chalk are very bright and create a vivid contrast with the black.  There was a lot of drawing, as well as some cutting and folding. We later included bracelet beading at the request of the students, and they laced many bracelets for friends and themselves.
The sensory table full of rocks continues to be busy.
Tuesday was a mixed up backwards day.  With Tammy ill at home, and in anticipation of predicted rain showers, we reversed our morning, going out first, then coming in for a group snack, then Spanish, and finally work time.  The children handled the change well, and enjoyed having Zeanny stay for the rest of day.
For Spanish, we played an up and down game with Zeanny.  When she said arriba (above), we stood up and reached up, and when she said abajo (down), we crouched down.  She tried to trick us, but we were pretty good at listening and responding.  She read us some stories, and taught us a song about calabazas (pumpkins/squash).  Our vocabulary word for the week was calabaza, and anyone who writes it gets a prize.  At the end, all the students who wrote last week’s vocabulary word, mariposa (butterfly), got to pick a prize of a stamp or sticker.We read the books Whoever You Are by Mem Fox, and We Are All Alike, We Are All Different, and discussed how we are similar to and different from everyone else on the planet.  We discussed how we are all people with blood and hearts and feelings and thoughts, but we all look different, have different preferences, and think different thoughts.  We played a game called “The Warm Wind Blows, for anyone who ____________.”  When the blank was filled in with phrases, such as “has a brother,” “likes spaghetti,” “is a boy,” those who fit that category went into the center of the circle.This was the last week for our kitchen in dramatic play.  The students brainstormed some new ideas to take the place of the kitchen, then voted to select which it would be.  Some of the suggestions were a farm, a haunted house, an airplane, a fairy house, a bus, and a train.  It was decided that we could do a temporary haunted house for our Halloween party on Tuesday, but narrowed down the long term options and voted between an airplane, a bus, and a fairy house.  The airplane was the winner with 11 votes, so next week we will begin brainstorming what will be needed to set that up.For music with Susan we practiced the different terms for quiet to loud, from pianissimo and piano, all the way to forte and fortissimo.  We tapped or toes or stomped our feet and sang from very, very quietly, to very, very loudly.  It was fun to practice regulating our voices and bodies to match the corresponding term.  We also sang the song, “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,” and every time we had a B word, we moved our arms or bodies up or down.  We then practiced doing it Lento (slowly), andante (medium), and presto (very fast).  It was challenging trying to move so quickly!While Lyn met with families on Friday, Susan and Tammy spent the morning in the classroom.  For science Susan introduced a fun rock experiment.  Each student took two colors of clay, which they rolled and folded and pushed together, similar to a metamorphic rock, then cut it in half to see how it had marbled and swirled as it changed.