Snow kept us home on Tuesday, and cold kept us in on Wednesday, but we finally made it out at the end of the week! With warmer temps on Friday we had fun making snowballs, snowmen, and snow trails.
At the art table the children sponge painted the 8 phases of the moon and a giant sun for our winter performance.
During sign language with Rose we learned some emotion signs. We learned happy, sad, angry, surprised, and nervous. We also asked how to sign cold and snow, which look exactly the way one would think! For cold, we hold our hands up in fists and shiver, and for snow we wiggle our fingers down, slowly waving back and forth, like falling snow.
We read The Berenstain Bears Vacation, in which papa bear demonstrated all the dangers at the beach, teaching small bear all the things NOT to do to be safe. We pointed out where our three classroom rules are found, and read them: Be Respectful, Be Kind, Be Safe. We also read the Berenstain Bears: The Bike Lesson, along the same lines as the Bears Vacation. We talked about stopping, thinking, then acting to be sure we make safe choices. We played a game where the children demonstrated how to do things safely, which might involve asking a teacher first, telling a friend no, or just watching and listening and moving carefully. The children took turns drawing a piece of paper that finishes the sentence “Show us how to be safe when you . . . ” Some of the safety procedures the children demonstrated were “walk with scissors,” “move the stool,” “turn on the light in dramatic play,” and “leave group to get ready to go outside.” We will play again next week so the children who didn’t get a chance this week will get a turn.
Susan introduced the poem “Something Told the Wild Geese” by Rachel Field and introduced migration and hibernation. She explained how geese fly in a V, taking turns flying at the front, where they face the full force of the wind. The children lined up in a V as geese and took turns moving up to the front and back to fly in the draft.
As we prepare for our winter performance, we are rehearsing many familiar songs, and learning a few new songs and poems. Susan brought out the hand bells for the children to practice playing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. The children enjoyed playing the tune as Susan directed them.
Friday students continue their study of animal groups. This week they read about birds. They each took a bird figure and studied it. They observed that all birds have two legs, a beak, and two wings. We discussed how all birds have feathers, but they don’t all fly. Some run, waddle, and/or swim. We read that all birds hatch from eggs, and most, but not all, build nests. We examined several different feathers, including peacock, crow, and chicken feathers. We particularly liked the downy feathers that keep them warm. We also read a great book about bird bills and how they are shaped differently for different eating needs. We also examined several nests, observing what materials the birds used to build them.
