Winter continues, keeping a foot of hard packed snow on the ground and our sledding hill busy.Cold temperatures kept us in for inside activities on Thursday.Monday students watched the animated story of Harold and the Purple Crayon.  We discussed how Harold used his crayon to draw lines to create pictures.  We then planned out and made our own line drawings.After art and snack, Tammy came to take the children to the library for their monthly Monday library visit. They had a lot of fun reading and playing battleship!We read the book The Street Beneath My Feet and learned about all the things that are down in the ground beneath us, including water and sewage pipes, electrical lines, burrowing animals, artifacts, insects, bones, subway systems (in some places), underground caves, different types of rock and soil, coal, and way deep down, magma and melted metals at the center of the earth.  We really enjoyed examining the pictures and seeing all the things that could be down below.  We introduced the marble run, which the students had a wonderful time assembling in a variety of pipe systems.The floor map of Main Street was painted, and the final photos were glued to their blocks.  When everything was dry, the building blocks were placed where they go on the map and traced.  Each block has a corresponding number so they can be placed in the proper locations.The theater area was busy with children dressing up, playing with puppets, and putting on shadow puppet shows.Perspective taking was introduced through the story Big Bad Bruce by Bill Pete.  The first time we read it, we pretended to be Big Bad Bruce and talked about how he was feeling and what he was thinking.  The second time we read it, we took the perspective of Roxie, the crafty old witch and discussed how she was feeling and what she was thinking.  The children shared that Bruce liked to be silly and roll rocks down the hill, not thinking about whether someone would get hurt.  They shared that Roxie was mad when a boulder almost hit her so she made a magic pie that caused Bruce to shrink, but that she was really kind-hearted and went looking for him and took care of him afterwards.  We will continue to practice and talk about perspective taking, which is an important life skill.

Mr. Bond helped us finish up our handy toolboxes that we started almost two months ago. The children each attached the final side to complete their project, which they have been assembling piece by piece. Thank you so much Mr. Bond for planning, purchasing the materials, cutting the pieces, and helping us assemble this amazing tool box!We did some brainstorming about how to reduce our use of some products, such as paper, soap, and paper towels, to reduce waste and conserve resources.  The children suggested reminding ourselves to use less, making signs to remind us, and to use a hand towel to dry hands rather than paper towels.  The children decided that everyone having a hand towel hanging in their cubbies would eliminate our use of paper towels and they voted to adopt that practice.  We will implement that within the next couple weeks.Thursday morning Zeanny did a nutrition and Spanish lesson.  She reminded us about how to properly wash our hands and why, and to eat fruits and vegetables to keep our bodies strong and healthy.  She read Oliver’s Fruit Salad and we decided that we will make a community fruit salad next Thursday.Susan introduced pipes & woodwind instruments during music.  First she played a penny whistle, then assembled and played a wooden alto recorder, then a fife, and finally a silver flute.  We learned how to make the notes by covering holes with our fingers so the air would push through different holes. We compared the pitch of the different instruments and observed that the recorder was the lowest pitched while the penny whistle was high pitched.We celebrated a fifth birthday. The birthday girl gave everyone a cupcake covered with blue frosting and fishy sprinkles as well as a party hat to wear. She then took her place with the globe to walk around the candle sun, then blew out her candles after being serenaded with the Happy Birthday song.Friday students read some stories about houses and building with bricks, then got busy constructing their own houses.  They were given several materials to work with, including clay, paper towel and toilet paper tubes, cylindrical containers, cardboard, etc.  Everyone chose to use either clay or tubes, and created a variety of house styles, from tents, to caves, to log cabins.We did some dancing before heading out.  First we did some freeze dancing, then cooperative musical chairs where they make sure that everyone has a space to sit, and finally ribbon dancing.