Winter and Snow!

We had a dusting of snow and an actual snow day this week. Very exciting! Our classroom is filled with glitter, cut out snowflakes, bright colored paints, and snowman songs. We were outside in the snow for a bit before the weather turned very cold.  We worked on and finished our pinata so that it's very brightly and traditionally decorated. One of our favorite books in the classroom is Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, and we were able to roll out and cut out gingerbread babies this week. Our decorations were with chocolate chips.

playdough!

cutting and decorating gingerbread babies

we received some kitchen toys from a family that outgrew them. Thank you!

preK children tend to get right down in the snow, for angels and picnics

we were wondering what might be inside our unfinished pinata. A popped balloon!

decorating the pinata with cones and streamers

"monoprint" of white paint brushed onto a glass circle. 

drawing with crayon onto a heating tray and foil. The crayon glides along and melts!

Change for Change! The jar is looking very full. 

Until Next Time,

Michele 

Winter is on it's Way!

As December speeds on, we are excited about many happenings in our classroom. The children are writing;  on clipboards, at the writing table, at the marker table, and in their journals. We see a lot of negotiating and communications amongst all of the children each day as they make their free play choices. We are listening to many wonderful stories about winter, and kindness. Each day, we sit with our "candles" at lunch time, having quiet conversations.

We have begun to create our pinata and we are  learning about the sequence of making one. First, the balloon, then, the paper mache, then the decorating, then the filling!

We are outside in the temperate weather, still hoping for snow!

It's just a start!

these photos capture a moment of writing that was happy and conversational

some moments are worth capturing- these boys were working out an argument together-huddle style.(the hammer is incidental :o)




Until Next Time,
Michele

Winter Thoughts

Even though winter doesn't officially begin for a few weeks, we begin to talk about the season when December starts. The weather is turning, and the cold air, occasional snow, and grey skies as well as sometimes brilliant sunshine cause us to dress warmly, wear hats and mittens, and wonder what happens to the animals that live outside.

The colors of winter, the shapes of snowflakes and the science of weather, and the coziness of the early darkness are all reflected in our classroom for the next few weeks! There's a classroom igloo, a lavender scented rice table with pine cones and North American wild animals, a polar bear scene, and many jars of glitter to use.

We are happy to see the motivated and engaged fine motor practice that is happening in the classroom. The children are writing books, stapling pages together, trying art projects, and cutting out snowflake shapes and other shapes with scissors.

Jen came in and shared Spanish vocabulary with us about winter:

la nieve- snow
el munero de nieve -snowman
hace frio - it's cold !

 We have new books in our classroom which are about winter and snow. There are many opportunities to gather and read together!

 Writing stories about Star Wars. We sometimes have to research the characters.  "What's that guy's name who has the green face and a hood?"

And here we are gathering answers to the question "What do we know about winter?" so that we might write a book.



Until Next Time,
Michele