Imagine

We split into groups and each group picked an image from the book "All the World".They created compositions similar to the ones they have been doing in the small frames but this time on a much larger scale. They used sticks,rocks,tiles,shells and various other natural materials.  When they were finished we took a photograph  and the children sorted the material preparing them for the next group. They created a fountain,a big tree and the entire earth! We also talked about why we have an Earth day and some of the ways we can help the Earth. The children had great answers like, "planting gardens", "recycling","composting" and "cleaning up".

The children traced flowers on our light table using a new medium-charcoal! It's "messy", "fragile" and "dark". It's amazing to see how using the same image can produce so many different results! We identified the "petals", "stamen"(where the butterflies find the nectar!)and the "stem". You can find these tracings hanging in our red room.

The children created flowers that are 3-dimensional. We asked the question, "how can you make your flower stand up?" The children worked as a group and individually to problem solve ways of getting their flowers to stand up. Clay,popsicle sticks,wire,paper,and other materials were used during this project. This was another representation of our "imagination garden". Our imagination garden needed a big sky with a yellow sun.

The children made springtime compositions using empty frames and natural objects. "This is a birds nest with eggs." They made trees,flowers and even some cool patterns!  In the sandbox using sticks and leaves they made"vertical" representations of some of the things we have been talking and learning about.

We started a long term project on Spring and gardens.  We read the book "My Garden" and had a class discussion about what crazy things we would like to see grow in our gardens. The children drew great pictures using their imaginations,paper and markers. We made an "Imagination Garden" book. Look for it in our studio.

We were reading one of our classroom's favorite books, "Library Mouse". They mentioned "poems" in the story and one of my friends asked, "what's a poem?" This led us to a discussion on poems. We read lots of poems and the children realized that some poems rhyme and some poems do not. We thought this would be a great time to talk a bit more in depth about rhyming. Rhyming is an important pre literacy skill. Some of the children were interested in making rhyming cards. They used paper and magic markers. The cards came out great!  We made them into a book. It is hanging up in our studio if you want to take a look. The children were also introduced to "word families".

We found these cool letters at the repurpose project. The children worked together in pairs to put them in order. I told them there was a letter missing and i wanted them to figure out which one. It didn't take them long to figure out which one it was. I asked them if they could make the missing letter and if they could figure out how to make it the same size as the others. They quickly came to the conclusion that tracing another letter was the best idea. They cut it out and used the thickest sharpie we have to write the letter H. Problem solved! Everyone who wanted to got a chance to work at putting the letters in order. It was a great letter review. We love our new letters! Look for the word of the week in the window of the work room.