tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9605502300963908312024-02-07T04:12:39.284-08:00Live. Love. Teach.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-74836863969163648742011-02-15T16:01:00.000-08:002011-02-15T16:01:22.137-08:00Little Cloud<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As an extension of our Eric Carle author study and an opportunity for discovery, exploration, and imagination, we took a trip to the art museum! A wonderful employee at the museum read "Little Cloud" and then she and the children worked together to interpret paintings with clouds. They were really engaged and did a great job determining what kind of day it was, where the sun might be, what it felt like in the painting, just by examining the paintings! Then, they used cotton balls and crayons to make their own cloud pictures. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUy_HNmVKZ49CZEGtXjwUFVmDsL4z2pkGh36_ZQ6VIIte7zsrEKYUw5Qxcms_T6ujixChfleLg_q9zVxf7OjXrAkYFdc5CKKGi-ie6fMm_ob6htmwegE9LEs0SPzLNXnL38MsN4utHOg/s1600/0207011118c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUy_HNmVKZ49CZEGtXjwUFVmDsL4z2pkGh36_ZQ6VIIte7zsrEKYUw5Qxcms_T6ujixChfleLg_q9zVxf7OjXrAkYFdc5CKKGi-ie6fMm_ob6htmwegE9LEs0SPzLNXnL38MsN4utHOg/s320/0207011118c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our trip, we revisited "Little Cloud" with our new copy of the book. Then we went outside to make some observations of real clouds! The children had a great time looking at the clouds and discussing what shapes and images they saw. Clouds are so cool, aren't they? They "change" into so many things! We talked about making our very own book about a little cloud.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FEy8mIhouKSryyUjHnMer4FkB0jksjlQl3dPIo-bHEevRDibIHo7mVG5gN-SixLePq5TtCjH7NOD2QZSDX82T2W3SNF2oUEfWuCrturk958H5KoPsawE0pNe_i-bXD3u1Lbrj1sxR_w/s1600/IMG_1725_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FEy8mIhouKSryyUjHnMer4FkB0jksjlQl3dPIo-bHEevRDibIHo7mVG5gN-SixLePq5TtCjH7NOD2QZSDX82T2W3SNF2oUEfWuCrturk958H5KoPsawE0pNe_i-bXD3u1Lbrj1sxR_w/s320/IMG_1725_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHwQvbRu3SSze1l3LEe0CgDi9vGcE9tZJtMMEDLaG2xa2QI1XpIJLPqwhlA-oKjIEIunYMcsRfkZPrM2xCos_KPoC0HdnL9WrejW4beka-vd2sB9UZhKeMxrCw593GGaxAW3BowbllW4/s1600/IMG_1737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHwQvbRu3SSze1l3LEe0CgDi9vGcE9tZJtMMEDLaG2xa2QI1XpIJLPqwhlA-oKjIEIunYMcsRfkZPrM2xCos_KPoC0HdnL9WrejW4beka-vd2sB9UZhKeMxrCw593GGaxAW3BowbllW4/s320/IMG_1737.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making observations is fun!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we went back into the classroom, each child received a blue piece of paper with the words "The little cloud changed into a ________". I offered the children the option of using paint or glue and white streamer paper for making their clouds. They all had great ideas (unicorn, hermit crabs, me!!) and followed through, taking their time. When they finished making their clouds, they wrote whatever they made their clouds look like and also wrote their names. There was invented spelling and letter strings - what's not to love about emergent literacy?? </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfzW0IZjVNqMlDlBIDiS8z6xXQJh5jZGEH9TMdUHWMMcN2FOfIsB_xs0TyP2NefnH0Wmr1BkaH5ndUsdgMmileO7QMo7F-2b7c19Nib3caZHYcrgO059Z-cnMfO1WOEdrbEWfKj-UKjI/s1600/IMG_1741_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfzW0IZjVNqMlDlBIDiS8z6xXQJh5jZGEH9TMdUHWMMcN2FOfIsB_xs0TyP2NefnH0Wmr1BkaH5ndUsdgMmileO7QMo7F-2b7c19Nib3caZHYcrgO059Z-cnMfO1WOEdrbEWfKj-UKjI/s320/IMG_1741_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only problem with the paint/paintbrushes and the streamer paper was that it went on so quickly, and it was so much so quickly! They will still make beautiful pages in our book, but it made me rethink the materials that we used. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did the same activity with a different group today - some things were better and some things were not - but this is what's interesting and wonderful about school.... the teachers and students are ALL learning. Today, of course, was a completely clear, blue sky kind of day, so we couldn't really observe clouds. We still revisited the book though and talked about what clouds look like. So it could have been better if we had clouds, but it still worked out. What definitely seemed to work better than the first time around was that I still provided paint, but instead of using paintbrushes, the children used Q-tips. It made for much more detailed illustrating and because it took longer for the paint to get onto the paper, we had more time to hold conversation during our work. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGcE3sO69MSlteA-EzLHc8eQhwP9u06cmhYH8PkmgyIUub_CV-mIdJHj_d1_O52zqjyubOwQBevQUjxxJ9ZtpgONmmVY0iNfjWmnkAAoM4CnyK-3CPHBqs8Krpsp5IlmO-eTuSjT_z_8/s1600/IMG_1997_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGcE3sO69MSlteA-EzLHc8eQhwP9u06cmhYH8PkmgyIUub_CV-mIdJHj_d1_O52zqjyubOwQBevQUjxxJ9ZtpgONmmVY0iNfjWmnkAAoM4CnyK-3CPHBqs8Krpsp5IlmO-eTuSjT_z_8/s320/IMG_1997_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRd51iLLnpnJ1MG5XRMuoxvPtJUyWx7-BKZbBn0-oPwcEfURBqAPXteXjTQ0ADYo_q15soprymJ1sj9gTXSqyXzzcN9qRzHeKSZH6hWaA489b28NxuJHmhqGiKs6S8mqbc3V_xec6ibaA/s1600/IMG_2001_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRd51iLLnpnJ1MG5XRMuoxvPtJUyWx7-BKZbBn0-oPwcEfURBqAPXteXjTQ0ADYo_q15soprymJ1sj9gTXSqyXzzcN9qRzHeKSZH6hWaA489b28NxuJHmhqGiKs6S8mqbc3V_xec6ibaA/s320/IMG_2001_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are one or two small groups who haven't met with me for this observation/bookmaking, so we will see what changes, works, doesn't work... it's always an experiment isn't it? </span>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-78634780929893878602011-02-03T13:21:00.000-08:002011-02-03T13:21:04.715-08:00Title Undecided (But a GREAT book!)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to share another story made by a group of children. The authors of this story are three 3 year olds and a 4 year old. One of the 3 year olds insisted that the story begin with "hello" and end not with "the end", but "goodbye". I thought that was really beautiful because in telling the story, we are communicating with one another, having a conversation - I love it. The students came up with the words of the story during a small group meeting recently, and today we reread it and the children made illustrations to go with the story. I won't say anymore yet, I'll just share the story and illustrations: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQAN5s-GmfRYRAqlXsOK5Ya8dc38YRUb506BQxmjHtIKP-f4gdA1X6CInWZepZG4E9x81PP-_RpftkRgdCB8KFufUhXyZogo3GepkCBQHZwiObfZTn8iyJ-FIRKEY9-U1pkNS0dAFMfqQ/s1600/100_0434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQAN5s-GmfRYRAqlXsOK5Ya8dc38YRUb506BQxmjHtIKP-f4gdA1X6CInWZepZG4E9x81PP-_RpftkRgdCB8KFufUhXyZogo3GepkCBQHZwiObfZTn8iyJ-FIRKEY9-U1pkNS0dAFMfqQ/s320/100_0434.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello. A huge dinosaur eats a little dinosaur. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2hW5nnCp1Cg9SZRVRYpwpL5nItsw2FpPD4AoUQ-o_6C6efCSBqNPsmmPb5DAgJRw9e7Gd9CQKp4jd0r6dan2nd60gL66OBNQVskUHp5O-mtqleh850fylbsSaHZRgFUs5rIIcYfIBaUs/s1600/100_0435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2hW5nnCp1Cg9SZRVRYpwpL5nItsw2FpPD4AoUQ-o_6C6efCSBqNPsmmPb5DAgJRw9e7Gd9CQKp4jd0r6dan2nd60gL66OBNQVskUHp5O-mtqleh850fylbsSaHZRgFUs5rIIcYfIBaUs/s320/100_0435.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The little monkey plays with the Incredible Hulk hermit crab.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1M7a3h-CxHfotzBICoeZU5cvwGvj9v2AKab_YfXoh8mVDpihfwXUvyniW5gDiVz5N2ABHW_axzhJ433GQb9iJBLXNySbAl_5s0xTqB5320c2V1OYRtazLZ64J1ZroZnPGzZM8nz52cNA/s1600/100_0437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1M7a3h-CxHfotzBICoeZU5cvwGvj9v2AKab_YfXoh8mVDpihfwXUvyniW5gDiVz5N2ABHW_axzhJ433GQb9iJBLXNySbAl_5s0xTqB5320c2V1OYRtazLZ64J1ZroZnPGzZM8nz52cNA/s320/100_0437.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the huge dinosaur loves the Incredible Hulk. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNs3sE6jyoZWRHDIE7StBkQoc815GZmJrz1LjssjnH335etEIHUdNIwyoisNkkLLMXnyQrtOm9kdlvvqV0kemFQKl1XIxiuWNj7F9r_8h4_2CeNgzhspD1GJuswaYB961vYEz9STWQws/s1600/100_0439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNs3sE6jyoZWRHDIE7StBkQoc815GZmJrz1LjssjnH335etEIHUdNIwyoisNkkLLMXnyQrtOm9kdlvvqV0kemFQKl1XIxiuWNj7F9r_8h4_2CeNgzhspD1GJuswaYB961vYEz9STWQws/s320/100_0439.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The monkey went away. They don't know what to do.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycLjp0X4svKHrmDAQA3wpDlLMYVZg1GKReuw2BgzPQ4ymgay94HbmIR9xrWFxjfE6OMg09IG4QX8fXrBj5tPaVD5nd8RGO1earUh5srL7lkG9p-D_zrG6NhuqdKtU1PbS8p1pgs0YOy8/s1600/100_0440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycLjp0X4svKHrmDAQA3wpDlLMYVZg1GKReuw2BgzPQ4ymgay94HbmIR9xrWFxjfE6OMg09IG4QX8fXrBj5tPaVD5nd8RGO1earUh5srL7lkG9p-D_zrG6NhuqdKtU1PbS8p1pgs0YOy8/s320/100_0440.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Incredible Hulk saves the big, huge dinosaur from the museum. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkC2U6KxaphMIE02d5mIfuHopNlSu_ERqTrmf42QNc5SLIiyixRtOqiiV38SXBBNCST1T3ULKHJJr0gf4ZQHJvCsLfLj6B7nWh_5-96QcO7-l17arXt0iLTqK7YFQ8_Kb8I59jdewjYnQ/s1600/100_0441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkC2U6KxaphMIE02d5mIfuHopNlSu_ERqTrmf42QNc5SLIiyixRtOqiiV38SXBBNCST1T3ULKHJJr0gf4ZQHJvCsLfLj6B7nWh_5-96QcO7-l17arXt0iLTqK7YFQ8_Kb8I59jdewjYnQ/s320/100_0441.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Incredible Hulk was still alive and he got all his Incredible Hulk family. Goodbye.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">FYI, Incredible Hulk is our pet hermit crab - he's rather large and is famous in our classroom for pinching me - he latched on to me, it was pretty painful! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was really wonderful to break this project into different days, rereading the story today with the children and revisiting the experience with them before making illustrations. The students were so excited, remembering what they had said, reciting it with me and exclaiming "Oooh! I said that!" Each child remembered exactly which parts of the story they had contributed - it was just a great day! </span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-30962522781151864042011-01-31T19:08:00.000-08:002011-02-07T03:37:58.069-08:00The PondWe LOVE books. My students are always asking to be read to, in large group and as a cozy, individual activity during center time. We talk about books always, making connections to our own lives and other books that we have read. We are still working loosely on our Eric Carle author study; the children love cuddling up with the stuffed animals and reading to themselves, each other, and me.<br />
<br />
About a month ago, we made <a href="http://liveloveandteach.blogspot.com/2010/12/adventures-in-bookmaking.html">a book</a> for a loved volunteer and put a copy in our library center. I'm excited to share that we have recently begun meeting in small groups to be authors and illustrators of stories to add to our collection!<br />
<br />
The children came up with the words to the story and then I typed them up. Today, I read the story back to the children and they made the illustrations. I really love their story - they included characters, setting, plot, AND predictive text.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">"The Pond" </div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdmYt6hGBBNJA1tFQQgOum4Vatz2KU6WS0d2G17q4vrbz7JryF85uT_if0sXUKpnH9tWY2i9KLQ5cKp-cqTD_gGHQKZSdprqcZkbrg8uu4La736hnnCZHVX4tEEiQUX1EML0awaR2swA/s1600/100_0447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdmYt6hGBBNJA1tFQQgOum4Vatz2KU6WS0d2G17q4vrbz7JryF85uT_if0sXUKpnH9tWY2i9KLQ5cKp-cqTD_gGHQKZSdprqcZkbrg8uu4La736hnnCZHVX4tEEiQUX1EML0awaR2swA/s320/100_0447.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The animals are walking and they see a big pond. There was a bridge so they can walk across it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4XZORlOpIwsfrtFERetZE00kt0H2-UjFvAb5FxbGW66QU-wQeUE0LZkrZ1r7S20GGVZa64FSGWMbqK28Nap0RA2fC-Dij01KcM54e_VcKWbuMmeJWkDL3qUtfr8Iwd4hP6220Ho92F98/s1600/image_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4XZORlOpIwsfrtFERetZE00kt0H2-UjFvAb5FxbGW66QU-wQeUE0LZkrZ1r7S20GGVZa64FSGWMbqK28Nap0RA2fC-Dij01KcM54e_VcKWbuMmeJWkDL3qUtfr8Iwd4hP6220Ho92F98/s320/image_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Then they walked on the playground. They slide down the sliding board. They went on the swings.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
Then the lion said, "Can I get a cookie?" And his mom said, "No".<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonc9QziPZup1xoIiZsVoNrnGKhzGzrTae-fDIgiSOUJ73pS9bg5nQkfk4oRcxdh5iNT15IkC9GpPevSMcYIopQMiC3ndw0pTiDC2sMIudDUPlshk6eXvV9-noQYcP3syjacGnX45bBOg/s1600/100_0451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonc9QziPZup1xoIiZsVoNrnGKhzGzrTae-fDIgiSOUJ73pS9bg5nQkfk4oRcxdh5iNT15IkC9GpPevSMcYIopQMiC3ndw0pTiDC2sMIudDUPlshk6eXvV9-noQYcP3syjacGnX45bBOg/s320/100_0451.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The tortoise said, "Can I get ice cream?" And his mom said, "No".<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DYCNyc-iM3epF8ZsQjjfWzIiCacgvS_Qg7Vdnf6E5X5Q3HyCmSE87laRtluaMg0hyudG8WTC-ac2GyrmVh0MlYOIjqRyzkW-eDe80OVzJ2WgTrJmm8GDrJVt7Mt0JWcaHzghtpLLEfo/s1600/image_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DYCNyc-iM3epF8ZsQjjfWzIiCacgvS_Qg7Vdnf6E5X5Q3HyCmSE87laRtluaMg0hyudG8WTC-ac2GyrmVh0MlYOIjqRyzkW-eDe80OVzJ2WgTrJmm8GDrJVt7Mt0JWcaHzghtpLLEfo/s320/image_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The rabbit said, "Can I have a sandwich?" And his mom said, "Yes".<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWbV6h3uIeg3z51M_PLL-8DORstVT4-GVCtCy0fV3QRaiIH7sW82k5HSSeIAE3YuRXmJAQfVBCytHyBTTRXKpkHJocy4zdU3rooGvvN1vMm79Z4drthmWm99qxwlo94MvWhYBRhRqV_E/s1600/image_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWbV6h3uIeg3z51M_PLL-8DORstVT4-GVCtCy0fV3QRaiIH7sW82k5HSSeIAE3YuRXmJAQfVBCytHyBTTRXKpkHJocy4zdU3rooGvvN1vMm79Z4drthmWm99qxwlo94MvWhYBRhRqV_E/s320/image_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>They ride the bike and the scooter, taking turns. THE END. </div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-19594005894163632002011-01-23T10:50:00.000-08:002011-01-23T10:50:14.737-08:00Taking Flight<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that there is something invaluable about a field trip - each one provides a real life, discovery filled experience - one that cannot be found in the classroom. I work in an area overflowing with information and resources, and I've made a vow to myself and class to take my students on as many field trips as possible. Last week, we went to a museum to watch an interactive puppet show about the Wright brothers and to learn about airplanes. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWP0ytBLKWQg4l5pvxV8y_83oFMT_G2l3gy-Y2uf0Lh_t2BYHWvRIMNILMnBbfqxOvMGxq7z1b0Vd230UV7FoTPqrSBplPGhRiWvCh-vFDeIhEynb9nxaNEPlrYG1NfroCb38zDaipB3Q/s1600/164378_1391493126906_1819497577_729268_101124_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWP0ytBLKWQg4l5pvxV8y_83oFMT_G2l3gy-Y2uf0Lh_t2BYHWvRIMNILMnBbfqxOvMGxq7z1b0Vd230UV7FoTPqrSBplPGhRiWvCh-vFDeIhEynb9nxaNEPlrYG1NfroCb38zDaipB3Q/s320/164378_1391493126906_1819497577_729268_101124_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The end of the show - the kids were amazed when the big plane came up at the end! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The actual show was not the only learning experience of the day, not even close. We walked several blocks to a bus stop, and then took our very first bus ride together. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9vsy5uKDC8nzk4SV8vGifK0r9PZOiubWWaxBdrbv6K-DEnKg5zNh8J754eTptTf5dqgJFbo7f2TnnA9gM5CFQh9WOi1fGIIiJ0iv66VWZ88F8NLn0oJFOe9pPrFjToXWhoEByxeoGDU/s1600/169037_1391481526616_1819497577_729222_1233374_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9vsy5uKDC8nzk4SV8vGifK0r9PZOiubWWaxBdrbv6K-DEnKg5zNh8J754eTptTf5dqgJFbo7f2TnnA9gM5CFQh9WOi1fGIIiJ0iv66VWZ88F8NLn0oJFOe9pPrFjToXWhoEByxeoGDU/s320/169037_1391481526616_1819497577_729222_1233374_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone did such a great job! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was just a <i>little </i>bit nervous that we wouldn't make it to the bus on time, and therefore, would be late for the show. So, we left WAY early and got to the museum early. It worked out wonderfully, though, as we were able to explore a couple of exhibits before we had to settle in for the show. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioypAjzPbkCNeHB85NSzVfRzFJ7WlQ-Ae5TwGlY_myIPkmEt6WskxrjxAfEG6B___VfZbxi_eSz-VNKMfFPa6Y2XyIVvHCsBmqwS06W5t-5zoAesItCb8Uq9ci1qpQmmAo2lxc1h4ghjE/s1600/165101_1391496366987_1819497577_729282_5324727_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioypAjzPbkCNeHB85NSzVfRzFJ7WlQ-Ae5TwGlY_myIPkmEt6WskxrjxAfEG6B___VfZbxi_eSz-VNKMfFPa6Y2XyIVvHCsBmqwS06W5t-5zoAesItCb8Uq9ci1qpQmmAo2lxc1h4ghjE/s320/165101_1391496366987_1819497577_729282_5324727_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flying through the museum :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had been excited and optimistic about the field trip, but I really had no idea just how engaged and curious the children would be. Each student found interest in the things around him/her, whether it was the touch screen computer, the airplanes hanging from the ceiling, the singing and dancing in the show, and/or the fascinating contraptions that were were allowed and ENCOURAGED to touch! Parents, teachers, and children had the opportunity to come together in wonder and awe; pointing, exclaiming, sharing, smiling, discovering. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzaBut22xSJZ9A4_d2OSano9cuBI_eZiHBh5YX6obd4srR9ivpHajycLfxw7m9A5HO9eLELLIl2yB6_Yu4BGG1vv0rb1ok04wXBLxdM3kaWfmRcOsYiFjZu7RnI3fCL19o1x7BVan5n8/s1600/164545_1391496526991_1819497577_729283_3409707_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzaBut22xSJZ9A4_d2OSano9cuBI_eZiHBh5YX6obd4srR9ivpHajycLfxw7m9A5HO9eLELLIl2yB6_Yu4BGG1vv0rb1ok04wXBLxdM3kaWfmRcOsYiFjZu7RnI3fCL19o1x7BVan5n8/s320/164545_1391496526991_1819497577_729283_3409707_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the engagement we strive for everyday! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfbwIxKzrviIRjqmwH2KXVOkMYEKHz68sOOV6iwmycA20wLG7vV5yaLC5pbbQjT1ec8rMtLsErs8eyniPQTnWc7sPaWKdWmh3KFCOLnzBFZpZZ83H16PrHthjdUt9CvpMYkX8Hmv_rGkg/s1600/166457_1391503447164_1819497577_729310_6102188_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfbwIxKzrviIRjqmwH2KXVOkMYEKHz68sOOV6iwmycA20wLG7vV5yaLC5pbbQjT1ec8rMtLsErs8eyniPQTnWc7sPaWKdWmh3KFCOLnzBFZpZZ83H16PrHthjdUt9CvpMYkX8Hmv_rGkg/s320/166457_1391503447164_1819497577_729310_6102188_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LOVE this picture - one of our three year olds - he couldn't get close enough! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL05l6gGgP1YNdKT3bAFuqx7GZw6qcfXnL4KU_P3MLTd4FDpJiGeFbr5GQ9j9r-Ynp4jz894_qYxYXlooq8ojOYhdDyHTHfTAVBAuC2fCx9-3loNPCeEQeV2z0Bs-crgajViH64h0OXfM/s1600/167243_1391506327236_1819497577_729327_1523402_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL05l6gGgP1YNdKT3bAFuqx7GZw6qcfXnL4KU_P3MLTd4FDpJiGeFbr5GQ9j9r-Ynp4jz894_qYxYXlooq8ojOYhdDyHTHfTAVBAuC2fCx9-3loNPCeEQeV2z0Bs-crgajViH64h0OXfM/s320/167243_1391506327236_1819497577_729327_1523402_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working the gears</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTB7N-qHecy2r-vr_m8qKELSRnOVeUXoj5h7aIee7_cKWonaj0mPCmMzw5DFwyLzmj9MfybDu9ipWRllLNghMiA3eK9-7pwREscXQGqWCDREYR2YXweT56SRRk-eINK76cQYbwZAURpbA/s1600/air+and+space+field+trip+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTB7N-qHecy2r-vr_m8qKELSRnOVeUXoj5h7aIee7_cKWonaj0mPCmMzw5DFwyLzmj9MfybDu9ipWRllLNghMiA3eK9-7pwREscXQGqWCDREYR2YXweT56SRRk-eINK76cQYbwZAURpbA/s1600/air+and+space+field+trip+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three of our students got to be in the show! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We leran by DOING, we learn by EXPERIENCING, we learn by GETTING OUT INTO THE WORLD and EXPLORING. So guess what? Field trip next week too! </span>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-20533313260036413672011-01-13T13:22:00.000-08:002011-01-14T14:09:58.435-08:00Light Discovery and Literacy!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently posted about our new light table - a world of possibility opened up, although once it was plugged in, I had no idea what to do with it. Thanks to some really great comments here and collaboration at my school, we have many ideas about how to discover and explore using this wonderful material! </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAu-ILPHfg_e8sdkXthe9vQmVk77eRkx7PZ7reKcdIo2SNBsSOdD0MMxJzn2hOvFWzuZIIYmOWLUIXENVua0kTjjFIShAtxr66gCmV1MIKDejkfUTZydaaq1oXix4lonu2MLzgPOuNLOk/s1600/IMG_1488_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAu-ILPHfg_e8sdkXthe9vQmVk77eRkx7PZ7reKcdIo2SNBsSOdD0MMxJzn2hOvFWzuZIIYmOWLUIXENVua0kTjjFIShAtxr66gCmV1MIKDejkfUTZydaaq1oXix4lonu2MLzgPOuNLOk/s320/IMG_1488_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here, the children are using their fine motor skills poking holes in black paper (placed on top of styrofoam) with thumb tacks to make pictures - the holes allow the light to peek through, they turn out to be really beautiful!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, we received a new light-giving material in our classroom: an overhead projector. It was really exciting to introduce it to the children; we did it right after morning meeting. Each child wanted to put their hand over the projector to see it on the wall, and we did that, but after a couple of children had gotten the chance, others discovered that if they just stood in front of the wall, they could make shadows of their bodies. It was quite the experience! </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2L1vaaeBQBkwhxflMJ3WlGU4Feci-dyqqaV3x_ByEpOo8aJ3xs8Tus1qg7pNS9nWeTrMPRwBxF2b3LcvopnwqBechr0j8rqvIVKGDN34pBgU-KGXv9iahfdAtYTvNFBFCtMZ_CATXGSI/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2L1vaaeBQBkwhxflMJ3WlGU4Feci-dyqqaV3x_ByEpOo8aJ3xs8Tus1qg7pNS9nWeTrMPRwBxF2b3LcvopnwqBechr0j8rqvIVKGDN34pBgU-KGXv9iahfdAtYTvNFBFCtMZ_CATXGSI/s320/image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, this would be the center that every child would want to go to at center time, and I worried about how we could organize it without fighting and tantrums. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had just been reading about ways to meaningfully incorporate writing into the classroom (as in, not having the students writing their letters for the sole sake of learning how to write their letters, but rather, fostering the love of the writing process and development). So, I took some advice and we made a sign up sheet. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Kr3AtYyADpnB-Wd4R2bye6u82yd0k70UhKXx-gzxyN3_YNMEd42WF15x7QW9EeXXWfCy7LYFoP-TON5ni2rIjBs_il54hN5bwubjrRBXYNSk6RHjht-12ZSzSJ9kyoKH8mZxUI_OP4k/s1600/IMG_1573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Kr3AtYyADpnB-Wd4R2bye6u82yd0k70UhKXx-gzxyN3_YNMEd42WF15x7QW9EeXXWfCy7LYFoP-TON5ni2rIjBs_il54hN5bwubjrRBXYNSk6RHjht-12ZSzSJ9kyoKH8mZxUI_OP4k/s320/IMG_1573.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the first couple minutes, some of the students either didn't understand the concept of the sign up or didn't care - there was still an overcrowded group around the projector. After a couple of breaths, reminding about the sign up sheet ( showing the students the list and where their names appeared on the list in relation to the students currently at the projector), and redirection to another appealing center while they waited, pretty much everyone was content with our new system. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPdryUOf12oqz_WOxIyzxJvKYy8xZBJNS9n1zvp5OM4pTb6ZXa90oHxAUD51gq3hvYsDQNJCsVnzAUOfey38ujKRvB9FrnMf6W-XS7Et-VcaxASNwqP1-PS9BYMyYwNQe-fsUkg4u6lA/s1600/image_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPdryUOf12oqz_WOxIyzxJvKYy8xZBJNS9n1zvp5OM4pTb6ZXa90oHxAUD51gq3hvYsDQNJCsVnzAUOfey38ujKRvB9FrnMf6W-XS7Et-VcaxASNwqP1-PS9BYMyYwNQe-fsUkg4u6lA/s320/image_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were some students who could NOT wait to get involved in light and shadow play, and spent their waiting time on the carpet playing with some of the objects for the projector and/or making shadows on the wall. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8pTrMDKXHUpTd6uQ1QKoDvpj6ktvFJtAcw0x8QPpbBSU7wx_nKUJXocfX2kthoHhS9qCKAuZQlG9bGygVjVtf704f_QL7nrUlsLpptfj3XKUQp1GImNDI_eSpU605ys5TltauR6SxPE/s1600/0113111109b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8pTrMDKXHUpTd6uQ1QKoDvpj6ktvFJtAcw0x8QPpbBSU7wx_nKUJXocfX2kthoHhS9qCKAuZQlG9bGygVjVtf704f_QL7nrUlsLpptfj3XKUQp1GImNDI_eSpU605ys5TltauR6SxPE/s320/0113111109b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This friend was using a star, putting it closer and farther away, watching how the image changes on the wall.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, we made huge strides in our class today: we discovered more about light and shadow, we learned more about sharing, AND we incorporated literacy in a developmentally appropriate, play-based, child directed way (which is something that I continue to work on as I learn about Reggio Emilia and play-based learning. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can't wait to see where this brings us! </span>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-6009554851578159672011-01-11T14:39:00.000-08:002011-01-14T14:17:34.665-08:00Eric Carle Part Two<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the break, I picked up some $5.00 hardcover Eric Carle books and stuffed animals (from Kohls - GREAT buy!) They were a big hit with the kids, who cuddled with them while their friends read the Eric Carle books they took home to read over Christmas. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ99108T6XRnOEHKQm8GCVcenGjAt9plqxbwm92x6mk-6EVGOOz5qDYhBk52tx7-kaPlKhfQOBJ0rz7d3n7eloi9MGQA7IDS0kFZ300zEhItbGKLHIUWg4ToRyUHzXE76wOgrJKavtCyk/s1600/IMG_1339_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ99108T6XRnOEHKQm8GCVcenGjAt9plqxbwm92x6mk-6EVGOOz5qDYhBk52tx7-kaPlKhfQOBJ0rz7d3n7eloi9MGQA7IDS0kFZ300zEhItbGKLHIUWg4ToRyUHzXE76wOgrJKavtCyk/s320/IMG_1339_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was really interesting and lovely having our friends share the books they read over and over while at home for two weeks. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2S0379_qmsXdDLwo-hyzZ67nhTG_Mgg4VHK9yBDzCQBnBCMFXGlLeOVMiV3mugiDO2d8YCg7IMbu_CmfErSVS5qMjOCYu0Ht88padXBeRglX6Aq6gXd2yuPtRcfcE-f5hk8bw7v1rck/s1600/IMG_1435_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2S0379_qmsXdDLwo-hyzZ67nhTG_Mgg4VHK9yBDzCQBnBCMFXGlLeOVMiV3mugiDO2d8YCg7IMbu_CmfErSVS5qMjOCYu0Ht88padXBeRglX6Aq6gXd2yuPtRcfcE-f5hk8bw7v1rck/s320/IMG_1435_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was great - each student shared in their own way. Some students looked at the pictures for clues about the story and told it in their own words, while other children had the book mostly memorized and read the books all of the way through. Others combined what they remembered being read to them and added dialogue and details as they used the pictures and general plot to help them generate their own versions. Everyone had a wonderful time sharing and listening. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8IwJN38fRdQ-mmyL_kdqFBFF_XqTz5-hcGxGelZk3tSG3BskfCzL2BKZ5dgJeH2UY1I_0E7VjXYMQ5jnRFFu3VzFglziULe4khSgY4adqv1ncLes4KWMpohJ-EVbetXEPaNRqPDIAaY/s1600/IMG_1439_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8IwJN38fRdQ-mmyL_kdqFBFF_XqTz5-hcGxGelZk3tSG3BskfCzL2BKZ5dgJeH2UY1I_0E7VjXYMQ5jnRFFu3VzFglziULe4khSgY4adqv1ncLes4KWMpohJ-EVbetXEPaNRqPDIAaY/s320/IMG_1439_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, we went further in our study of Eric Carle. We recalled what an author is - "it's someone that writes their book" .... "and the characters too". Then we started to focus on the job of the illustrator. We watched the videos available on <a href="http://www.eric-carle.com/photogallery.html">Eric Carle's Website</a> that showed HOW he makes illustrations. The children (and I) were fascinated, and it generated a lot of questions and conversation. We talked about the many ways that one could illustrate. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the children asked if we could illustrate (which was the PERFECT segue into our next activity). We came together as a small group to come up with a story. We were able to get the words together, so in the coming days (and let's be realistic, week or two), we are going to be working on a title, title page, and our very own illustrations! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is our story, can't wait to share our book!: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The animals are walking and they see a big pond. There was a bridge so they can walk across it. Then they walked on the playground. They slide down the sliding board. They went on the swings. Then the lion said, "can I get a cookie?" And his mom said, "no". The tortoise said, can I get ice cream?" And his mom said, "no". The rabbit said, "can I have a sandwich?". And his mom said, "yes". They ride the bike and the scooter, taking turns. The End. </span>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-65895540134663185642011-01-06T13:16:00.000-08:002011-01-06T13:16:16.167-08:00So What's With The Light Table??<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Okay, so everywhere I look for early childhood ideas (books, blogs, etc.), I see light exploration. I was told that it’s such an important thing to explore because it’s a “magical material”; it can make shadows, it can make things glow, it can change the appearance of something, it can be reflected, it just is really cool! </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I decided, I just HAD to have one. I dreamt up great images of children gathering around in wonder, engaging in deep, thoughtful, and scientific conversations, embarking on discovery after discovery - what, did I think I was going to change the world by presenting a light table? </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVh7GLJFr7tdylqrsO87nvraGxkwVm10NietjYAbpbNBdHED5kiduQyA_9NhZSvtglbF5-5BktCllDA55OMXT91Ify3OAAT_F4wGkqslOW0mkv-NJt3eUdkwneoI9tVaahVFdDwoVhr2s/s1600/IMG_1449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVh7GLJFr7tdylqrsO87nvraGxkwVm10NietjYAbpbNBdHED5kiduQyA_9NhZSvtglbF5-5BktCllDA55OMXT91Ify3OAAT_F4wGkqslOW0mkv-NJt3eUdkwneoI9tVaahVFdDwoVhr2s/s320/IMG_1449.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our light table - we change where we put it everyday.. this is just where it is put when we are not using it (for now)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was fortunate enough to have one donated to me through a wonderful organization, <a href="http://www.donorschoose.org/">Donors Choose</a>, and I received it just before we went on our long winter break. I decided to not break it out before we left; I waited until our return to school (resisting the HUGE temptation of breaking it open and discovering the magic for myself). </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOuB_3O2gCHIrvSHV7G6bihsr9_33ndXN_zRzatWY9fxjydbmIGGE61bTr5zIAOffmRefUc2pGKkN16Spl7l49G49r6PZf1QE81bNTDNb6BavZXzR-P4uSTJac4IyOyfWnGu8o2xrC-g/s1600/IMG_1448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOuB_3O2gCHIrvSHV7G6bihsr9_33ndXN_zRzatWY9fxjydbmIGGE61bTr5zIAOffmRefUc2pGKkN16Spl7l49G49r6PZf1QE81bNTDNb6BavZXzR-P4uSTJac4IyOyfWnGu8o2xrC-g/s320/IMG_1448.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are the materials for the kids to work with - any ideas? We are not just limited to this, just thought it would be a good starting point</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A small group of students were invited to choose the light table as a place to go during center time on Monday, and 3 or 4 children have been visiting at this time every day since. The problem is, I thought that I would have all of these great things for the kids to do and thought provoking questions to ask, and when the time came - I just drew a complete blank! </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1KlqktREBuh5qB9lkCNRs_aeJF5rq24knjn19i52MxGDKOnRocOUQ0Tv27VoiOWX97YlaivH6LSm4hYvaBKPJsbKUz1yHEHycOxikX1pFE17ZjXkw6qjf1U-hFnYXZ_9R5twA0-uh70/s1600/IMG_1359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1KlqktREBuh5qB9lkCNRs_aeJF5rq24knjn19i52MxGDKOnRocOUQ0Tv27VoiOWX97YlaivH6LSm4hYvaBKPJsbKUz1yHEHycOxikX1pFE17ZjXkw6qjf1U-hFnYXZ_9R5twA0-uh70/s320/IMG_1359.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One student was particularly interested - he just couldn't get close enough!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It was really “cool” to the children right away, when they first had the opportunity to explore the new material in our classroom. We started just with shapes, and the kids took to them differently. Some wanted to hoard the pretty shapes, holding as many as they could while others sorted by color/shape or pretended that the shapes were cookies that they were going to “eat”. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XG2V77_OoEBD3lIWjbsCR8EVVjHr2BuPzyXYHfDiUpNfdc9yflejH5CDKSxArkUwBCyy3ikgGOBElzDtF2W-pRrWftVWXtbh2awTbCdqSrXiwQ0VO5muCYxAu7wulOMppWkG8jzj3j8/s1600/IMG_1402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XG2V77_OoEBD3lIWjbsCR8EVVjHr2BuPzyXYHfDiUpNfdc9yflejH5CDKSxArkUwBCyy3ikgGOBElzDtF2W-pRrWftVWXtbh2awTbCdqSrXiwQ0VO5muCYxAu7wulOMppWkG8jzj3j8/s320/IMG_1402.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There was talk about shapes and colors, but for the most part, the interest died after a little bit, and I certainly didn’t feel much magic. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I’ve run into this problem before, with introducing things. I know that many teachers have used the light table for awesome discoveries, projects, all sorts of things - I need some help! </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What do I say (or not say????)</span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What do I do (or not do????)</span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What’s with the light table? </span></span></span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-12660946214871502012011-01-04T19:26:00.000-08:002011-01-04T19:26:57.599-08:00We Are A Family<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have to admit right off the bat, I was more than a little apprehensive about returning to school after a two week break! I knew that my routine had been broken -- days in pajamas, lots of food with family, board games, late night talks, etc. and I could only imagine what kind of fun my students were having! I was excited to see the kids again, but nervous that it would be like the first day of school all over again - practicing how to get in line, sitting on the carpet, being a part of a large group - all of that tedious stuff. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Boy, was I wrong (and that is a GREAT thing). </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the morning, students trickle in for the first half hour. Every student was greeted by friends with an excited “hello”, hug, high five, or combination of those things. </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6MIkA4aBCbiKceB7PqKWBGESRGmitrlMDmcHJtUq-ofCz93v6cF8g503nkott-6N0QXHN0z8wA6IufvS_HDUnG-uewGYt9nlCdMu5Z_DJDjbR27ChTjbYrOfdHMtepcwZAB-sFFOMcZQ/s1600/IMG_1326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6MIkA4aBCbiKceB7PqKWBGESRGmitrlMDmcHJtUq-ofCz93v6cF8g503nkott-6N0QXHN0z8wA6IufvS_HDUnG-uewGYt9nlCdMu5Z_DJDjbR27ChTjbYrOfdHMtepcwZAB-sFFOMcZQ/s320/IMG_1326.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I missed capturing the hug and high five here - they were already onto showing their friend a new toy they discovered!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The children jumped right into their morning activity and acted as if it were any other day. I couldn’t stop smiling as I quietly witnessed the handholding and cooperation and... love. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzoKOlChCyaO45919gAi87Y4P8Tei42Do9HoOFUikc5TYZXIY6FTPRAeMCphKG-nF3PwwXyznEsFO_FUam5apgDEbV9nTAV6m96js49OUcnEw4agqhWDpa2FMmuFCB9TJ3J4To6KxQ6HM/s1600/IMG_1324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzoKOlChCyaO45919gAi87Y4P8Tei42Do9HoOFUikc5TYZXIY6FTPRAeMCphKG-nF3PwwXyznEsFO_FUam5apgDEbV9nTAV6m96js49OUcnEw4agqhWDpa2FMmuFCB9TJ3J4To6KxQ6HM/s320/IMG_1324.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The day went on and it was beautiful. Of course, as you will experience with any group of three and four year olds, we have our disagreements and altercations. But for the most part, these kids really care for and respect one another. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am called on a lot less to solve problems - even little ones like opening milk cartons, because they know who can do what, and each child plays a really important part in the classroom. They rely on each other and work with each other; something that I’m really excited they figured out and also really excited that they remembered over break. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our classroom, even on the roughest of days, is filled with laughter, hugs, compliments, stories, learning, and love - and that goes for children AND teachers. This is how preschool should be and this is why I am a preschool teacher. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGK9eT0ci5C49hLjmHwKbK9h7YUidxx1T2gW5FCD65oWV8GEc2BOhCqjS53pRJPslbMfrHAyNl4xvjpGOh-1L-63oIOnPf8ge_5iGIHTLKC5bnoO0Fbw5qm3kab0vSOTJc0JIVo77TC1c/s1600/IMG_1413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGK9eT0ci5C49hLjmHwKbK9h7YUidxx1T2gW5FCD65oWV8GEc2BOhCqjS53pRJPslbMfrHAyNl4xvjpGOh-1L-63oIOnPf8ge_5iGIHTLKC5bnoO0Fbw5qm3kab0vSOTJc0JIVo77TC1c/s320/IMG_1413.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I hope that every preschool class is like this, so maybe this is a waste of a blog going on and on talking about how important it is and how much I love to be a part of it. I almost didn’t type it... but as I was thinking about my family of a classroom today, one of my students called my name. I looked up and he blew me a kiss. Then he kept walking. That was honestly all he wanted from me - he just wanted to blow me a kiss. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I believe that school is not only a place where children go to learn, but also a place where they can be guaranteed that they are safe, valued, cherished, and loved. I’m glad to see that’s happening in my classroom along with all of the standard learning that’s supposed to be happening. :-) </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9uiDf06gAMnzCUlDZ7_khvIkEFQAwtUSDJhSwf69m31__q-a3iMImdJnAtvY4QyXnGX81YL1aghn-y88jSB_ZvFXexJUCF5aR8pV9uCJ6SzsN8QJ0v6mOUB7sOU8m6wVNe8QJ4j6v_w/s1600/IMG_1419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9uiDf06gAMnzCUlDZ7_khvIkEFQAwtUSDJhSwf69m31__q-a3iMImdJnAtvY4QyXnGX81YL1aghn-y88jSB_ZvFXexJUCF5aR8pV9uCJ6SzsN8QJ0v6mOUB7sOU8m6wVNe8QJ4j6v_w/s320/IMG_1419.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br />
</span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-32093238906776773512011-01-02T12:14:00.000-08:002011-01-02T12:14:19.472-08:00Eric Carle Part One<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the beginning, I did not plan on having my students engage in an author study; there were just Eric Carle books that fit with the things we were doing in the classroom! It started with "The Tiny Seed" - we have a large garden/small farm at our school, and as we explored it, we read every book we could about growing things. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then came "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", which went along with our very own caterpillars in our classroom. It was fun to read about this caterpillar's journey as we watched our caterpillars make their chrysalises and transform into butterflies. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODe3wjYqyxjx4xFUZbZJbfZf3NuEilMY2F5M-1E_Wn1TJ96rUPkZGhD4muIs5w5IkoTwV-9PeacTt79BP15ZwqCScBMAU5lPw-VtucgBsnQVpNY8K06BgdOy7lDpZ5WgRZU_SuNhUDyQ/s1600/IMG_0350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODe3wjYqyxjx4xFUZbZJbfZf3NuEilMY2F5M-1E_Wn1TJ96rUPkZGhD4muIs5w5IkoTwV-9PeacTt79BP15ZwqCScBMAU5lPw-VtucgBsnQVpNY8K06BgdOy7lDpZ5WgRZU_SuNhUDyQ/s320/IMG_0350.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we got our classroom pets (hermit crabs), it just made sense to read "A House for Hermit Crab". We talked about the homes of our hermit crabs as we made observations. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEtrjdIbeXWGQmP7zL0xkwQHqVoc1bkNx1BAX5uJ_7PU8YzhI8sjHbUF40epEc36_fFUdVtFs7NyBwUuKrafqML3hLrSE5k3RjZpzeNcLRNqT46gn9UkebfAPOgidLn_HZwyrH-rzys8/s1600/IMG_0497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEtrjdIbeXWGQmP7zL0xkwQHqVoc1bkNx1BAX5uJ_7PU8YzhI8sjHbUF40epEc36_fFUdVtFs7NyBwUuKrafqML3hLrSE5k3RjZpzeNcLRNqT46gn9UkebfAPOgidLn_HZwyrH-rzys8/s320/IMG_0497.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When our school volunteer, <a href="http://liveloveandteach.blogspot.com/2010/12/adventures-in-bookmaking.html">Farmer John</a>, began cooking with us, he suggested that we start with pancakes. Realizing that I also owned "Pancakes, Pancakes" (yep, by Eric Carle!), I knew that not only did I have to read it for the obvious classroom connections, but it was time to talk about Eric Carle as an author and his work. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pN9QmGPfwtMe-SOOKkYL9McluXFQ2O1H2i5R5hcK6CA-2o4SyjWhq4WW68ExnW22uRGbF6NWVCIGlIcIHExxo7wDwuauCJIP_-PjhyphenhyphenC2phrCV8y56FhAScx5QM5NEumiN0FPjNxhQWo/s1600/IMG_1137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pN9QmGPfwtMe-SOOKkYL9McluXFQ2O1H2i5R5hcK6CA-2o4SyjWhq4WW68ExnW22uRGbF6NWVCIGlIcIHExxo7wDwuauCJIP_-PjhyphenhyphenC2phrCV8y56FhAScx5QM5NEumiN0FPjNxhQWo/s320/IMG_1137.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was fortunate enough to meet the wonderful author when I was younger and I have several of his books, a couple of which are signed. It started very simply, and without much of a plan - we kind of just went with the flow. But I'm happy to say, my students love Eric Carle and are really excited to learn about his work. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We discussed an author's job, and as the students began to recognize Carle's work without my prompting, we dove into some real research. We visited </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html">Carle's website</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and watched him read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to us. We also looked at his pictures, and the children loved guessing who the people in the photographs were and what they meant to Carle. They really love that he "looks like a grandpa" and have very interesting and insightful theories about his life and work. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwOczwGGivwRXQ_9jdtwGa02JXK4uUF6RULno51bT3UAArGS7mFM6Tp1Cc_9FYM_ueAv1fUvxy2tTYUl7NhZ8rMFxXC29lz49L2rN-uweYevRr3-yrObFuTW0bgYodDYyMik7ERNe4j8/s1600/IMG_1095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwOczwGGivwRXQ_9jdtwGa02JXK4uUF6RULno51bT3UAArGS7mFM6Tp1Cc_9FYM_ueAv1fUvxy2tTYUl7NhZ8rMFxXC29lz49L2rN-uweYevRr3-yrObFuTW0bgYodDYyMik7ERNe4j8/s320/IMG_1095.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They discussed amongst themselves how he came to make his books - </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M: "When he was small, he didn’t know how to do it" </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">S: "When he got big, he thinked and thinked until he stopped thinkin’ and then wrote it. "</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's really amazing how quickly and thoroughly they absorb the information - they compare and contrast pictures of him when he was young and recent pictures, they can tell which books he illustrated, and have been asking a lot of questions and have been talking about him on their own. Even my students who never went to our library center before started heading that way, picking out his books. And they asked to go to his museum... I wish I could take them :-(</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wjBwz252D9U0Qe7Pgpt-ClJHRnXEWqjIf8UEFyiwcsTWQc8g-jAoXtr3aC0JetzdCZqCj72T4Jn2PW26jzZ1CwgmaFZ1Lm98ul0VshIcve0foaLZ0LLVr_wUI0rhibFNl4MnIQnGezY/s1600/IMG_1077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wjBwz252D9U0Qe7Pgpt-ClJHRnXEWqjIf8UEFyiwcsTWQc8g-jAoXtr3aC0JetzdCZqCj72T4Jn2PW26jzZ1CwgmaFZ1Lm98ul0VshIcve0foaLZ0LLVr_wUI0rhibFNl4MnIQnGezY/s320/IMG_1077.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, this is a really long post, sorry - but I wanted to kind of summarize everything that we have done so that future posts will make sense, as we continue to explore Carle. One of my students already said he wished he could make pictures like Carle, little does he know we are going to be discovering illustrations and becoming illustrators as we continue or study! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm also really excited to get back to school and our study tomorrow, because thanks to <a href="http://www.teachpreschool.org/">Teach Preschool</a> I found out that Kohls was selling Carle books and stuffed animals for 5 dollars each! What a great addition to our library center and wonderful way to get the kids reengaged after a long break! </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZib0fFmcU8isnek7pgBvpOPSQ7eBNWo8OdUb2khIFrFnqghiWl0bf1oQQ0lmZh1rk5wDsP-bPYBlriOTe2Fdk-8Aw2zMZEQHnejCqlixClBYclJVGiQpnf47tYAruOqwEKXNiehi9Is/s1600/IMG_1291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZib0fFmcU8isnek7pgBvpOPSQ7eBNWo8OdUb2khIFrFnqghiWl0bf1oQQ0lmZh1rk5wDsP-bPYBlriOTe2Fdk-8Aw2zMZEQHnejCqlixClBYclJVGiQpnf47tYAruOqwEKXNiehi9Is/s320/IMG_1291.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-72352411637043006312010-12-30T12:50:00.000-08:002010-12-30T12:50:03.357-08:00We're All Learning Through Play<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a first year teacher who has had a limited experience working in a Reggio Emilia setting, in a school that has just begun the Reggio program in early childhood, I have struggled to find a way to make project based exploration the main focus of the classroom (as opposed to the more traditional, teacher directed way of teaching). </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUl_uVjo_ntWuqCEYHor_7JCkwwx_mmKRACGhd62Czo7J5d5n27LuGD-Jz6UW3I83vjtottQPTxMNQrGIxI7I_-Op9qEaO1u4I24Mqh1uDTF_7isUNqz-zsc_yyYKJA42u0JU5MXYAhs/s1600/IMG_0486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUl_uVjo_ntWuqCEYHor_7JCkwwx_mmKRACGhd62Czo7J5d5n27LuGD-Jz6UW3I83vjtottQPTxMNQrGIxI7I_-Op9qEaO1u4I24Mqh1uDTF_7isUNqz-zsc_yyYKJA42u0JU5MXYAhs/s320/IMG_0486.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this program, the children are supposed to be able to learn through play, discovery, exploration, and conversation. I love that - idea. It’s making it happen that has been tough. They also must be prepared for kindergarten by the time they leave my class - which means that they also need to learn their letters, letter sounds, numbers, shapes, all of those fundamental concepts that parents send their children to school to learn.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwei_kLcIG-V2ZVTsftA3Ex8WqC6m8_45vMCkyKBtrPgLbdbS6hPOX6IaUTnWR0Mghgrn15ZLmGd5-K4XOZhm3Z8nXQWadbxjr1kw_y-EEJyVCE2Wo0tY832rcLwGr-MEJSOfmYXMfSe8/s1600/IMG_0316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwei_kLcIG-V2ZVTsftA3Ex8WqC6m8_45vMCkyKBtrPgLbdbS6hPOX6IaUTnWR0Mghgrn15ZLmGd5-K4XOZhm3Z8nXQWadbxjr1kw_y-EEJyVCE2Wo0tY832rcLwGr-MEJSOfmYXMfSe8/s320/IMG_0316.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbhIh43NV97tDUSOIuTrajhSD7o8SEq1jHYmAnizFubYQbuj7mtSrh1OciRBY8kJGF_BqaN7_xaCfoFEj0dlurE0Q6PepExFjMPNWf6t92t2UXHBs6drFFcsK0YhPngdcVcmymBxdRpQ/s1600/IMG_1129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbhIh43NV97tDUSOIuTrajhSD7o8SEq1jHYmAnizFubYQbuj7mtSrh1OciRBY8kJGF_BqaN7_xaCfoFEj0dlurE0Q6PepExFjMPNWf6t92t2UXHBs6drFFcsK0YhPngdcVcmymBxdRpQ/s320/IMG_1129.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, as I reflect on the past couple of months and prepare for the return to school, I’m realizing that the children are going to do most of their learning through play. It’s not just about fulfilling intellectual needs (although we will do that too) - my job is to develop the WHOLE child - emotional, social, physical... I need to meet all of their needs, and learning through play is going to help me with that. </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kXBHIyhZU9yN1RUWsn70oSnhjr80LjTZ88IVoNSQKMqNjq9s_tb2zuxL0p1WmFxafAogCmViUO_TRNcNCNJxIoWQToDL7GDAWHT5esRIJsqphSK2zcr2J33rKEhLSrGWg6aAOAu2og0/s1600/IMG_0241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kXBHIyhZU9yN1RUWsn70oSnhjr80LjTZ88IVoNSQKMqNjq9s_tb2zuxL0p1WmFxafAogCmViUO_TRNcNCNJxIoWQToDL7GDAWHT5esRIJsqphSK2zcr2J33rKEhLSrGWg6aAOAu2og0/s320/IMG_0241.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXj8c9LhSqnL2wwXP7Gp-gHwr9fxEN9OqmMyzwk4lms7oUmpE62BqoeObGwi74WPkFa7u57m7WALGZBShgFIf13goafXCcrB4sQlKtod5DoVnMFAv3mO6U238XhTulXU1OlI-tJKt6Vrw/s1600/IMG_0190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXj8c9LhSqnL2wwXP7Gp-gHwr9fxEN9OqmMyzwk4lms7oUmpE62BqoeObGwi74WPkFa7u57m7WALGZBShgFIf13goafXCcrB4sQlKtod5DoVnMFAv3mO6U238XhTulXU1OlI-tJKt6Vrw/s320/IMG_0190.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmy9B1big0L1JpYxkXS7FYzDyYe5rlMC99JcEACFCqzhZbz4PGNdN9QkaH4SSvfcZw-esZAfTKKGB5kWMOTiJaOoPzeGDuSi8pkus2VlwWcq22gSCXzmybNuHmFXVCHAVh_YKqfCO63R4/s1600/IMG_0211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmy9B1big0L1JpYxkXS7FYzDyYe5rlMC99JcEACFCqzhZbz4PGNdN9QkaH4SSvfcZw-esZAfTKKGB5kWMOTiJaOoPzeGDuSi8pkus2VlwWcq22gSCXzmybNuHmFXVCHAVh_YKqfCO63R4/s320/IMG_0211.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5hUYXKKExIZdOS8DT-Pz5-SKbTgEXEYxPaL5B8PBvcGsbkYDFTapmXdSQ1R6amENwrvfXnItnk0l81OYiLUtsPVoCQE9TjPDTLsmwUXtzzfoYPEPQjFcM3_39bUA2joEHNPEm-PkuWXs/s1600/IMG_0653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5hUYXKKExIZdOS8DT-Pz5-SKbTgEXEYxPaL5B8PBvcGsbkYDFTapmXdSQ1R6amENwrvfXnItnk0l81OYiLUtsPVoCQE9TjPDTLsmwUXtzzfoYPEPQjFcM3_39bUA2joEHNPEm-PkuWXs/s320/IMG_0653.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6QL5ROULIuZgxespS1KIePPXE6QA0jfRPxNiBxB8VcfOemdyXZay2KXM1iOH6Yg5tdVoPobaC5rLdgxQKEgrdDyoisPcYJ38DnBG7-wMzk9fYGIOOpZjeMqrwnMsPCudxnk5FazHfu0/s1600/IMG_1105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6QL5ROULIuZgxespS1KIePPXE6QA0jfRPxNiBxB8VcfOemdyXZay2KXM1iOH6Yg5tdVoPobaC5rLdgxQKEgrdDyoisPcYJ38DnBG7-wMzk9fYGIOOpZjeMqrwnMsPCudxnk5FazHfu0/s320/IMG_1105.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some things that have helped me understand the importance of play are: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/29/christakis.play.children.learning/index.html?hpt=Sbin">This article about play</a> I read through <a href="http://progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com/">Let The Children Play</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MQtSLXK4fI&feature=player_embedded">This video</a> provided on <a href="http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/im-curriculum-planning-genius.html">Teacher Tom's wonderful and inspiring blog</a>. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of Reggio Emilia, said “nothing without joy” -</span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-c6sMlGWLzvEo_gNxrz0vEDUEVDzlQVhyQvtjmyobhXAG37J3vDyoAwrEDTmgfutlBdOVcRmSIZ5MUICziR44bcqXn0Bz4NEBCiMk6tUV8tOaIFfMNyiAQv3SkeELHEXBEf_gZyjfJs/s1600/IMG_0841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-c6sMlGWLzvEo_gNxrz0vEDUEVDzlQVhyQvtjmyobhXAG37J3vDyoAwrEDTmgfutlBdOVcRmSIZ5MUICziR44bcqXn0Bz4NEBCiMk6tUV8tOaIFfMNyiAQv3SkeELHEXBEf_gZyjfJs/s320/IMG_0841.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such a sweet moment, I think. I love that these boys find such joy in the classroom, working with each other. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope that with the New Year, I will teach my students how to love learning and discovering through playing, and that we will continue to feel joy in our classroom as we grow together. And while the children learn through play, I will learn how to provide these children with experiences and discoveries, while making sure that they are advancing completely and fully.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that I know what I have to do - I better get back to planning! Hoping to start the New Year with some really great play!</span></span></span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-61043714163801633212010-12-28T07:44:00.000-08:002010-12-28T16:57:29.657-08:00Adventures in Bookmaking<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Right before leaving for Christmas break, we engaged in a pretty small project (it only took a couple of small group sessions) but it was a great achievement in our class, and it turned out beautifully. We were making gifts for the teachers in our school who are special to us, and one of the gift receivers was to be Farmer John. We had so many pictures of him working with the children, so the children made him a book. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First, we talked about HOW we could make a book. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“You supposed to write in it, then fold it up” </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“You fold it up and write it”</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We also decided what should go into our book: </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Put pictures on it” </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Grass” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Cooking” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Letters” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Make he farm” </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> “Can we draw worms?” </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The students cut out the pictures for our book. They did a WONDERFUL job cutting, and really worked on those fine motor skills! </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I6jcEUldBVRvM-fGcunIhwBW19Nf7zNoeE0_xBdFKQWeved9bSyMnkZu3Z4o5eLAIcs7bZcqdLl_PVMzRm_dmCfezYL6qPuZRB9JMcT2ldbbtZxGLguC9x2uTAq0yZ580kr3SUa-GU4/s1600/IMG_0061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I6jcEUldBVRvM-fGcunIhwBW19Nf7zNoeE0_xBdFKQWeved9bSyMnkZu3Z4o5eLAIcs7bZcqdLl_PVMzRm_dmCfezYL6qPuZRB9JMcT2ldbbtZxGLguC9x2uTAq0yZ580kr3SUa-GU4/s320/IMG_0061.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-q1lgBgzXxg-MerlccCyOQjW5xlB2eonitN8oIOEDiI4qqR6QIigH5voVOMklz6EcPdc4BjMu9vMXRd6WozEkcdVj5lcbMnrnpQdRNNYKZ1uu_qHhPSOZa3eF3CwEDDm5HMb4HuPub0/s1600/IMG_0063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-q1lgBgzXxg-MerlccCyOQjW5xlB2eonitN8oIOEDiI4qqR6QIigH5voVOMklz6EcPdc4BjMu9vMXRd6WozEkcdVj5lcbMnrnpQdRNNYKZ1uu_qHhPSOZa3eF3CwEDDm5HMb4HuPub0/s320/IMG_0063.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY46pYdfnpSmBLARrNPlm5Jz2AkuPXMWwT2mj80TFeETfbl9Jgz_CvdOyZ1YmfJzh009kb-j5kk99xurlO8KwKtylEd7lj7oWfVYIE3OuzzpoYPl8P2RGqhs0tyAy22A-VsGW_AzVYn9Y/s1600/IMG_0064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY46pYdfnpSmBLARrNPlm5Jz2AkuPXMWwT2mj80TFeETfbl9Jgz_CvdOyZ1YmfJzh009kb-j5kk99xurlO8KwKtylEd7lj7oWfVYIE3OuzzpoYPl8P2RGqhs0tyAy22A-VsGW_AzVYn9Y/s320/IMG_0064.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When the photos were cut, students chose about three for a page that they wanted to make, and then they glued them onto the paper. </span></span></span></div><br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUswChzWY31N6o_SYFwdgWRz32b-oS9ow1sJoI8C1yeRi8PtF9xrg-nn5n9EzRfVuzZ7i2rq990alS2BF14-Ni3yDz5-RouQD2fyAW6tVNDWbKZ81dLgEnkApFng4xraeQpWVtThs2QNU/s1600/IMG_0072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUswChzWY31N6o_SYFwdgWRz32b-oS9ow1sJoI8C1yeRi8PtF9xrg-nn5n9EzRfVuzZ7i2rq990alS2BF14-Ni3yDz5-RouQD2fyAW6tVNDWbKZ81dLgEnkApFng4xraeQpWVtThs2QNU/s320/IMG_0072.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmHgx7PWkZ24rjCLJ96sPukyy3cRh1CgSaS254cM56DWmQDMmZEK8bdFRR8nvtKNvXMKKJ6c8MBMC_2tA2kg7nXtFtlIQcwuhquEFDMW48R-8O2Wt2XIt71dTwXuRA7MDHkV8A0jwZEE/s1600/IMG_0080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmHgx7PWkZ24rjCLJ96sPukyy3cRh1CgSaS254cM56DWmQDMmZEK8bdFRR8nvtKNvXMKKJ6c8MBMC_2tA2kg7nXtFtlIQcwuhquEFDMW48R-8O2Wt2XIt71dTwXuRA7MDHkV8A0jwZEE/s320/IMG_0080.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Looking over the photos and choosing where they would appear in our book was a beautiful way of revisiting our past experiences with Farmer John (and we have had a lot of them!) </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsj6IlEkenFm5ijlDdbwS3lSvVaV2OvouCdnVOjL8izzHZgx1SRae25rWcqJNzs_xEl8xT7mtrWuRBP0IGj0443vCP3fPzxNhCkf7ICQc1_qTyO-OYzWobpfR8CIL4_-pgJKk1PNIiDmc/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsj6IlEkenFm5ijlDdbwS3lSvVaV2OvouCdnVOjL8izzHZgx1SRae25rWcqJNzs_xEl8xT7mtrWuRBP0IGj0443vCP3fPzxNhCkf7ICQc1_qTyO-OYzWobpfR8CIL4_-pgJKk1PNIiDmc/s320/IMG_0077.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is one of my favorite pictures!! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In addition to the students choosing photographs to go into our book, they also made their own illustrations and wrote their own notes for Farmer John. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCItqglPFp83PLuP1emZ34BS3GJ3XPsCqVtRMIaHUq0Ik_EDe2b42hYXSc596DDQqD4ZlW0RaXUUH9mlACMTDCHmpH4Bqe6Ozy4td5Jz-mzCULB2Ta4tuFbXMN9lwuYc6893oiLm0pu1U/s1600/IMG_0079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCItqglPFp83PLuP1emZ34BS3GJ3XPsCqVtRMIaHUq0Ik_EDe2b42hYXSc596DDQqD4ZlW0RaXUUH9mlACMTDCHmpH4Bqe6Ozy4td5Jz-mzCULB2Ta4tuFbXMN9lwuYc6893oiLm0pu1U/s320/IMG_0079.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiWOf4guF9eKNaZSi3_wvYi-MQOLtIk3rlxJ_rOgCdEA6nq1wBMowHFQJi-RQeC10k9xYrLlF9wlICmnW5MspBgSnHIWqH_0m28Au6XELn_Fom4WS9fiXqEfOVj9anUnHZtD41pKa_OI/s1600/IMG_0081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiWOf4guF9eKNaZSi3_wvYi-MQOLtIk3rlxJ_rOgCdEA6nq1wBMowHFQJi-RQeC10k9xYrLlF9wlICmnW5MspBgSnHIWqH_0m28Au6XELn_Fom4WS9fiXqEfOVj9anUnHZtD41pKa_OI/s320/IMG_0081.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span>There was also collaboration among the students, as they shared what they were making and showed real interest in what their friends were doing. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76pk6FO4ih20XtvrvAIyEinw6L-BGc6C3oZGHlsHUzj7YYqwIzyInwboMsDT9lZ7D1vdbBsaBT8X8UVmwX0u01-95i9Gsc3M9wk2e5SeF13REa61N2SwavKohSHX1OLJRAUsDrkLlvR4/s1600/IMG_0069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76pk6FO4ih20XtvrvAIyEinw6L-BGc6C3oZGHlsHUzj7YYqwIzyInwboMsDT9lZ7D1vdbBsaBT8X8UVmwX0u01-95i9Gsc3M9wk2e5SeF13REa61N2SwavKohSHX1OLJRAUsDrkLlvR4/s320/IMG_0069.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After the pages were made, I typed up all of the lovely things that the children said and onto the pages they went. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The last step was for the students to sign the book! </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNRxWEcO_ZjIemeveRarYZG6SCti6CJI5NIVfgFK-t07G99nykwtOOqm5Da-lLIdZ5jpCuR3wUa9dEDWhkVnx4bCo_x566w-l_3aP9itGfSIOMGcB2NFmhI9MixT25IUhropJL7sVFew/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNRxWEcO_ZjIemeveRarYZG6SCti6CJI5NIVfgFK-t07G99nykwtOOqm5Da-lLIdZ5jpCuR3wUa9dEDWhkVnx4bCo_x566w-l_3aP9itGfSIOMGcB2NFmhI9MixT25IUhropJL7sVFew/s320/image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here is our book as the final project. We get to keep a copy in our library center too... I can’t wait to add to our collection! </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ALaNZZH19quwg0uRRQTq_DJ15e6XD8mr1uwNMzZtMjJx-HjPtDLfMnapp4zEgRFCE4ul4i1vrFFBF2dRKsHaFbRWo4ebNDfuIvC4HyOCMjIB7G1ccnMACSry_o9LH4N8f00cXQSgYUk/s1600/farmer-john1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ALaNZZH19quwg0uRRQTq_DJ15e6XD8mr1uwNMzZtMjJx-HjPtDLfMnapp4zEgRFCE4ul4i1vrFFBF2dRKsHaFbRWo4ebNDfuIvC4HyOCMjIB7G1ccnMACSry_o9LH4N8f00cXQSgYUk/s320/farmer-john1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFW3btMxDTwPh-HIU5uLFRluZwOsv2RbV_HwAhonfMzRYjVxkL4tZ56xfd493cyokWEeB9Cyn2o_VysoQEygBymt0MQpdpgpt8hyphenhyphenbxRavtW7Mp1BlRKllvKMvbzM0NoxgwWRjKBdvF79Q/s1600/farmer-john2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFW3btMxDTwPh-HIU5uLFRluZwOsv2RbV_HwAhonfMzRYjVxkL4tZ56xfd493cyokWEeB9Cyn2o_VysoQEygBymt0MQpdpgpt8hyphenhyphenbxRavtW7Mp1BlRKllvKMvbzM0NoxgwWRjKBdvF79Q/s320/farmer-john2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlb_90-iL2gAJaKR1raEZ4DaMV2s4NGZvVyFsOhbZ2D4PRLnqUf4_Tcs41hMwbrbyPtaH3hMnkXoeYoVUAB4mN0SRLABI4OxWrbue8rSxVQBQS8g8B7knN37JcGWZrs1rj_M7eRdbaRI/s1600/farmer-john3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlb_90-iL2gAJaKR1raEZ4DaMV2s4NGZvVyFsOhbZ2D4PRLnqUf4_Tcs41hMwbrbyPtaH3hMnkXoeYoVUAB4mN0SRLABI4OxWrbue8rSxVQBQS8g8B7knN37JcGWZrs1rj_M7eRdbaRI/s320/farmer-john3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbPX6b9k7SY0VbxIk0ir5f6cEJd31XFzOqUuqpr-t_lctpEp4t1pqh8f5ydda0iws2mBcqqWp7Y4GUkSetZjMesrsc62EU5T3o-of0qhUGvJ9JEkapwCcjZeFTidoQxvkJrPZeuTXwR4/s1600/farmer-john4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbPX6b9k7SY0VbxIk0ir5f6cEJd31XFzOqUuqpr-t_lctpEp4t1pqh8f5ydda0iws2mBcqqWp7Y4GUkSetZjMesrsc62EU5T3o-of0qhUGvJ9JEkapwCcjZeFTidoQxvkJrPZeuTXwR4/s320/farmer-john4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUkeaRqqdYWs0ZJn28PCgb4au8bewW5lGeLA450H7PeEEDf_MjG6yVCRN8-ARlipVrwqB9xqWdzm9sNOt-9fRaF0A_H34u6JtHfo4ElxF2NMxXg3WfCOagdKtfTWEKQH95kso2eavi4s/s1600/farmer-john5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUkeaRqqdYWs0ZJn28PCgb4au8bewW5lGeLA450H7PeEEDf_MjG6yVCRN8-ARlipVrwqB9xqWdzm9sNOt-9fRaF0A_H34u6JtHfo4ElxF2NMxXg3WfCOagdKtfTWEKQH95kso2eavi4s/s320/farmer-john5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGA1nJoC8hwoZcIbPduuPaSDZbCKeey4TMzSg1qyKCMNSPbWaXzUCmMa6F0_uf34M1iFqib6w0qjCdW97O_qtlCixKDP4eLi9bzHn5ak_R-32g3VAKrx9qwYDf4FvzVCW1Yxxm_p3OkK8/s1600/farmer-john6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGA1nJoC8hwoZcIbPduuPaSDZbCKeey4TMzSg1qyKCMNSPbWaXzUCmMa6F0_uf34M1iFqib6w0qjCdW97O_qtlCixKDP4eLi9bzHn5ak_R-32g3VAKrx9qwYDf4FvzVCW1Yxxm_p3OkK8/s320/farmer-john6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pbGnSQqLvhMLpCB469M7TUdv2p3UVRFYC_h7-Y5j9vkBdxgnTauNXZwlWsqilQUdwzdSv6Z3WgXDfvPfdY5es4Hxgvd-vaw_pkjxlyTLFNtYuIyRtiWSxQ_g7kyAWetOSn8oov2LNB0/s1600/farmer-john7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pbGnSQqLvhMLpCB469M7TUdv2p3UVRFYC_h7-Y5j9vkBdxgnTauNXZwlWsqilQUdwzdSv6Z3WgXDfvPfdY5es4Hxgvd-vaw_pkjxlyTLFNtYuIyRtiWSxQ_g7kyAWetOSn8oov2LNB0/s320/farmer-john7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08ne3FYMxEH9VkuYDoDEoScgqxUaBvcbs3YQo0JtYO-bfxfjEuF6H5Ow3dCHMEwIFdry5vvfv0g6qonfAnoO6ZCLB3oBVC3vJlPdn_AyJKL56UIzwBbn1QKqBYLU3-9wdBfNRmgnvYkQ/s1600/farmer-john8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08ne3FYMxEH9VkuYDoDEoScgqxUaBvcbs3YQo0JtYO-bfxfjEuF6H5Ow3dCHMEwIFdry5vvfv0g6qonfAnoO6ZCLB3oBVC3vJlPdn_AyJKL56UIzwBbn1QKqBYLU3-9wdBfNRmgnvYkQ/s320/farmer-john8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLeQQriwbe7LiN7EUQvGd9ebi1zyWjHv2JGnTfNtAr_UKpNyuEgTaYx4T3AlPQVVyk7eoOh3YrB95yesF2I8pKtQMawMapXSeii0qHw425f2Ye3TAIYJhWwVqEAt2DUBDz8JmdCAjCZM/s1600/farmer-john9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLeQQriwbe7LiN7EUQvGd9ebi1zyWjHv2JGnTfNtAr_UKpNyuEgTaYx4T3AlPQVVyk7eoOh3YrB95yesF2I8pKtQMawMapXSeii0qHw425f2Ye3TAIYJhWwVqEAt2DUBDz8JmdCAjCZM/s320/farmer-john9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcqQ7krGAKHv9lVMgfX_4GPHl1Yji1DkVrEd4Ix6p0dwHA84CnT8tVoLXd6SZIovcoGrOre88V0ZDy90HKS3dyc_NiKgNs1iKv271d5AN8d6uuoQnvjfwL35ff3kEOPDRBHueeZsPPFfo/s1600/farmer-john10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcqQ7krGAKHv9lVMgfX_4GPHl1Yji1DkVrEd4Ix6p0dwHA84CnT8tVoLXd6SZIovcoGrOre88V0ZDy90HKS3dyc_NiKgNs1iKv271d5AN8d6uuoQnvjfwL35ff3kEOPDRBHueeZsPPFfo/s320/farmer-john10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-83923668749005463042010-12-26T19:29:00.000-08:002010-12-27T07:28:24.323-08:00Discoveries at the Train Station<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before our winter break, we (finally) went on our first field trip - we walked to the train station! What class gets to walk to the train station? And what PRE-K class has the opportunity to do something like that? </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLrskQh05lhTqVYdHAv3azTWnpHlllfGHAl-O8z9Pgbg6GADvgtLv6RES7qE0KlLVvcZkFXK3lbknP7ELLILnhvcSBLPje3ePvGLaLfT2Jh4Be8M83AeUCTnY7syQJb6wsAS8jq_msaY/s1600/IMG_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLrskQh05lhTqVYdHAv3azTWnpHlllfGHAl-O8z9Pgbg6GADvgtLv6RES7qE0KlLVvcZkFXK3lbknP7ELLILnhvcSBLPje3ePvGLaLfT2Jh4Be8M83AeUCTnY7syQJb6wsAS8jq_msaY/s320/IMG_0095.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our experience was actually even more exciting than we thought it was going to be. It snowed the whole way there and the whole way back! You know I love my students when I go on a field trip like that - I am not a fan of snow. But really, it was one of the best times. We sang songs on the way and noticed all of the things that were turning white around us. It was really a lovely walk.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkAVASJhgB2M8CvyfkyLwv35rsHBGq94QY4vQ11PxI05da23OYMZk4X3lyvlMML8fq0rKrXluNA4hBWvOMiMPpmO5TQIM0mb7ZmqG90Q9trklEv3HEYKgCQObCx7GPQ7uwYGHnhbVhHo/s1600/IMG_0089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkAVASJhgB2M8CvyfkyLwv35rsHBGq94QY4vQ11PxI05da23OYMZk4X3lyvlMML8fq0rKrXluNA4hBWvOMiMPpmO5TQIM0mb7ZmqG90Q9trklEv3HEYKgCQObCx7GPQ7uwYGHnhbVhHo/s320/IMG_0089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoGjzQ5I1MDsFOoe-tKjekRjqIUwdsNwxLunhG9u_zdBUEKGo6X6cVQs6Mi9sA0V0He9w1uBfoD44ZfVuitK38Zd48eXWI_7olTQt7OSLAQ8kXOZZdqiO8h1FML8blEurCvPQD-Bx3eo/s1600/IMG_0087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoGjzQ5I1MDsFOoe-tKjekRjqIUwdsNwxLunhG9u_zdBUEKGo6X6cVQs6Mi9sA0V0He9w1uBfoD44ZfVuitK38Zd48eXWI_7olTQt7OSLAQ8kXOZZdqiO8h1FML8blEurCvPQD-Bx3eo/s320/IMG_0087.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we arrived, we hurried into the warm train station and got to take in the train display set up at the entrance. It was so much fun to watch the students find all of the little details that had put there for our viewing pleasure. We also came upon the big, beautiful tree :-) </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GJYxKorEaeSXF3RZZ15HJ2LZO-jnawjSumm8G7zM0MUWrojj0yjuLlIJlUQS_fgfzayMZ5xOrMSx3uNpHySZ1ajLMO6I4RX8ixl1_L2jguVAl4vEs8qqzuwWvTqNYQYTLxNLxgxnfqw/s1600/IMG_0103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GJYxKorEaeSXF3RZZ15HJ2LZO-jnawjSumm8G7zM0MUWrojj0yjuLlIJlUQS_fgfzayMZ5xOrMSx3uNpHySZ1ajLMO6I4RX8ixl1_L2jguVAl4vEs8qqzuwWvTqNYQYTLxNLxgxnfqw/s320/IMG_0103.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Probably the coolest part, though, was getting to go into the super secret elevator and then into the super secret K-9 police unit. The children met the police officers and got to see the police dogs at work. There had just been a memorial service for one of the dogs that had served, but recently passed away, so every student got a baseball card of the officer and dog together. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jzAs_2WSpiUIjhSS6_HnwJedJMOvvk1LUdulvJXydDUhvH8u-2SAlEFOmUKomTI0dtsoNNzsWJemRjF3Xv1QO0ZIDW-84mJ7G7V5sa11ZpIRnH8FU5PigtPCbXFBzBYyDAewSWjC7No/s1600/IMG_0111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jzAs_2WSpiUIjhSS6_HnwJedJMOvvk1LUdulvJXydDUhvH8u-2SAlEFOmUKomTI0dtsoNNzsWJemRjF3Xv1QO0ZIDW-84mJ7G7V5sa11ZpIRnH8FU5PigtPCbXFBzBYyDAewSWjC7No/s320/IMG_0111.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course we stopped by the ticket counter to see what that was all about. We were met by an awesome employee who related the train experience to the movie Madagascar, which many of the students had seen. It ended with a discussion about going to New York, and singing right in the middle of the station. It was fun! </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vKPXV0CLL6cvpVIjsUBJyA0WwZoRVgDhItIKqkQL_yNJlBylgsbDzYUrIX27veAeoncfuVema304jrmnVi2oK2WJ672jqch69_Jhu3ZvkvnOtUu4fOCoNp0ss0z_tIgAbRHGtl1vRyI/s1600/IMG_0129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vKPXV0CLL6cvpVIjsUBJyA0WwZoRVgDhItIKqkQL_yNJlBylgsbDzYUrIX27veAeoncfuVema304jrmnVi2oK2WJ672jqch69_Jhu3ZvkvnOtUu4fOCoNp0ss0z_tIgAbRHGtl1vRyI/s320/IMG_0129.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaiJSv03VY-dTx3_uJo0fVmccRzB8u40htrzAEHtlUy6spmlMmD9YE6Uw00RifdYPzUB_zmd1qjZZ-PC9E2wb7AaNSDdpoASUyDZp1BsyIOusGwzqnOitDeOLfdK05ex43tDahPsd5U4/s1600/IMG_0132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaiJSv03VY-dTx3_uJo0fVmccRzB8u40htrzAEHtlUy6spmlMmD9YE6Uw00RifdYPzUB_zmd1qjZZ-PC9E2wb7AaNSDdpoASUyDZp1BsyIOusGwzqnOitDeOLfdK05ex43tDahPsd5U4/s320/IMG_0132.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finished up our trip by eating our bagged lunches in the food court and trekking back home in more snow. We learned a lot and look forward to more adventures!</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBmHeWUX23fXJdJYWaMlzg2hx54JMQk8pCxZvo8A_ESmeVSIxcUcm4RB81debraBnbqJHchtqDo-t_C1ZH8d9tiwVAOiq_rCNVy2lYwczVyUgwut5eEGRiYDxYLfOHFD_X910LVCtTpno/s1600/IMG_0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBmHeWUX23fXJdJYWaMlzg2hx54JMQk8pCxZvo8A_ESmeVSIxcUcm4RB81debraBnbqJHchtqDo-t_C1ZH8d9tiwVAOiq_rCNVy2lYwczVyUgwut5eEGRiYDxYLfOHFD_X910LVCtTpno/s320/IMG_0115.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-69057780043022675202010-12-23T18:19:00.001-08:002010-12-23T18:20:04.909-08:00Our Helping Hands<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">When I was younger, I always wanted to have a job in the classroom - to be able to help in some way. But I don’t think I ever realized how important it was to every child - I just chalked it up to the fact that I wanted to be a teacher and as a child, being the teacher’s helper was as close as I could get. Now I don’t know if it is the case in every early childhood classroom, but every single one of my students needs a job every single day. When I started out the school year, I thought that I had cleverly come up with a great system - we had 8 jobs, which meant that every student would get a job every other day - they only had to wait ONE day as opposed to waiting a week or two like I remembered having to wait. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Yes, I thought I was doing a great thing. So I didn’t understand when I was met with whines and complaints that it wasn’t fair that someone didn’t have a job on a given day. “But you had one yesterday and you will have one tomorrow” was not a good enough answer”. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It took me some time to think of the last extra jobs - coming up with 17 is kind of tough. But it was SO worth it. Every day, the children check in to class, and then the very next thing that they do is check the job board to see what their job is - and what everyone else’s is. They want to know who is doing what during the day. And they are proud to do their job. It doesn’t even matter that to adults, some jobs are much more appealing than others (I would way rather be the story helper than the table cleaner or sweeper). To the kids, every single job is important and needs to get done. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The kids take ownership of their classroom - it’s theirs - and they need to keep it running smoothly. Sometimes I forget; I don’t always remember that I made a job for chairs to be pushed in or for the lights to be turned off at rest time, but they remind me of their jobs and then go off to do them. If only the whole world could work like my students - each one checking in with their responsibilities, being excited to do it, holding others accountable for their jobs, looking forward to their job the next day. What a beautiful society we have going on in pre-k. </span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960550230096390831.post-73422108327058377602010-12-21T06:16:00.000-08:002011-01-14T13:55:41.702-08:00Birthday Celebrations<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Growing up, I feel that I had a wonderful education - great teachers, great classmates, great lessons in a great area. Wasn’t perfect of course, and one thing that I couldn’t understand was that, even in elementary school, birthdays were so unimportant, we weren’t able to celebrate - even a little bit. Sure, we got our birthday announced during morning announcements, but that was the extent of it. Not really a celebration, and if there was there were ALL sorts of restrictions on the time of day that there could be any kind of acknowledgement of a birthday, and definitely restrictions on what could be brought into the classroom to eat and/or drink. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GOwn7DIbAO_yAW1hRsyAgnkXONm5Nwree1lRkjrBJ0-fH_9dXMItJhdWihWnlNQSWKBC5an29btnzUL4n8o7WgDjs5V-zdXiIOFm4kOkvAMANNNeqrabgDLN9SDl8lMtUcmkE1bv9HI/s1600/IMG_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GOwn7DIbAO_yAW1hRsyAgnkXONm5Nwree1lRkjrBJ0-fH_9dXMItJhdWihWnlNQSWKBC5an29btnzUL4n8o7WgDjs5V-zdXiIOFm4kOkvAMANNNeqrabgDLN9SDl8lMtUcmkE1bv9HI/s320/IMG_0027.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">What I love about our early childhood program is that each birthday is valued and celebrated - every child gets a day that is just for them; finally some birthday recognition. I play it up to make it everything that it can be - personally, I’m a big holiday and birthday kind of person.<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XYJYw6SadhGBWDInA4nOwXpUnbFOGbadNpCP5KSxMApRGeUaHowGi7fWvZ1IyKjONYpgqVu3RwiiM0cwm8mAxNLvz7uGfxS1L_BrlYLdl6GWo6iScC2WQPLaF5XD13Qp_ay5f9A2Cd4/s1600/IMG_0876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XYJYw6SadhGBWDInA4nOwXpUnbFOGbadNpCP5KSxMApRGeUaHowGi7fWvZ1IyKjONYpgqVu3RwiiM0cwm8mAxNLvz7uGfxS1L_BrlYLdl6GWo6iScC2WQPLaF5XD13Qp_ay5f9A2Cd4/s320/IMG_0876.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Every time there is a birthday, three or four students get together to form a birthday committee. They hold a conversation about the birthday boy/girl - his/her likes and dislikes, interests, skills, etc. Together, they decide what they are going to make their friend. In our class - every present is made using paper. The committee works together to make the gift, and on the day of the birthday celebration, they present the gift to their friend. It’s really beautiful. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR83Hfk7AnK1kdFiYKo967mbSh0C80HCInDH6v3dFARNCh6ZrPVvyXJA7PxBWLJfO9SeixLeI8Z17IeMjuE8DEXjzb05XgXIP8W5ih9ashi-djXeYE3ezcB0MDfKJE8kXJea788KRSaE/s1600/IMG_1174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR83Hfk7AnK1kdFiYKo967mbSh0C80HCInDH6v3dFARNCh6ZrPVvyXJA7PxBWLJfO9SeixLeI8Z17IeMjuE8DEXjzb05XgXIP8W5ih9ashi-djXeYE3ezcB0MDfKJE8kXJea788KRSaE/s320/IMG_1174.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SErmVTxTXFmrtcuxw48AenA3Z4B6N-lhbvOiNF53Zu3ebZ4eO9uZVRAqG3cOV7finnnz2HpRsY41jGIPJjaz2Z01XklwkjL7amhO_rfzLfNXOXBcrcvonm1YdobUnzmO41x_7hJUWos/s1600/IMG_0009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SErmVTxTXFmrtcuxw48AenA3Z4B6N-lhbvOiNF53Zu3ebZ4eO9uZVRAqG3cOV7finnnz2HpRsY41jGIPJjaz2Z01XklwkjL7amhO_rfzLfNXOXBcrcvonm1YdobUnzmO41x_7hJUWos/s320/IMG_0009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Of course, it’s important that parents/families are there for our very special days too - we couldn’t do anything without them!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">We have celebrated four birthdays so far (including mine!), and have a lot to look forward to in January - we have FIVE birthdays coming up in the next month. </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">So bring on the cake, the gift making, the celebration of our friends on their special days, the togetherness and excitement we get to experience every time we have a birthday in our classroom. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350038216716498703noreply@blogger.com0