Forest Friday!

Good afternoon and happy Friday! We had a lovely trip to the forest on this beautiful day! This morning, the students were busy building bridges, creating trees and homes for new animals in the sensory table, completing puzzles, making popsicles out of floam, and building with blocks and loose parts.

Later in the morning, the Birch room walked to the forest and the students enjoyed finding many different colored leaves! Other students climbed in trees, pretending to be monkeys while others gathered sticks and hunted for treasure. We returned to school and enjoyed playing outside on the playscape before our pizza lunch. Have a great weekend and enjoy the weather!

Firefighters Visit

We had an exciting day! The Webster Groves Firefighters came to watch our fire drill.  They told us we all did a great job keeping our bodies safe and getting out of the school safely.  After our drill we were able to talk to the fire fighters.  They told us how important it is to have a plan if a fire drill at home.

 

These friends were asking the firefighter how to become a firefighter and if girls can be firefighters.  He told us that you have to go to school and the fire academy.  Being a firefighter is a very important job and I think we may have some future firefighters in our room. 

Walking to Straubs

Good afternoon! The Birch kids have been working hard playing and building! We began the morning by building with blocks and loose parts at the light table. There was a lot of bridge building! Other friends built train tracks and drew with chalk.

We held a class meeting and decided to take a trip to Straubs to buy milk and butter to make our bread. The students brought their list with them, and did a very good job having a safe body while walking through the grocery store. They held hands while walking through the store and used their eyes to look at all of the delicious food...yum!

After returning to school, the students played on the playscape. Inside, some students built in the collaboratory while others created cakes out of floam. There were some great creations built out of magnets and legos. The students enjoyed a delicious chicken sandwich for lunch. We are excited for this fall weather coming our way! We will be spending a lot of time outside so please send your child to school with a jacket!

Persistence in purposeful Buildings

I noticed you getting right to work.  You had a plan in your head as to what you were going to build with these materials.  You started out with the large white pipes on top of one another.  Have you used these materials before?  Did they remind you of something you have seen in the past?  As I watched you build you kept trying to balance the large tiles on to the small pipes.  You figured out you needed lots of pipes to hold up that tile. You continued this process until you were out of small pipes.  I could see the building come to life.

I left you alone for a bit and came back to see your progress. It became a water factory!  When I asked you about your building you explained how water moves into the pipe and up the "water elevator"  "It will come out of the top here." "Trucks can drive and park by the pipes to pick up the water." 

The building transformed with new materials added. There was so much persistence as now you had to figure out how to make walls for your second factory.  You tried to use blocks as supports on the inside and outside.  

You used blocks to make the roof.  It was still falling down.  You looked around to see what else you could use.  You even asked me to help hold up the walls, but once I let go, they fell.  I asked if you could make your walls out of something else, something that can stand on its own.  Wooden blocks would satisfy you. You used the tiles as the roof.  Your second factory was complete.  You were very proud of yourself as you did not give up and you solved your own problem. 

Notice in these other pictures of buildings created today,  how detailed the children are becoming.  Every material is purposefully placed.

 

Fabulous walk!

Hello and welcome back from the weekend! The Birch room took a walk today and it was full of excitement and fun! 

We began the morning by making choices in the classroom. Some students built a puzzle while others created juices at the light table using cups and water cubes. The Birch kids practiced signing in their names, as well. They are getting very good at writing their names...keep up the good work, Birch friends!

After playing outside on the playscape, we decided to walk to downtown Webster to observe construction happening for a new bank! As we sat, the students noticed several things about the construction:

"I see pipes. They use them to hold the building up."

"Some pipes are also in the ground so water can go through them."

"I see trucks and two big tractors."

"That's a lot of dirt!"

"I see a lot of cones. There is an orange fence to keep people out and safe."

We look forward to walking back to this area to see the progress of the building the new bank!

As we continued our walk, we noticed a firemen cleaning the ambulance outside of the firehouse. He invited us over to take a look at the firetruck! Each child took a turn going through the fire truck.

 

The firemen also showed us some of their equipment on the side of the truck and explained the purpose of the materials and tools. 

We ended this spontaneous visit by going home with new firemen hats! Thank you, Webster Groves Fire Department!