Meeting about Model Bed

Today a small group of friends met in the conference room to discuss the design of the "baby bed" that they would like to make for the baby dolls in the classroom.  While observing the play with the dolls, the children were always making some sort of bed.  One day they said "we wish we had a baby bed to put our babies to sleep in."

I shared with the group that before we (teachers) start a meeting, we have the opportunity to play with gadgets that help get us ready for meetings, so they took a little time to get ready for the meeting. As they shared their thoughts they began to draw out their ideals

Can't wait to see what they came up with!

Neighborhood walk

We took a neighborhood walk this morning. The children have been

talking about maps and places in the world. We even saw one of our 

friends' houses. 

What did we notice about the streets and houses??

"They are different colors." -MR 

"We need numbers and letters. That's the address." -PW

"They are all different, I noticed something important. That one 

says 3, 7, 5 and that one says 3,7, 2." -LB 

 

         We found Cora's house. 

      "Where's your garage?" -RJ 

   Cora answered questions from her friends and told them about her yard, garage, and pool.

 

          And we noticed signs. 

Stay tuned as we continue investigating. 

Birch Classroom Agreements

The children worked on some classroom agreements.  They worked together and shared with each other what they thought would work to keep our classroom safe and fun.

After the children agreed on what would keep our classroom safe and fun, a few friends drew pictures of what those agreements would look like. We gave them labels and we refer to them we needed.

Once the pictures and labels were done, we all signed our agreements to seal the agreements.

When we were all done, we noticed that we did not have a picture of us just having fun.  One of our friends drew the picture below and stated that this looks like a lot of fun that we can have in the classroom.  We all agreed.

Why do we use maps? "Because it tells us what to do and what to see." -LB

The children have been drawing maps as well as having conversations about the globe, how to get 

to their houses, and different places in the world including volcanoes, bees, and water. 

We had the opportunity to interact with the this traveling map in the gym today. 

What do you see?

"The whole world we live in." - CI 

"Maybe Kansas City and Chicago is on it." -RJ

"Maybe the Arch."-JE

 

             "Where is my house?" -RJ 

               "I see Asia." -DC

           "Where is the ocean?" 

   We then tried getting this chain all the way around our state.

        "How long is this chain?" -RJ

   "Let's go this way, turn. I don't think it's going to make it. Follow the 

      black dots." -CI

            'I've been camping here before." -JE

As JB noticed this part of the map, he said, "I wonder if the 

penguins live there because it looks like ice." 

             "Let's go home. This is our home." -LB 

Playscape Play

The weather is perfect for having a good time outside. 

Climbing up the climbing wall.

Picking my favorite spot in the sand to build.

Hanging out in the cave with my new friend.

Measuring

A small group of friends began work inside measuring may different 

objects in the classroom. We extended our interest outside to the playscape. 

     "I'm going to measure the log because the sidewalk 

                  is too big." -CI 

  

        "Okay, I got it, it's an 8 and a 2." -CI 

             "Guess how many the wall is?" -MR

                            "A 5 and a 2." 

                      Some of our findings. 

The children have taken an interest in comparing sizes, we 

will see where this leads. 

Pollinating

A small group of friends were using natural materials including 

rocks and acorns. The teacher asked to hear about what they 

were doing. One friend responded, "Pollen for the bees." 

They referenced a book in the area and showed the teacher the picture below. 

                 Some of the conversation can be read below: 

"Pollinating is for the bees to make honey." -CF

"All of these bees are working together." -CF

"And they're talking to each other." -JB 

"So the bees are trying to make the pollen around the circle and then they go in.

They put the pollen in the beehive." -CF