M Weeks: Music, Me, and walking a Mile!

In our long and exciting journey through the alphabet, M has been one of our most rewarding and intriguing letters yet. We talked about Moms, monkeys, mountains, mad, my, and many, many more! And, in that sweeping list, we found a few that really stuck out.

For music, we had some very special visitors. Friends interact with music every day with us- singing, listening to the ukulele, trying out trumpet, or dancing to Justin Bieber. But, it was quite a special treat to have D's dad, Mr. Rob, come in with his high school guitar class and play for us.

We sang some of our songs and learned a few new tunes from them. We put on our hats and sang a about fire fighters. We picked friends and sang about them. We stood up and danced to the music together. And, we even got to try picking the strings!

Another exciting topic for the week was "Me". We used Mirrors to look at ourselves and make self portraits. We wrote letters to ourselves about the goals we have or things we expect to happen in the future. And, we talked about how important it is to love and respect ourselves as we do our friends and family.

Finally, one of our biggest adventures yet was our MILE WALK! Friends paired up to walk a half mile out and back from the school. We compared this walk to walking the distance of a meter stick, and we discussed how the distance added up in the round trip. Friends thought about the importance of respecting the world around us as we walked through. We discussed road safety and how important it is to stick with a buddy. Then, we finished off the walk with a scary and exciting dinosaur hunt. Friends expressed a real sense of pride in their accomplishment, and they were eager to explore more next time.

Second Harvest Field Trip!

Hello Friends of the Purple Room!

We thought it was time to follow up with you all on our food drive. We've been quite busy in recent weeks, but our field trip to the Second Harvest Food Bank was definitely a highlight.

Friends worked together to move a van load of food items into the donation bin, where it will be distributed to those in need.

We took a little tour of the facility and heard about what they do there. We were very curious about who donates food and what they donate. We saw crates of fresh fruit and talked about the sponsors who donate milk, eggs, bread, and other essentials.

We even got an inside look at the distribution center!

Friends got the opportunity to ask questions about who needs food, how the food gets to them, and who gets it there. We learned that Second Harvest serves thousands and thousands of needy individuals and families, and we talked about how we could keep helping long into the future.

We got a first-hand look at the good work they are doing there and left with a sense of understanding for how important Second Harvest is to the community.

Snack Store- Math and Negotiation at Work

Recently, we have been trying to implement more math into the free-flowing curriculum of the Purple Room. Teacher Kate had the idea to use her Tea Party station as a prime learning opportunity with the snack store.

Children were given 5 Unifix cubes and the choice of several snack items for purchase at prices of 1-3 cubes. The items were priced based on estimated value of the item to the children. For instance, the tea was 1 unit while Goldfish (a very popular snack time request) cost 3 cubes. Children had to budget to give themselves the best mix of food and drink. They enjoyed the tea party as an overarching concept and got the added benefit of using their understanding of numbers to their advantage.

In the afternoon, the snack store continued, but with a change in format. Rather than the value of the individual food or drink items, the prices were based on quantity. One "unit" of banana, raisins, Goldfish, or tea cost 1 cube. The unit:cube ratio became a better value as the price went up (e.g. 1 cube= a slice of banana, 2 cubes= a hunk of banana, 3 cube= half a banana). Children had to think carefully about which items they wanted more of and how they could get the best value for their money (e.g. 2 Goldfish at 1 cube per Goldfish or a scoop of Goldfish for 2 cubes). After the children spent their first 5 cubes, I gave them another set, asking them to budget ahead and use all 5 cubes in one purchase.

Through the different store formats, they learned different meanings behind value and thought about their needs and desires in a different context. They used their social skills through negotiating power (e.g. "Can this chunk be 1?", referring to raisins priced at 1 cube per raisin). And, they used their math skills in order to plan ahead for a more well-rounded snack experience.

They were empowered by their own decision making abilities, and they were able to gain real-world experience in the value of understanding numerical concepts.