Our interest in learning about the human body has been developing more and more. The more we learn about something, the more we want to know about the rest. This week we learned about the rib cage and the digestive system including the stomach and intestines! We also explored our knowledge of five senses throughout the week. We saw videos and even discussed how food starts from the mouth, goes through the food pipe, to the stomach, the intestines, and out. We even drew the entire track as a race line from start to finish. The most interesting fact was knowing how our intestine is all tangled and if stretched out would look like a long, long spaghetti ;) some girls even mentioned it being long, long like Rapunzel's hair:)
Using dried noodles as the swirly intestine and modeling clay to attach the stomach to it...
Friends making the rib cage...
L and L working in close coordination to hold both the ends and finish the bone structure...
Making our five senses...for the sense of touch we used ink pads and made finger prints around the plastic plate which was our face :)
L matching his proportions and placements by placing it on his facial features...
A adding his facial features, hair, and making himself...
Moving....
Yes, we moved classrooms. A couple of weeks ago, Teacher Richa took care of most of the furniture moving and painting the color walls. As soon the week started, we took care of moving the rest of the materials and furnishings. Got to say the children were so cooperative and adaptive and even supportive. They wanted to help out with whatever they could. We also had a great discussion on the moving theme and such positive thoughts came out from this. For example, when you move you take a while to adjust to the new room, you have to leave some things behind, you get to design the new room the way you like, etc. L also gave us an example of how his neighbor left a fruit tree and gave it to them since they couldn't take it along. Another friend said we can't take the electrical fittings because they need to stay where they are :) While other kids spoke about packing, boxes, and moving trucks. Overall it was a very healthy experience for us as a community. Thank you to all the parents who I definitely know took efforts in finding things here and there due to the move. I know it was frustrating but it's great to see how everybody stood up and worked as a team.
We had lunch on floor while some were at tables...again no questions asked. They all knew it was a part of the moving process! Hats off to their understanding!
Trixie...
Trixie, our Purple Room pet mice, unfortunately passed away during the first weekend in February at a friend's house. She had completed her life cycle which was about one and a half to two years. This week all the friends heard about the death of our pet Trixie. Thank you to all the parents who took her home for the weekend, loved her, and made her a part of your lives. Thank you to Teacher Janet who took care of her food and cleaned her cage every week. Children were so attached to her and for some friends it was hard to start the day without going near her cage and calling out "Trixieeee" . It was definitely a big change not seeing her around. RIP Trixie. We miss you!
It was also Valentine week, and together we decided to made cards for her to express our feelings...
D choosing six hearts for six letters in Trixie's name...
L drawing Trixie's picture...
Friends adding a lot of hearts to show how much they love and miss her...
Letter V and the Valentine Book Exchange!
We collaged the letter V with vegetable hearts. Since we are learning all about the body, nutrition plays an important role. These veggi hearts reminded them to keep their heart healthy by eating a lot of fruits and vegetables.
We also made Happy Valentine Cards for family and friends...
...and could see their love of literacy at this card making center where they wanted to write all the love messages to Mommy and Daddy...
L using his spatial skills to fit his sweet message on the top cover of his card :)
K writing letters in her own way and feeling so competent to receive the acknowledgement and feedback from a teacher about her efforts...
L feeling so happy after her dad drew her a rose...well this way at least we come to know about the hidden parent artists! :)
She later continued to color it and added her own thoughts and elements...
D with an Elsa face chose to do the rose differently...she used two papers and drew a thick stem on the bottom paper and attached it with the top paper that had the drawn flower...
Our Valentine book exchange was eagerly anticipated...friends started getting books during the week for the exchange, and were equally excited to take one back at the end of the week. We first laid all the books down for children to choose from...
We made number chits and children picked them from a 'shake shake' jar in order to know their turns...
One by one, they came forward to pick a book!
When we all finished choosing our books, we did a few stretch and balance activities with our books before opening the surprise :) Thumbs up to the first person who chose the book and waited till the end to open it after 18 turns. Also, thumbs up to the last person who got to choose the book and waited until the first 17 were done choosing. It sounds easy but I know how tough it is for kids to do that, how tough it is for them to see that a book they had in their mind to choose had been already chosen by a friend. Amazing patience and understanding these love bundles have. Can't feel more proud than this! Love them to my core!
Everybody waited to open the surprise together in the end...wrapper ripping time!
Friends were so happy to know which books they got and couldn't wait to show teachers and other friends. They all wanted us to read their new books. We read as many as we could and enjoyed each and every one! Thank you to all the families and children who participated in this meaningful Valentine exchange!
Other activities during the week...
We made English muffin pizzas and later enjoyed them outdoors!
Graphing the Valentine heart candies, making predictions, drawing conclusions as to which one is more, counting, learning to read the graph, and finally discussing our findings. In short we got engaged in a lot of science and math skills ;)
Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine weekend!
See you'll around!
Hugs,
Teacher Rashida
