Fun on Friday

Choice Time today was filled with fun. Some Turtles sculpted with playdoh, while others drove planes, trains and automobiles. Noah brought in a book on how to make pictures with thumbprints, and many friends made multicolored print pictures and put them in their art frames. Turtles also practiced their cutting and beading with letters, while an imaginary game of Bear Hunt took up much of the room.
At Morning Meeting, we sang songs and then got together to make up another story with sound effects - each Turtle played a character in today's tale of bears and monkeys (a butterfly, a dragonfly, an elephant, a giraffe and David the Duck) - all searching for some juice to drink. Perhaps your child can tell you about their role.
After snack, we headed outside for some playground time and then went on a walk to find (and throw) some crunchy leaves. We picked a good tree and read our story outside - The Wide Mouthed Frog. On our way back, we learned a new call and response song (The Other Day, I Met a Bear), that we all enjoyed. We sang goodbye to our half-day friends and then decided to try a new table arrangement for lunch. It was nice to be able to see and talk with everyone while we ate, and we liked having the triangle shape in the middle. We discussed weekend plans and hopes over our meal together.

Picture Day, More Than One Way

Today was Picture Day, so we tried to steer clear of mud puddles and finger paint. Much of Choice Time was spent doing puzzles and building large projects with both the big wooden blocks and the magna-tiles. All of the Turtles also hung up their own magnetic frames - a place for each of them to choose and display some of their artwork. Many of the Turtles went immediately to create drawings to frame. We did some stretching and, at Morning Meeting, Juls requested the Storytelling Stool to talk with his friends about his summer. Next, Tamara told the Story of Picture Day, and what to expect when we went to the John Barnes Room.

After snack, it was picture-taking time. We took our class picture first, and then read stories while some of our friends had their pictures taken. We were so excited to get our Honor Books from the Book Sale, and we read The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and Trashy Town. Finally, we got to play outside for a little while, before it was time to say goodbye to our half-day friends.

Artists and Architects Day Two!

We finished our small group work on the Story of Black and White. Asking the children, "What happens when black meets white?" they explored the light and dark grays. "I'm an artist," Max declared.

At Morning Meeting, we looked at the xylophone keys. We noticed how there were big, medium, and small rectangles, and how the different sizes made different sounds. Then Tamara played a simple song, Mary Had a Little Lamb, on the three notes. The children are beginning to play with ideas of melody, and we will be bringing in more percussion instruments that we can play melodies on.

At  Choice Time, the children continued their amazing collaborative work on Thomas the Tank Engine.  Yesterday, they had been working in a constricted area that soon became over crowded. Today, we moved the blocks to the big oval rug, and they were able to build wider, more stable structures. We reconvened the Safety Committee to review our work, and we decided that the new building was much safer! The hard hats helped too!

Max's mom Ann read us a wonderful story today. It was call Dahlia by Barbara McClintog.

Artists and Architects

 Turtles were very active during Choice Time today. Many of our young artists were busy in the studio - painting at the easel as well as using watercolors. The easels are producing big, bold works of art where students are experimenting with large strokes, blocks of color and color mixing. With the watercolors, the Turtles continue to focus on being "the bosses of their brushes," creating a variety of lines and shapes and keeping their colors clean and bright.

In addition to the artwork being done, many of the Turtles returned to a large scale (and large group) construction project. Here, the children utilized both large and small blocks to create a big train that required a great deal of hammering and continuous redesign.

At Morning Meeting, we attended to some Turtle business. First, we began a discussion about how to insure that our construction site was safe. Friends had a variety of ideas, which included limiting the height, expanding the space available and some kind of whistle warning system. We agreed to meet again tomorrow to make final decisions. Next, Davie took to the Storyteller's Stool to answer questions about her new purple cast. After snack outside (where many Cheerios blew away), we formed a "Sound Train," where every Turtle got a chance to be the Sound Engineer. Then, we went on an adventure to the Lower School playground. There, the Turtle Construction Crew found more blocks and began to build additions to the playhouse.

Big Buildings, Letters and Leaves

Choice Time was filled with exploration and creation. Many of the Turtles joined the construction crew to put together a giant, complex structure (which caught "on fire" numerous time and necessitated calling in the firefighters). Other children worked with letter beads to form their names, did puzzles and painted at the easels.

During Movement class, Missy had the Turtles balancing bean bags all over their bodies. We also went on a Bear Hunt and then played with one of our favorites - balloons and noodles.

Dave (the Abington Meeting Caretaker) gave us some exciting news during Movement class - he had made us a giant leaf pile! The Turtles had a blast, running, jumping and hiding in the leaves.