Happy Holidays!

SEE YOU ALL ON JANUARY 3RD!

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
"Bubble Gum Soup" for breakfast! We made a beautiful batch of bright pink "flubber". Especially fun was having the students stir the "soup" while adding a solution that made parts of it coagulate and stick to the spoon. The messiness of the whole process was only eclipsed by the roars of laughter at my mock surprise that they snuck snakes, worms and other slimy things into the mix. So fun.

TODAY'S STORY
Blue Rabbit And The Runaway Wheel, by Christopher Wormell. In our last story, Blue Rabbit set off on a bicycle looking for adventure. He was so busy looking for adventure that he didn't look where he was going. He hit a rock and lost the wheel to his bike. Chasing it unveiled a series of misfortunes caused by his recklessness: Squirrel's house was knocked down; Badger was taking an unwanted mud bath; and Turtle was upended. Imagine their surprise when they followed the wheel's muddy trail back to the scene of the accident. Blue Rabbit hastily put the wheel back in place and rode away in short order.

Back In Action!

A radial sunburst pattern, painted by Athena

TODAY'S ACTIVITIES
The rain confined us largely to our classroom for the day. This was of little consequence, because our class gets along so well and attendance has been lower this week due to holiday travel and family obligations. The most popular of activities were the small Lego table, the big block area, glazing ceramics and a large group visit with Bongo.

BONGO'S GROWING FAN BASE
With guests from Room 5 visiting, our class wanted to introduce our very active pet. Everyone handled her with care as instructed and were very patient and informative to our guests who had questions about snakes. Liberal amounts of Purell before and after the session followed by more handwashing are standard practice. For Alexander's Birthday, he demonstrated how to stand like a tree so she'd climb around as in the wild. I don't think trees are as ticklish as he was, though.

TODAY'S STORY
Blue Rabbit And Friends, by Christopher Wormell. Using bold linocut illustrations, the author tells the tale of Blue Rabbit, who is unhappy with his surroundings. As he searches for more appealing accomodations, he encounters other animals in similar situations: Bear in a wading pool; Goose in a doghouse; and Dog in the burrow of daisy-covered hillside. As you may expect, they realize, one by one, that another would find his home more suitable. All, except for Blue Rabbit, who sets off on his bicycle in search of "adventure". To find out, tune in tomorrow for the sequel (and a lesson in honest accountability), Blue Rabbit And The Runaway Wheel.

ZOOM!

SCOOTER SHUTTLE
In the multi-purpose room, Andy set up a movement activity with scooters. After a brief safety lesson, the students were divided into 4 teams of 3. Each team had their own color scooter and matching "station". This lesson was two-fold. First was the exercise in balance and coordination. They went forward while sitting, backward while sitting and forward on the tummy, as a lizard or crocodile. Needless to say, this was the most popular, and great for their shoulder muscles. Second (and just as important) was waiting and taking your turn at the right time. This this was the most challenging of the two, but after a few laps around the "island", was running smoothly.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
Usha began a two-part project with the children. They painted paper plates as the first step of that project. The remaining paints were diluted and used to dye different types of pasta to be sorted (pre-math skill) used for collage and/or threading. Both activities help to develop fine motor skills.

TODAY'S STORY
Duck On A Bike, by David Shannon. The author of the dubiously popular "No, David!" books uses his distinctive brushwork for this unusual barnyard tale. When an adventurous duck sets off on a bike, he catches the attention of the other barnyard animals. His autonomy is contagious, as one by one the other animals get their own set of wheels, resulting in a rural "Critical Mass" of sorts.

Mud + Kids = Happiness

The pizza poses little worry and that snowman awaits temperatures unheard of.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
The squirrels constructed with clay today. They pushed, pinched, rolled, cut and scribed the clay into forms of their own designs. Many oare of questionable structural integrity, so we shall closely examine the outcomes after our firing next week.

BONUS GRASSY PLAYGROUND VISIT
As the fence building on the upper playground goes into high gear, we enjoyed an extra visit to the grassy and all the climbing, running, sliding, see-sawing, digging and scavenging that makes for an active morning and an easy naptime.

Being a patient pedestrian can be difficult in San Francisco,
as evidenced in Christopher's drawing.

TODAY'S STORY
Corduroy, by Don Freeman. These hand-tinted scratchboard drawings bring back memories. Anyone attending school in the U.S. in the past four decades read this heartwarming tale. A little stuffed bear sits on a shelf, presumably beyond his expiration date, until a young girl adopts him into her home. Most fascinating to the children is the idea that toys wake up and go exploring the store at night.

Clay Nation!

Though not to scale, this arrangement of Snake and Other Being would preface Bongo's quickest feeding, thus ending her three week fast. She was VERY active after her "appetizer."
(Snakes do not eat during the skin-shed cycle)

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
The raccoon group worked with clay while the squirrels played outside. The techniques we practiced were rolling balls and "snakes." Though these were taught, the children were free to make anything their hearts desired - and they did. To avoid the frustration of trying to make a specific figure, we instead focused on simply working with the clay. Inspiration fgor any figurative forms came from their observations during the process of making. that's what artists do. We had everything from mini pinch pots and game pieces to ice cream cones and pizza. Their creativity knows no bounds!

TODAY'S STORY
A Giraffe And A Half, by Shel Shilverstein. This absurd tale is a great book for rhyme. Stanzas are added one at a time to acccumulate in a preposterous inventory of rhymes. We love to have the children say the rhyming words to help them learn to predict text. The ability to predict what comes next is a valuable tool for comprehension. In this case, the clue is the rhyming pattern. As they get older, the patterns will be determined more by "what makes sense."...unlike a giraffe falling wholly "into a hole that was dug by a mole."

Bongo's Back!

...AND BRIGHTER THAN EVER!
For the last two weeks, Bongo has been reclusive, spending most of her time hiding under the tree bark cover and soil. She hasn't eaten since Thanksgiving. Additionally, she had become pale, prompting frequent health checks made difficult by her sensitivity to touch. This week we found out why - SHE'S SHED HER SKIN!. Wow! Look at that! The children were amazed and delighted to see and touch the intricate scale patterns in this ultra-thin, transparent material. Of course, the skin has broken into dozens of pieces from all the touching and handling. Click on the picture to the left and find the piece that used to cover her head.

She is once again active and showing off a brightly colored set of scales. We'll give her a long overdue meal Wednesday.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
We did some big ol' messy, fun-as-could-be roller paintings today. Of course, it only took about 10 minutes to resort to finger/hand/forearm painting. They had a blast, and it'll make some sweet giftwrap paper for resourceful parents.

Painting by Idries. "It's my Mom. She's Pearl."

The class was so excited to see and feel their bright, glossy pinchpots today. they marveled at the color changes. Some even noticed a change in the ringing sound they made when they touched together. A few artists noticed some exposed clay and wished to add another coat to cover those spots, so we'll re-fire those along with some more clay creations next week.

TODAY'S STORY
It's Okay To Be Different, by Todd Parr. This book's super bright colors and simple illustrations engage children in a page by page celebration of individuality. The message is that everyone deserves to be loved, accepted and admired for who they are, regardless of color, race, gender, origin, physical ability and appearance. Even though we are all different as individuals, we all have the same needs.

We're Fired!

OUR FIRST CERAMICS
Our pinch pots have been glazed and fired. The soft pastel colors have intensified with the heat. The students have not seen them yet, but will tomorrow morning. They have been asking about them twelve times a day and are eager to see the result of their creative work. We will most certainly be doing more ceramics, eventually making it a regular option for those interested. We'll be ordering plenty of clay this year.

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
A reprise of the "What's Missing? Game". We bagan by first asking each child to explore the classroom and bring something that fit in their hand. Second, we had each child "name" the object for continuity in our discussion. Sometimes it was obvious like a frog or dinosaur. Others required more descriptors like the "little red stacking table" or the "yellow necklace thingie" Everyone first played individually, then in groups of three and finally in pairs independently. It is so rewarding to see them adapting this game of perception and memory to a socially rewarding experience. The game continued into the afternoon session, with pairs of children practicing these skills independent of teacher guidance - the true test of learning.

TODAY'S STORY
George and Martha Encore, by James Marshall. This book contains five super short episodes between a couple of hippos who argue and complain from time to time, yet always bend over backwards to make one another happy. The simple stories compiled here are: The Dance Recital; The French Lesson; The Beach; The Disguise; and the encore, Tulips. One remarkable aspect of our copy is that it is missing the dust jacket with the title. In developing Concepts Of Print that precede reading and writing, we are learning various parts of a book: Front Cover, Back Cover, Spine and Title Page. We have learned from experience that if you can't find the title on one of the covers or if the book is on the shelf, you can always find the title on the spine!

After years of reading these wonderful stories, it just dawned on me that George and Martha are the names of America's first First Couple.

"I cannot tell a lie...George and Martha is a great read." ~ G.W.