September 28, 2017

At our morning meeting this morning we looked at these photos and Lily recalled that they are from our experience yesterday when we walked to the front of the building to take note of who our neighbors are here at St. John's. We have been talking about our neighbors and Cate noticed that we also have neighbors here within the school, the Brown room in the front and the Tucker room in the back. Along with discussing what it means to be a good neighbor and take care of our classroom and materials, we are hoping to begin exploring the idea of neighbors in a more elaborate way.  

We've got some new recycled materials in our construction area and upon entering the classroom the children were immediately drawn to them and began to experiment building with them. James wondered if perhaps these styrofoam 'brackets' would make "a stable base for a house."
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Later in the day, as the children worked with stability and balance, their tall building collapsed and Melanie wondered if perhaps we could built something low to the ground instead. This invited the children to reconsider their original structure and they announced that it is now a boat! How wonderfully imaginative the children are and how easily they can reimagine a structure and breathe it a new life. 

While the construction area is a buzz, some of our ladies found a peaceful moment together while they bonded over their similar stuffed animals friends!  

We have been investigating measurement in various forms throughout our day and in various areas of the room. Measurement also comes into play during snack time as we have been collecting our left-over drinking water in a beaker located next to the sink. Each day the children pour their left-over water in the beaker and we notice the changing water levels. Today was a very exciting day as Caleb, Max, and Maisie notice that the water level has reached the top, over 1,000 ml! Tomorrow morning we will use this water to feed the many plants in our classroom. 

Catching up with our Birthday Committees 

Our birthday committees were hard at work today as we finished illustrating stories for both Danny and Caleb's birthdays coming up. The children really enjoyed getting to use their own words and ideas to tell a story for their friends and they were responsible, from start to finish, in the creative process.  It is so wonderful to see how the children are not only enjoying themselves but they are also bonding with their friends in the process. Tommy was thrilled to share his elaborate illustrations for the cover of Caleb's story with his friend Hugh who was equally as interested in hearing what Tommy had to share. We are looking forward to these celebrations and to share the stories with the whole classroom community!