The last Brown Room project of the year... Building a House in the Outdoor Classroom! Video from today's building process. It was a huge group effort! Such a nice way to spend our last day (for a while) together.
A final comment from Daniel as we reviewed our work before heading inside - It's a good house. It's better than that one! - Daniel (comparing our "BR House" to the Cob House) To wrap up our day we could think of nothing more fun than playing a new favorite movement game - Hot lava pillow dancing to holiday music! Happy Holidays from the Brown Room!
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We began our day with Chapel. There was a big crowd with lots of faces to look at on the computer and projector screen. Guess who was in the crowd? Ines and her family in Germany! We also recognized some Brown Room friends at home and a couple of our parents too. So far during all of the chapel's we have had in 2020, the Brown Room assignment has been to sing "This Little Light of Mine" for the school. We might have a new responsibility in the new year. We shall see! |
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After, Bea sums up the whole conversation for us using the globe. | |
How do you know it's an apple? Because they're red (Hugh). A stem (Bea). Sticker! Because it keeps it... (Frannie). ...Fresh and good (Bea). A discussion about ways to use apples started and turned into a conversation about ingredients. Hugh: Eat them. Bea: To make something. Finlay: Like you use them for cupcakes. Hugh: Soup? Bea: Maybe pie. Frannie: We mix them into strawberries. Finlay: Bake them! They turn into something. What can you turn apples into? We sometimes eat something made out of apples for snack. Bea: Apples and pears. Finlay: Apple sauce! How could we make apple sauce? Finlay: Mash it, and then cook it. Then put it in a bottle and you gotta write apple sauce on it. Bea: We need to cut it. |
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| In order to fill up our big crock pot many apples had to get cut. The children showed a great amount of focus and follow-through during this project. Everyone proudly announced to the rest of the group when they finished cutting their slice and quickly asked for another one. Everyone was excited about what our apple sauce would taste and look like in the end. Of course we tasted some of the apples in the process but also worked on our impulse control. It can be so hard to not just eat the apple that is right in front of you... This also requires foresight and the understanding of the process and desired outcome. |
In the end we added the rest fo the ingredients - turbinado and white sugar, water and cinnamon. We mixed it all together, turned on the crock pot, closed the lid and now it was time to wait for our apples to cook.... | |
Hugh made sure to get every bit and last drop out of his bowl. | When it was time to eat snack, the classroom (and really all of St. John's ...) smelled deliciously like apple sauce. Even though the apples weren't soft enough yet to be smooth apple sauce, it still tasted absolutely fantastic! Mmmh! It's juicy! - Hugh This apple sauce tastes great, Sam! - Cape Mmmh, I love it! - Lily Did you like it? - Lily asking Michael, who sat across the table from her You've got to try the apples, Ines! - Finlay (later he also invited Molly and Jessica to try the apple) |
We brought a new book to our morning meeting. What can you see on the cover? Remy: Paper Cate: A bunny Jade: A square Lily: Rectangle Finlay: Box The title of the book is "Not A Box", so could it be a box on the cover? Did you know that boxes are made out of paper? What else can you think of that is made out of paper? Lily: cardboard Hugh: Paper to draw on Bea: A book Hugh: And and and also a bag Remy: And also a bowl Bea: A paper bathroom Hugh: Toilet paper Hugh: Blocks (while looking at the construction area shelf with materials made out of paper) Can you at home think of other things that are out of paper? You might be surprised about how many you can find. How many different items can you find at your home? In the book the narrator (we talked about that the narrator is the one telling the story to us) shows us that a box can be many different things, such as a robot, a rocket ship or a volcano. |
Hey! The green part. Look! This is the earth. Yeah, Because of the ocean and because of the buildings. (looking at the colors green and blue on the map) It seems like there's not lots of oceans on earth, but there is, right? - Hugh | (while unrolling the examination table paper or tissue paper roll) Look, I found something. I got a flu shot. - Lily |
more paper explorations and discoveries: |
Today Jade's mom, Paige, joined us as our Mystery Reader! The two books she read for us were about things we also enjoy in the classroom. One book was about colors and color mixing and one book was about a toad and different ways of transportation. We helped the turtle to turn on pipes, pour out paint, fix the machine and get colors flowing by moving our arms and took our toads on a little adventure. We listened to the books "Colour blocked" by Ashley Sorenson and "McToad Mows Tiny Island" by Tom Angleberger. | 'Cause we got a call! - Remy |
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We're starting to take on more challenges in the outdoor classroom. Climbing up the wobbly rope ladder, testing out the climbing wall, and discovering new parts of the play structure to climb/hang on. Hugh's first attempts to reach the hanging bar did not look this confident. He was first feeling pretty nervous about getting down and was afraid to let go. When he did let go, he fell on the ground without being able to catch himself or land on his feet. Through trial & error and learning from his first experiences, he soon was confident in his ability to "land on his feet"! He persisted through his fears and seemed quite proud of himself for doing so. Watching their peers face new challenges encourages other children to do the same! | |
We reminded the children that we would be delivering all of the messages they made for Daniel to his house today. Hugh wanted to take the opportunity to create one more message for his friend to add to the collection. He used both his symbol (the "present") and Daniel's (the bumblebees) to inspire his drawings. You can see 2 bumblebees and the present/gift represented on the message. Hugh also included a drawing of Daniel holding an ice cream cone (drawn on top of one of Hugh's symbol stamped) and signed his name towards the bottom. Lots of time and love went into this one! |
Together as a class we reflected on feeling sick and what we do when we're not feeling well. What makes us feel better? Finlay: Messages. Hugh: Hug, hug, hug our stuffed animals. When I'm sick I hug blue bear and gray phant (his stuffed animals). Lily: When I had a runny nose I did nose spray. Hugh: One day Elle had a runny nose and I had a runny nose. Bea: James had a runny nose. Hugh: But already Elle's runny nose and my runny nose all goed away. Already. We decided to make something to make Daniel feel better. But what could that be? What does Daniel really like? Bea: Bees! Finlay: Bumblebees! (Daniel has the bumblebees as his symbol at St. John's.) |
We think this bumblebee turned out so well and we will be sending it to Daniel as soon as it's dry. We miss having Daniel with us and hope to see him again soon! We're sending our love to the LaVecchia family and wishing them a speedy recovery. |