TUCKER ROOM
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Monday, January 31st - Friday, February 4th Please remember that school is closed this Friday so that we can participate in Admissions Playdates. 
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in our construction area.... Over the course of two days, Remy and Saul have been creating an amazing large scale house structure in the construction area collaboratively. Today, Michael and Daniel joined the two in expanding their project. We're making a solar train. A solar train turns into a house. - Saul This is a house! I live in it. And Saul. It's a house because I have a hammer. You need a hammer! - Remy Other projects we have been working on around the classroom this week: Dear Rainey Families, Thank you for taking the time to speak with us during Interim Phone Calls this week. We enjoyed checking in with you and truly appreciate your input, questions, feedback and collaboration. Have a wonderful and maybe snowy weekend! Best, Sam and Ines Music and MovementToday, in Blake Hall, we explored the connections between sound and movement and identified different sounds. What sounds can you hear? Can you match your movement to the rhythm of the sound? Which sound was connected to which movement?
And some identified sounds and connected them to objects: It sounded like ninja turtles - Luke A motorcycle like vroom - Luke A firetruck - Bea and Cate A motorcycle like (screeching) - Cape A hear something like siren - Michael I heard a horse - Saul I heard a bear - Daniel
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Weekly Projections
As previously mentioned in the most recent "5 Things" email, this week our blog posts will be much shorter than normal due to the time commitment of interim phone calls scheduled throughout the week.
Today's Work
Please enjoy the following glimpse into today's exciting group work involving clay and our skeletal system.
Because our studio tables were covered in clay work, we decided to have a picnic style snack today.
Picnics are my favorite because they're outside. Let's pretend we're outside! - Saul
Oh, yeah! We're at the beach! - Remy
Oh, yeah! We're at the beach! - Remy
Happy birthday, Lucas!
Today we celebrated our dear friend, Lucas! We enjoyed some apple slices and special mini cupcakes for snack together. Even puppy, who drove the monster truck in Lucas' birthday portrait, got to join us for it and got his own cupcake! Do you think he took a bite of it?
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| | When Lucas was.... ...0 years old he liked to EAT ...1 year old he liked to PAINT ...2 years old he liked to BUILD TOWERS ...3 years old he liked to BUILD ROADS ...and now that he is 4 years old he likes to COOK SOUP |
To end the celebtation, Lucas' mom and dad read two amazing books to us - When's my birthday? by Julie Fogliano and A pizza with everything on it by Kyle Scheele.
As a special surprise Lucas' stuffy Puppy came to school, too! He must have secretly snuck into the bag they brought... What a silly puppy!
I saw Puppy in there! - Cape, pointing to bag with books
That's unbelievable! - Finlay
As a special surprise Lucas' stuffy Puppy came to school, too! He must have secretly snuck into the bag they brought... What a silly puppy!
I saw Puppy in there! - Cape, pointing to bag with books
That's unbelievable! - Finlay
| We love you, Lucas! Have a wonderful birthday weekend! |  |
After the birthday celebration we stayed in Blake Hall for a little longer for a fun Birthday Rainey Room Friday Dance Party! We slithered like snakes, skipped, danced, jumped, walked backwards, like spider, cows, penguins and dogs, and spread our wings to fly through the air.
What a great way to increase our heart rate and warm up our bodies on a chilly day!
What a great way to increase our heart rate and warm up our bodies on a chilly day!
This week we also worked on creating "mini collages" on the light table using small materials, such as beads, sequins, buttons or jewelry rings. The ends of paper clips were used as a tool to position, arrange or adjust the small items on our collage base. This process is helping us to strengthen our pincer grip and fine motor skills.
 | We hope you will have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm ! |
A Committee for Lucas
Can you believe that we have already celebrated 10 birthdays this school year in the Rainey Room?
So far, Finlay, Michael, Remy, Ines, Cape, Sam, Lily, Wilder, Jade, and Daniel have all had their school birthday celebrations.
As you are probably already aware, we begin the process of preparing for each child's birthday by conducting a large group interview (that takes place during morning meeting) to offer the opportunity for everyone to ask the birthday child questions about themselves. These meetings not only support everyone in gaining better insight into the personality, interests, and uniqueness of each individual member of the Rainey Room, but also invite collaboration and strengthen our ability to be kind and care for others.
If you'd like to read the full transcript of the large group interview for our friend, Lucas, you can find it below!
Next, the small group committee meets to reflect on the information obtained during the large group interview.
It's Cape and Cate's turn to be on the birthday committee this week!
Some of our major takeaways that supported the work moving forward are underlined.
Some of our major takeaways that supported the work moving forward are underlined.
What do we recall about Lucas's birthday interview?
| Well, his dog. - Cate Do you remember the dogs name? - Sam Puppy. - Cape *Lucas overhears* My dogs name is RuRu. That’s his nickname. - Lucas And red. - Cate Lucas, do you like red? I don’t know - Cape (asks Lucas to confirm) Yes. - Lucas Yes. His favorite color is red. - Cate Oh and I remember. A monster truck . - Cape He wants a monster on the monster truck that’s purple with three eyes. - Cate Like a monster truck he can drive? - Sam Like a bus. - Cape He said he doesn't want to drive it. - Cate Maybe you could go ask him. - Sam Lucas do you want to sit on your monster truck or not? - Cate He said no. - Cape The puppy could drive the monster truck! - Cate So how are we going to make this? - Sam I can draw a dog. - Cate We could ask him to bring puppy. - Cape We could, we could also use other materials to make what we need. - Sam | Do you think the truck will be big or small? - Sam Maybe big. - Cate How will we make the window? - Cape A square shape and one line across for a window. -Cate Cape, weren’t you riding something in your birthday photo? - Sam A tractor. - Cape And how did your friends make you a tractor? - Sam With wood. - Cape And blocks. - Cate And it was driving on grass. - Cape Maybe it could be driving on a road. - Cate How would we make it road? - Cape It would go straight lines with a yellow and white in the middle. - Cate Yellow lines on the road. - Cape With yellow string. - Cate And what color is the road itself? - Sam A black road, with yellow lines. I could get string from my house and a big platform thats black for the road. -Cape I think we might have something like that in our classroom. - Sam *Sam points out black panel board* Yeah, like that! And we need to use big yellow string. -Cate Yeah two in the middle. - Cape Yellow is one in the middle and two whites (lines) on the sides - Cate | And how will we include puppy? - Sam Draw it on the window. In the window on the truck. - Cape I can draw that! - Cate Do you want it big or little? - Cape Let’s do it little. Lets put the puppy looking out the window. - Cate So it sounds like you’d like to use blocks for the truck? - Sam Yeah. And draw the puppy. - Cate And how will Lucas be included in the portrait? - Sam Maybe waving to the puppy? - Cate And we could do some other cars around on the road. - Cape And maybe the puppy could wear a Santa hat? - Cate What?! No!! - Cape (laughing) So if we do include other cars on the road does the monster truck need to be bigger or smaller than the other cars? - Sam Bigger! With big wheels! And they can jump really high! - Cate We’re gonna cut them out like this big. - Cape (showing size with his arm) Cape, lets do this big. - Cate (making her arms bigger) I want to build the truck. - Cate |
Roadwork
| Maybe it could be driving on a road. - Cate | And we need to use big yellow string. -Cate |
 |  So...we need to cut it. - Cate (measuring white line/ribbon for the length of the road) |  |
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It’s a double yellow. Means don't cross. - Cape
The roads I drive on are not dashed lines.
Dashed lines are for highways. - Cape
(comparing the road he invisioned to the road drawing picture book used for reference)
The roads I drive on are not dashed lines.
Dashed lines are for highways. - Cape
(comparing the road he invisioned to the road drawing picture book used for reference)
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A Three Eyed Purple Monster
He wants a monster on the monster truck that’s purple with three eyes. - Cate
Cate volunteered to get started working on the monster for the monster truck sign. She began her process by choosing different size circle stencils, then tracing and cutting out two circular shapes. One larger circle and one smaller circle for the head and the body. She tested each arrangement to determine in which order to glue the circles together (large on top, small on bottom versus large on bottom, small on top).
Lucas said he wanted the eyes in purple. This shade of purple. - Cape
(choosing dark purple paper)
Cate, do you want these to be the color of the eyes? These are good shades of purple. - Cape
Yeah. - Cate
Lucas wanted how many eyes on the monster? - Sam
Three! - Cate
(choosing dark purple paper)
Cate, do you want these to be the color of the eyes? These are good shades of purple. - Cape
Yeah. - Cate
Lucas wanted how many eyes on the monster? - Sam
Three! - Cate
| I noticed Cate used a technique earlier for creating her circles. Cate, can you demonstrate for Cape? - Sam I know! She traced. - Cape | So look. I got three eyes. One, two, three. Maybe Cate should cut… - Cape |
 | Maybe the monster has a silly face. Monsters are silly like this. - Cate (making silly faces to show Capers) And maybe like 2 teeth. That are shaped like squares. Chubby teeth. - Cate (giggling) Capers then sketched a mouth in a "rainbow shape" to match Cates description of a silly monster face. |
Both Cape and Cate worked through this process in an extremely collaborative effort.
Each child stepped up and offered support to the other when needed, typically when faced with a difficult task.
Each child stepped up and offered support to the other when needed, typically when faced with a difficult task.
This is silly mini. Silly Mini Monster. - Cape (introduces monster to Sweetie Dog)
We should name it Silly Mini Monster. - Cape says laughing
Cate laughing: yeahhhhhhh!
You know why it’s called Silly Mini Monster? Because that’s part of the monster trucks name. - Cape
You know I think you’re right. Most monster trucks do have names. - Sam
We should name it Silly Mini Monster. - Cape says laughing
Cate laughing: yeahhhhhhh!
You know why it’s called Silly Mini Monster? Because that’s part of the monster trucks name. - Cape
You know I think you’re right. Most monster trucks do have names. - Sam
Silly Mini Monster
Wow Cate! Great job! - Cape observes their finished sign.
Monster Truck
I want to build the truck. - Cate
Using a few Google images of monster trucks for inspiration, Cape and Cate began constructing the truck that would be the backdrop for Lucas's portrait.
| When you look at the monster trucks, what do you notice about them? - Sam The wheels. - Cate How do the wheels look? - Sam Big. - Cate Maybe you could start with the wheels. You said they were big. What is the biggest material we have? - Sam This! - Cape (finds the largest blocks in construction area) Thats a square and wheels are round. - Cate We talked about drawing wheels… we could always draw wheels to add to the blocks as our base. Do we know how many wheels we need? -Sam Five! *Cate begins counting* No, four. 1,2,3,4. - Cate We have it! - Cape (counts out 4 large blocks to use) Let’s set it like this. Then draw it on. - Cape (sets blocks up in tall ordered arrangement with the intention of attaching drawn round wheels at a later time) |  |
Taking a break from building to enjoy some outdoor time proved to be really beneficial. The problem around "round wheels versus rectangular blocks" was solved when finding tires in the outdoor classroom.
| As the design of the monster truck progressed and took form, Cate expressed dissatisfaction with the appearance of the wheels and wanted to make a change. Remember? There’s grey in the middle. Like a grey design. We can make that. - Cate A trip to the Tucker Closet proved to be successful for both finding grey paper for the wheels and shades of brown to create Lucas's puppy. |  We need tape at the top, middle, and bottom. Lucas really likes red so we can see the red tape. - Cape |
Puppy
Using photos from Lucas's family photo book, Cate and Cape decided to use an approach similar to the construction of the monster by sketching shapes, cutting them out, assembling, and adding details.
I can draw a dog. - Cate
The puppy could drive the monster truck! - Cate
Photo Shoot Day
This looks awesome. - Finlay
The entire class becomes very invested in celebrating the birthday child. Non-committee members were so excited for Lucas to see his photo shoot setup when first arriving in the classroom today.
It's good! Puppy is my favorite. - Lucas
As Cape and Cate conducted the photo shoot, they considered body placement, facial expression, photo clarity, and prop arrangement to be important factors in capturing the best image.
They requested that Lucas try different positions throughout the shoot and afterwards narrowed down their choices to a handful of "favorites".
In the editing process, Cate emphasized the most important aspect to consider when choosing the final birthday portrait.
Lucas is more important than the monster truck. - Cate
Lucas was able to take the truck for a spin with puppy after the photo shoot.
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| We are very excited to celebrate you at school tomorrow, friend! | |
Our projections for the week of January 17th
exploring our ever changing heart rate
Today we reflected on our Winter Break Home Research experiences, during which we explored our heart rates in different scenarios and activities.
 | What makes your heart beat faster? Moving fast - Bea Frog jumps - Daniel Somersaults - Cape It (moving your body) makes your heart stronger - Hugh What slows down your heart rate? Laying with my dog. On the list (his home research documentation) my sister was laying with my dog. - Hugh When is our heart rate the lowest? That's called our resting heart rate. Night time - Bea When I'm laying with my dog sweetie - Cape But that's normal (that the heart rate goes down) - Lily |
During our Morning Meeting we reflected on our Winter Break Home Research experiences and results. Some children shared about their experiments and how and when their heart rate increased or decreased. They added their symbol to a heart rate chart on our documentation board to show which actions resulted in what heart rate. Saul, Finlay, Wilder and Bea also created drawings to represent certain actions and we would like to highlight a few examples here.
| During Winter Break, Saul was wondering if his heart beat would be faster or slower after a cup of hot chocolate... His heart rate before: 84 and after: 100 | |
| Why did his heart rate go up? Because it's having more sugar. - Lily Makes it beat faster. - Bea One time I eated a whole cupcake and my mom had to pick me up and put me to bed. - Frannie, remembering how tired she felt some time after she ate something very sugary. Saul drew "a ball of hot chocolate (swirl in the middle) and milk and a microwave to heat it up (circle around the cup)." |  |
 | Cate assumed her heart rate will go up when she "runs super fast" or when she does "jumping jacks". Together as a class we participated in this experiment. At first, we took Cate's heart rate while she was sitting during our morning meeting time. Here, her heart heart rate was 90. Then we all did 20 jumping jacks together. Afterwards her heart rate was 125. It almost went over the charts. I was so surprised! - Finlay |
| It's a special jumping where you put your hands in the air and then you jump. - Finlay |  |
| Both Daniel and Cate's "resting heart heart" was 90 beats per minute. Bea suggested to draw a sleeping person to represent the resting heart rate. That person's sleeping in the bed. It slows your heart down. When you're not doing moving really fast. - Bea |  |
 | I did bunny hops, frog jumps and running. - Daniel |  |
Wilder choose to draw a frog to represent frog jumps as a way of exercising your body.
We are looking forward to further investigating our heart rates in the classroom! Thank you to everyone who shared their documentation from home with us, as they are a crucial part of our work progressing and evolving.
Happy 4th birthday, Daniel !
When Daniel was.....
0 years old he liked to sleep
1 year old he liked to drink his bottle
2 years old he liked to dance
3 years old he liked to ride his tricycle
and now that he is 4 years old he likes to build a snowman
0 years old he liked to sleep
1 year old he liked to drink his bottle
2 years old he liked to dance
3 years old he liked to ride his tricycle
and now that he is 4 years old he likes to build a snowman
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After we sang our special classroom birthday song for Daniel, he walked around the birthday table 4 times. The birthday committee, Hugh, Saul and Frannie were excited to finally gift Daniel his birthday portrait. Thank you to Daniel's mom and dad for reading us a hilarious Elephant and Piggie story about ice cream story on a beautifully frigid day outside.
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Exploring new techniques in the classroom ...
 | As part of Daniel's birthday committee work we explored Stop-Motion Videos. We used the app Stop Motion Studio on our school iPods to create short videos. The app is simple and easy to use. The children enjoyed creating their own videos with their lovies and toys at school this week. If you are interested and would like to check it out at home as well, follow the links below to find the app in the Apple App Store or on Google Play. |
 | We started to introduce digital drawing this week. To create these amazing digital drawings we are using the app Tayasui Sketches on the iPad in combination with a Stylus Pen. Many children shared with us that they at times use an iPad and/or Stylus Pen at home as well. This is an interesting and fun way to strengthen fine motor abilities. If you are interested in exploring this further at home, you can follow the links below to download the free app. |
Have a wonderful long weekend and we will see you again on Tuesday!
A birthday committee for Daniel
Hugh, Saul and Frannie worked on our first birthday committee of 2022 for our dear friend DANIEL. As usual, we began our work by interviewing the birthday child about his likes, preferences and wishes for his birthday portrait. Most times the children are first and foremost interested in inquiring about favorite colors, animals or toys. Daniel's idea about his own birthday portrait also included something beyond these first questions....
Frannie: What’s your favorite color, Daniel?
Daniel: My favorite color is orange and purple.
Ines: Any specific kind of orange or purple?
Daniel: I like light orange and dark purple.
Sam: That’s helpful to know what types of orange and purple he likes, because there’s so many different kinds of colors.
Lily: Neon?
Bea: I love neon colors, they’re my favorite
Frannie: Do you like sparkly color?
Remy: I like shiny colors.
Daniel: I like three colors that I didn’t tell you guys. I like orange and purple and blue.
Saul: I like blue! That’s my favorite color.
Bea: And also you have some blue on your hat.
Daniel: My favorite color is orange and purple.
Ines: Any specific kind of orange or purple?
Daniel: I like light orange and dark purple.
Sam: That’s helpful to know what types of orange and purple he likes, because there’s so many different kinds of colors.
Lily: Neon?
Bea: I love neon colors, they’re my favorite
Frannie: Do you like sparkly color?
Remy: I like shiny colors.
Daniel: I like three colors that I didn’t tell you guys. I like orange and purple and blue.
Saul: I like blue! That’s my favorite color.
Bea: And also you have some blue on your hat.
a colorful family portrait
Daniel: Maybe we can have …. Can we draw my mom and my dad and me and my
sister? Maybe we can make it just look like that in my picture right there (pointing to his
family collage image, which is displayed in the classroom, above the book shelf).
Hugh: We can trace it!
Daniel: I like that everyone is like smile and my sister is like (Daniel making a funny face). She’s not
even smiling, she’s just like making funny faces. I would like to show them when
they come (show the birthday portrait to his family during the school
celebration). Because they always hug me.
Ines: It sounds like they love you a lot.
How can we include Daniel’s family in the portrait?
Hugh: We can trace it, but I don’t know if that will work. He (Daniel) should be in it.
Frannie: Because he will be happy (when Daniel is in the photo). Because he loves his
family.
sister? Maybe we can make it just look like that in my picture right there (pointing to his
family collage image, which is displayed in the classroom, above the book shelf).
Hugh: We can trace it!
Daniel: I like that everyone is like smile and my sister is like (Daniel making a funny face). She’s not
even smiling, she’s just like making funny faces. I would like to show them when
they come (show the birthday portrait to his family during the school
celebration). Because they always hug me.
Ines: It sounds like they love you a lot.
How can we include Daniel’s family in the portrait?
Hugh: We can trace it, but I don’t know if that will work. He (Daniel) should be in it.
Frannie: Because he will be happy (when Daniel is in the photo). Because he loves his
family.
To include Daniel's family portrait, we decided to trace it. Each family member got represented in one of Daniel's favorite colors, medium blue for his dad, dark purple for his mom and light orange for his sister Olivia. But what color should Daniel be? He choose red for himself. We printed the family portrait on a transparency and projected it onto a plexiglass frame, topped with a large sheet of white paper. After we traced everyone's features with sharpie, the outlines got filled with oil pastel in the matching colors.
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 | Did you really do that? You did that? - Daniel Yep. For you! - Frannie It's really beautiful. - Daniel |
a dinosaur puzzle
Wilder: His favorite animal is a dinosaur, I already know that.
Daniel: My favorite dinosaur is a T-Rex. I like T-Rex, that’s my favorite.
Ines: Is there an area that Daniel likes a lot in the classroom?
Hugh: Puzzle and construction area. Puzzles more than construction are. But he likes both of them a lot so I don’t know which one to pick.
*** Hugh and Saul ask Daniel which area in the classroom is his favorite ***
Daniel: I like puzzle! I have a favorite about the dinosaurs. With a red T-Rex on it. I think Brown Room took it. Can we borrow it and when we’re done, can we just give it back to them?
 | *** After asking Brown Room if we could borrow a specific puzzle they might have, we learned that they had returned it to the puzzle closet in the Middle Room. We then searched there for Daniel’s favorite dinosaur puzzle *** Daniel: It’s that one! Oh, the T-Rex is orange, not red. It has a red brontosaurus! Hugh: We should make the puzzle and I know how to do it! I want it built! Frannie: (It should be) near Daniel. Saul: Front! Because I like stuff that is in the front of me and he might like it in the front. ***Daniel coming over Daniel: I can help you do the puzzle. I’m really good at puzzles so I can definitely help. I want it built. Can I help you guys? |
Together, with the support of Daniel, the birthday committee created his favorite dinosaur puzzle. Unfortunately we realized that we are missing two pieces. After inspecting the potential placement of the puzzle for the photo shoot we noticed that it is quite difficult to see the puzzle when it is laying flat on the floor. To improve the visibility, we used "ramp blocks" to elevate and tilt the puzzle slightly.
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a cheetah in motion
Ines: Daniel, is there anything we need to know for the birthday committee work?
Daniel: Yeah! My favorite animal that’s not a dinosaur is a cheetah.
Ines: What do you like about cheetahs?
Daniel: They like run fast and they run faster than like all the animals. They’re faster than
a tiger or a lion.
Saul: I’m thinking about a blue cheetah.
Daniel: I like yellow cheetahs.
Saul: You know there’s only one blue cheetah?
Daniel: I went to a jungle one time and I saw a cheetah and I saw every animal there
and the cheetah was faster than the whole animal.
Daniel: Like, maybe you can draw a T-Rex and a cheetah like run faster than a dog?
Ines: It sounds like you are interested in the cheetah moving, so maybe we can think
about how we could make a cheetah move.
Finlay: We can make a mechanic cheetah.
Daniel: Or maybe we can build a cheetah?
Cape: We can use the projector to project it on the wall and watch it jump.
Saul: My idea is to make ... Daniel’s birthday committee to draw a blue cheetah.
Frannie: They’re yellow and they have black spots.
Hugh: A running cheetah!
Ines: How could we make it look like it’s running?
Hugh: With a projector.
Frannie: A video!
Saul: That’s crazy!
For this part of our birthday committee work we explored a new "material" or medium, stop-motion video. With the support of our friends, who kindly shared their cheetah toys with us, we were able to create our own video of a "running cheetah".
But how does a stop-motion video work?
You take a photo and then you move it and you take another photo but you have to move your hand so you don't see it in the video. - Hugh
Over and over and over and over and over. It loops! - Frannie
To create our stop-motion video we used the app "Stop Motion" on our iPod and a tripod, to stabilize our images and keep a steady angle. Stop motion is an animation technique in which one frame, or picture is captured at a time. In between each shot, the objects, here our cheetahs, are moved slightly. When the photos are strung together in a video, it gives the impression that the cheetahs are moving on their own. To achieve this effect we are required to communicate with our friends clearly so that the photographer knows when he can take the next shot.
For our final 5 seconds long video we took 29 individual photos!!
But how does a stop-motion video work?
You take a photo and then you move it and you take another photo but you have to move your hand so you don't see it in the video. - Hugh
Over and over and over and over and over. It loops! - Frannie
To create our stop-motion video we used the app "Stop Motion" on our iPod and a tripod, to stabilize our images and keep a steady angle. Stop motion is an animation technique in which one frame, or picture is captured at a time. In between each shot, the objects, here our cheetahs, are moved slightly. When the photos are strung together in a video, it gives the impression that the cheetahs are moving on their own. To achieve this effect we are required to communicate with our friends clearly so that the photographer knows when he can take the next shot.
For our final 5 seconds long video we took 29 individual photos!!
A few questions we asked ourselves before and during the process:
Which angle should we use? Will we film from above or the front? How should the cheetah move in the video? How much should we move it after each photo? Can they hop/ roll/ slide/ ice skate/ run?
Which angle should we use? Will we film from above or the front? How should the cheetah move in the video? How much should we move it after each photo? Can they hop/ roll/ slide/ ice skate/ run?
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We are so proud to present our very first stop-motion video project!
These are two other versions we filmed of a cheetah ice skating and two cheetahs rolling.
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a photo shoot
It looks like we're watching TV. - Frannie
I like it! - Daniel
We looped the stop-motion video and projected it onto the shadow screen to create the background for our photo shoot. Daniel was fascinated by the moving cheetah and during the photo shoot he began engaging with it by trying to make his lovie "run with the cheetah".
He's catching it! - Daniel
I like it! - Daniel
We looped the stop-motion video and projected it onto the shadow screen to create the background for our photo shoot. Daniel was fascinated by the moving cheetah and during the photo shoot he began engaging with it by trying to make his lovie "run with the cheetah".
He's catching it! - Daniel
The selection process was influenced by the group's requirement for the final birthday portrait to include a "smiling Daniel".
This is too funny! Because he's putting his finger on his ... (Chin! - Saul) on his chin. We need a smily face! - Frannie
In the end the group decided on the following image.
Because his parents will laugh. He's following the cheetah with his stuffy on the screen. - Hugh
I like it. His stuffed animal in doing the same thing. It looks beautiful and I can see his face. - Saul
Our final choice was digitally altered - we cropped the image and adjusted the "exposure" to emphasize the colorful dinosaurs in the foreground.
This is too funny! Because he's putting his finger on his ... (Chin! - Saul) on his chin. We need a smily face! - Frannie
In the end the group decided on the following image.
Because his parents will laugh. He's following the cheetah with his stuffy on the screen. - Hugh
I like it. His stuffed animal in doing the same thing. It looks beautiful and I can see his face. - Saul
Our final choice was digitally altered - we cropped the image and adjusted the "exposure" to emphasize the colorful dinosaurs in the foreground.
We can't wait to celebrate Daniel's 4th birthday tomorrow!
Snow Fun
Unsurprisingly, snow has been a main topic of conversation lately!
In the couple of days that we have been back together at school, we have been lucky enough to be able to enjoy snow both in and out of the classroom.
In the Outdoor Classroom
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| Making Snow People | Becoming Snow Mermaids Discovering Interesting Snow Findings |
Snow Cooking ... and (Clean) Snow Eating
Re-Connecting over a Snow Feast!
Bringing Snow Into the Classroom
Watercolor
We also explored the properties of snow by bringing it inside and observing the changes.
Through a painting exploration using watercolor paints, children discovered some beautiful findings.
Through a painting exploration using watercolor paints, children discovered some beautiful findings.
Winter Collage
 | "This is a day when it's snowing. There's a Christmas tree and a snowball next to the tree that a kid made." - Bea "I'm making a design about snow." - Lily |
Reflecting on our "Home Snow Days"
Thank you for sharing your snow day photos with us!
We used these images to support our work in reflecting on our time in the snow away from school.
We used these images to support our work in reflecting on our time in the snow away from school.
"Snowy Day" Drawings
Children revisited their snow day photos while creating their own versions using different drawing tools.
 Finlay's Snowy Day |  Bea's Snowy Day |
 |  Wilder's Snowy Day |
"Snowy Day" Paintings
"I think I can use my imagination to remember..." - Lily
 Lily's Painting... |  Lily's Painting Continued (Day 2) |
Snow Day Painting by Cate
 Snowy Painting by Bea |  Snowy Painting by Daniel |
COLD Weather!
Thank you to everyone for making sure that your child comes to school with cold weather appropriate clothing and accessories. Despite the frigid temperatures this morning, we managed to enjoy our backwards day and found fun ways to keep our heart rate up and our bodies warm.
*** Parents: Please make sure your child has extra clean masks in his/her cubby bag. The cold weather leads to an increase in runny noses and wet masks after spending time outside, so we are changing them more frequently. Thank you!
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