Budding Natulists

Last week our morning meeting on Monday took an unexpected turn when I shared a bird's nest that Mr. Kaulius brought in shortly before the children arrived. I relayed to the class that the nest had fallen from a nearby tree and no eggs or birds could be seen.  And from there the wondering began- did it fall from a maple tree (there were maple leaves sticking out), were the birds having a baby shower? (there was a pink ribbon woven around), why was it so small?  how do birds carry mud?  Someone suggested that we should make science drawings of the nest in our forest journals and we did!

Later in the week we continued our discussion of how an apple tree changes with the seasons. We are lucky to have some on the Orchard grounds that we can visit throughout the year.  Below you can see us working on a piece of art work that tells the story of an apple tree in four seasons. You can also see the children picking apart the heads of giant (actually called "Mammoth") sunflowers that I brought from my home. We're going to try saving some seeds to plant in the spring and even toasting some for snack.

Our week concluded with making some homemade, okay, schoolmade applesauce.  The children chopped and with a little help on the boiling from Mrs. G they became sweet and mushy in no time.  
During Explore the children took turns cranking the food mill that separated all the skins and seeds.  A touch of cinnamon and a healthy, fall snack was had by all!

A Beautiful Day at Hackett's Orchard

Our apple picking field trip was picture perfect.  On top of the gorgeous weather, we had an excellent guide (Gary) and the memorable experience of eating an apple you picked yourself! While on the tractor ride we learned about different varieties of apples, how apple trees grow and how a terrible frost in the 1930's destroyed all but one of the trees in the orchard.  This prompted one of the children to wonder if that tree was still there and if we could visit it.  Gary was inspired by the curiosity and took our group to another area of the orchard where we visited the nearly 100 year old surviving tree- super cool!

Explore Time

This picture speaks for itself.  

Creativity and cooperation through block play- so important.

A Look at Literacy

Much of the literacy instruction that I do has the sole purpose of inspiring a of love of books, and as an outgrowth of that- a love of reading and learning through reading.  A favorite author of mine that I will share with the children later in the year, Tomie DePaola likes to say that when you read you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything!  In the pictures below you will see the children creating an entry in their poetry journals, sorting magnet letters, and reading as a social experience.  Stay tuned to the blog as in the coming week I will introduce the practice of partner reading which will become an important part of Readers Workshop.  It's a way to get children really thinking about what they are reading and learning from each other as they learn from books. 

 

New Skills, New Friends and Forrest Fun!

This post is really like a "visual follow-up" to Curriculum night.  Below you'll be able to see a dice rolling math game in action.  As I circulated amongst the children I asked questions about which number had the most or the least, and which they thought may come in first, second, or third.  You can also get a look and the fantastic focus the children brought to practicing writing their names like a kindergarten teacher!  (AKA first letter uppercase and all the rest lower!).  

This group has really taken to making mandalas with the pattern blocks.  For added inspiration, I was able to show them some photos of pattern block mandalas made by my former students.  There are some cool ways to do this virtually that you can find by following the links to online math activities on Math Coach, Kathy Lampheir's page on the Orchard Website.

We had lots of fun painting our book boxes and below you can see the concentration that went in to making the first book that will be stored inside for re-reading.

There's so much I could share about Forest Fridays- but as a Kindergarten Teaching Team we are inspired and committed to taking the children into the beautiful woods behind the school for exploration, discovery and environmental learning.  Since we don't have a Special on Fridays, we'll often venture out in the afternoon.  This week Mr. Kaulius joined us as we noticed wood pecker holes, marveled at possible fairy homes under the roots of a tree and added to a lean-to made of branches.

***Welcome to a New School Year***

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It's so exciting to be posting to the blog again.  Last year the blog proved to be a great way of communicating with parents.  I think of it like a window into the classroom and the thinking behind my work with the children.  I try to update it once a week. Feel free to leave comments!  Below you will see some snapshots from our first days.  We're spending time getting to know each other, the different materials in the classroom, the daily routines and the importance of doing everything we do with kindness.  You can see the children drawing their September self portraits, collaging their names in beans, learning about the herbs that my last year's class planted in the courtyard, working collaboratively with puzzles, exploring with pattern blocks and creating with playdough.