We continue to focus on the senses of touch and sight. We explored light and shadow using our “tech toys”- the LCD projector and the document reader. Children loved trying to make animals using hands as a tool to cast a shadow. We discussed how it would be if we didn’t have the sense of sight and could only use touch to guess what an object was. Then, children tried to guess the shape of the objects in the “feely” box by touch only.

At center time today, children had fun focusing on the senses of touch and sight. They have started to make a “feely” collage using fun materials of different textures. Another group of children painted using their fingers. To focus on the sense of sight, children are using pattern blocks to make designs. They then copy the design they have created onto paper using pattern block cut-outs- a difficult skill at this age but they have come up with some pretty amazing results!

Before the break, we had started our unit on the Five Senses through our baking activities-pumpkin pie, holiday cookies and gingerbread houses. This week we have started to explore the five senses in more detail. Today we read a book about what parts of the body are associated with each sense: eyes with seeing, ears with hearing, nose with smelling, tongue with tasting and fingers with touching. Children did a “touch test”, an experiment in which they had to describe the texture of an object and guess what it might be-without looking!

Happy New Year and Welcome back!

Children and teachers were very happy to be together again after the winter break. We exchanged stories about the holidays- Santa’s visit and what we did during the holidays, where we went, which modes of transport we used etc. I was amazed at children’s oral language development when they told about their adventures! For writer’s Workshop today, I asked children to first talk about which part of their holiday they liked the best, and then draw it, using as many letters or words they could. This afternoon, we played games and read stories to review the letters of the alphabet we have studied till now- M, S, F, P, A,J, H, N, O, T, R and C.

Click here to see the kids make their Gingerbread Houses

Today’s highlight was making our Gingerbread Houses! Thanks to Lily (Jerry’s mom, Bahar (Demir’s mom) and Kim (James’s mom) for helping us with this messy project! Children wanted to put their cookie person in the house, so we attached it to the house. The houses are coming home today so that you can enjoy them in the holiday spirit! Coming home today also: The Gingerbread Man booklet and a present that your child has made for you! Don’t forget to ask your child to tell you their version of the Gingerbread Man story!

We continue to work on our versions of the Gingerbread Man story. Children continue to take turns to tell each other their version. We did a sequencing activity with the original story. Children cut and stuck pictures in order to re-create the story and make their own mini Gingerbread Man booklet. This helped them memorize the order of events and practice writing numbers. Then, in the afternoon, we baked our own Gingerbread cookie people to live in the Gingerbread Houses we will make tomorrow! we had to watch the oven very carefully while they were baking to make sure they did not escape!

This week we are focusing on the Gingerbread Man story. Stories have been a part of almost every culture in the world. Storytelling is a very powerful technique for many reasons: The process of retelling stories secures and consolidates memory; children develop vocal and physical confidence and experience narrative conventions, explore rhythm, rhyme, repetition and other word-play, to mention just a few reasons! Today, I re-told the story of the Gingerbread Man and changed the ending. I then invited children to do the same. Children are taking turns to tell their version of the story to their classmates.

Here are some interesting websites for children:

http://www.storylineonline.net/index2.html

http://www.starfall.com/

http://www.magickeys.com/books/#yc

Click on the link below to hear our class singing one of their favorite Holiday songs- Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. The story of Rudolph is a great one for children of all ages. Children can empathize with Rudolph who was different because of his red nose and not allowed to play with the other reindeer. But like all good children tales, this one too ends happily…

http://portal.saschina.org/video/media/1824/Rudolph/

Click on the link below for the history and lyrics of Rudolph

http://www.carols.org.uk/rudolf_the_red_nosed_reindeer.htm

Guess who made a surprise appearance at our Winter Party? Click on the link below to see…

http://portal.saschina.org/video/media/1823/Must_be_Santa/