The 527 Globe
| Last week we had M. come teach us about Portugal! We learned about how they eat a lot of seafood, including barnacles, there are elevators in the middle of the city to get to the top of the many hills, and that they have very delicious pastries! This past Monday E. came to tell us about both Spain and Ireland. Our favorite part was the dancing! We tried river dancing again today for St. Patrick’s Day and it is quite the workout but very fun. We also had a parent from 580, B.’s mom J., come to show us pictures from her trips to Ireland and our favorite part was the story of two giants, one from Ireland and one from Scotland, that created the Giant’s Causeway. On Thursday we read a story about a man who tries to outwit a leprechaun by building a trap, so we made our own trap! I’m sure you heard all about it, but we had a great time. I made a makeshift rainbow out of rainbow cereal and when I grabbed it off the cubbies we found there was a pot of chocolate gold hiding behind it, so there really was gold at the end of the rainbow! The leprechaun also left us some beautiful shamrocks to take care of. (I was very happy about this because we had a patch of shamrocks where I grew up and my sisters and I would spend hours – or what felt like hours – looking for a four-leaf clover. We never had any luck, but I will be coming through these shamrocks to see if my luck has finally turned around!) We’ve introduced weather to the classroom, and did the storm in a jar experiment on Tuesday in preparation for the big storm we were supposed to get. It was fairly simple – you fill a mason jar somewhat full of water, add a thick layer of shaving cream, and then drop food coloring onto the cream until it gets heavy enough and the dye falls down into the water. This illustrates the condensation and precipitation components of the water cycle. When it gets warm enough we’ll be able to pour water on the cement and watch it evaporate, since a lot of puddles and snowbanks just seep into the ground and make the field all muddy. We’ve read a couple National Geographic books for kids about weather in general and I found some more books at the library about tornadoes, hurricanes, and fog. So that’s what we’ll read before going to the park this week. Last week we did the famous volcano experiment with baking soda and vinegar. In fact, we did it about five times until I ran out of vinegar. They’ve convinced me to get more vinegar so we can do a blue volcano instead of a red one. Before we did the experiment I explained about a very old city called Pompeii that was covered in ash from a volcano and everyone got buried, so we watched a couple minutes of a video of volcanoes erupting. On that note, we also watched a short video of orcas hunting seals by breaking up the ice from underneath; we read a book about how animals have adapted to be specific colors and patterns and orcas are black on top to blend in with the ocean’s shadows, so the seals on the ice can’t see the orcas swimming around them until it’s too late. It was from the BBC and it was very cool! They were all really into it, so if you are struggling to find something to watch you can try putting on animal documentaries. Last week we also made chocolate pudding during Circle! A couple weeks ago when the weather was nice but there was a lot of snow and ice on the ground we got sick of going on walks so one time we decided to go to the market to pick up some stuff for the classroom. While there, S. had the idea to make some pudding with them! S. let them all smell the packet of chocolate powder, so it became a sensory activity, but mainly these kinds of activities are excellent for cognitive development because following a recipe helps them learn sequences. After we empty the packet we add this much milk and then stir it for this long and then keep it in the fridge – – – any instructions that are multi-step serve as a marker for how well the child listens and remembers the sequence. And then, of course, the last step was to eat it! It ended up only a spoonful per child, but what a delicious spoonful that was. This week we’ll be starting an art project! We’ll look at sculpture from all over Europe and then making our own sculptures out of clay. Then, once it’s dry, then can paint it if they wish to. Lauren at 580 and I are tentatively planning a field trip to the MFA for next month because it would be exciting to see this kind of art in person. They have children’s programs at very specific times on very specific days, so we’re trying to figure out how it would all work out but it should be fun! We did a name-writing activity that went really well, so we’ll do that frequently to give them more practice tracing and writing their own names. There are a couple friends who are convinced that if it doesn’t look perfect it’s not worth even trying, so we’ll be reinforcing the idea that all that matters is that we try and if we keep practicing it’ll get easier and easier. I will be making a sign-up sheet for conferences to go over the evaluations, so keep an eye out for that. I think that’s it! Have a great weekend! |
| Easter Easter is on April 9th, so we will be celebrating it April 7th. We will explain why it’s a holiday, but the celebration is centered on Spring, eggs, and rabbits. Since Europe has a lot of Easter traditions, if there are any non-overtly religious traditions that could be fun for us to incorporate, please let us know! |
