Community

This week we focused on community workers. We started our unit by listing all of the community jobs that we could think of. We then played a matching game here we matched the community workers with the tools they use for their job.

We began by focusing on postal workers and post offices. We created our own class post office in our writing center. We had our own mailbox and wrote letters to mail. We even decorated stamps and addressed names to the envelopes. We additionally discussed the price of stamps and we decided as a class how much the envelopes should cost. Each child drew a picture for a friend and told them something nice they like to do/ would like to do with their friend. Later in the week we delivered our mail.

 

Next, we focused on builders/construction workers. We spent the whole day planning, building, and using our tools to carefully and purposefully erect various structures. We built with our wooden blocks, magna-tiles, table blocks, tools, and played with a new nail and hammer activity. For math, we practiced measuring. How tall is our building? Let’s use a ruler to find out. We then used the ruler to measure various items in the room. 

 Then in dramatic play we pretended to be firefighters. We learned that firefighters have a very important and dangerous job. We discussed fire safety and we took turns to dress up as firefighters and put out fires. 

We ended the unit and our school year with making a "When We Grow Up" class book. Each child wrote what they want to be and what they will do at their job. At our end of the year party we then presented our class book to the parents!

 

                                                     

Feelings and Artists

This week we focused our attention on feelings and art, as well as learned about a few different artists! We started off by reading The Way I Feel and My Many Colored Days. 

We talked about how we feel so many different emotions, whether it be in one week or even in one day. We then discussed how certain colors can make us feel different emotions. 

We shared what feeling we thought each colored represented. The colors evoked a variety of emotions. The children had different interpretations. You can see our list hanging up outside the classroom. 

Our first feeling we focused on was happy. What are some things that make us happy? We made a list. 

We then learned all about Andy Warhol, a famous American pop artist. We observed that he used very bright and fun colors as well as used repetition in a lot of his pieces.  We then created our own bright, happy, Andy Warhol style paintings.

Next up, we studied Pablo Picasso and introduced the class to his “Blue Period.” We explained that Picasso was a famous artist from Spain who went through a period of feeling sad and only painted in the color blue. We discussed what some things are that make us sad. How can we make ourselves, or others, feel better when they are sad? We sorted pictures of happy and sad expressions. Then we created our own Picasso style collages made with various blue materials.

We then moved on to anger and frustration. We began by discussing things that make us angry. When we are angry what are some ways that we can calm ourselves down? We read a book to help us understand.

Our artist focus was Jackson Pollack. Jackson Pollack was a famous American artist well known for his “Drip Period,” which consisted of splattered paint. We then made our own Pollack-esque artwork by “throwing”/splattering paint. We were able to stand above our canvas (just like Pollack) by painting outside on the playground. We love our beautiful, mess of art. 

We finished off our week by revisiting the book My Many Colored Days and then we experimented mixing primary colors to find a color that matched the mood we were feeling. The children learned how easy it is to express themselves and their feelings through art.

We additionally made edible paintbrushes (chocolate covered pretzels)