Noah's Ark

Our focus this week was Noah's Ark.  As a class we built and decorated our own ark for our bulletin board. We focused on the sequence of top, middle, and bottom. We started with the top tier, where Noah and his family stayed, and made people prints. Next, we made our middle level. The children worked in pairs to collage or color an animal for the ark. Then last, but not least, we decorated the bottom level, where they kept the garbage. We ripped newspaper and collaged, creating a messy bottom level.

We also played a matching game with pictures of different types of animals. The children took turns matching/pairing their animals to their friends’. Furthermore, we learned about different habitats of animals. We sorted animals and deciphered whether they live on a farm, in the jungle, or in a swamp. 

We also baked yummy animal shaped sugar cookies!

We continued Noah's ark and we discussed that it rained for forty days and forty nights. When Noah and his family finally exited the ark they saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky. In conjunction with the water of the flood, we did a wonderful science experiment. We filled a container with water, took one of our wooden blocks, and dropped it in the water. What happened? The block floated on top of the water! That is why Noah built his boat out of wood. We chose some other objects from around our classroom and we charted our predictions and results.

 This week we added raindrops to our Noah’s ark bulletin board. Each child decorated their own raindrops with their words; the children shared something nice that they can do for friends and family. We want to make sure we treat others nicely, just like Noah did.

                 

We also focused on colors. We learned that there are three primary colors; red, blue and yellow. We learned to create new colors we need to work with these three colors. As an experiment we decided to fill three empty glasses with water and add red, blue and yellow food coloring. We then used three more empty glasses for mixing. We discovered by mixing blue and yellow we create green, mixing blue and red creates purple and red and yellow creates orange.

Furthermore, we learned about rainbows and the colors of the rainbow. We then learned how rainbows are made. We read What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Schwartz and did a science experiment, using a flashlight and a CD. We discussed that the sun (our flashlight) contains all of the color of the rainbow and when the sun passes through the water (the CD) the colors separate and we see a rainbow.   We first turned off our classroom lights, and then turned on the flashlight, and then the light refracted off the back of the CD in order to create a lovely rainbow.

We also baked yummy rainbow cupcakes and a beautiful rainbow cake!

 

 

Lastly, the end result of our bulletin board. 

 

Creation

Our next unit was Creation.

We began our focus on day 1. The separation between dark and light. As a fun activity we gave the children black and white finger paint and the let them mix the colors to explore the different shades they create when mixing. We also focused on opposites. We plated a matching game by matching pictures of dark/light, up/down, short/tall, etc. We additionally baked delicious black and white cookies.

For day 2, we read the book Little Cloud, by Eric Carle and talked about the separating of the sky and the water. We also learned about clouds and how they absorb water from the earth and then eventually produce rain. In order to make the concept more concrete we conducted a science experiment. We filled a container with water and blue food coloring and then dipped our cotton balls into the water and watched the cotton ball absorb the water, We then removed the cotton ball and squeezed, we watched as the water emptied out of the cotton ball (looking like rain). 

Next, on day 3, for the creation of grass, trees and flowers we made tree artwork and decided how many branches to use by rolling a die, identifying the number on the die and then counting out the appropriate number of branches. For day 4, creation of night and day, we  took out our class globe and discussed how the entire world does not get to see the bright sun or beautiful stars at the same time of day. The children learned that while some parts of earth are waking up and getting ready to start their busy day the other side of the world is getting ready for bed. To make this concept more concrete we lit a flashlight and spun the globe. The children were able to see that as the globe turned the flashlight stayed in one place, like the sun, and was not able to shine on all the parts of earth. Day 5, when creatures in the sky and water were created we discussed which creatures live where. For day 6, creation of animals and people we made a little animal collage. Through the week we created a place mat, sequencing the days of creation. 

an upside down version 

And, last but not least, for day 7, day of rest we celebrated a pajama day and enjoyed delicious chocolate chip pancakes!

Back to School

The Giving Tree Welcomes 3B!

We returned to school ready for the fun to begin! We introduced ourselves to each other, got accustomed to the room and learned about Rosh Hashana. 

We made honey dishes

We also discussed what we want to wish the world for it's birthday. Every child shared one wish.

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)

Israel

This week we focused on Israel. We looked at a globe to see how far away we live from Israel and discussed what different ways there are to travel there. We decided that we can only take a boat and a plane to get there. 

We took the time to visit a different city/location each day. Our first stop was Tel Aviv. We learned that Tel Aviv is a large city, very much like the city we live in, NYC. It is a busy area with many apartment buildings, restaurants, stores, office buildings, and hospitals. 

Our next visit was to Eilat. We learned that Eilat is on the southern part of Israel. What is it like in Eilat? It is a beautiful beach city. We enjoyed some sensory fun playing in the sand table. We then played a fishing matching game where we matched colors and shapes. 

Next we visited a kibbutz. We learned that a kibbutz is on a farm and is a community where everyone on a kibbutz holds an important job. We played an orange tree number matching game. 

We then visited Tzfat, where there is beautiful and artistic work being created. Each child crafted their own beautiful mosaic style art pieces, by using squared shaped construction paper and filling in the first letter of their name.

                         

Lastly, we visited a shuk, which is an outdoor marketplace. We created our own shuk, using the food in our class kitchen. We also examined Israeli and American money. Do they look the same? What are some similarities and differences?

Through all our traveling we became little navigators. We created our own map of Israel. With each visit we added the city/location to our map. In what direction will we be going next? We learned about north, south, east, and west.