2012 RECAP
Fall
October - December
1. Changing Colors Unit
In observance of the season’s changing colors, we discussed about how to mix primary colors for obtaining our favorites shades. Within this unit, we:
- Created a letter “P” book. P is for paint, pig, pocket and puzzle!
(English Language Arts & The Arts; sensorimotor component)
- P is also for Pumpkin. When dissecting a pumpkin, we learned about its basic anatomy (seeds, pulp, shell, and stem), and talked about how it grows from vines (Science component).
2. Fall Leaves Unit
Within this unit, we:
- Took a nature walk for collecting leaves for our leaf-prints project.
(Scientific observation and purposefulness)
- Discussed differentiating a variety of leaves.
(Shape recognition and differentiation)
- Explored the parts of a leaf.
(Scientific Inquiry)
- Created leaf prints by applying paint to the rough side of the leaf and pressing it against the paper.
(Art & Sensorimotor component)
October - December
1. Changing Colors Unit
In observance of the season’s changing colors, we discussed about how to mix primary colors for obtaining our favorites shades. Within this unit, we:
- Created a letter “P” book. P is for paint, pig, pocket and puzzle!
(English Language Arts & The Arts; sensorimotor component)
- P is also for Pumpkin. When dissecting a pumpkin, we learned about its basic anatomy (seeds, pulp, shell, and stem), and talked about how it grows from vines (Science component).
2. Fall Leaves Unit
Within this unit, we:
- Took a nature walk for collecting leaves for our leaf-prints project.
(Scientific observation and purposefulness)
- Discussed differentiating a variety of leaves.
(Shape recognition and differentiation)
- Explored the parts of a leaf.
(Scientific Inquiry)
- Created leaf prints by applying paint to the rough side of the leaf and pressing it against the paper.
(Art & Sensorimotor component)
3. Farmer’s Market Prep Unit
Harvest season is the perfect time for introducing the concept of locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables. Within this unit a mock Farmers’ Market Day was the culminating activity, we discussed the following questions:
- What is a community?
- Who grows our fruits and vegetables?
- Where can we buy our fruits and vegetables?
- What fruits and vegetables are in season? (Butternut squash, pumpkins, zucchini, apples, pomegranates, and grapes, etc.)
( Language Arts & Health Education, Physical Education and Home Economics)
Activities within this unit included:
- APPLE TASTING DAY
Where we tasted seasoned red grapes and Macintosh apples.
(Sensorimotor component)
- APPLE RECIPE
Children helped prepare an apple snack.
(Science)
- POMEGRANATE JUICE MAKING
Where we dissected the pomegranate, extracted the seeds, zip-locked them in bags and rolled the seeds over with a rolling pin for juice extraction.
(Science & Sensorimotor component)
- FARMERS ROLE PLAYING
Where we role played farmers as sellers, and customers as buyers, as we learned what it means to support and respect local farms and businesses within our community.
(ELA & Health Education, Physical Education and Home Economics)
- CAMERA LESSON
Where children learned how to operate a disposable camera and practiced framing our targets. Children would then take pictures of their day at the farmers’ market (Science component).
4. Africa Unit
At the initiation of this unit, and just in time for the NYC Marathon Celebration, we honored the winner, Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai. Activity to follow this unit included:
- Creation of a letter R book. R is for red, robot and running!
Where handprints of both hands helped us differentiate between left and right, and children crafted very original robots using geometric pieces of construction paper for body parts on a red background.
(Sensorimotor component)
- Mapping Geoffrey Mutai’s journey from Kenya to New York City
We learned about maps and located Kenya in the continent of Africa. Discussion on the following questions followed:
What is a continent?
In which continent do we live?
In which state do we live?
In which city do we live?
On what street do we live?
Mapping of our classroom followed, including identifying the number of walls, windows, doors, shelves, tables, etc.
(Social Studies, Science & Math)
- Elaboration of a Masai Necklace
Our book The Masai and I by Virginia Kroll portrays the lifestyle of a Masai girl in comparison to that of an American girl. With beautiful imagery this book was a wonderful tool for “transporting“ ourselves to Africa, and live among the Masai.
The Masai, we learned, are an ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Through a video, we listened to some of their music, looked at their ways of dress and admired their jewelry pieces. Our follow-up activity included the creation of a Masai necklace. We cut a circle out of construction paper, punching a big hole in the middle, and counted and placed cut-out beads of paper of different colors (which are of symbolic importance to the tribe) in designated sections according to color:
Green = grass
Yellow = sun
Red = hard work
Orange = woman
Black = Masai people
Blue = sky
(Social Studies component; Science and Math component -pattern recognition, counting; Symbolic development -colors which may represent objects or people; and Teamwork building, as we all contributed to the making of our Masai necklace).
Winter
January - March
1. Matching Letters, Symbols, Objects and Quantities
Letter recognition, vocabulary and working with numbers are introduced during circle time, which also extend into Montessori work placed on the shelves for children to work with independently, or together in pairs.
- Counting with cubes
Counting to a specific number using cubes and sandpaper numbers.
- Adding with cubes/matching symbol to quantity
Adding with cubes using addition symbol, and matching correct number symbol to the sum.
- Matching symbol to quantity
Where we group cubes into groups and match sandpaper numbers to quantity of cubes in groups placed on a mat.
- Matching beginning letters to pictures
Where children match the letter of the beginning sound of a word with a picture of the word.
2. Chinese New Year Observance
- Chopsticks Demonstration
Included an exercise in which children were encouraged to practice picking up mini-pom poms from a bowl using the chopsticks.
(Social Studies & sensorimotor components - fine motor skills)
- Chinese Lantern Making
Following the Chinese tradition of making lanterns for the New Year’s celebration, we crafted our own. First we colored a dragon, cut it out and glued it to our lantern, made out of red construction paper. Then we added strips of yellow tissue paper to the bottom (Sensorimotor component).
- Tangram Lesson
A tangram is a puzzle that consists of seven shapes put together to form a specific shape. We read Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert, in honor of Chinese culture. In this story we sit under a tree with Grandfather Tang as he tells us, and his granddaughter, a story of two fox fairies using his tangram pieces to form animal shapes. We had an activity where as a class we created these same shapes using our own tangram pieces.
3. Octopus Lesson
In learning about the number eight, we chose the octopus as subject of study.
- Octopus Mobile
Head, mantle, arms and suckers conform the octopus’ anatomy. And its arms are placed at each side of its body, splitting the eight arms in four per side. We thought then, what better way to visualize this characteristic than making our own octopuses?
Cut out of cereal boxes, children painted their octopus mobiles their favorite color and hung glittered miniature sea creatures off its arms. How many sea creatures altogether? 8! (Science, Math, and Art components)
4. Africa Unit
During this unit we studied the different landforms of Africa, like Savannahs, the Sahara desert, the Nile River and the animals that are found in and around these areas.
- Giraffes Lesson
There are five different species of giraffes that live in parts of the savannah grasslands in Africa, which are categorized by their spot patterns. An activity we did was matching a Mama giraffe with her baby giraffe with the same spot patterns and then placing them in the region in which they are found. (North Africa, South Africa, East Africa or West Africa.) This allowed the children to learn the four directions on a map, as well as showed them how each species is from different parts of the continent.
- Camel Lesson
Camels are well known for their humps, which are a significant characteristic to their ability to hold a lot of water for traveling far distances through a desert. Camels are mainly found in the Northern region of Africa in the Sahara Desert where its hot and where there are very little trees, unlike the savannahs of Africa. Camels have been domesticated by nomadic people and are used to carry people and their belongings many miles to the next village. As a class activity we role played riding through the desert with scarves around our heads and faces to protect us from the sun and sand storms.
- Baboons
Baboons are predominantly found in East Africa. These primates are omnivores and spend most of their day grooming one another and feeding while traveling in groups of about 50. “Imagine us grooming one another and basking in the sun for most part of our day!” Puzzled smiley faces followed. Our follow-up activity consisted of adding baboons. We cut out pictures of baboons and using the addition/plus sign in between sets of baboons, added them taking turns, at the same time matching the number symbol to the number of cut-out baboons.
-Oxen
An important characteristic of Africa’s geography is the Nile River, where most of the people in neighboring countries receive their water for farming. Ox are used to help plow the soil for the villages crops. Through books and photographs we saw what the Nile river looks like from above and what a river is made out of and where it travels. We watched a video of what it was like in Ancient times to use oxen to plow soil for farming and we handed cut out ox to each child and asked them to place their ox along the Nile river. This was an opportunity for them to show us they recognize where the river was on the map and where ox were found.
Harvest season is the perfect time for introducing the concept of locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables. Within this unit a mock Farmers’ Market Day was the culminating activity, we discussed the following questions:
- What is a community?
- Who grows our fruits and vegetables?
- Where can we buy our fruits and vegetables?
- What fruits and vegetables are in season? (Butternut squash, pumpkins, zucchini, apples, pomegranates, and grapes, etc.)
( Language Arts & Health Education, Physical Education and Home Economics)
Activities within this unit included:
- APPLE TASTING DAY
Where we tasted seasoned red grapes and Macintosh apples.
(Sensorimotor component)
- APPLE RECIPE
Children helped prepare an apple snack.
(Science)
- POMEGRANATE JUICE MAKING
Where we dissected the pomegranate, extracted the seeds, zip-locked them in bags and rolled the seeds over with a rolling pin for juice extraction.
(Science & Sensorimotor component)
- FARMERS ROLE PLAYING
Where we role played farmers as sellers, and customers as buyers, as we learned what it means to support and respect local farms and businesses within our community.
(ELA & Health Education, Physical Education and Home Economics)
- CAMERA LESSON
Where children learned how to operate a disposable camera and practiced framing our targets. Children would then take pictures of their day at the farmers’ market (Science component).
4. Africa Unit
At the initiation of this unit, and just in time for the NYC Marathon Celebration, we honored the winner, Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai. Activity to follow this unit included:
- Creation of a letter R book. R is for red, robot and running!
Where handprints of both hands helped us differentiate between left and right, and children crafted very original robots using geometric pieces of construction paper for body parts on a red background.
(Sensorimotor component)
- Mapping Geoffrey Mutai’s journey from Kenya to New York City
We learned about maps and located Kenya in the continent of Africa. Discussion on the following questions followed:
What is a continent?
In which continent do we live?
In which state do we live?
In which city do we live?
On what street do we live?
Mapping of our classroom followed, including identifying the number of walls, windows, doors, shelves, tables, etc.
(Social Studies, Science & Math)
- Elaboration of a Masai Necklace
Our book The Masai and I by Virginia Kroll portrays the lifestyle of a Masai girl in comparison to that of an American girl. With beautiful imagery this book was a wonderful tool for “transporting“ ourselves to Africa, and live among the Masai.
The Masai, we learned, are an ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Through a video, we listened to some of their music, looked at their ways of dress and admired their jewelry pieces. Our follow-up activity included the creation of a Masai necklace. We cut a circle out of construction paper, punching a big hole in the middle, and counted and placed cut-out beads of paper of different colors (which are of symbolic importance to the tribe) in designated sections according to color:
Green = grass
Yellow = sun
Red = hard work
Orange = woman
Black = Masai people
Blue = sky
(Social Studies component; Science and Math component -pattern recognition, counting; Symbolic development -colors which may represent objects or people; and Teamwork building, as we all contributed to the making of our Masai necklace).
Winter
January - March
1. Matching Letters, Symbols, Objects and Quantities
Letter recognition, vocabulary and working with numbers are introduced during circle time, which also extend into Montessori work placed on the shelves for children to work with independently, or together in pairs.
- Counting with cubes
Counting to a specific number using cubes and sandpaper numbers.
- Adding with cubes/matching symbol to quantity
Adding with cubes using addition symbol, and matching correct number symbol to the sum.
- Matching symbol to quantity
Where we group cubes into groups and match sandpaper numbers to quantity of cubes in groups placed on a mat.
- Matching beginning letters to pictures
Where children match the letter of the beginning sound of a word with a picture of the word.
2. Chinese New Year Observance
- Chopsticks Demonstration
Included an exercise in which children were encouraged to practice picking up mini-pom poms from a bowl using the chopsticks.
(Social Studies & sensorimotor components - fine motor skills)
- Chinese Lantern Making
Following the Chinese tradition of making lanterns for the New Year’s celebration, we crafted our own. First we colored a dragon, cut it out and glued it to our lantern, made out of red construction paper. Then we added strips of yellow tissue paper to the bottom (Sensorimotor component).
- Tangram Lesson
A tangram is a puzzle that consists of seven shapes put together to form a specific shape. We read Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert, in honor of Chinese culture. In this story we sit under a tree with Grandfather Tang as he tells us, and his granddaughter, a story of two fox fairies using his tangram pieces to form animal shapes. We had an activity where as a class we created these same shapes using our own tangram pieces.
3. Octopus Lesson
In learning about the number eight, we chose the octopus as subject of study.
- Octopus Mobile
Head, mantle, arms and suckers conform the octopus’ anatomy. And its arms are placed at each side of its body, splitting the eight arms in four per side. We thought then, what better way to visualize this characteristic than making our own octopuses?
Cut out of cereal boxes, children painted their octopus mobiles their favorite color and hung glittered miniature sea creatures off its arms. How many sea creatures altogether? 8! (Science, Math, and Art components)
4. Africa Unit
During this unit we studied the different landforms of Africa, like Savannahs, the Sahara desert, the Nile River and the animals that are found in and around these areas.
- Giraffes Lesson
There are five different species of giraffes that live in parts of the savannah grasslands in Africa, which are categorized by their spot patterns. An activity we did was matching a Mama giraffe with her baby giraffe with the same spot patterns and then placing them in the region in which they are found. (North Africa, South Africa, East Africa or West Africa.) This allowed the children to learn the four directions on a map, as well as showed them how each species is from different parts of the continent.
- Camel Lesson
Camels are well known for their humps, which are a significant characteristic to their ability to hold a lot of water for traveling far distances through a desert. Camels are mainly found in the Northern region of Africa in the Sahara Desert where its hot and where there are very little trees, unlike the savannahs of Africa. Camels have been domesticated by nomadic people and are used to carry people and their belongings many miles to the next village. As a class activity we role played riding through the desert with scarves around our heads and faces to protect us from the sun and sand storms.
- Baboons
Baboons are predominantly found in East Africa. These primates are omnivores and spend most of their day grooming one another and feeding while traveling in groups of about 50. “Imagine us grooming one another and basking in the sun for most part of our day!” Puzzled smiley faces followed. Our follow-up activity consisted of adding baboons. We cut out pictures of baboons and using the addition/plus sign in between sets of baboons, added them taking turns, at the same time matching the number symbol to the number of cut-out baboons.
-Oxen
An important characteristic of Africa’s geography is the Nile River, where most of the people in neighboring countries receive their water for farming. Ox are used to help plow the soil for the villages crops. Through books and photographs we saw what the Nile river looks like from above and what a river is made out of and where it travels. We watched a video of what it was like in Ancient times to use oxen to plow soil for farming and we handed cut out ox to each child and asked them to place their ox along the Nile river. This was an opportunity for them to show us they recognize where the river was on the map and where ox were found.
- Wangari’s Seedlings
Wangari’s Trees of Peace : A True Story of Africa by Jeanette Winter was read in the classroom in honor of Earth Month. In the 70’s Wangari, a young woman from Kenya, traveled to the States for school. When she returned home, she was saddened to see that her village trees had been cut down and replaced by buildings. And whatever trees, which were cut for firewood, had not been replaced with new trees. She became an activist in helping her village replant the land with new trees and showed how life on earth coexists with one another and through bravery and persistence one person can influence others to make a positive impact in the world.
As a class activity each child pasted cut out leaves to a cut out branch and helped Wangari “plant” their seedlings to the map in the savannahs of Africa.
During Earth Month we talked about the importance of plant life on earth, how earth is home to an immense variety of animal life and what it does for us as humans.
5. Community walk
This particular community walk allowed us to observe the changes taking place around us. New crisp green leaves on trees, raindrops and more sunlight to our days are all features of springtime, and also announce warmer days ahead
(ELA component: listening and speaking for understanding)
6. Capacity Lesson
Capacity is the amount that something can hold. To illustrate capacity, we gathered containers of different shapes and sizes and poured water into them, making predictions of how much water a particular container may hold, based on its physical characteristics. Our predictions were not always accurate but by observing the liquid being poured from one container to the next, we learned about estimating, experimenting and predicting (Science component).
7. Black Bear Lesson
Our black bear lesson was interactive in a way where we asked ourselves what it was like to be a black bear. Also children were able to help the teacher break down key vocabulary words by spelling out each word as it went up on the wall and discussing their significance to the lesson. (Black, bear, cub, mammal, eat, hibernation, dens, fish, grass, berries.)
At the end of our lesson, as a group we roll played what it is like to be a black bear cub by eating berries, which were handed out, digging our dens, and hibernating till summer arrived (Dramatic play component).
8. St. Patrick Shamrocks
In observance of St. Patrick’s Day, we learned about shamrocks. Commonly known as a symbol that represents Ireland, shamrocks are three-leaved old white clovers, which are also believed to represent luck if they happen to have four leaves instead of three. Four-leaf shamrocks are rarely found, precisely why whoever finds one is lucky! But “what’s luck?”, some of our children asked! Activities within this lesson included:
- Sorting and counting shamrocks
Where children took turns in sorting two types of shamrocks and then counting the amount of each kind.
- Shamrock Hunt
Where a group of children found hiding places for the shamrocks in the classroom and the other group searched. Found a four-leaved one? Lucky!
- Shamrock Art
Those found shamrocks served as stencils for our shamrock art project. We first glued tissue paper as a background for our shamrock stencils. Placing the cut outs down and painting over them gives us a resist image of shamrocks.
Spring
April - June
1. Easter Holiday
Easter is time for egg hunting but before we did that, we looked at how Easter is celebrated in other parts of the world. We discovered, for example, that children dress up as witches during Easter Holiday in Sweden; or that kites are flown during this holiday in the West Indies. We also learned that in Australia, people do not give out easter chocolate bunnies as gifts but chocolate bilbies. Bilbies are Australia’s endangered species. Part of the proceeds from selling these chocolate bilbies is dedicated to the bilbies conservation efforts. Our follow up activity consisted of our bilby pattern banners.
- Bilby Pattern Banners
We cut out wide strips of black construction paper for a background and arranged cutout pictures of bilbies in a pattern, using a shape of choice to separate them.
- Easter egg hunt and decorating eggs
To celebrate the tradition of Easter we decorated our own eggs using crayons and food coloring. Plastic eggs with tasty treats inside were hidden for the children to find.
2. Recycling, reduce, and reuse
Reduce our waste in our homes and schools can help reduce pollution in our environment. By recycling we separate our garbage into different containers by the material they are made from. This way these products can be turned into something else instead of being buried into garbage dumps which harm the earth and the atmosphere. Reusing some of these waste products for other things like arts and crafts is another way of recycling. As a classroom we discussed each of these and their benefits to the environment.
April - June
1. Easter Holiday
Easter is time for egg hunting but before we did that, we looked at how Easter is celebrated in other parts of the world. We discovered, for example, that children dress up as witches during Easter Holiday in Sweden; or that kites are flown during this holiday in the West Indies. We also learned that in Australia, people do not give out easter chocolate bunnies as gifts but chocolate bilbies. Bilbies are Australia’s endangered species. Part of the proceeds from selling these chocolate bilbies is dedicated to the bilbies conservation efforts. Our follow up activity consisted of our bilby pattern banners.
- Bilby Pattern Banners
We cut out wide strips of black construction paper for a background and arranged cutout pictures of bilbies in a pattern, using a shape of choice to separate them.
- Easter egg hunt and decorating eggs
To celebrate the tradition of Easter we decorated our own eggs using crayons and food coloring. Plastic eggs with tasty treats inside were hidden for the children to find.
2. Recycling, reduce, and reuse
Reduce our waste in our homes and schools can help reduce pollution in our environment. By recycling we separate our garbage into different containers by the material they are made from. This way these products can be turned into something else instead of being buried into garbage dumps which harm the earth and the atmosphere. Reusing some of these waste products for other things like arts and crafts is another way of recycling. As a classroom we discussed each of these and their benefits to the environment.
3. Community Walk
Talking to a recycling neighbor during this community walk was by far the best addition to our recycling efforts in class. With a pile of magazines in hand, she showed us which bin we should place paper in. Looking around, we were able to spot many of our neighbors’ recycling bins (and those who did not have them too!).
4. Planting seeds
In honor of Earth’s month, we took on the task of growing our own plants. Each of the children planted basil, tomato and carrot seeds, which would be observed over the period of time that would take them to grow into seedlings to then be transplanted to the garden outside. Through this process we learned about sequence: what happens first, second, third, etc. First we plant the seeds in the soil in a pot. Then we water, and expose to sunlight. And finally, we watch it grow, or transplant later.
5. Composting
We took on the task of working on our own compost. After all, we would need it if we wanted to plant in our garden. Seeds in the soil already, we needed to get it going!
How do we make compost? what does it consist of? what is it used for? These are some of the questions we discussed before, collaboratively, putting together our compost bin. Newspaper? In. Wet cardboard? In. Coffee grinds? In. Soil? In. Our final ingredient (if you may call them that)? Earthworms!
6. Sorting recyclables
As a group activity we sorted out the recyclable waste products we collected over the span of two weeks. We identified which materials these products were made from and brainstormed ways in which we could reuse them.
Talking to a recycling neighbor during this community walk was by far the best addition to our recycling efforts in class. With a pile of magazines in hand, she showed us which bin we should place paper in. Looking around, we were able to spot many of our neighbors’ recycling bins (and those who did not have them too!).
4. Planting seeds
In honor of Earth’s month, we took on the task of growing our own plants. Each of the children planted basil, tomato and carrot seeds, which would be observed over the period of time that would take them to grow into seedlings to then be transplanted to the garden outside. Through this process we learned about sequence: what happens first, second, third, etc. First we plant the seeds in the soil in a pot. Then we water, and expose to sunlight. And finally, we watch it grow, or transplant later.
5. Composting
We took on the task of working on our own compost. After all, we would need it if we wanted to plant in our garden. Seeds in the soil already, we needed to get it going!
How do we make compost? what does it consist of? what is it used for? These are some of the questions we discussed before, collaboratively, putting together our compost bin. Newspaper? In. Wet cardboard? In. Coffee grinds? In. Soil? In. Our final ingredient (if you may call them that)? Earthworms!
6. Sorting recyclables
As a group activity we sorted out the recyclable waste products we collected over the span of two weeks. We identified which materials these products were made from and brainstormed ways in which we could reuse them.
- Worm Activity and craft
As an example of a worm’s way of helping the earth recycle decomposing food and leaves, the teacher painted lines with two different colors across a page and used a red yarn as their wiggly worm. Worms do not like the sun very much because their skin is sensitive to light. So they bury themselves in the moist earth to keep cool and out of sunlight. Here in the soil is where they will burrow and make their own worm tunnels searching for food to eat. Using the red yarn as the teacher’s worm, she drags the worm through the colored lines mixing the wet paint, emphasizing how earthworms mix the soil in the ground.
As an art activity, children were given primary colors with pieces of yarn in each dish and dragged the yarn onto their paper creating a worm’s path. They were able to get a feel as to how worms can move through the soil and how they help mix soil by observing the colors they mixed on their paper.
8. Decorating recycled pot for mom
One way of recycling was re-using clorox wipes containers and cups for Mom’s Basil plant. Children were to decorate their pots gluing tissue paper, filling their pots with soil and re-planting their basil seedlings into their finished pots.
9. Planting -transplanting
Our plants have grown and are ready to go into our garden. We have watched them grow, watered them, and even measured them for a period of over three weeks. Weather permitting, they should thrive; and we will continue to observe any changes that are to take place.
10. Egyptian scrolls Unit
Continuing along the Nile River in our Africa Unit, we arrived in Egypt, where paper was first made. This paper was obtained from the papyrus plant which grows along the banks of the Nile, through a thorough drying process that could take up to 24 days. The plant’s long stalks would be cut and soaked in water until they nearly rot. To make a sheet of paper, lots of stalks would be laid next to each other first, then another set of stalks would be laid crossways to the first set of stalks, and on top. They would be pounded flat until all the stalks got mashed together. To demonstrate this process in class, we used strips of white paper for papyrus stalks, and our playdo tools for simulating pounding. To give our scroll “sheets” a brownish look, we dyed them with coffee diluted in a little water. In a left-to-right motion using a coffee-dipped cotton ball, children stained their individual sheets on both sides.
The second part of the Egyptian Scroll Project was the storytelling component. Before we began working on our individual stories we talked about how the oldest books that have been found are in the form of scrolls, and the importance of writing to tell stories through which we can learn about how people lived and continue to live on Earth. To demonstrate the process of telling stories, each child was asked to bring an object of their choice to the mat, upon which we would develop a made-up story. As each child took a turn contributing with an object, he/she also contributed with a story line. For their scroll story, children were asked to either draw pictures or cut-out pictures from magazines, and told their story to the assisting teacher, who in turn wrote it out. The end result was a scroll containing 13 different stories told with pictures or drawings.
11. Feeding the worms
To keep our compost going, it is important to remember to feed our earthworm pets and turn the mix around to air it as well as change the layers of newspaper when worn out. We learned some of the things our worms like to eat are:
Eggshells (they act like toothbrushes to worms)
Fruit (except for melon rinds, and orange peels)
Vegetables (no onions please)
Coffee grounds
Each child took a turn feeding the worms by placing a fruit or vegetable into the bin.
12. Kites and Electricity
Due to the change of weather and heavy rainstorm, we decided to discuss what causes thunder and lightning. To help better explain this phenomena, we drew negative ions onto the board (sleepy ions) and positive ions (awake ions) and when the two met, they created a reaction that made lighting. We all stood up together and pretended we were floating clouds of positive and negative ions and rain. And when we bumped into one another we created thunder and lightning. From a lightning storm, there came electricity and the man who discovered it, Benjamin Franklin and his toy kite. By attaching a key to his kite, he was able to attract lightning from the sky.
As an art project we created our own finger kites. Students glued tissue paper onto their pre-made kites made out of two plastic shopping bags ironed together and cut into diamonds. They also helped tape the straw support and tail.
13. Africa Unit
- Adinkra T-Shirts
The Ashanti people of West Africa in Ghana use Adinkra cloths for funerals and celebrations. Symbols stamped on the colorful cloths would either tell how the person wearing it is related to the deceased, or convey a message. These symbols are divided into four categories: plant life, celestial beings, animal life, and behavior; each containing its very own set of meaningful stamps. Understanding that symbols may represent objects or people is an exercise for abstract thought. The follow up activity was to create our own adinkra stamps. Using styrofoam sheets cut out from plates, each student was to create their own stamp which symbolized who they are.
On our own t-shirts, with the help of a teacher, students painted their own stamps as well as other pre-made stamps and placed them on their t-shirts face down, then applied pressure and rolled over the stamp with a dry paint roller. The end result: 13 different, unique and beautiful t-shirts, which we’ll wear on the day of our End-of-Year celebration.
14. Bugs Unit
Bb is for bug! What is another word for bug? Insect!
We read A BUG Book by Nancy Winslow Parker, explaining the different kinds of bugs/insects we may run into and exploring their anatomy: head, thorax, abdomen, wings, legs and eyes. Rubber insects helped us visualize these little creatures, which can be observed, manipulated and inspected by the children during independent work time.
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Pop-Up Book)
- Days of the week and counting: the little caterpillar eats different amounts of fruits on each day of the week.
- Process of metamorphosis: from egg, to caterpillar to butterfly.
- Pattern Recognition by observing butterfly wings.
- Butterfly Craft: Children are to paste three different colors of tissue paper onto their pre-cut butterfly, making a pattern of their own. Butterfly can be held up by a straw attached to its body and when manipulated its wings will flap in the same motion as that of the butterfly.
Spanish Newsletter 2011-2012
FALL
Continentes (Continents)
Children learned about the continents to be able to position where each country we have learned about is located. We mainly concentrated in América Central (Central America) with a few jumps to América del Sur (South America).
Costa Rica’s Rainforest
- Compare and contrast chart: children’s lifestyle in the rainforest.
- Things that come from the rainforest: manioc, green plantain, coffee beans. (Sensorimotor activity, and Math extension: chopping and counting pieces of yuca and plátano verde, and smelling granos de café).
- Stick House: We gave black backgrounds to our collected sticks, glued lado a lado (side by side) to resemble a choza (hut/shackle), common living unit in the rainforest.
- Mini-rainforest: Using a plastic bottle, some gravel, soil and clear plastic foil for sealing the top, we created a mini-rainforest. (Science component).
- Rainforest Smoothie: Children helped prepare a smoothie made with fruits from the rainforest. Chopped piña and mango as well as jugo de coco were added to the mix. (Sensorimotor activity).
- Animal Masks: We created animal masks of the Rain Forest
Galapagos Islands
Continuing with the Spanish unit featuring the Galapagos Islands, we learned about the different creatures unique to this part of the world. We watched a video about the islands formation and their varied species, specifically identifying the iguanas. Land iguanas, we learned, have a tongue that is “árida” (rough) which allows them to feed on cacti! Our in-classroom iguanas had sand paper tongues.
From blue-footed boobies (piqueros de patas azules) to land and marine iguanas (iguanas terrestres e iguanas marinas), and from to frigate birds (fragatas) to pelicans (pelicanos), children explored colors and textures while crafting these animals, using specific materials to simulate their salient physical characteristics, such as red torn balloons for the frigate birds’ gular pouch.
(Sensorimotor & dexterity activity)
WINTER
Perú
- Vestimenta tradicional indigena (Indigenous traditional dress):
In this activity, children learned about peruvian children’s indigenous dress which consist of a skirt, blouse and bolero jacket for girls, and pants, shirt and a poncho for the boys. These beautifully colored clothing showcases patterned designs, emphasizing the color rojo (red). To make the outfits, we cut out stencils out of brown construction paper for each of the pieces and pre-traced the designs. Pre-cut cuadrados (squares) and triángulos (triangles) in different colores (colors) would make up the patterned designs. Children took turns filling in the figuras (shapes) where the patterned designs would go. (Sensorimotor activity, Math: pattern and shape recognition, Teamwork building)
- Llamas
Is your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino was one of the books we read while crafting our llamas. Children learned about how these animals are sheared every year and their wool used in making a variety of clothing pieces, such as scarves, ponchos, blankets, etc. We cut out about 7 llamas of different sizes, some pequeñas (small), some grandes (big), and students worked in pairs to fill in their llama stencil with torn and twisted cotton for wool. Children also watched a video of the factories in Peru where this clothing is manufactured.
(Sensorimotor Activity, Size recognition & Teamwork building)
Panamá
- Flag and symbols: emphasizing the colors azul, rojo y blanco; the shape of a estrella, and the número dos, for the number of stars on the flag.
- Quetzal: The quetzal is the most representative bird in all of Central America. We learned about the bird’s anatomy: cabeza (head), pico (beak), alas (wings), and plumas (feathers) and heard it sing through a recording. We then followed up with crafting our own quetzal. For this, children were asked to crumple up little pieces of tissue paper in colors corresponding to the quetzals feathers: dorado (golden), rojo (red), verde (green), among others. When ready, each child took turns in helping fill in the different pre-marked sections on the quetzal’s body with the small crumpled up pieces of tissue paper.
(Sensorimotor activity & color recognition)
- Mola Designs: The artistry of a mola reflects a synthesis of traditional Kuna culture with the influences of the modern world. Mola designs are often inspired by modern graphics such as political posters, labels, pictures from books and TV cartoons, as well as traditional themes from Kuna legends and culture. For this art project, the students created their own molas using pre-cut shapes and designs and putting the pieces together like a collage.
(Sensorimotor activity, Pattern and color recognition, Creativity)
- Boats crossing Panama Canal: As we explored the Panama canal, we learned about how goods are transported on ships to different parts of the world. Many pass through the Panama Canal, which serves as a shortcut, cutting in between North and South America, creating a land bridge that unites the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and saves many miles and hours of sea travel. On a map of the continents, children were given paper boats to pretend and sail around the world, using the Panama Canal whenever possible, and singing to the tune of “Rema tu bote”:
Continentes (Continents)
Children learned about the continents to be able to position where each country we have learned about is located. We mainly concentrated in América Central (Central America) with a few jumps to América del Sur (South America).
Costa Rica’s Rainforest
- Compare and contrast chart: children’s lifestyle in the rainforest.
- Things that come from the rainforest: manioc, green plantain, coffee beans. (Sensorimotor activity, and Math extension: chopping and counting pieces of yuca and plátano verde, and smelling granos de café).
- Stick House: We gave black backgrounds to our collected sticks, glued lado a lado (side by side) to resemble a choza (hut/shackle), common living unit in the rainforest.
- Mini-rainforest: Using a plastic bottle, some gravel, soil and clear plastic foil for sealing the top, we created a mini-rainforest. (Science component).
- Rainforest Smoothie: Children helped prepare a smoothie made with fruits from the rainforest. Chopped piña and mango as well as jugo de coco were added to the mix. (Sensorimotor activity).
- Animal Masks: We created animal masks of the Rain Forest
Galapagos Islands
Continuing with the Spanish unit featuring the Galapagos Islands, we learned about the different creatures unique to this part of the world. We watched a video about the islands formation and their varied species, specifically identifying the iguanas. Land iguanas, we learned, have a tongue that is “árida” (rough) which allows them to feed on cacti! Our in-classroom iguanas had sand paper tongues.
From blue-footed boobies (piqueros de patas azules) to land and marine iguanas (iguanas terrestres e iguanas marinas), and from to frigate birds (fragatas) to pelicans (pelicanos), children explored colors and textures while crafting these animals, using specific materials to simulate their salient physical characteristics, such as red torn balloons for the frigate birds’ gular pouch.
(Sensorimotor & dexterity activity)
WINTER
Perú
- Vestimenta tradicional indigena (Indigenous traditional dress):
In this activity, children learned about peruvian children’s indigenous dress which consist of a skirt, blouse and bolero jacket for girls, and pants, shirt and a poncho for the boys. These beautifully colored clothing showcases patterned designs, emphasizing the color rojo (red). To make the outfits, we cut out stencils out of brown construction paper for each of the pieces and pre-traced the designs. Pre-cut cuadrados (squares) and triángulos (triangles) in different colores (colors) would make up the patterned designs. Children took turns filling in the figuras (shapes) where the patterned designs would go. (Sensorimotor activity, Math: pattern and shape recognition, Teamwork building)
- Llamas
Is your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino was one of the books we read while crafting our llamas. Children learned about how these animals are sheared every year and their wool used in making a variety of clothing pieces, such as scarves, ponchos, blankets, etc. We cut out about 7 llamas of different sizes, some pequeñas (small), some grandes (big), and students worked in pairs to fill in their llama stencil with torn and twisted cotton for wool. Children also watched a video of the factories in Peru where this clothing is manufactured.
(Sensorimotor Activity, Size recognition & Teamwork building)
Panamá
- Flag and symbols: emphasizing the colors azul, rojo y blanco; the shape of a estrella, and the número dos, for the number of stars on the flag.
- Quetzal: The quetzal is the most representative bird in all of Central America. We learned about the bird’s anatomy: cabeza (head), pico (beak), alas (wings), and plumas (feathers) and heard it sing through a recording. We then followed up with crafting our own quetzal. For this, children were asked to crumple up little pieces of tissue paper in colors corresponding to the quetzals feathers: dorado (golden), rojo (red), verde (green), among others. When ready, each child took turns in helping fill in the different pre-marked sections on the quetzal’s body with the small crumpled up pieces of tissue paper.
(Sensorimotor activity & color recognition)
- Mola Designs: The artistry of a mola reflects a synthesis of traditional Kuna culture with the influences of the modern world. Mola designs are often inspired by modern graphics such as political posters, labels, pictures from books and TV cartoons, as well as traditional themes from Kuna legends and culture. For this art project, the students created their own molas using pre-cut shapes and designs and putting the pieces together like a collage.
(Sensorimotor activity, Pattern and color recognition, Creativity)
- Boats crossing Panama Canal: As we explored the Panama canal, we learned about how goods are transported on ships to different parts of the world. Many pass through the Panama Canal, which serves as a shortcut, cutting in between North and South America, creating a land bridge that unites the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and saves many miles and hours of sea travel. On a map of the continents, children were given paper boats to pretend and sail around the world, using the Panama Canal whenever possible, and singing to the tune of “Rema tu bote”:
Rema rema rema tu bote
rema por el mar
muy felices y contentos
vamos a remar!
Children chose and identified their boat destination.
(Geography component, dramatic play and sensorimotor component)
Nicaragua
- Bandera y Escudo (Flag and symbol): The Nicaraguan flag features cobalt blue and white with an elaborate seal in the shape of a triangle within which there is a rio (river), cinco volcanes (five volcanoes) (representing the five former Central American nations), un arco iris (a rainbow), and a phrygian cap, which represents liberty. As a group, children worked on a bigger than normal seal, emphasizing the parts the seal consists of.
(Shape recognition & sensorimotor component)
- Oso Hormiguero (anteater): The giant Nicaraguan anteater can feed on approximately 1,000 hormigas (ants) at a time and its tongue, which is pegajosa (sticky) can measure up to 24 inches. Also, most of the length of its body constitutes the tail and it features 4 fingers on the fore feet (with nails that look like hooks) and 5 on the posterior feet. In class, we drew an anteater as we learned about its anatomy, and then fed it ants. Children took turns in placing their hormigas (ants) on any given place on the anteater’s super long tongue.
(Sensorimotor activity, Math: counting ants, fingers & Teamwork building).
- Papaya Come y Bébe (Papaya Medley): Through this activity, children learned about how tropical fruits such as the papaya originate in the warm areas of Central America, specifically in between northern Mexico and Nicaragua. Come y bebe means to eat and drink at once. Children helped prepare a papaya medley by chopping up papaya, banana, melon and apples; pouring the fruit in a bowl and then adding orange juice to the mix. Stir, stir, stir, and then ready to eat!
(Sensorimotor activity and Montessori extension)
- Máscaras Torovenado: Torovenado masks are used during the popular celebration of Carnaval and constitute a display of self-expression. Students created their own Torovenado masks and combined beautiful festive colors as seen on the masks.
(Sensorimotor activity, parts of the face & colors)
SPRING
Temperatura Primaveral
As the weather gets warmer, students learned about the temperature (temperatura) falling and rising, discussing questions in regard to what the weather feels like, the types of clothing we should be wearing and the type of changes we will witness as we come closer and closer to verano (summer). Children also learned about el termómetro (thermometer) and how it is used.
Puerta Primaveral
And to welcome Spring, children learned about how flores (flowers) blossom in Primavera, and their parts: raíz (root), tallo (stem), hojas (leaves) and pétalos (petals).
In time for our seasonal classroom door decorating, children were handed stems, petals and leaves to create their own flowers. When ready, they themselves glued them to the rest of our door art.
The students also learned about the spring attire and what we wear in the spring as the weather gets warmer.
(Sensorimotor activity, science component: flower anatomy, Math component: counting petals & teamwork building).
Honduras
- Flag colors and symbols: emphasizing azul (blue) and white (blanco) for the stripes and número cinco (five) for the stars representing the 5 former Central American nations.
- Shrimp Farms (camaroneras): where children learned about shrimp farms along the western Honduran coast, affecting the region’s natural habitats and displacing populations that live along these waters. As a follow up activity, children made shrimps using an origami technique. With the help of a teacher, they gave the last folds to their pre-folded camarones (shrimp).
(Sensorimotor activity, color recognition, Math: cardinality and position)
- Lenca Designs: where children learned about the traditional Honduran Lenca Pottery, made completely by hand, usually by women who have passed the technique from generation to generation. Once the pieces are ready to be be painted, women use a paste-like substance to draw the designs on. When burnt, this substance acts as resistance, leaving white spaces where the design was and the rest of the piece takes up the color of the paste, which is brownish. For follow up activity on this lesson, and with the help of a teacher, children traced over designs drawn on a piece of paper towel (for its absorbency) with Henna.
(Sensorimotor-dexterity activity, Math: line recognition)
Guatemala (June - in progress)
- Flag and symbols
- Wear: Indigenous accessories - necklace making.
- Culture: Holy Week’s colored sawdust patterned street designs. Follow up activity emphasizing shapes, colors, lines and pattern recognition.
- Landscape: Volcán de Agua (Science component)
- Food Recipe: Tamales
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