Buffaloes

One of the most important roles of a teacher of little children is not to leap into the minds of children and decide for them what they should learn, but to observe what children already know and give them opportunities to expand their interest and knowledge base.   This concept is often called emerging curriculum.  For teachers who are willing to be open, flexible and creative, emerging curriculum can be interesting, fun and meaningful for the children.

We have one child in our class who is particularly fond of buffaloes.  He talked about buffaloes frequently and got other kids talking about them also.  They took their enthusiasm for buffaloes outside, and there was a lot of pretending to be buffaloes.  Upon closer observation, we realized that "playing buffaloes" looked a lot like aggressive lion play.  When we casually questioned the children about buffaloes, we quickly realized they actually knew very little about buffaloes, even the child who is so enthusiastic about them! Here was the perfect opportunity to insert some child-led learning into our classroom.

In the spring we typically spend time learning about our western heritage and about cowboy/cowgirl life of a ranch.  It was the ideal time to learn about buffaloes!

I couldn't find any age appropriate books about buffaloes for the children, so I created one! And, yes, we learned that American buffaloes are really bison.

We had some other activities to help reinforce the information we were learning about buffaloes.
As a math activity the children sorted nickels - some with a buffalo, some without.

The Bunnies worked a buffalo puzzle I made from a photo.

As a science activity, they got to feel and handle a buffalo horn and a cow horn.  We compared and contrasted their features.

One fact about buffaloes that the Bunnies found particularly interesting was that buffaloes roll in dust and mud to keep bugs from biting them so, we reinforced that idea with art.  The children first fingerpainted green grass on piece of paper.  Then they painted a buffalo shape with light brown paint and then rubbed it in coffee grounds to resemble a buffalo rolling in dirt.  Then they added their buffalo to their grassy field.

                     This Bunny drew her grass with a marker because she was absent the day we fingerpainted.
The kids had a great time learning about buffaloes and increased their understanding of these animals.  Check our classroom window for pre- and post- story webs to see what they learned! 

At the beginning of the year I certainly had no plans for the Bunnies to learn all about buffaloes.  However, when interest and opportunity meet, child-led lessons far outweigh anything I could have planned for the class.

Next up: Bread!  Yep, we have one child who loves (!) making playdough food.  Playdough food is really what gets him talking so, we're going to make the most of that with more emerging curriculum.  We'll learn the story of the Little Red Hen and bake our own bread.  Then we are going to expand out to other types of bread found around the world and in our own homes.

Home on the Range

We spent a few days in March celebrating our western heritage.  We had fun activities such as rope painting with ropes of various sizes, matching letters to spell a few ranch animal names, decorating cowboy boots, making "cowboy stew" in our play kitchen, and playing with a ranch playset.   We had a few children dress in their cowboy/cowgirl duds, too, so we took the opportunity to make a graph on two days of who was wearing boots and who was not. 

Even if families are not originally from this area, the children love learning about these culturally significant themes.  Our culture is steeped in western roots of ranching and farming and livestock.  Learning more about them gives children a sense of place, plus it's fun!

Parents with Books

We have been enjoying having a few parents share some stories with the children.  Joseph's mom read books in English and Chinese.  Joseph's older brother, a former Bunny Rabbit, joined us, too.

Sidney helped her mom choose books that she thought her friends would like to hear.  Reading time is very casual - the size of the group varies, but the enthusiasm is high.
Thanks, parents.  We look forward to more visits!

Class Photo

What cuties!

Love One Another

Exchanging valentines is a sweet simple expression of love.  The Bunnies love preparing little Valentines at home for their friends and bringing them to school.  In class, each Bunny got to pass out his or her valentines by placing one in each bag around the table. Exchanging valentines isn't as easy as it sounds.  It is an excellent and motivating way to practice one-to-one correspondence.

We had darling store-bought cards, cards lovingly made at home and cards with bible verses reminding us of God's love.  Each Bunny was very excited to take them home.  Can't you remember that fun feeling of taking home a bag of valentines to go through and read?!  We hope the Bunnies always feel loved!

Valentine Literacy

Valentine's Day is a fun day for the children at school.  We don't focus on the commercial aspects of Valentine's Day, but rather on God's love for us and our love for our families and each other. 

Literacy plays right in to this holiday so easily.  In this particular class of Bunnies, not many are interested in writing their names.  They certainly recognize their names and even recognize their friends' names, but they are not much for grabbing a marker and writing their names themselves.  No problem!  There are many other ways to practice names. 

We used our Valentine bags as an opportunity to practice names.  Each child got a strip of paper and access to a name card with their name already properly spelled out with a photo to match.  Some used their name card to help them, and some didn't need it.  In the red tray are alphabet stamps.  Each child stamped their name and then glued it onto their bag.
This kind of activity gives teachers a fantastic opportunity to assess children's levels of competency with name and letter recognition in a non-traditional way.  We discovered that most children could spell their names and use right to left progression properly.  Yay Bunnies!

Simple Joys of Nature

Mrs. Boone, our outdoor educator, brought huge piles of leaves for the children to play in, and the joy on their faces was so apparent.  Nature provides us with simple joys if we will only take the time to notice.

Carpentry

 In January we spend a little time talking about Jesus as a little boy.  We talk about how his father Joseph was a carpenter and Jesus learned from him.  To reinforce the idea we surrounded the children with wooden items.  In the photo above, a Bunny is dying small wood pieces to be used in a class sculpture.

 We had colored pencils that were made of twigs in the office.

 We had wooden trains and tracks and by this point in the year we typically see some really intricate track creations.  This Bunny was just getting started, but eventually he used almost all of the track pieces to cover the rug!

We had wooden games such as this number numeral matching game.

In our modern world where plastic is plentiful, we strive to keep natural items in the children's hands as often as we can.  Wood feels different from from other materials, and working with wood is something people have done since the beginning of time.  It connects us to our past and gives children a glimpse into the life of Jesus in a tangible way.

Upside Down Day

Upside Down Day is an annual event in the Bunny Rabbit Class. We have a mid-January Monday holiday so when we come back on Tuesday, we celebrate Upside Down Day. The whole thing is based on the book, Silly Sally.

The Bunnies painted Silly Sally at the easel with thin paintbrushes.

Puzzles and games were under the table. Changing the orientation and position of the children's bodies requires them to use different muscles than they would use if they were sitting upright in a chair.

They had the opportunity to play with doll houses under the table.  I think I heard the words "secret hideout" a time or two.  :)
The real purpose of Upside Down Day is to have fun, celebrate the absurd, and shake things up a little bit.

Blessings

Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Quinn hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas season and that the story of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus lives in your heart and in your home all year long!

Happy 2014!

Families

Our study of creation and our desire to experience Christmas converge beautifully during the season of Advent.  It is the perfect time to talk about people and how God created families for us.

We had books, songs, props, and of course previous life experiences to help us construct comparisons between our families and Jesus' family.  We had a little project that we did over two days.  First, we talked about our families and together we made a graph of how many people were in our families.  Then the Bunnies represented the people in their families by gluing people shapes onto the top half of a large piece of paper.  You can see one child's family in the top half of his blue paper below.  He has three sisters and parents.

The next day, the children represented the people in Jesus' family buy gluing nativity people shapes on the bottom half of their paper.

Below is one example of the finished product.  As a reference, Mary is light blue and she and Joseph are kneeling and the Baby Jesus looks like a face peeking out of a white blanket.

We did not provide markers for this activity, but this particular Bunny asked for a marker and got busy adding faces to her people! 

Parents, I know it can be a challenge to share aspects of faith with your young children.  Faith is hard to explain, especially when we are constantly developing and refining our faith in our own lives.  Here is some food for thought and hopefully you will be able to seek opportunities to make your faith come alive in your young children in ways that are meaningful for their current stage of development. 

So many aspects of Christian life are abstract and young children are not abstract thinkers (yet).  They learn from what they experience through their senses and by what is right in front of them.  The key to faith development is to provide children with concrete ways to represent abstract concepts.  By making a simple visual comparison of two families, children can begin to conceptualize God's plan for Jesus to live as a human and for all His people to live in families He created especially for us.  They will never have as rich as a perspective as an adult who has heard and experienced principles of faith for many years, but they will have the perspective that is appropriate for their age and stage.  Each time they have chances to hear and experience faith they will internalize the ideas, and like rings on a tree, their faith will develop in layers upon layers, year after year.  How divine!

Benjamin Bunny

The children absolutely LOVE hearing about Benjamin Bunny's adventures as he visits each friend in our class.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Benjamin took a little break from his travels and he hung out with us at school (his home!).  The children got to read his journal and snuggle him every day.  Would it surprise you to know that several children memorize what Benjamin has done at each house?  That little bunny has gotten lots of loving from his sweet friends!

It may seem just a little silly to send a stuffed animal home with a journal, but it is so very valuable.  First, it's a fantastic way for parents to extend a school activity at home.  By spending a few minutes snapping photos and jotting down a few events, parents teach their children that what happens at home is important enough to share at school.  Secondly, the children love telling us what they did with Benjamin, and the rest of us get a peek into each child's family.  It's such a powerful connection between home and school.

If he hasn't been to your house yet, don't worry.  He'll be there in the coming weeks. 

Funny Bunnies!

The Bunnies have had so much fun being outside in cooler weather.  Luckily we have had a very unusually cool Fall.  Everyone is more creative, patient and pleasant when they are not sweating.  Amen!

A Visit from the Firefighters

Firetruck Day is always big fun!  We are fortunate to have a fire department that loves to visit schools and we love to interact with our community helpers as often as we can.  It's nice to read about them in books, but it's far better to make a personal connection with them.

The firefighters arrived in ordinary clothes, but they showed the children the clothes they wear for fighting fires.  One guy explained each piece of clothing and its function as the other guy put it on.  The purpose of doing this slowly and with explanation is so the children will (hopefully) not think the gear is scary.

They spent a lot of time talking about the mask.  They compared it to looking through a little window, and that it gave them the fresh air they need so they won't cough in the smoky air.  I had one little Bunny who didn't buy into one word of that.  She was up in my arms facing the opposite direction the whole time! :)

One thing the firefighters like to impress upon the children is that if firefighters ever appear at their house and something is wrong, the children should never hide.  They should jump out and say, "Here I am!" so the firefighters can help them right away.

We learned about the hoses and the tools they have on board like axes, hammers and big saws.  Very cool!

The very best part of the whole visit was that the kids got to climb through the firetruck!  In one side...

...and out the other side.

Just as we went inside the firefighters had to dash away to an emergency!  We were so glad we got to see them.

When we returned to the classroom, we got into a discussion about what we had seen.
Here are some of their responses:

Mrs. O'Connor: What did you like about the firetruck?

E.B. - I liked when the firefighter put on the mask.

R.L. - I didn't like the mask.  I liked when the firefighter took OFF the mask.

N.M. - I liked going through the firetruck.

E.R. - I liked to go through it, and my favorite thing was looking at their tools.

S.S. - the mask

J.A. - I liked the firetruck.

K.R. - Well, I liked when we walked around.

J.I. - My car don't have smoke in it.  My daddy has fire at home on the skillet.  You turn it on and it's yellow and blue and Daddy cook pancakes and rice.  My cousins have fire.

E.L. - I liked the air in the mask.

O.P. - I liked when I jumped out from the inside.

D.V. - I like the jumping.

E.S. - engines

Phone Conferences

Parents,
This is the time of year when Mrs. O'Connor will call you for a little phone conference.  It is your opportunity to chat about how school is going.  It's informal and casual and about 10 or 15 minutes.  If you have any topics for discussion you might want to jot them down so we are certain to cover them.

Thanks!

The Annual Great Pumpkin Experiment

Every year in Bunny class we have a huge pumpkin to check out.  It's a great thing to do when we are talking about the plants God created for us.  We don't carve our pumpkin.  We do something way more amazing and scientific.  Mrs. O'Connor cut the top off the pumpkin and everyone got to smell it and see the seeds and even touch all the slimy stuff if they desired.  We don't clean out the pumpkin.  We leave the seeds and slimy stuff right in there.

Then the Bunnies took turns filling the whole pumpkin up with dirt scoop by scoop.

Once it was full, they watered it.  Helpful tip: if you want to control the water your little helper gives a plant, provide a squirt bottle.

The pumpkin becomes a planter and the seeds sprout right out of the top!  It takes about two weeks so in the meantime we have lots of conversations about what might be happening under the dirt and we can observe changes once the sprouts appear.

We planted the pumpkin in the garden, but a few days later we had an unusual light freeze and our sprouts died.  Boo.

Bird Art

Every now and then we try to have an art project that spans several days.  We think it gives the children an opportunity for delayed gratification and for a chance to change their plan or enhance their plan as they go.

One day the children used a koosh ball roller to paint on a paper plate.  The koosh ball gives a great texture to the paint and it looks a little like feathers.  The paper plates were super goopy so we let them dry for the week.  When they returned on Monday, we had dishes with google eyes, buttons, feathers, construction paper triangles and a few other doo dads - plus some glue.  We told the Bunnies they could use the materials to make a bird.  Below is one example.

At our school we value process art meaning that the process or journey of creating is superior to the final product.  Notice above that the owl has one feather, one beak and about 4 eyes.  We can't be bothered with silly details like how many eyes a bird should have! :)  I guarantee the Bunnies have more fun and feel more pride in themselves if they do it their way!

Birds Part 2

Children's literature is heavily peppered with birds.  Probably everyone is familiar with these books:
 
 Love these!

We read these in our room, but we also spent time with Owl Babies.  It's a sweet book about three baby owls who aren't sure if their mommy is coming back.



We had a bag of props to go along with the story.  On Monday Mrs. O'Connor read the story and used the props, then prompted the Bunnies to retell the story and the props helped jog their memories.  On Tuesday the props and the book were in a basket in the book area of the room. 

All morning scenes like the one above played out again and again.  The children role played and practiced the language and dialogue they heard in the book. Yay!

At our "Office" table, there were pictures of birds in a basket.  Most of the pictures were from old calendars, nature magazines, or Christmas cards.  Joseph used the materials available to him and his wonderful imagination and made something fantastic.
He used scissors to snip around the edges of his paper. 
He used the stapler in the corners.
He used a glue stick to attach bird pictures.
He wrote the first letter of his name on a leaf and glued it on, too.
And, he even used some tape on the back side.

No where in our lesson plans did this appear as an art or literacy activity.  This was completely child-directed and independent.  We could have never planned for something this wonderful.  It was spontaneous and told us so much about Joseph and his skills.  When we give children time and materials, they create amazing things!

Birds

One fun aspect of learning about creation is learning things about birds.  You might not think there's really all that much to gain with a rather narrow topic.  It's really not easy to observe birds because they don't let you get up close to them.  They all basically do the same things and they all pretty much look alike.  All of that is true, BUT we can still use one topic and cover many many different necessary skills.

Let's start with math and science.  These two areas of learning often go hand in hand.

We had several fun activities including this wooden bird patterning game called "Happy Birds".  There is a perch with room for 4 birds and a tray with parts and pieces of birds in different colors.  The Bunnies can make their own birds or they can choose to create birds identical to the ones on the pattern cards.  This is great for visual discrimination skills (translation: can they look at a 2D picture and replicate it in 3D?)

We had a simple peg board with pictures of birds and little tags with the same pictures of birds all jumbled in a dish.  The Bunnies sorted and categorized the birds by attributes and put them in their proper places on the peg board.  Everyone who tried this game liked it!

Sorting, categorizing and patterning are all preschool math and science skills learned through play.

Stay tuned for birds in literacy and art...