Maple Room
Week of 12.5 - 12.9
Block Building
We are surrounded by open ended tools and materials which stretch our imaginations, encourage symbolic play, and deepen our understanding and interests. Unit blocks are one of these materials. This week children worked across several days to explore their interests and early understanding of towers. The result was an elongated construction contain towers of varying height and purpose. Through an activity such as this, children are not only learning more about the things they love through play, they are continually comparing objects by length, width, and height, seeing parts within a hole, organizing by attribute, and counting.
The block area supports us in all content areas. Children have even used it to reenact scenes from our emergent storybook unit.
Reading Workshop
This week in reading workshop, The Maples were introduced to early reading strategies, or as the children have come to know them, 'reading superpowers'. Our first reading superpower is pointer power. While reading, it is important that we point under each word we read. For early readers, this continued practice of one-to-one tagging is essential. This week, each Maple practiced pointing under words while reading 'just right' books and familiar poems and songs independently. Additionally, we pointed as a class during our shared reading of Brown Brown, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Soon, each of your children will be coming home with book baggies. These book baggies will contain a mixture of high-interest, just right, and familiar text. In the meantime, practice some pointer power this weekend while reading street signs, posters, and cereal boxes.
Writing Workshop
Using what they know about consonant and short vowel sounds, children began to add labels, and short statements to their illustrations this week. To support children in labeling, we ask them to think about the first sound they hear in the word they would like to write. For instance if a child were interested in labeling a bird they'd drawn, we'd start by asking the child to say the word aloud. Then we'd ask them to say it again, this time thinking about the first sound they hear in the word bird. While listening for initial letter sounds, children rely on our alphabet chart and solidified letter sound knowledge to decide upon the first sound that they hear. Once children have written the initial sound they heard near their illustration, we ask if they'd like to label something else or listen for, or sound/tap out other sounds in the word they are working to write. You can practice this at home while watching or supporting your child in drawing and writing. Above are several photos of labels children decided to write while working this week.
Word Study
This week we explored the consonant sound 'f'. We learned a motion to make while saying the sound, brainstormed a ton of words that started with the sound 'f', and wrote our own 'f' book. Above our some of the illustrations children decided to make surrounding words that begin with the sound 'f'.
Our Emergent Study of Acorns - Counting, Collecting and Drawing
This week we spent time collecting acorns in Fort Greene Park and looking closely at acorns while doing our best to create observational drawings. While collecting children could be seen counting and organizing acorns and heard discussing the differences and similarities between their findings. We'll begin to use our collection of acorns for projects in the weeks to come.
Symbolic Play and Magnatiles
Ask Me About....
- A Gift From Ms Marvel
- Our Oak Maple Visit to Fort Greene Park
- Playing Atop a Giant Pile of Leaves
- A Song About a Goon