Post Office Week!

Post Office Week provided abundant opportunities for both writing and role playing.  The children wrote letters, stuffed envelopes and stuck stamps at our Postal Table.

They mailed, sorted and delivered letters as well!

They wrote, stamped and mailed "real letters" to all of you!  Hopefully, your mail arrived safely! 

Thank you to Rieny, Parker's own mail carrier, for giving us a close up look at a real mail truck!

Thank you to Hazel's mom, Kristen for coming in as our Guest Reader this week!

Looking Deeper:  Exploration and Learning through Play

This Week let's take a closer look at the purpose of "Authentic Writing" activities.

Young children instinctively know that "writing" is different than "drawing".  Subsequently, even children who are not yet able to form letters will make "writing-like"  symbols when given the opportunity to use pencil and paper as opposed to makers, crayons or chalk.  

We have therefore provided the children with a wide variety of authentic writing opportunities that have been both teacher directed and child initiated.  Over the course of the school year, the children have (with teacher assistance) "written" invitations, thank you notes, stories and books.  Within their dramatic play scenarios, they have made notations in our office, written shopping lists for our Grocery Store, and jotted patient notes in our Doctor Office.  This week the children have "written" a multitude of letters that they mailed and delivered within our classroom Post Office!

Over the course of the year, many of the children have moved from making "writing-like" symbols to actually printing letters.  Some of the children routinely print their name on their work, and others are simply printing some of the letters from their name. 

Providing the children with on-going, open-ended opportunities for "authentic writing" is not only crucial to their development of writing skills, but it also facilitates their conceptual understanding of the "purpose of writing" which is communication of spoken word through symbols.

Have a fun and restful Holiday Weekend!

Fish in the Sea Week

Fish in the Sea Week was filled with rich literature, fun songs, lots of fish art, and a variety of fine motor activities.  Additionally, Fish in the Sea was the final theme within our overarching unit "All Living Things Grow."

Sea Life was represented on our Felt Board and in our Water Table!

Fish and Sea Shells were viewed under magnifying glasses.

Fish were assembled, sorted and matched.

At the Art Table, fish were glued, painted, colored and stamped.

Sea Shells were glued as well!

Thank you to Cameron's grandma, Jane for loaning us her life size Sea Creatures for the week!

Five Rivers held many surprises this year, not the least of which being hundreds of children and no access to the Beaver Trail!  Our trip was lovely none the less!  We saw wild life in many forms; flowers and foliage, a family of Canadian Geese, birds, bugs and fish swimming in several ponds!  Many thanks to all of our drivers and impromptu guides!

Looking Deeper:  Exploration and Learning through Play

Let's take a closer look at our concluding unit of study: All Living Things Grow

Fish in the Sea Week was the concluding focus of our over-arching unit entitled: "All Living Things Grow."  This unit was rooted in Doctor Weeks as we explored and discussed the three components necessary to insure healthy bodies.  It was formally introduced in late March during Baby Weeks as we explored our own personal growth, and discovered that our growth was dependent upon those same three components, namely: eating healthy food, getting plenty of sleep and lots of exercise. 

Our focus shifted from the growth of people to the exploration of plants and their growth from seeds during Growing Weeks.  We discovered that plant life also depends on three component to facilitate growth and sustain life, these being; soil, sun and water.   Additionally the children participated in a myriad of activities that concretely demonstrated to them the sequence of plant growth, which they will tell you is root, stem, leaf and flower.  Farm and animal life was also explored and discussed during this time.

In early May we began our focus on bug life.  We learned that while we consider insects to be bugs, not all bugs are insects, just the ones with six legs!  We read a variety of non-fiction books which illustrated and described the broad variety of species that comprise Bug Life.  Additionally the children searched for and observed bugs during our outdoor play time!

Fish in the Sea Week focused on one final life form, the mysterious creatures that inhabit our seas and oceans.  While our study was very basic, it served to broaden the children's concepts of sea life creatures and their habitats.

Throughout this unit the children have gained and broadened their basic conceptual understanding of a variety of life forms, the components that facilitate growth, and how these life forms are alike and/or different from one another.  This learning has been facilitated through literature and hands-on experiential activities, or as I like to call it Play!

Our Field Trip to Five Rivers Environmental Preserve was a fitting culmination for our unit as the outdoor preserve was bursting with abundant plant and animal life for the children to observe and enjoy first hand!

Have a fun and restful weekend!