January 13th, 2010

In the atelier, we had a new center. We sculpted and built with moon sand. We discussed the many ways moon sand felt, looked and smelled different or the same from regular sand or play dough. One of our observations was that moon sand doesn't form balls (or spheres) as well as play dough, but it does make better balls than regular sand.


We also had alot of problem solving to do at the sand table because everyone wanted a turn. We discussed how much time is fair for each person to spend at the sand table (generally 5-10 minutes), and individual pairs worked out when and how they would switch off. This skill is so important and we are amazing negotiators!
Since we have been experimenting with mixing primary colors, today we used all three to make beautiful masterpieces during art. We found that if we mixed all three in equal amounts, we could make brown!



We have a new interactive chart! We pick a name from our name list...

...and then pick out letters that look like the letters in the name.
We put them in order....
...and then sing this song:

We continue to write authentically in the writing center. Today, Nate wrote a book about aliens and Bethany is working on illustrating it. This is the type of collaboration that REAL authors do! Once it is done, we will read it at story time and put it in the library for our friends to enjoy!