3-Day: Feeling Blue...
This week, 3-Day immersed themselves in all shades of blue. We painted, manipulated, sifted, floated, constructed and created everything blue! We had another mini-scavenger hunt for things in our classroom that are blue. This activity allows children to navigate their way around our classroom. It allows them to look on toy shelves to see things they may not have noticed before. It encourages them to think before they look and to work cooperatively if they are having trouble.
We've noticed some wonderful empathy and caring behaviors this week. As the novelty of "our new school" becomes the realization of having to leave our loved ones for a chunk of time can make some us feel sad, seeing friends giving other friends hugs, asking if our friends are "ok", and giving encouraging smiles made Mayson and I so happy. We did have some tears this week, which is completely normal. There are 15 of us sharing the same space, sharing the same toys, and sharing the same grownups when we need help. We have many goals that we strive to achieve here in 3-Day. Learning about change, about our new classroom space, about how to transition (which can be really challenging!), and about working together as a classroom community and taking care of each other are just a few.
On Monday, we celebrated Simon's book, Diggers, Dozers and Dumpers. Children used trucks dipped in blue paint to make tire tread paintings. You will see them displayed outside our classroom. They look super cool! We had sand, rocks and lots of diggers and dumpers in our discovery table. We set up a road with a variety of trucks in our block area.
On Wednesday we ready Malia's favorite story called Circus Ship. There were boats with a variety of zoo/circus animals floating on them in our discovery table, filled with BLUE water (of course). We made blue puffy paint and spent some time talking about the texture and the shades of blue on our work.
Music Steve came to visit us in our classroom and got our immediate attention with an original Steve song using each one of our names! The children loved singing and dancing together!
On Friday, we read Maddie's favorite book, Hey, Wake Up. Mayson and I talked to the children about their morning routines as they get ready for the day. We used toothbrushes to paint blue "toothpaste" all over our paper. Your children thought it was quite silly to paint with toothbrushes! Making these connections to text through play, music, and art introduces children to the building blocks that create a solid foundation for early readers here at Bowen.
We all learned a new song this week:
I wake up in the morning (stretch your arms up high)
And brush, brush, brush ( brush your teeth)
Comb my hair and eat my mush (comb and eat)
Blow a kiss (mwah!) and I'm on my way (blow a kiss)
I get to go to school today! (Marching to school)
We culminated the week by celebrating Blue Day! It's SO much fun wearing and sharing one of our favorite primary colors in the classroom.
The weather has been spectacular, so we have had a lot of time outside. On Friday, Coach John came back to play with us outside! We used hockey sticks and balls and spent our time running and playing!
One side note, we have a very busy bathroom bunch this year! Oftentimes, throughout the morning, Mayson and I will ask if anyone has to use the restroom. We typically take three children at a time and rotate through the group if they need to go. It would be helpful if you ask your child as they enter school for the day if they need to use the restroom; this way we can spend more time with them in the classroom.
Hope the beautiful weather continues into your weekend. For those celebrating Rosh Hashanah, we hope you have a great holiday! No school on Monday. The next few weeks are short ones for us here in 3-Day. We will make the most of the days we spend together!
Karen and Mayson