On Wednesday, the Legos enjoyed an art class outside in the sunny weather! Kate supplied large paper and sharpies and asked them to draw a building or vehicle within sight. The group had so much fun adding windows, trees, and other features in their surroundings to their drawings. When they were done making their blueprint, the went back inside and added some fabric! Stay tuned to see how it all turned out!
On Friday, the Legos took a field trip to the Central Park pond to explore the duck habitat. Once we got off the bus, the group walked around the pond and made observations about what we saw. The class found a beautiful spot in the shade overlooking the pond and listened to a read aloud about ducks. Then it was time for a scavenger hunt! The Legos broke up into small groups and searched for rocks, trees, flowers, water, ducks, birds, turtles, and more! This helped the Legos think more about exactly what they can find in a pond habitat. After the scavenger hunt, they made drawings of some of the plants and animals they saw. Finally, it was time for lunch! The Legos went back to their shaded area overlooking the pond and had a beautiful picnic. Before heading back to Gillen Brewer, each student collected some materials to bring back such as rocks, flowers, glass, and even a snail! The Legos had such an amazing trip to the pond, they wished they could stay longer! The Legos have been hard at work learning about fiction and nonfiction text features. In the next few weeks, the class will be using nonfiction texts to gather information about their oviparous animal research topic. To make this learning come to life, the Legos took a trip to the Webster Library in order to gather resources for their studies! First, the Legos rode on a city bus. On their way, they made observations about the urban community. Once they arrived, they met the librarian and listened to a read-aloud about animals. When the read-aloud was finished, the Legos looked through various non-fiction books about their chosen animal. They then picked one book and checked it out at the front desk. The Legos are thrilled to begin their research projects!
The Legos visit Asphalt Green for Recess Program every Wednesday and Thursday. This Wednesday the Legos enjoyed a fun-filled class with their coach where they did a warm-up, an obstacle course, and a cool-down. In the warm-up the class practiced doing different full-body movements across the gym. Some of the Legos' favorites were Mario jumps and zombie walks. After the class warmed-up, the Legos completed an obstacle course that included climbing, jumping, balancing, and pushing objects. Once the class got three turns, they did a cool-down with deep breaths and stretching. The Legos finished with putting their hands all together and doing the Lego class chant. Legos on three...two...one... LEGOS! On Wednesday, the Lego class took a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)! Leading up to the trip, the class had two visits from Kirstin, a tour guide from the museum. On her visits, she introduced the Legos to different materials that portray movement: plastic rubbing plates, prisma sticks, and wiki sticks.
Kirstin met the Legos as soon as they arrived at the MoMA and continued the theme of movement starting on the fifth floor. There, the Legos sat and discussed a Jackson Pollack painting and played a game with yarn to represent how the artist may have created the painting. The next stop was a large golden-colored statue created by the artist Umerto Boccioni. The Legos loved to guess what the artist was thinking about when making this statue, coming up with ideas like it looks like an elephant, a rhino, a bird, etc. Then some Legos took turns acting out the statue while their peers clapped and laughed along with them. Before leaving, the Legos stopped by two last paintings named "The Duel" by Julian Stanczak, and "Leda and the Swan" by Cy Twombly! At each of these, Kirstin asked the Legos what shapes and colors they saw as well as what hand movement was used to paint them. At the end, the Legos were excited to come back to GBS, eat their lunch, and discuss their favorite sighting at the museum! On Friday, the Legos were unable to go to the park due to snowy, frigid conditions. Instead, the Legos enjoyed some indoor fun with their Watermelon buddies! The Legos and the Watermelon classrooms combined and enjoyed various activities. In the Watermelon room, carpet spots replaced tables and the students were able to spread out and enjoy yoga. In the Lego room, students enjoyed looking through various book bins, reading and acting out books with their Watermelon buddies. Finally, in the hallway, the students enjoyed an obstacle course filled with jumping, balancing and crawling! On Thursday, the Legos were excited to welcome a special guest, Cat in the Hat! In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, Cat in the Hat brought various ingredients to make "oobleck", a concoction inspired by Dr. Seuss's book Bartholomew and the Oobleck. The Legos had fun exploring with the oobleck's various textures. The Legos cannot wait to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday again next year! On Tuesday, the Legos were thrilled to walk up the GBS stairs to find the classroom door decorated with a "100 Days Smarter!" sign and streamers to walk through! Throughout the school day, the Legos celebrated their 100th day accomplishment in a variety of ways. The Legos first got moving by dancing along to a 100 days in school movement break. The Legos then heard an unexpected knock on the door. The Legos were so excited to welcome a 100 year old visitor named MaryElla who brought the book 100th Day Worries to read to the class! After the read aloud, the Legos took turns estimating and predicting how high in a jar 100 marshmallows would fill. At first, most Legos predicted the marshmallows would easily fill the entire jar. The class then used dot markers to count from 1 to 100 on a hundreds chart! As the Legos counted, a teacher put marshmallows in the jar one by one. The Legos were surprised to find out that 100 marshmallows barely filled the jar! During goodbye meeting, the "ten grids" helper, filled up the 10th tens frame to make it 10 groups of 10 and 100 days in school. The "ten grids" helper then led the Lego's in counting to 100 by 10's. The Legos have been hard at work learning about the needs and wants of our urban community. One of New York City’s needs is the transit system because it allows us to travel around our community and to other communities. To make this learning come to life, the Legos made a trip to the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn! First, the Legos ate lunch in the subway themed cafeteria where they were assigned to a subway line. Then, the Legos used cardboard boxes, glue and decorations to make their own bus or train. When their vehicles were complete, the class began their tour. Throughout the tour, the Legos compared various buses and trains from different time periods. In addition, the Legos had a blast acting as bus drivers as well as the passengers on a bus and various trains! On Friday, the Legos welcomed Gabby from Art Farm into the classroom! Gabby brought with her different types of insects. First, the Legos had the opportunity to hold stuffed animals insects and listened carefully for their "buzz". Then, the class met various insects such as two beetles named Licorice and Grape and a walking stick bug named Woody. The Legos took turns touching the insects, making observations about how they looked and felt. The room was then filled with smiles and giggles as they had the opportunity to place an insect on their leg. Finally, the Legos enjoyed watching a Brainpop video all about insects during snack. The Legos loved the visit and, as always, look forward to what animals Gabby brings next time! |
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