The Legos had a blast participating in screen-free week, a week dedicated to incorporating new and fun activities in the classroom that do not require screens! Throughout the school week, the Legos engaged in various screen-free activities such as an obstacle course in the hallway, as well as movement and teamwork building activities in the classroom. On Friday, the Legos enjoyed watching the Lily Pads put on a play of The Mitten in the Music room. The Legos then made "Gerald" puppets based on the Elephant and Piggie book series. The students linked up with up with their Watermelon "reading buddies" who made "Piggie" puppets. The Legos had fun acting out various Elephant and Piggie books together with their puppets! In the afternoon, we had special guests come in and share a cartoon activity. The students had so much fun drawing and creating their own cartoons to take home! On Friday, the Gillen Brewer School celebrated V.I.P. Day! The Legos prepared for V.I.P. Day by making a trip to a local grocery store where they worked with a partner to find and purchase various fruits. Back at school, the Legos worked hard to cut the fruits in order to make a fruit salad to share! The Legos further prepared by working together to decorate signs to hang. As V.I.P.s arrived, the Legos greeted their guests with warm smiles and excitement. The Legos showcased their knowledge of families and the community through the creation of a comparing and contrasting "All About Me and My V.I.P." book. The Legos and their guests then enjoyed some treats and had fun posing for pictures! The Legos have been hard at work learning about maps and their various features (e.g., legend, symbols) as well as the three types of communities. The Legos sorted pictures representing the different communities. The Legos put their knowledge of maps and communities to the test as they followed a map throughout the neighborhood surrounding Gillen Brewer, reading the legend and identifying symbols. The Legos made observations of the urban neighborhood and took pictures of various important features that they saw! Music classes have been full of movin’ and groovin’! The Legos have enjoyed moving their bodies to various types of songs, whether it has been galloping around the room, stomping and clapping to the beat, or coming up with their own creative dance moves! Robert has also introduced the Legos to several different instruments. They get excited to explore and make their own music! Additionally, as trains are a preferred interest in the Lego's classroom, Robert has incorporated numerous train songs. In social studies, the Legos have been busy learning about families. They have compared and contrasted family activities, traditions, cultures, and celebrations. As a culminating project, the Legos worked with their families to create their own family book. Additionally, the Legos have been discussing events from the past and present. To help develop their understanding of this concept, students thought of events from their own lives and then sequenced them on a timeline. The Legos then had the opportunity to be in the “spotlight” and share both their book and timeline with their classmates. They were enthusiastic presenters and respectful audience members. Every season the students celebrate a family fun day to participate in a variety of creative activities and engage with their peers throughout the school. This year, due to bad weather, Fall Family Fun Day was rescheduled during the school week! The afternoon was taken over by eight fall activities! The choices were: making a mask, doing a bean bag toss, going to a dance party, watching The Chipmunks movie, making flubber, decorating a pumpkin, tattooing themselves, or decorating with Halloween stickers. The students were given a list with the choices and asked to choose a starting point. Many of the students chose to hit each room while others were content sticking to one or two choices. The Legos had such an amazing time seeing students from other classrooms and travelling to each new activity! On Fall Fun Day, the Legos also explored pumpkins using their senses. First the Legos used their sense of sight. When looking in the inside of the pumpkin, they noticed seeds, commenting that they looked like peanuts or beans. The Legos used their hands and discovered that the pumpkin felt stringy, slimy, and juicy. Lastly, the class was able to taste roasted pumpkin seeds and observed that they were hard, crunchy, and salty. The Legos loved celebrating fall in many ways. On Friday, Gillen Brewer held their annual event to welcome grandparents or special guests into the classroom for a fun activity with the students! Upon arrival, the students and their visitor decorated a picture frame made from Popsicle sticks that would later house a photograph of the pair. The students were able to use sports stickers, alphabet stickers, tissue paper, markers, and more! The students had so much fun decorating their picture frames, making each one unique to their personalities. Afterwards, apple pie in a cup was served! The students used visuals to determine how many scoops or sprays they would need for crushed graham crackers, homemade apple sauce, and whipped cream. The apple sauce was created with the apples that were picked at Dr. Davies Farm. The creation was delicious! The Legos were so excited to have someone special come to visit them in the classroom and are thankful to all who were able to come out! On Friday, the Legos had a welcomed visitor to the classroom: Gabby from Art Farm! On her visit, she taught the students all about birds. First, the Legos had the opportunity to feel long feathers and explore how the feather changed when they brushed their finger up or down along the feather's edge. Using the feathers, the Legos pretended to be birds and flapped their feathery wings! Next, the Legos met Princess, the dove; Polly, the chicken; and Pumpkin, the colorful parrot. The class was mesmerized by the birds and had a lot of questions to ask about where they live and what they eat. All the Legos who wanted a turn were able to gently pet the birds and feel their different textures. Additionally, the Legos observed various bird eggs and commented on the different colors and sizes. The Legos enjoyed the visit and look forward to next time. What cool creatures will the Legos meet next? The Legos could not have asked for a more beautiful fall day for their first field trip of the school year! The day began with a hayride through the orchard. The students admired the views and talked about the different colored apples and how many apples they were going to pick! Once the students arrived in the center of the orchard, they scanned for an area that had a row of well stocked apple trees. Together, the Legos worked together to fill up two large bags full of the most delicious apples they could get their hands on. Once the bags were filled, the Legos walked back towards Dr. Davies' house and found a cozy spot in the shade to eat their picnic lunch. Before the class headed back to school, they picked out a pumpkin! The Legos had such an amazing time being outside and exploring Dr. Davies Farm and cannot wait for future apple and pumpkin activities! Ten curious boys embarked on a special adventure to determine the greatest object that floats! The process began the very first week of school by exploring common classroom objects in tubs of water to see whether they stayed on the top of the water, or retreated to the bottom. From there, the students listened to read alouds about sinking and floating, which furthered their curiosity and exploration. Some favorite read alouds included: "Mr. Gumpy's Outing" by John Burningham and "Who Sank The Boat" by Pamela Allen. The Legos continued to make connections throughout the school day. At snack, they observed cheerios floating in their water cups and spotted tiny bubbles at the surface! After they explored, The Legos made predictions about other materials they believed would either sink or float. Together, the students recorded their observations in a brainstorm, listing coconuts, plastic, rubber ducks, lemons, (pirate) ships, pool noodles, wood, Legos, Cheerios, and bubbles. Finally, it was time to determine which object the students were the most excited about! Each student completed a private ballot where they wrote the name of the object they identified the most with and drew a picture of that object floating in water. After everyone was finished, the teachers added the votes to a bar chart on the SmartBoard. The favorites were: Legos, bubbles, Cheerios, and coconuts. With an overwhelming majority, the class chose their name for the school year: The Legos! |
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