As we continue to learn the world and ourselves through our senses, we discussed what it might feel like to experience loss of our sense of sight, or blindness. We read the book, The Black Book of Colors, by Menena Cottin that includes braille and descriptions of colors based on imagery to explore “seeing” without a sense of sight. Inspired by the book, we rubbed chunk black crayon over braille paper to expose the texture and closed our eyes are we “read” with our fingers. The children created their own braille paper using shiny black paint (condensed milk mixed with paint) applied with a Q-tip on black paper. Ask your child to “read” what they wrote.
Black sculptures were built using cast-off black items including lids, cords, remote controls, headphones, wig hair, hangers, and even a shoe, all sorts of black things saved from the landfill, made into art! We bridged our study of architecture to buildings. Balance and stability worked to challenge each young engineer and builder in the creation of their black sculpture.
Zoo Phonics character: Bubba Bear. Invite your child to teach you the American Sign Language sign for “bear” and demonstrate the letter sound, buh, buh, buh.
Yoga poses included butterfly pose, banker’s pose, and boat pose. Stretch out and try the new poses with your child. Begin in Sukasana (easy sitting) and end in Savasana (final relaxation). Inhale….exhale….Namaste.
Hannah Jakus, Community Studio Manager, came to visit in her bee suit to teach the children about honey bees. We looked at a series of beehives to learn more about how bees make honey. Ask your child what bees eat. (honey!)
Every week the children each create the letter of the week as we practice the sounds and shapes of each letter in the alphabet. “Bb” was painting in black on top of a yellow honeycomb-like print from bubble wrap. Hunt for items that begin with the letter B at your house and write a B word list to read over and over together.
And bears, oh my! Bike on, Bear by Cynthea Liu and Kristyna Litten addresses the frustrations of learning how to ride a bike. What happens when a bear named Mack wakes up with a boy on his back in the story A Bear and His Boy by Sean Bryan, illustrated by Tom Murphy? We incorporate reading comprehension strategies such as predicting, recalling, and reflecting on the content of each story as we read to the children.
Gallery walk, gallery talk: We visited the blue bathroom by arts industry artist, Ann Agee. The Tokens of Appreciation exhibition offered examples of letter B objects to browse and discuss. We learned how castings are made by using a mold.
Ask your child about their B week counting collection. They each had a jar of little wooden birds, birdhouses, or buttons for counting and pairing and sorting. They each have their own little 6” ruler to add to their toolbox for math. They learned to group and tally working toward addition and subtraction as well as counting. Start a set of counting collections at your house! Fill some jars with 10 items each such as small toys or natural findings. Add paper, mark-making, and measuring materials. It’s a fun way to play with math!
“C” creeps up on us this week. We will cleverly disguise lessons on the importance of voting into our study of the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow, as we prepare for the annual Preschool Primary Color Election to be held on Tuesday, November 3.
Encourage conversations about your child’s experiences in school this week and comment below. Let’s keep a dialog going on Yellow Class activities and adventures as we strive to be together, to be close, as we are distant.
