On our last professional development day we took time, as we always do, to reflect upon what the students in each room have been showing interest in. We discussed conversations that the students had with staff, as well as with peers, and discussed the materials which the children were drawn to and which ones they engaged with the most.
In the Orca room, some of the children were interested in the Robert Munsch book, Moose, and the teachers observed that many of the students were spending a lot of time exploring puddles, mud, leaves, sticks, and the outdoor, natural elements in general. We decided to delve into the learning area of Canadian woodland animals such as moose, deer, owls, salmon, etc. The teachers also discussed the Outdoor School philosophy and activities that Miss.Harp learned during a two day outdoor workshop, and agreed that bringing these into our program these next few weeks would be incredibly relevant to the children. As our discussion evolved, we quickly realized that our own First Nations highly value our connection to animals and nature, and adding this element to our explorations would be essential in creating a well balanced curicculum.
Over the next few weeks, you may hear about activities such as weaving, totem pole building, drumming, clay work, and outdoor mud kitchens!
In the Unicorn room, we have noticed a great deal of play in the block corner and some buildings with amazing attention to detail. It has also been observed that students have been gathering many types of materials, not usually associated with building, for their designs. Rather than move forward with a traditional "construction" type theme, we have chosen to explore the Reggio Emilia philosophy of the 100 Languages and incorporate a 3D visual arts aspect into our activities. Each week will be dedicated to a different material such as wood, paper, or natural elements like mud. Within the week, the students will interact with and manipulate these in new and different ways. For example, during Wood Week the students will not only build with blocks but use them to paint within trace them for "blueprints. They will lace wooden beads, utilize wooden rhythm sticks for music during circle time, and build geometric shapes with wooden clothespins. Throughout the next few weeks, we will also be introducing art concepts to the children (i.e. primary colours for the 3 year olds, and basic colour theory- think colour wheel- for the 4 year olds) with the anticipation of using our new knowledge of manipulating different materials to explore artists and their art styles in the new year. This, of course, will be dependant on whether or not the children show interest in moving in this direction.
Given the fact that these areas of exploration are not necessarily winter or holiday themed, our Winter Celebration will reflect this. More information about times and schedule will come out soon; however, we do hope that you will join us on Friday, December 16th for our renamed Winter Woodland Celebration! The children will perform songs that will highlight a woodland theme, and the gymnasium will be turned into a gallery to showcase the collaborative efforts of the students in each class!
For this gallery, we have been busy photographically documenting the process and will have photos with the displays. Therefore, we won't be posting as many weekly activity photos on our blog for you to see. We want to keep you in suspense! A few "sneak peeks" will be posted here each week, but significantly fewer than usual.
