News from the Outdoors

Despite the shorter week, the Detectives were able to fit a lot into only two days at Audubon! We continued our Planet Pals unit, meeting the Planet Pals named Fluffy and H2O. On Monday the classes went looking for H2O at Woodend! The AM class hiked along the creek beds, finding leaves, an old well, but no water until we hit the pond. While the PM class experimented with mud at the pond, using different sized sticks to determine how deep down the muddy mud goes!

 

On Tuesday both classes enjoyed reading It Looked like Spilt Milk before cloud gazing! While we couldn’t find a ton of clouds, we looked for the objects the clouds had also made in the story.

 

News from the Classroom

This week the Detectives continued our Planet Pal discovery inside the classroom. In our Planet Pal mail during meeting, we learned about how Fluffy and H2O work together in the water cycle. We continued our discovery of the two by adding water and sponges to the water table, having the water evaporate into sponge clouds and rain back down into the table below.

 

On Monday we also learned a new Mindfullness trick- “take five!” This can help when any feeling starts to get too big, and to help calm our bodies. You hold one hand out, and with the opposite pointer finger trace the outside of your hand. While tracing up, you breath in, and when you trace down, you breath out! We also got a chance to make our own, Fluffy Fidgets! The kids used funnels to pour flour into balloons to create soft and colorful clouds to squeeze in their hands.

 

We continued building with zoobs at the block area, and added more corresponding Planet Pal capes in the dramatic play. We added Planet Pal themed stamps to the play dough we made last week, as well as opened up a new Planet Pal matching game on the campfire carpet!

 

At the art table this week, we created Planet Pal inspired pieces! On Monday we made sea creatures with eye dropper water colors, oil pastels and stickers. The shaving cream came out in spades on Tuesday to help us create our own shapes in the clouds.

Books we Read

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty (AM)

Are you a Ladybug? by Julie Allen (PM)

It Looked like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw

The Magic School Bus: Wet All Over by Joanna Cole

Weekly Top Hits

I’M THANKFUL

(tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)

I’m thankful for my family, family, family,

I’m thankful for my family and everyone I love

I’m thankful for my friends at school, friends at school, friends at school,

I’m thankful for my friends at school and my teachers too

I’m thankful for all animals, animals, animals,

I’m thankful for all animals and all insects too

I’m thankful for the trees and plants, trees and plants, trees and plants,

I’m thankful for the trees and plants and everything that grows

I’m thankful for the earth I love, earth I love, earth I love,

I’m thankful for the earth I love and all the planet pals

The Water Cycle

(Tune: She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain)

Water travels in cycle, yes it does (x2)

It goes up as evaporation,

forms clouds of condensation,

falls down as precipitation,

yes it does!

 

Spoiler Alert: When we come back from our break we will be finishing up our Planet Pals unit!