How is it moving?

     Over the past few weeks in the classroom we have been looking at how light moves and how we can manipulate the movement of light sometimes.  We took a disco ball light that ran on batteries.  When it was turned on, the ball would light up and spin and the children were able to see how the white light moved along a surface.

     We tried the same thing again but with a colored light.  This time we covered the table with paper and offered the children crayons that were similar colors to the light pieces on the spinning light.  We wanted to see if the children would make the connection between the crayons and the motion of the light spinning on the table.

     The children immediately started to draw large circles on the paper over where the light was spinning.  We noticed they were not making lines or dots, just circles and circular motions.  One of the children began to get frustrated when he tried to draw on the light on the table because the light continued to spin.  It might be interesting to repeat this lesson to see if he finds a strategy to use while tracing the light.        

  

     In the future, it will be interesting to see if the children would be more inclined to trace a light projected onto the wall or table that is stationary.  It will be neat to compare the actions of the children with a spinning light, and a stationary light.

Colored Light

     Over the past few weeks the children have been looking at light and how it can be various colors.  They have also been looking at how they can manipulate those various colors of light.  We have been working with flashlights a lot this term so I brought them out for the children again to use.  This time I put different colored cellophane over the light and taped it on so the children would be able to see different colors in the light beams when they used the flashlights.

     It was neat to see the reaction of the various children.  Some of the younger children were excited to just see that the light was different colors.  They would look at the light, and then look at how it shone on the mirror and wall.

     Some of the other children would take two different colored flashlights and shine them at each other.  I think some of them were doing this to see if they could get the colors to change or mix.  One of the children took two different colored flashlights and shone them on the wall next to each other, again, I think she was trying to see if she could change the colors somehow or get them to combine.  

     Because of these observations, I think it might be neat to use little sphere lights, meant for water arrangements, and use them with paint.  The children would still be able to see the light under the paint, but it would also give some of those children who were interested in mixing colors the opportunity to do so. 

November 2013

Hello Families,

                It is hard to believe November is already here!  We have been so busy in the classroom and have been learning so much.  We wanted to take a minute and invite all of our families to our Curriculum Night on Wednesday, November 13^th from 5:30-7pm.  Children are invited to come to school with their families to participate in hands-on investigations and look at documentation we have collected over the past few months.  Mrs. Stone, Ms. Rodegher, Ms. Salame, and Ms. Dunbar will be in the classroom to explain our investigations over the past semester.

                We also passed out a survey this week called Ages and Stages.  We are asking parents to fill it out and return it to school by the end of November.  This will give us and idea of what you are seeing at home and we can compare what we see at school.  At conferences in December we will talk about the survey.  If you have any questions about it please let us know.

                Thanksgiving this year is on Thursday, November 28^th.  There is no school this day, or the next day, which is Friday, November 29^th.  Have a wonderful few days with your families.

               As always, if you have any questions or comments please let us know.  Have a great day!

Catie Stone & Charlene Rodegher

Origin of Light

              This learning group was inspired by our students interest in the observing the moon in the sky both at night and during the day. We then showed them a projected image of the moon in the sky on the wall, and this led to exposure to movies of the sun, stars and comets in space that were projected onto the wall. During other explorations, the students were also very interested in turning different lights on and off. These two observations of the children’s thinking has formed the big question, “Where does light come from?”

                When first introduced to the image of the moon, Casey and Mustafa identified it but were not as interested in it as they were when on the walks with their parents. So then I projected a video of the sun onto the wall and they were intrigued by the movement, the colors that they saw. At first, Casey identified it as the moon, and then he placed his hand on the wall and said, “Hot!” Jad made the connection between the projected video and the red cellophane that he then placed over his eyes to look through at the image. It wasn’t until we projected a video of stars that the children made the connection that they all give off light. When Connor saw the stars, he pointed up at the projected video and said, “Light!” When Abigail saw the projection, she looked at the wall and said, “Wow,” in soft whisper. 

                After this exploration, we went on a search around the building for different lights. We walked into the art studio and observed where the lights were and then in the teachers office. When the lights were turned off, it became very dark and the children found flashlights that they turned on and pointed at each other and on their bodies. When we explored the lights in the seminar room, they were very interested in where the light went and where it came from when the light was turned on and off multiple times. They would turn their heads in search for how it happened. This showed us that they the children knew the light came from somewhere, so the next exploration we decided to have them explore light sources that they can directly manipulate.

 We brought out the tap light that created stars on the walls and ceiling when turned on along with the other tap lights and flashlights. We had them in the darkest part of our classroom so when turned on; the children were able to focus directly on the light source that they manipulated. As Mustafa turned the tap light on and off, he would look around the room to observe what was happening when he turned it on and off. When a teacher would turn a light off, Mariana would say, “Turn light on!”

The children have explored how they can control where the light comes from and whether there will be light or no light. I wonder what their ideas are of how they get the light and where it comes from? Do they associate it with the on and off switches? Are they curious how light can come from all of these different things? I intend to further explore these questions with the children to gain a better understanding of their thinking.

                

Reflection of Light

We have been exploring with light using the flashlights and tap lights. We have been using these materials with mirrors and reflective surfaces to observe how the light changes when on a reflective surface. We have been observing how our reflection changes when light is on a reflective surface and how the light appears on it.

       

    We first placed the tap lights inside of the triangle along with the flashlights. The children sat next to the mirror and shone the flashlights inside the triangle, while others would sit directly inside of it. They seemed very excited about their reflection from the three different perspectives and would shine the flashlight onto the mirrors and on to their bodies.

          Another exploration that we did was we taped foil to the underside of the table so the children would crawl underneath the table with the flashlights and look up at their reflection. Some of the children crawled under the table without the lights and would bang on the foil. Others lay under the table on their backs and held the flashlight against the foil, then shone it onto the floor and back 
to the foil again. They were comparing how the light looked different on the two surfaces.

  

          Next, we stood the table up on its side with the foil still taped to the underside of it providing a new perspective. The flashlights were placed next to it and the children explored holding the flashlight onto the foil, then moving it so the light shone on their hand that was also on the foil. Again, they were comparing the appearance of the light on the two different surfaces.


      We would like to explore light next week on the surface of water using submersible mini tap lights in the water table. The students will be able to see the light reflected off of the surface of the water as well as underneath it. Students will be encouraged to manipulate the tap lights with the water.

Motion of Light

            The children in the classroom have been very interested in light and concepts related to light.  We have noticed while using the flashlights that the children were interested in how they could move the light from one location to another.  We wanted to expand on this idea and see what would happen if the children were introduced to a light beam they couldn't alter themselves.

 We found a neat video of a laser show.  During the video, the children were able to see laser beams that changed.  The colors changed, the amount of laser beams shown changed throughout the video, and the pattern and direction of the light changed also.  We wanted to see how the children would react to this since they themselves would not be able to change how the light was moving – they would just be able to respond to what they saw.

At first we tried the video on the large projector and showed the children on the wall.  The children seemed interested in the video but their attention did not last as long as we would have liked.  We think maybe since they have seen images and videos on the large projector in the past possible the novelty has worn off. 

We then tried the video on the laptop in our classroom.  This was much more interesting for the children and adults alike.  The children began to trace their fingers on the screen along the beams.  We wonder if they were trying to feel the beams or if they thought they could alter the direction and motion of the beams with their fingers, like with an IPad.  Their engagement was sustained for a very long time and the children were much more engaged in how the light was moving.  We also think that when the children saw the video on the computer the images were more clear and more engaging.

It might be interesting to see how the children would react to something on the IPad that they would be able to alter themselves.  We would like to explore this avenue with them and see what they think.

October 2013

Dear Families,

            Welcome to October!  We are so excited that all of the children seem to be adjusting to the classroom and our school day.  It has been nice to see happy faces not only during the day but when coming to school too!

            Ms. Dunbar and Ms. Salame have been working with Mrs. Stone and Ms. Rodegher to plan and implement lessons in the classroom.  We have noticed an interest in ideas surrounding light.  This is seen in shadows, how light moves, and even in the sun and stars.  We would really like to continue exploring and expanding on these ideas with the children.  To help with these investigations, we would love any donations of flashlights, rope lights, disco balls, or Christmas lights. 

            We are also inviting parents to check out our communication board and idea web at the front of the classroom.  We are collecting ideas here of what the children are interested in and what we want to pursue with them.  We would love if you had ideas to contribute or things you notice at home that might be related to what we are exploring in the classroom.  We will be updating our learning group information also which is located at the front of the classroom.  We will keep documentation of what the children are saying and doing related to specific ideas we are pursuing with the children.

            At the end of the month, we will have a Halloween Walk.  More details will follow as to specific times but we will be asking for donations of candy and other trick-or-treat items (pencils, playdough, goldfish crackers) which will be collected near the front desk. 

            As always, if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to let us know.  Have a great month!

Catie Stone and Charlene Rodegher

Motion of Light

We have been incorporating the flashlights within the classroom these past two weeks. The children have been very interested in moving the light and observing how it looks when shone on different surfaces. They have been shining it onto the floor, the wall, the ceiling, and clothing and into mirrors.

During a lesson where the children were observing their shadows, many of the children brought over flashlights. They would aim their lights onto the wall, onto their shadows and then back towards the projector where the light was coming from. They were testing out how the light looked when shone on these different surfaces.

Then we placed a mirror underneath a table where the children would crawl on top of it. As they would crawl underneath the table, the children would bring the flashlights with them and shine the light into the mirror.  A few children would lie on their backs looking upwards shining their flashlight to the bottom of the table. This has showed us that the children’s thinking by how they associate the light to be aiming upwards while lying down. We would like to place foil or mirrors to the bottom of a table so the children will be able to lie down and look up at themselves with the flashlight.

Many of the children have also been walking around with the flashlights and shining them onto the ceiling. They follow the light with their eyes and have been spinning their bodies to make the light move. One child held two flashlights up to the ceiling and was observing how they made light on two different spots on the ceiling.

These are a few of the explorations we have been doing that are focused on the motion of light. These explorations will become more in depth as the weeks go on.

Light

     At the beginning of the term we introduced the children to multiple types of light sources.  We brought flashlights into the classroom, let them explore with tap lights, introduced the children to our light table, and brought in the projector.
     We noticed that the children were very excited about the flashlights and how they could move and manipulate the light source.  They would take the flashlights and move them about the classroom, shining them on various items and surfaces.  Since there seemed to be an interest in how the light moved, we wanted to bring in a stationary light source for the children to see how they would react.

     The children seemed very interested to see where the light was coming from.  We set the projector on a shelf and projected light onto the wall across from it.  Many of the children were attracted to the light, where it was coming from, and would put their fingers up to it.  They followed the light to the wall and noticed there were shadows.  The children noticed their shadows, but not all of them were quite sure where the shadow was coming from.  They also noticed shadows of other children and adults in the area.  A few of the children also began to interact with the shadows.  We are excited to see where the idea of shadows leads us.

September Newsletter

Dear Families,

            Welcome to a new school year!  We are very excited to get to know all of our new families and can’t wait to let the children explore in the classroom.  We look forward to a busy school year.

            We wanted to start off by inviting our families to bring in a family picture.  These will be displayed in the classroom and will give the children an opportunity to see their family when they are at school.  Sometimes it gives the children comfort knowing they can look at their families while they are at school.

            We will have two early childhood student teachers in our classroom this term.  They are students at U of M who are towards the end of their teaching program.  Maya will be with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Sherrell will be with us on Thursdays and Fridays.  You will see them around the classroom and they will be working collaboratively with Charlene and I on explorations and learning groups with the children. 

            One of the important aspects about our program is the documenting that we do.  We take photographs, video clips, and write down notes about what the children are saying and doing.  This helps us to find out what the children are thinking so we can help scaffold them to the next level of thinking and learning.  You will see documentation around the classroom and notice webs of thinking, which children are in which learning groups, and documentation regarding specific things happening around the classroom. Please feel free to take a minute at drop off or pick up to check these out.  We would also love if you wanted to write down on our communication board interesting things you may have seen at home related to what we are talking about at school, or something you think we could expand on at school.  We would love for our families to be as much a part of this process as possible.

            Please know that we have some severe allergies in our classroom this semester.  For this reason, we ask that parents refrain from bringing in food from home other than what is in your child’s lunch.  Any breakfast from home or snack a child had in the car should be finished before entering the classroom.  We know you will join us in maintaining the safety of our children, which is our first priority. 

            We know that starting your child at school for the first time can be stressful and exciting at the same time.  One of the strategies we usually talk to parents about is maintaining consistency.  After signing your child in for the day, hang up coats, and put lunches away, we would invite you in to get your child acclimated to the classroom.  You are welcome to spend some time playing with them in the classroom.  When you are ready to leave, we will make sure to continue extending that play with your child.  We recommend letting your child know you are going to leave, telling them you will be back in a little while, and then leaving.  If a parent seems anxious at drop off time, their child will sense that and feed off of it.  You are welcome to call the front desk and they will transfer you down to the classroom so we can give up an update on your child.  We want parents to feel secure having their child with us at school, so if there is ever anything else we can do to help, please let us know. 

            Some parents have asked us about donations to the classroom.  At the beginning of the school year, we would be interested in non-toxic house plants.  Some examples of these are: African Violets, Bamboo, Begonia, Jade, Spider Plant, or a Boston Fern.  As we get to know the children and their interests, we will let you know if there are any types of recycled materials we might be interested in incorporating into the classroom.

            We will also start to update our classroom blog in the next few weeks.  We will post documentation from the classroom. It will be another neat way for families to keep track of what is happening, and something you can share with your family and friends.

            This school year should be exciting and we are very excited to get to know the children and all of our families.  If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.  Thank you in advance for all of your support this school year!

Catie Stone and Charlene Rodegher

Music and Sound

            This week the children have been looking at different natural materials and exploring what sounds they make.  The children were offered dandelions, grass, pine needles, and yarn with clear tubes.  The children were able to choose what they wanted to include in their tubes. 

            It was very interesting to see how the children responded.  The materials provided purposely would not make a loud noise if included in the tube because I wanted to see how they would react.

            The children would fill their tubes with a material, shake the tube, and look confused.  Some of the children commented on how the tube was “broken” and “wouldn’t work” and some of the children wouldn’t say anything and move to the next material to see if it worked.

            While discussing this at group time, the children commented that the materials were soft.  We are going to explore the differences between how hard materials and soft materials sound and see where that leads us.

Clay

            This week the children have been working on more strategies to manipulate clay.  We provided them with photographs of clay bowls as inspiration as they worked with the clay.  The children showed their knowledge of rolling balls, and a few of the children were able to poke holes in their clay ball with their fingers.

            Many of the children, when looking at the pictures as a whole group, commented on how they bowls looked like hermit crab shells turned over.  We thought this was interesting because the children are bringing several aspects of their learning together at the same time.  We have been working with hermit crabs , how they look, and what they do, over the past few weeks as well.

May 2013

Dear Families,

            Welcome to a new semester!  We are excited to start the spring semester and enjoy some warmer weather!  We look forward to continuing our explorations with the children this term and are excited to explore some new ideas with them.

            Thank you to all of our families who came to our Early Childhood Program Exhibit.  It was wonderful to see so many of our families and we hope you enjoyed looking and talking about what has been going on this school year.  It is so neat to see how much the children have grown this year!

            One of the great things about the spring term is that we are able to enjoy the outdoors a little more.  When it starts to get hot outside we will make sure to apply sunscreen to the children.  Permission forms will be filled out for this.  Please know that when the weather gets warmer we do more with water outside too.  A change of clothes is always a good idea.

            This year we wanted to have parent-teacher conferences at the end of the spring term.  This will give us a chance to talk to you about the entire school year as opposed to just the fall and winter semesters.  June 24^th is the last day of the school year.  July 8^th begins our summer term.  We will be having conferences on June 26^th, 27^th, and 28^th.  Sign-up sheets will be posted in the next week or two.

            As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let us know.  Have a wonderful month!

Catie Stone & Charlene Rodegher

Hermit Crab Habitats

            This spring we are continuing the habitat exploration while focusing on the hermit crabs. The children have been very interested in observing the hermit crabs in and out of their tank. They have discussed the different materials that are in the hermit crab tank and different things they need. We have brought the hermit crabs out onto the green moss and placed them in sand to provoke thinking about hermit crab habitats.

          This week we brought out natural materials such as rocks, pine cones, tree cookies and tiles onto the discovery table. The children used the various materials to construct homes for the hermit crabs. After the homes were created, the hermit crabs were then brought out to explore the homes. The children were very excited to watch the crabs move around the materials that they placed for them.

Other materials were brought out by the children to use for the hermit crab homes as well. They used the magna tiles to construct box like structures where the hermit crab was placed in the center.

After exploring materials and using them to create hermit crab homes, we now would like the children to illustrate their ideas on paper. They have the ideas of what they want the home to look like, now even deeper thinking and planning can occur through the use of pencil and paper.