The Food Mystery

In honor of our Pre-K Movie Premiere that will take place later tonight, we would like to present our final draft of our script entitled The Food Mystery. We actually had a total of 8 drafts but after the first three or four writing sessions it was pretty obvious that the story stayed exactly the same and only their characters changed. You’ll notice that in this version, there are not any copyrighted characters such as Iron Man or Cinderella. We explained to the students that it is important to come up with our own ideas and characters because otherwise, we are just stealing someone else’s idea. With some coaxing, and lots of trying out different ideas, we ended up with some pretty amazing characters.

Enjoy!

 

The Food Mystery

(March 11, 2016)
L.W. – a giant named Boxy
Z.W. – fisherman
A.H. – Policeman named John
C.S. – a princess
R.F. – a floating cloud
K.H. – a giant mouth that can walk
A.G. – a parrot
K.V. – a horse
M.H. – a building robot
S.S. – a witch
N.P. – spell Witch

House 1

(L.W.,  Z.W., A.G., and K.H.)
Once upon a time a giant named Boxy wanted to play a game so he invited a fisherman to come and play, “Fisherman, let’s go play some crazy games,”, and the fisherman invited a parrot, “Parrot come play,” and the parrot says, “Squawk, squawk,”.
They played the game for a long time and then they decided to stop for a snack.
The parrot says, “Let’s stop and eat some French fries and water, Squawk.”
Just then a giant mouth sneaks in and whispers to herself, “Ooh, those french fries sure do look yummy. Maybe I’ll just have a few,” and then eats a bunch of their food and then runs before anyone can see her.

They turn around and shout, “Where’s our food!?!”
The Boxy says, “Where are our french fries and water?”
The fisherman says, “I’m hungry!”
The Parrot says, “Squawk, The only thing that is left is a potato, squawk.”
They try to share the potato but it’s not very big.
The giant says, “I need more food, I’m still hungry.”

House 2

(M.H., A.H., S.S., C.S., and K.H.)
In the next house a princess, a robot, a police officer, and a witch all live together.
Everyone was having a dance party.
The princess says, “Let’s stop and have some pancakes and cupcakes.”
But before they could sit down and eat, the giant mouth, sneaks in and says, “Those cupcakes and pancakes look pretty good! Maybe I’ll just have a few!” but she accidentally eats all of the food and so she runs away before anyone could see her.
The witch says, “What!?! There’s no food!”
The robot says, “It’s a mystery! Who took our food?”
Then the robot walks out of the house and starts looking to see if he can solve the mystery. He looks outside and notices that there is a trail of crumbs on the ground. He runs back inside and is breathing hard and he says, “There are pancake crumbs outside. Let’s get our magnifying glasses!”
So they all run and get their magnifying glasses.

Just then, the phone rings. The princess answers it.
Princess: “Hello.”
Fisherman: “Hey somebody ate our food!”
Princess: “Somebody ate our food too! We found a trail of crumbs. Want to come search with us?”
Fisherman: “Sure!”
Princess: “I don’t know where it leads to, but let’s go.”

House 3

(N.P., K.H., K.V., and R.F.)
The spell witch lives by herself with her horse Majesty and her magical flouting cloud. All the sudden, Majesty sees a giant mouth trying to steal her food and she says, “Neigh, neigh!” and then spell witch and cloud see the mouth too.

The flouting cloud rushes to the spell witch and says, “Use your wand to get the giant mouth!”
The Spell Witch uses her magic wand and says, “Come here!” to make the mouth come closer. The mouth tries to run away but the spell witch locks up her house and she says, “Bibbidy bobbidi boo!” so she can’t leave. Then she says, “Lock up the food now, wand and stay forever, giant mouth!” to make the mouth want to stay in her house forever.

Just then, group of friends follow the trail of crumb and it leads right to the Spell Witch’s house.
The robot says, “One of you ate our food. Who was it?”
The spell witch says, “It was this giant mouth and she tried to eat my food too!”
The regular witch says, “AHA! I solved the mystery, it was the mouth that ate our food!”
Police officer John says, “That wasn’t nice. Please don’t eat our food again!”
The giant mouth says, “Ok, I’m sorry. I just didn’t have any food.”
The spell witch uses her magic wand to make a new house with a refrigerator for the mouth to live in.
Policeman John says, “Let’s all have a dance party!”

And they lived happily ever after.
The End.

Pre-k Visits the Aviary

Yesterday, our class traveled to the National Aviary as a culminating activity for our study of birds. The students were surprised to see that many of the birds were not behind cages but actually were able to fly/wander around the room as they wished. Some birds kept their distance, while other birds tried to camouflage themselves within our group so they could escape the room! We learned that some birds eat fruit, seeds, and worms while other birds eat the meat from dead animals and how important they are for our environment. The class was treated to an up-close encounter with a zealous vulture who enjoyed jumping down from the trainer’s arm to check out the reflexes of our students. Some friends that were lucky enough to feed mealworms and fish to the birds in the Wetlands room and we all had the opportunity to feed a bowl full of nectar to the Lorikeets. Some students were a little nervous having the birds so close to us (the Lories actually land on your hand to eat) but all students persevered and were calm and respectful to the birds. One student, as we walked out of the Lorikeet room, exclaimed, “That was heaven!”.

During this field trip, our class also had the opportunity to participate in a project that Mrs. Weber has been piloting, called Big Shot Camera. WT purchased cameras, which arrive disassembled, and the fifth graders worked to build them into functional digital cameras. Mrs. Weber then has spent time with each class teaching the students how to take pictures of the world around us. Our class chose to use the cameras to take pictures of the all the birds they saw during our trip.

We were so proud of our Pre-K class throughout this trip. Not only were their many other schools visiting the Aviary, but the students were challenged with being so close to these unusual animals. The students followed all of the directions, showed calm, listening bodies, and truly showed us how much they have matured over the course of this year. It is very clear that our students are ready for next year.

 

Flying Machines

Our interest in flying birds has sparked an avalanche of engineering ideas.  One student suggested that the best way for us to study the birds would be to build a flying machine.  This way we could observe our feathered friends more closely.

Many of the children have begun creating prototypes (their word, not ours).

On another day we asked them what materials they would need for their machines. (We want to make sure we’re prepared!)

“metal, string, more metal, and gas”

“We have to do little wires to make them work.”

“very small metal pieces”

“We need some wire that carries electricity to keep the boosters working.”

“We need a plug as big as this building so we can go far.”

“Or, we need to make a fire on a stick and it attaches to the wire.”

“We can make a seat out of fabric.”

“We need shirts to make a buckle, it buckles in front and in back.”

“June is when the birds come out.”

“We need a parachute and a lighter, in case the boosters go out.”

“And metal cages to catch the bird, with food in it.”

“fabric for the wings”

“We need feathers for the wings.”

“space gears”

Pre-K Makes a Movie: Part 2

In this installment of the Pre-K’s script-writing adventure, the gang attempts to change the existing script based on the new characters that they have picked. As they move through the story, they are challenged to change bits of the story so that the story make sense. In the first draft, Elsa freezes the sandwiches with her ice powers, however, now C.S. has changed her character to Super Girl, so she also has to change her super powers to match her new character. This proves to be a more challenging task as the students delve into more complex problems in their writing. While the story is incredibly funny and imaginative, it ends up being four completely different story lines.

Will the students find a way to create a story that ties all of the characters together? We’ll find out in our next installment of “Pre-K Makes a Movie”. Until then, please enjoy our second draft!

 

Second Draft

(Feb. 9, 2016)
L.W. – Red Hulk
W.S. – Yoda
Z.W. – Incredible Hulk
A.H. – Mike the green power ranger
C.S. – Super girl
R.F. – a chicken that talks
K.H. – Loretta
A.G. – a duck that blows bubbles out of his mouth
K.V. – Elsa
M.H. – Zombie Pig Man
S.S. – Darth Vader
N.P. – Thorn Rosa

Once upon a time the Incredible Hulk (Z.W.) is in the loft. Then the Green Power Ranger (A.H.) came and meets him for lunch. Then Super girl (C.S.) came out and said, “Hmm probably I should use my laser eyes to burn their sandwiches”. The Hulk (Z.W.) puts the sandwich in the fridge for 6 hours so that it cools off and then he warms it in the microwave.
Red Hulk (L.W.) was flying a ship and saw a red light and Zombie Pig Man (M.H.) was crossing the street to the taco shop and Red Hulk (L.W.) said, “Get outta the way”. Thorn Rosa (N.P.) hops on Red Hulk’s ship. Then Red Hulk came and found the sandwiches and then eats them up. Thorn Rosa (N.P.) presses a button and it tells them where the Incredible Hulk is. Loretta (K.H.) comes flying in a different ship and stays on his ship until she gets to the market store. Loretta goes in the market and eats a taco.
Yoda (W.S.) says, “Buenos dias. Como Estas?”
Incredible hulk (Z.W.) says, “I don’t understand those words. I don’t speak Spanish.”
Yoda (W.S.) says, “It means ‘Hi’.”
Incredible Hulk (Z.W.), “Hi, how are you doing? I’m doing good. Have you had a busy day yet?
Yoda, “Yes.”
Incredible Hulk, “What have you been doing that’s busy?”
Yoda, “Playing around.”
Incredible Hulk, “What games?”
Yoda, “‘Sorry’ with my mommy and daddy and by brother Miles.”
Incredible Hulk, “What time?”
Yoda, “Today, before I took a nap.”
And then they were friends.
Then, Duck (A.G.) makes a boat out of ice and he sails back to land and he goes on a bus back to town and he eats pizza. Then the chicken (R.F.) crosses and street and he sit down and he watches the cars and eat a sandwich. Darth Vader (S.S.) turns on some music and Elsa (K.V.) comes over and starts dancing. Then everyone comes and joins in the dance party.
The End.

Pre-K Makes a Movie! (First Draft)

For the past several months, our students have been working together to write their very own screenplay. Starting in January, we periodically sit the children down and ask them what kind of story they would like to write. We usually start by having each child choose a character and then they take turns adding details onto the story. The story is completely their own and can include almost anything the students’ dream up. The first few writing sessions usually result in a story that has little to no plot and often very little dialogue. It takes a few practices to understand how to work together to create a story that not only makes sense but involves all of the characters.

The next time the children sit down to write, they can choose to either change the story they wrote last time or try to write a whole new story. The students are allowed to change their characters and the storyline as many times as they want until spring break. Now that we have returned from spring break, we will begin practicing our lines for the play and designing costumes and sets.

On April 26th, our friend Weird Eric will visit the class to film and help us turn our little student-written screenplay into a movie! On May 19th, we will premiere the Pre-K Movie to our families and friends. Until then, please enjoy the students’ first draft.

First Draft

Jan 7, 2016

N.P. – Thorn Rosa

A.H. – Blue ninja 1

R.F. – Creeper 1

C.S.– Elsa 1

K.V. – Elsa 2

M.H. – Minecraft zombie 1

L.W. – Yoda

L.Z. – creeper 2

W.S. – blue ninja 2

Z.W. – Minecraft zombie 2

K.H. – Princess Leia

A.G. – Blue ninja 3

S.S. – Blue ninja 4

 

Once upon a time the Minecraft Zombie 2 (Z.W.) is in the loft. Then the blue ninja 1 (A.H.) came and meets him for lunch. Then Elsa 1 (C.S.) came out and said, “Hmm probably we should take their sandwiches and freeze them”. The minecraft zombie 2 (Z.W.) and the creeper 2 (L.Z.) warmed up the sandwiches in the toaster.

Yoda (L.W.) was flying a ship and saw a red light and Minecraft zombie 2 (M.H.) was crossing the street to the taco shop and Yoda said, “Get outta the way!”. Thorn Rosa (N.P.) hops on Yoda’s ship. Then Yoda (L.W.) came and found the bad guys and he turns them into bunnies and then Thorn Rosa (N.P.) finds the bunnies and they’re standing near the toaster oven and she locks them up in a doorway. Princess Leia (K.H.) comes flying in from a different ship and becomes friends with the zombie bunnies. The blue ninja 2 (W.S.) also becomes friends with the bunnies. Blue ninja 3 (A.G.) makes a boat out of ice and he sails back to land and he goes on a bus back to town and he eats pizza.

The creeper 1 (R.F.) crosses and street and he sit down and he watches the cars and eat a sandwich. Blue Ninja 4 (S.S.) turns on some music and Elsa 2 (K.V.) comes over and starts dancing. Then everyone comes and joins in the dance party.

The End.

 

 

Talking the Talk

So far, our Student Teachers have each had a couple of opportunities to guide their peers.  “How To” classes have included making rainbow hearts, horse tracks, baskets, rocket ships, Christmas trees, trucks, cakes, princesses, squiggly things, practicing ballet and playing Race to the Treasure.  When it is their turn, each child has the option to teach or pass until the next round.  Only a few children have passed.

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Questions from the heart

As many of you have noticed, our students have been challenged each morning with answering various questions about the human body for our Morning Message. These questions were created and answered by the students. So far, the questions have mostly revolved around our hearts, blood, and veins. Once the children have a chance to use their prior knowledge to take a guess, we spend some time doing research to hopefully find the answer to their inquiries. Yesterday, we had the students write in their journals about one thing they had learned about our bodies this week.

Side note: take a look at that amazing kid-writing!

Ten-Frames

2015-10-01 (246)We introduced ten-frames the other day. In Pre-K we begin by using them to tell stories.  As you might read in the link above, ten-frames are frequently used when children are beginning to practice subitizing, quickly assigning a verbal number to a set of objects.  This is an important mathematical skill, but at this time it is not our main focus.  We are focusing on one-to-one correspondence, oral language, turn taking, working memory and basic structure of a ten-frame.  Each child approaches the task at their own level, expanding their knowledge and experience.

The students start with a blank ten-frame. We call it the “garden”.  They also have chosen ten glass stones known as dragon tears or dragon seeds. Mrs. Pless or I then tell them a story.

Once upon a time, a wee little [Katie] elf planted three dragon seeds in her garden.
(everyone places three stones in the squares, one for each square starting at the top left)

Along came a bird who dropped two more seeds.
(place two more seeds in their plots)

The sun shone, the rain came down, the dragon plants grew and grew.  Use your fingers to show me how many dragon plants grew in the garden.

The fun begins after they have practiced a few teacher stories.  Now it is their turn to tell stories to each other.  One narrates while the other reenacts on their garden.  Stay tuned for a recent tale…..

The Money Machine

Throughout the school day, Marie and I spend a significant amount of time observing the students’ play. We write anecdotes about what the students are playing and sometimes even the conversations they have with one another. This helps us learn more about the students’ personalities, how they navigate friendships and conflict, and where their interests lie. Once the students have started to get to know one another, you may start to see trends in their play. We then take those trends and find ways to infuse them into our classroom so that we may broaden their understanding and of course implement a ton of learning along the way.

In the past week, we have noticed the students have become more and more interested in money and how it is used, so we decided that we needed a bank. The students started writing lots of numbers on paper for dollars and cutting out little, tiny coins to fill up the cash register. We even voted on a name for the bank. After much consideration and many great ideas (“The Dollar Store” being my favorite) they came up with “The Beautiful Bank”.

Yesterday, we started talking about how you get money from the bank. Many of the students had differing ideas. Some students said that you have to pay for the money, while others said the people at the bank just give it to you. One child said that you have to get money from the “money machine” but wasn’t really sure what that might look like. Several students said it needed a screen and  buttons and a place for the money to come out. We decided that we should make a design for the money machine before we try to build it. Below, you will find the students’ ideas for what they think the money machine should look like.

We are excited to see where this topic may take us next!

 

 

Pre-K Writers

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At the beginning of every school year, we have a handful of students that feel very strongly that they cannot write, so Marie and I make it our mission to prove them otherwise! Usually their main concern is that when they write, it doesn’t look “perfect”. It doesn’t look like an adult’s writing. To this we ask, “Are you an adult? Do you have a job? Do you have to pay taxes?” and the students all laugh and say “No!”. Our main mission is to show the students that as long as they are doing the best they can, then they are writing.

We see many different stages of writing in our class as the students’ fine motor development and knowledge about phonemic awareness increases. All of the following examples of writing are acceptable in our classroom.

The Scribble Stage

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Students who are in the scribble stage are moving their marker around the paper in no particular order or design because it feels good to make marks on paper. They typically use their whole arm to move the marker across the paper.

Representational Pictures

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In this stage, the child will draw a picture to convey meaning. Students often draw “bubble heads” to represent people. Although this is not traditionally referred to as writing, it does exactly what we expect writing to do; convey meaning.

Scribble-writing with Left to Right Progression

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Children who are in this stage have started to notice that we write starting on the left side of the paper and continually move towards the right as we put our ideas on paper. Although there are no letters present, the child is starting to have a better awareness of the structure for writing.

Letter-like Symbols

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Students who make “letter-like symbols” are no longer just making stray marks on the paper. Each symbol has a distinct shape and is starting to mimic the shapes that our real letters and numbers take.

Letter Strings

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In this stage, children have a good knowledge about how to draw the correct shape of the letters however the sounds do not match the words the child is trying to convey. Children may write their favorite letters or some of the letters that exist within their names.

Beginning Sounds

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Students that use beginning sounds in their writing are starting to make the connection that our words are made up of sounds. Students will write the letters that match the first sounds of each word in their message.

Beginning and Ending Sounds

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In this stage students continue to build on their knowledge of sounds by adding in ending sounds. Students continue to write the sounds that they hear, which is likely to differ from the actual spelling of words (i.e. “MI” instead of “MY”). It is also likely that the student will clump all of their letters together without any space between their words.

Beginning, Middle, and Ending Sounds

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When children reach this stage, they have a clear understanding of phonemic awareness (our language is made up of sounds) and are now starting to organize their thoughts by using spaces between their words and have started including the sounds they hear at the beginning, middle, and end of each word.

Sight Words

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In this stage, students have started  moving towards writing sight words based on their actual spelling. They will continue to utilize phonemic spelling for unknown words.

 

Children in our Pre-K class typically exhibit stages ranging from the “representational pictures” to “beginning, middle, and ending sounds”. More conventional, “adult writing” is not expected until 3rd grade. We work with each child on their individual needs based on their own development stage. We strive to create an environment where children are excited and comfortable to express their ideas through writing.