One of our centers had a makeover recently. Due to the sharing of nature collections from both at school and at home, the children have created what they call “The Science Lab.” We have ample acorns, plentiful pinecones, noodle-like nests, and one slightly dead, but way cool, cicada. The children have created their own experiments involving buoyancy, auditory tones, and habitats. Collections are also a great way to practice our math skills.
Opera Interactive (and a surprise connection!)
This morning a Pittsburgh Opera ensemble joined North Hills Campus students for an adventure exploring opera. This is an annual presentation that mixes improvisation, opera, world languages, and story telling. The actors come prepared with a trunk full of props and a bucket full of topic ideas. The children choose a story plot randomly and then choose two arias for each singer to perform. The students pick the arias based on the emotions they think will fit best with the story. At the end, the new show is put together and performed for the students.
And now for the topic for today’s show….
(drum roll, please)
The Family Pet
No, really. I swear I didn’t put that piece of paper in their jar of choices. It gets even better. The actors (without any coaching from me or the class) began referring to the “setting” as a Pet Shop. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the Pre-K built a pet shop in our classroom two days ago. Our children were so completely connected with the opera ensemble! I wonder if we’ll see any singing in our class pet store?
8 Green and Speckled Frogs
After a very exciting find in a local store’s $1 bins, we were inspired to sing the ubiquitous Five Green and Speckled Frogs song. However, never one to leave anyone out, we changed it a bit to include all of our little green froggies. Here we are sitting on our “log”:
If you aren’t familiar with this song, here it is for your listening pleasure:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4KrbRCfTDA]
And the biggest frog of them all…… (Thanks, Mrs. Neverett for taking such a becoming photo!)
Welcome Back!
Good morning everyone! Welcome back from Spring Break. I hope all of you had a restful holiday. Our family recieved many new books during our middle child’s third birthday. One of these books was Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, by Eric Litwin and James Dean. I think this book perfectly illustrates a perspective that I hope to engender in all of the children I work with. I hope that you enjoy it!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUubMSfIs-U?rel=0&w=480&h=390]