Week of October 13, 2015

These are some of the nature mandalas that the pre-k students created with their sorted materials. They found materials using a color wheel and then had to group the colors together when they were creating the mandala. This activity was engaging for all of the students and they were very interested in creating patterns. These two were created in groups of students and then the students had the opportunity to create an individual one of their own. 

We took a walk with 116 and we found that the hornet's nest near the entrance to the Valley had been exterminated. There were still some dying hornets on the nest, so the children, from a safe distance, were fascinated to see the inside of the nest and the hornets moving around in it. On a later walk, Mrs. Christie was able to grab some of the exterior of the nest to show the students and they used it as a natural material for their letter wall collages!

116 found this little tin sign and decided it was evidence of pirates living in the nature trail. From that point forward on the walk, the focus of "What does fall look like?" turned into "What other evidence of pirates can we find?" Emergent curriculum at its best. They found the word "HEL" on one tree and decided it must be the word "help" just unfinished. They found cement blocks halfway buried under the trail. (Jangel- Look at this random stone here!") and wondered if it could be covering the pirate treasure. This is going to be a rich experience if we follow their lead. Ms. Colon is setting up centers to start the students with writing Pirate Stories in Story Workshop. We will collect evidence like scientists and try to study the history of this part of our community. What was the valley nature trail before it became a nature trail? Did pirates sail Lake Erie and the Buffalo River? We plan on discussing this with Ashley Cadwell at his next visit because we foresee so many possibilities of tying in the standards to this rich topic of pirates. 

104 (k) and 106 (pre-k) went on a hike to search for numbers and letters in nature. They decided to turn themselves into letters at one point in the walk.