A Visit from Melissa

Last week we had the opportunity to enhance our learning on trees by a visiting “tree expert.”  We had the great pleasure of having Hayden’s mommy, Melissa, pay us a visit. Having so much knowledge and experience with plants of all shapes and sizes, Melissa stopped by to share some information, as well as some hands-on activities, with us.

First, she gave everyone a paper with a sketch of a tree. She then invited the children to color in each section she described using the appropriate terminology; the crown, the trunk, the branches, the roots and the leaves. Most of us got very creative and included dirt, a sun, some clouds, water, and even flowers.

Next, while in groups of three, Melissa gave us a variety of leaves. She explained that the basic leaf is composed of a leaf base, stipules, a petiole, and a blade. Then, she gave us a print out that specified all these sections and invited each group to work together in finding each, including its veins and tip, on each of the leaves she provided.  Thanks Melissa for making us all feel like real botanists just like you.

Following the leaf activity, Melissa presented a slice of a tree trunk and familiarized us with some of its parts. We learned that the outer wood is called the bark and the inner wood, the center, is the heartwood. The parts between these two have different layers and each has its name; cambium, phloem, cortex, and heartwood.

And, for our final activity, we conducted an experiment. Melissa’s collaborator, Hayden, helped her with this one. Once again we were asked to get into groups of three. Hayden gave out a cup of water and a celery stalk to each group and Melissa went around asking each of us to squeeze one drop of red food coloring into the water. After we each got the chance to stir it around using the celery stalk, we put all cups aside. Melissa asked us to predict what we thought might happen. Some of us said the celery was going to die and others said it would not but instead it will turn red. Hmmm! What will happen?

As some of us suspected, something did happen to the celery. The next day, we noticed that “it got all watered up.” Someone described it as “the water went up tonight when everybody was sleeping and the red makes it change a little bit red.”  We couldn’t have explained it any better!  Another child said, "It looks like an autumn tree!"

Our first Meeting for Worship (MfW) in the Meetinghouse

This past Wednesday, the Kindergarteners attended their very first Meeting for Worship at the Meetinghouse, and it was a delightful experience. We have become comfortable with our moment of silence during our classroom Morning Meetings, and we felt that it was time we joined the “older kids” for some shared silence and inspired messages . Ask us all about it.

Next Wednesday, November 21, will be our traditional Thanksgiving Meeting for Worship. It will be at the Meetinghouse and starts at 8:30am. This is an experience that we share with Lower School parents, and it allows us all the opportunity to reflect upon the season of giving thanks. Please join us. We would love to see you there.

Our First Bass Accompaniment in Music

This week in Kindergarten, students added a bass accompaniment to "We Are Gathered," a song we have been singing in preparation for our upcoming winter program.  This is the first time students have used the barred instruments for pulse this year.  We took the time to find the "D" and "A" pitches on the bass xylophones and bass metallophone for our chord bordun.  When students were not playing the instrument, they served as a helper to their peers by lightly tapping the pulse on their partner's shoulders.  The strategy is often used with younger students to reinforce both the production of a steady pulse and feeling the pulse externally and internally.

 Students wait in anticipation of the beginning of the song.

 Matthias helps Oliver find "D" and "A" on the bass metallophone.

Mallets are in ready position as we prepare to begin together.

 Luke and G.K. are singing and playing the accompaniment with the song.  Notice how Saniya and Hayden are engaged in keeping the beat on their partners shoulders as they play the bass accompaniment.
 

 

All K Integration

As a way to connect with both K classes to their current theme of study, one on percussion instruments and the other on trees, the integration team scheduled time on Friday for us to make wooden percussion instruments. Along with the K team of teachers and nearly all of our resource teachers, the Kindergarteners had plenty of helping hands. Using some wooden clavé sticks, wooden dowels of different widths, large wooden beads, and wood scraps the children sawed, sand papered, glued, and decorated their very own musical devices. We had a wonderful time using our creative minds and connecting with our very own amazing resource teachers.