Tom Thomson

Tom Thomson. Snow In The Woods. 1916

This morning we continued learning about the letter 'M' and read the book, If You Take A Mouse To The Movies. Then the children learned about the musical term 'pizzicato' (see Thursday).

In art we learned about the Canadian artist, Tom Thomson. We looked at his paintings titled, Wood Interior, Winter and Snow In The Woods, which he painted in 1916. Then the children tried his technique, using big thick brush strokes and lots of paint.

More Snow!

In today's class we also read the book Snow, used scarves to move to Snow is Dancing, and looked at Maude Lewis’ snowy paintings in art (see Wednesday).

In music, the children learned about the term 'pizzicato', a technique where the strings of a violin are plucked with the fingers instead of using a bow. Then we listened for the pizzicato section in the Chinese Dance from the Nutcracker, and plucked along on our pretend violins. After, we used ribbon sticks and explored the Chinese Dance through movement, tiptoeing around whenever we heard the pizzicato.

Kyri had her special day in the afternoon. She brought her collection of Disney princess and Barbie dolls to show the class. Then her mom read the story, If You Give A Moose A Muffin. Thank you, Debbie, for helping out today!

Dancing Snow

This morning we read the book Snow, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Lauren Stringer. Then we listened to The Snow is Dancing, a musical piece composed by Claude Debussy. We discussed the way snow falls and used scarves to become dancing snowflakes.

Today we also used ribbon sticks to explore movement, while listening to the Chinese Dance from the Nutcracker. We talked briefly about the Nutcracker, a ballet that is performed in winter.

Paintings of winter scenes by Canadian folk artist Maude Lewis were our inspiration for art. The children painted their own pictures, adding white at the end to create winter scenes.

Jingle Bells!

On Monday and Tuesday we read the book Jingle Bells and talked about horse-drawn sleighs. Then we sang practiced singing the song, which we will perform at the Winter Festival.

For music, we listened to The Skater’s Waltz. On the second listen we used pieces of wax paper under our feet to ‘skate’ around the room. Our letter of the week is ‘M’, so we also learned about the mandolin, an instrument from the string family. Each child had a turn playing the mandolin.

Then the children made their own jingle sticks, which they use at the Winter Festival.

Tuesday was Cassidy’s special day. She brought her older brother’s Webkinz to show the class and her mom read the classic story, 101 Dalmatians. Thank you, Rhonda, for helping out and for the delicious cupcakes!

Parachute Play

The book orders were placed yesterday. Thank you to everyone for ordering! The books should be here in about two weeks.

Today we sang and danced to a song about the letter 'L'. Then we read the book Snowman's Big Job. After snack, we went to the gym to play freeze tag. When everyone was tired of running, we got out the parachute and played Cat & Mouse. Since it was a PD day, we had the gym all to ourselves and we spent extra time on movement in place of music and art.

Next week we will start preparing for the Winter Festival. We have a backdrop to paint, jingle sticks to make, songs to learn, and a dance to choreograph!

Winter Fun

Today's class was similar to Wednesday's class, but we also made it to the gym in the morning and afternoon for some fun and exercise.

Jennie had her special day in the morning and she brought her stuffed dog, named Chocolate, to show the other children. Her mom read the book Princes Mia and the Big Smile to the class. Thank you, Stephanie, for helping today and for the tasty fruit!

Thank you also to everyone who placed orders for our Sugar Cookie Fundraiser!

Winter Wonderland

This morning we started a new calendar, letter (L), colour (white) and theme (winter). We read the book Winter Rabbit, and talked about winter activities like skating, sledding, and playing in the snow. Then we listened to Vivaldi’s “Winter” concerto from The Four Seasons, and played our pretend violins. While listening a second time, we skated around the room, built a snowperson, threw snowballs, made snow angels and slid around on our imaginary toboggans.

In art we drew pictures to send to the Children’s Library as a thank you for the puppet show.

Today was Claire’s special day, and she brought a Curious George book to read and some stuffed animals to share with the class. Thank you, Amy, for your help this morning!