Sharks and Shells

Nate & Mackenna's Ocean Paintings

Today we read the story Smiley Shark and learned about the ocean habitat (see Monday). Then I shared pictures and videos of my recent trip to the ocean, where I went snorkeling, learned the flying trapeze, and saw some beautiful traditional dancing.  The children also looked at some shells, a sea fan, and a piece of coral that I found on the beach in Mexico. Then they each had a turn trying out the colourful maracas that I bought there.

In art we looked at The Golden Fish by Paul Klee (pronounced Clay). The children tried out Klee’s process, using oil pastels, and then painted over their pictures with water tempera paints. (Artwork will be posted tomorrow when it is dry enough to scan!)

Cassidy’s picked out her artwork for her art show this morning and it will be up for the rest of the week!

Ocean Life

Tavion & Taylor's ocean art.

Today we explored a new habitat, the ocean. We read Smiley Shark, written and illustrated by Ruth Galloway, and the children learned about ocean life: coral, seaweed, sharks, angelfish, starfish, jellyfish, puffer fish and the octopus. Then I showed the children pictures from my visit to Cancun and passed around some shells, fossilized coral, and a piece of gorgonian (sea fan) that I found on the beach near the ocean.

We continued to play the conductor game with percussion instruments in music, and each of the children had a chance to play some maracas that I brought back from Mexico.

In art we looked at Paul Klee’s The Golden Fish once again. The children made their own ocean pictures using oil pastels and tempera paints in the style of Klee.

Going on a Jungle Trip!

Aislynn and Niko's wet pastel art.

Today we packed up our imaginary backpacks with water, snacks, blankets, extra clothes, cameras, binoculars and our favourite toys (of course!) and headed off to see the jungle. We read the story We're Going on a Lion Hunt, adapted by Margery Cuyler. After the story, we sang our own version as an echo song. We saw a lion, but luckily we made it back home before it could eat any of us!

We continued to play with the percussion instruments in music and also played Popcorn, a movement game that uses a drum and listening cues.

The children used chalk pastels once again in art, but today we used wet paper, which alters the appearance of the pastels to look more like paint.

Percussion & Pastels

Marina and Denton's explorations in chalk pastel.

On Wednesday & Thursday, we continued learning about the Jungle as well as the letter ‘P’. We read Over in the Jungle, a book with beautiful polymer clay illustrations by Jeanette Canyon. Then we learned a new song, Look at the Monkeys.

In music, we continued playing the conductor game with percussion instruments. The children were introduced to musical terms piano (soft) and forte (loud).

The children explored chalk pastels in art, and enjoyed mixing colours and smudging the medium around with their fingers.

Exploring the Jungle

Some of the children's wild jungle artwork.

This week we are learning about the letter ‘P’. We also started learning about different animal habitats, beginning with the jungle.

On Monday & Tuesday, we read the book Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter. After reading the book, we sang and danced the animal boogie, with a shake, shake, boogie, woogie, oogie!

In music, we explored percussion instruments, which are played by hitting or shaking (drums, maracas, cymbals, triangles, etc.). We played the conductor game, and the children learned the hand signals for start, stop, loud and quiet.

Henri Rousseau, a French folk artist who liked to paint jungle scenes, was our inspiration for art. The children made their own jungle pictures using construction paper, foam animal stickers, crayons and markers.

Oboes & Ostinatos

Some of the children's funky snowmen.

On Thursday & Friday we read the story All You Need For A Snowman by Alice Schertle. Then we listened to the song Frosty the Snowman, performed by the acapella group Hoja. Even though Hoja does not use instruments, the children could still hear ‘drum’ sounds, which the singers make using only their mouths. (Listen to a clip: Audio/Ho Ho HOJA/Frosty the Snowman) After listening to the song, we pretended to build our own snowman.

Our letter of the week is ‘O’, so we learned about the oboe in music. We listened to the oboe section of Ravel’s Bolero (Listen here), which also happens to be one of the most well-known examples of an ostinato. An ostinato is a phrase of music or rhythm that repeats over and over. Then we used scarves to dance to Bolero.

In art, the children used chalk, cotton balls, wool & pipe cleaners to create snowmen.

Happy New Year!

The calendars will now be linked to the blog! The link is in the right-hand column at the top of the page.

Preschool resumes on Thursday, January 6th. I will be soaking up the sun in Mexico for the next week and will be back at school on January 11th. Lora and Alison will be in while I'm away.

This month we will be learning about animals and will explore different animal habitats.

Looking forward to a fabulous new year with the children!