Next book

Next week we will begin to read The Magician's Boy  by Susan Cooper.  

In this novel, a young boy, who works for a Magician, goes on a search for a missing puppet. The missing puppet is Saint George.  On the search for the puppet the Boy ends up in the Land of Stories, and meets many characters the children are probably already familiar with, for example a little girl in a red cloak.  

To understand Susan Cooper's story better, we will first  read Saint George and the Dragon, as retold by Margaret Hodges.  

The children will already be familiar with many of the stories and rhymes referenced in the novel, but there may be some they are not familiar with.  To make sure that these connections are not missed,  I will read the corresponding referenced stories, as the Boy meets the various characters from the classic rhymes and stories.

Puppets

Here are the latest puppets the children made.  Aren't they fabulous!

The children molded the heads out of Sculpey clay, chose fabric, and cut the fabric to make bodies.  Then I hot glued the bodies together and attached the heads.  The children added details with buttons, sequins, and beads.

As we learned from Igor at PuppetArt: a puppet is just a toy, until it tells a story to an audience.  Tomorrow afternoon the children will create stories for their puppets.  I was hoping to have the children rehearse shows and perform them for children in the other classes, but they are so anxious to take them home, I am not sure I can convince them to leave them at school over the weekend.  They looked so disappointed when they couldn't take them home tonight.  When they do take them home, please ask them to do a performance for you.

Across classrooms

At Summers-Knoll we believe in the value of having children from all the classrooms share time together. The time might be spent performing for another class, teaching each other, or sharing an experience together.  This week the kindergarten class had opportunity to do all of these things with the older classes.

After making "Wild Thing" puppets out of toilet paper rolls, the children practiced acting out Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.  I asked them if they would like to perform the show for Mrs. Carpenter's class. They said yes , so Thursday morning, they performed.  Nilay was the narrator, Eli was Max, and the other children were Wild Things.  Mrs. Carpenter's class was a very generous audience.  On Friday, I was told by children that Adrian and Vanya had congratulated them on doing a great job.  (Sorry no photos of this, I was busy being the stage manager.)

In the afternoon, our class was invited to view the finished "La Place du Village" project that Renata's French class made.  The children have been so curious of the large sheets that Imogen has been carrying back and forth from Renata's room for weeks.  While getting tours of the "villages", the older children                 
introduced the kindergarteners to new french words.

 Friday the whole school got to share an amazing trip to the Detroit Puppet Theater.   Our host Igor gave a tour of the puppet museum while explaining the various kinds of puppets.  He informed us that puppets are actors and like all actors they like to talk and perform but they do not like to be touched.  Adults and children alike were mesmerized as Igor told us about puppets from all over the world, and then brought some of them to life before our eyes.  He also told us that puppets are merely toys until they tell a story to an audience.


After a fantastic performance of Firebird,  Igor helped the children through the process of making their own stick puppets.  It was amazing to see 37 children working diligently on creating puppets, each with unique expressions and personalities, while Igor explained to them that it is the small details that make a puppet.  And then, so they wouldn't just be toys, Igor walked the children, and their new creations, through a short story, which they presented to a small audience of teachers and parents.  Back at school, the children couldn't wait to find their puppets and practice making them move. 


If your child enjoyed the show, you might consider going to another Detroit PuppetArt production.  In February, they will performing "Oh, Asanse".

Assessments

At Summers-Knoll, there are many ways parents are updated on their child's progress at school.  Conversations at the end of the day, emails, and blogs, are all  ways parents receive information about day to day life at Summers-Knoll.  There are also formal updates.  Twice a year,  parents and teachers sit down for a conferences and twice a year they receive written assessments.

Over the long weekend, I have been writing your child's first assessment report.  Summers-Knoll "reports" are different from the typical check list report card that many school use.  The assessment is a narrative description of your child's growth and development .  At the end of the month, you will receive a copy of my assessment along with reports from your child's other teachers.

Writing the assessments is an arduous task but it is also very rewarding.  As I am writing, I get to reflect on the amazing progress the children have made in just a few months.  I hope you will enjoy reading about your child and if you have any questions or comments about the assessment, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Reading with Friends

Participating in activities with other classes helps build relationships between children in other classes and thus a strong school community.

During the past two Mondays our class has gotten together to read with the older children.  On the January 3rd, Renata's class came to our class for a "buddy read".  Yesterday we went to Mrs. Carpenter's class to read with her class.

Current Novel

We are currently reading another novel by Kate DiCamillo which we started before the break.

To learn more about the story, author Kate DiCamillo and illustrator Yoko Tanaka.

Next round of Snacks

Mark your calendars:

January 10-13 Juna

January 18-20 Ella 

January 24-28 Andrew

January 30-February 4 Eli

February 6-11 Nilay

February 14-18 Arwyn

February 28-March 4 Arnav

March 7-11 Varvara

March 14-18 Kit

March 21-25 Gabriel


March 28-April 1 Juna

*Please remember the school has a no nut policy.  

 Avoid products with eggs.  We have to children in the class who are allergic to eggs.  

And keep those snacks healthy!

Thank you

January Events

Friday, January 7...9:30 
Trip to the Scrap Box for puppet making workshop with Mrs. Carpenter's class


Tuesday, January 11...9:30 
All school trip to Dreamland Theater


Friday, January 14...School closed for report writing


Monday, January 17...School closed in observance of MLK


Friday, January 21...most of the day
All school trip to PuppetART
send your child a lunch that does not need to be microwaved


Friday, January 28...9:30
Trip to Wild Swan Theater performance of Winnie the Pooh with Mrs. Carpenter's class

Math or Science?

Today's math class combined math and science.

The lesson started with examining an amaryllis bulb.  We looked at the bulb and discovered it had a thin papery layer or "skin" and the bulb looked similar to an onion.  It had roots on one end and layers at the other that the children thought leaves would grow out of.  All the class knew that the roots should go in the dirt.  They shared their knowledge about why a plant has roots: to help it stand up, and to transport water and nutrients to the plant.

Next, we read the planting directions.  The pot needed to be filled  2/3 full with dirt.  This lead to a discussion of fractions and what the  bottom number (denominator) and top number (numerator) represent.
After we got the pot 2/3 filled with dirt, we had to figure out how deep to put the bulb: 1/3 of the bulb had to be above the dirt.  For the first introduction to fractions, the children were off to a great start.  There will need to be a lot more practice with fractions before there will be fluency but we are well on our  way.

Now that the bulb is planted, we will have to be patient.  It take 2-4 weeks for the stem to start to emerge.  Then the measuring will begin.  With a vote of  6 to 2, it was determined we would use centimeters vs inches to measure the plant's growth.   Once it starts to grow, the children will measure the growth of the amaryllis and record their findings on a chart.

Gym Bags

Everyone got a bag to carry shoes back and forth to the gym.  Please leave them hanging in cubbies so we make sure to have them on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Welcome Back

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing break.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow and looking towards a fabulous 2011.

We are coming back to a new month, new year, and of course a new theme.  This month the school is focusing on Theater and Puppetry.  This unit will expand on ideas presented during  last months Author Study.  While creating and using puppets the children's understanding of character and plot development, as well as story telling, will inevitably broaden.  


At one of our morning meetings, before the December break, a child mentioned making puppets.  Other children chimed in with their ideas and experiences making puppets.  I told them to hold those thoughts because when we came back from vacation we were going to spend the month talking and learning about puppets.  


Puppet making goes hand and hand (no pun intended) with another one of Summers-Knoll's favorite themes: Recycling and Reusing.  Don't throw anything away, we might be asking for some of your old socks, yarn, buttons, and toilet rolls, soon. 


(The January calendar is coming soon along with a new snack schedule.)