This week we learned about a wonderful American sculptor who made huge stabiles and beautiful mobiles.  We watched a short movie about his great wire circus and our families helped make our own wire figures.  We had to use our safety goggles to protect our eyes while we worked to make our keepsake.  We liked the “muffin” stabile  because after we made it… we ate it.  Sandy Calder  has pieces all over the world and some of them are huge. I hope someday each child will see one of his pieces and always remember our little project here at Unquowa.

We decided to go to the Winterfest performance as the visiting royalty from the Early Childhood Castle.  We talked about kings, queens, princesses and princes for the week before Christmas. We had a small castle in our room that was played in continuously with lots of crowns and sparkling jewels all around.  We were very ready for our entrance into Unquowa.  Not one crown fell from our tiny heads. The show was magical and the children really felt part of it.

Why do leaves fall from some trees and not others?  Evergreen trees are special trees that keep their color and freshness all through the winter. We had a visitor from the Fairfield Audubon who had us make trees on large pieces of paper using our bodies and painting the branches with real pieces of evergreens. We learned about the blue spruce, white spruce, white pine, eastern red cedar and juniper. They were”soft, prickly, long, short and smelled great.”

Our annual family trip to NYC was perfect.  We had lovely weather and a great group to see the biggest decorated evergreen tree in New England.  The children were so excited to be with their peers and families for dinner and a special trip just for them. Lots of laughter was heard on the train going and coming back. The conductor even made smiley faces on the tickets which turned out to be a treasure for each child.

Paralleling the PreK-3 study of chickens, students have been learning a song about baby chicks (los pollitos) in Spanish class.  Students enjoy the story of the Mama hen that looks for corn and wheat to feed her baby chicks.  As we sing the song, each student enjoys holding a toy baby chick and eating pretend food that the Mama hen gives to each chick. Throughout this lesson, we are able to reinforce counting, colors and the concepts of big and small.

The children had a field experience of visiting a poultry farm in Easton.  They watched chickens eating, drinking and  making holes in the ground so they can get warm and play with each other. Everyone went into the coop to see where chickens sleep  and lay their eggs.  Only one egg  per day is the usual.  Each child got an egg to take home and have for lunch.  The children made special hats to disguise themselves so the chicken would not get frightened.  It worked!

The Unquowan Indians  used to find their food in Long Island Sound.  What better way to study these foods than to get a real fisherman to help.  Our own Mr. Doug spent time with both classes to cut up some porgies, open up some mussels and closely examine a live lobster.  The children  loved listening to some facts about fish and touching their fins.  We opened their mouths and looked at their big eyes.  Mr. Doug showed the children what is inside a fish like bones, stomach, gills and more.  We wore gloves and asked lots of questions.  A big thank you to Mr. Doug for a lesson well done.

We had lots of fun with Mrs. Curran teaching us about roots, trunks and leaves.  We learned that trees need light, water and space.  We found big roots sticking out of the ground in the back of our field.  Some of them go under ground all the way to the school.  We learned that trees can live a very long time.  We  can hide behind them easily.  We ended up in the garden picking roots out of the ground and eating them. They were delicious carrots.  Our guinea pig loved the green tops.

(click on the image to play the video)

We had a wonderful field experience at Schriebers Farm in Oxford on Nov. 3.  In our Science curriculum we learned that the cows have well developed hearing.  Their ears can hear sounds that are higher and fainter than human ears are able to detect.  We were able to touch their huge  ears.

Milk is made and stored in the cows UDDER, which can hold lots and lots of milk. We know that cheese and ice cream come from milk.

Every cow has a built-in fly swatter.  When she feels a fly on her back, she just flicks it off with her long tail. Her feet are called HOOVES, and they are hard and shaped in a way that they can walk on hard rocks easily.  We saw and fed 30 cows and calves.  We picked up lots of hay and each cow licked it out of our hands.

We had a very bumpy ride on the farm wagon pulled by a big tractor.  It was also the children’s first trip on a real bus. I think we created a memory that will last a lifetime.

In collaboration with the PreK-3 study of cows and milk production, students enjoyed learning how to say cow (la vaca) and milk (la leche) in Spanish. Students took a close look at the cow and learned that it has a head (la cabeza), two eyes (dos ojos) and a tail (la cola). They focused on these parts of the cow as they created their own cow on paper. Finally, students loved singing about a cow named Lola. Beware! This is a tune that is sure to be caught in your head for days!