Prior to the winter break, we came together to read Remi Courgeon’s Many Moons.
On this night, the moon is like the sun, so big and bright that nobody can sleep.
“Not in our town.” Alex
“Our moon is white, not yellow.” Charlie Menke
On this night, the moon goes to bed, and everyone sleeps.
“That’s the new moon!” Alex
This week we introduced phases of the moon tracings and galaxy dough with sparkles and stars.
“Maybe the sparkles are the moons. Did you know in some planets there are lots of moons?”
Johann
Upon reading Marcella and the Moon, a story where a duck takes time each night to paint the moon slowly showing the many phrases of the moon, more conversation erupted.
One night, the moon didn’t appear at all.
“‘Cause it was the new moon!” Alex
“‘Cause only when it’s clear will it be out.” Charlie Menke
“No, ‘cause it was the new moon!” Alex
What does new moon mean?
“There’s no moon.” Alex
“It’s a dark moon.” Lea
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Jumping off from our small group visit to Peter Hutchinson’s Landscapes of My Life, we’ve begun playing with creating our own collages.
What stories will emerge and be visible in our layers and what will become hidden?
Amelia works carefully, selecting pieces of colored paper, cutting each piece, and then arranging and gluing them onto her cardboard.
“Race car”
“Look. Mine’s going fast, fast, fast.” (after adding some small lines and attaching them near the back of her race car)
She then attaches an orange piece above the lines. “The engine at the back.”
She points to the blue that is circling around the top of her collage. “I’m building the sky.” She pauses and indicates that the sky and her race car are the same color. This appears to baffle her for a bit because she knows that the sky and the race car will touch. DJ offers some green, Will this help? Amelia quickly selects the green and cuts a thin strip which she attaches along the top of the race car, acting as a divide between the car and the sky.
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Winter is an important time to help our feathered friends. It is also a wonderful time to really notice them without the cover of leaves and their striking contrast against the bright white of snow.
“You’re suppose to check off birds. I think I’ve never seen this one. That one is unfamiliar.” -Kyla
“We’re trying to make sounds cause they might hear it.” -Charlie Menke
“Hey Charlie, can I show you? This is the short way away and this is the long way away.” -Sam (demonstrating holding the binoculars and peering into each end)
What will we notice about birds as we spend time really looking at them?
How will these new tools help us discover more birds?
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Some of us spent time enjoying a wildlife photography book alongside our animal figures in the block area this week. When we came across this photograph, we paused and wondered…
What is going on here?
