The Bright-Eyed Bears' Poetic Debut!

We want to thank Judith Natelli McLaughlin for such a great poem! The poet read my blog the other day and sent an email to the class!  The children were so excited to hear how happy she was that we used her poem for Poetry in the Park!  I think we definitely made her proud! Enjoy! :)

iPads Rock!

Hello all!  There has been a lot of excitement buzzing around about our iPads! The children certainly love learning from them.  I have had many of you ask me about the apps that the children are using in hopes to download them at home.  Here is a list of some our favorites:


Story Wheel
Show Me
Counting Beads
Sound Seeker
Caboose Pattern
Rainbow Draw
Shape Builder
Shape Puzzle
iKnow 1-100
Monkey Math
Word Magic
Word Wagon
Drawing Pad
Word Families

I hope you can enjoy them with your children at home as much as we are enjoying and learning from them here!

Have a great day!

So much to be thankful for!

It's that THANKSGIVING time of year!  Everyone is filled with cheer!


We were all filled with cheer on Friday, and it showed!  The children did such a wonderful job with their Poetry in the Park poem! Mrs. Cummings and I were so proud of our Bright-Eyed Bears, and their grizzly bear props.  The children got to choose and design what they wanted to make and worked so hard on the project of making them.  Please stay tuned for a video of the special event!  In the meantime, here's the poem in print for you and your child to enjoy!

Mary Had A Little Pet

by Judith Natelli McLaughlin

Mary had a little pet

It's fur was black as night

It followed her to school one day

Which gave the kids a fright 

It made the teachers shout and scream!

It gave them such a scare

For Mary didn't have a lamb

She had a grizzly bear!!!

Speaking of bears......

Just take a look at what OUR little bears have been up to!

Weaving!  Just like the Seminole do!

Taking care of the garden

Enjoying nature in a new light!

Practicing letter formation on the iPads

Creating!

And so much more!

Come on in and take a look around the classroom!

This week we continue our exciting study of "Living off the Land" and learning about the Seminole and other Native American people.  We have read wonderful books together, which lead to fantastic discussions.  Some of the class favorites have been: Good Hunting, Blue Sky by Peggy Parish and Illustrated by James Watts, Giving Thanks by Jonathan London and paintings by Gregory Manchess and   Native American Sign Language by Madeline Olsen with illustrations by Ben Carter.   We also enjoy songs such as "Friends and Family", "Give Thanks", and "Powwow" by Jack Hartmann & Friends from the Rhythms and Rhymes for Special Times cd. The "Powwow" song is especially fun because we have a lot of  little friends who love dramatic play in our classroom. This song encourages the children to "fly like the eagle", "howl like the wolf, "creep like the fox" and so much more!  Great fun!

We are so excited about our trip to Weedon Island Preserve.  It is a real treat for the children to see first- hand some of the tools, a dugout canoe, pottery and more that the Seminole and other indigenous people to Florida left behind so long ago.  We will leave school at 8:40 am and return before 10.  

Our BIG Thanksgiving feast is on Friday!  We have been busily preparing for it.  The children are all a buzz!  If you would like to take part in preparing our feast along with the children in Exploring style, please come to school around 9am on Friday.  If, however, you would simply like to enjoy the feast with your child, it will begin around 11am.  Hope to see you there! :)

Happy, Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Mrs. Cummings and I are truly thankful for all of you and your beautiful children!

Living like the Seminole and Rocks Rock!

Living Like The Seminole

The children returned to school on Tuesday and were delighted to see that the Exploratorium had traveled back in time!  In place of the loft, a Seminole chickee waited to share the secrets of Seminole life long ago.

Clay pots filled with corn, vegetables, and coffee line the walls of the chickee.  The children experience using a Mortar and Pestle for grinding corn into cornmeal for cooking.  Our very own garden herbs hang from the ceiling of the chickee to be dried and used for medicines, cooking, and more.   Baby dolls sleep cozily in hammocks and are carried close in loving arms of Seminole mommies and daddies!  Sticks and leaves fill baskets and can be used to build "fires" for cooking.  Of course, no dramatic play area would be complete without dress ups!  We have all sorts of special clothing for the children to explore and explore in!

grinding corn and coffee beans for cooking

using a homemade loom for weaving

Respect for nature and it's majestic beauty!  The Seminole people often told stories where the main characters were animals.

constructing the chickee with corn husks, twigs, palms, etc.

As time went on and more people began settling around the country houses became more elaborate like this one made from logs.  The children have the opportunity to play with this beautiful log cabin and pretend to be pioneers!


Rocks Rock!

I have to say, this is one of my favorite books!   We can learn so much from Native Americans in the way they respected the land they lived on and allowed nature to sink into their spirits.  This is a beautiful  book about the wonder of a single rock.  I bet you didn't know that you could "connect" with a rock if you get down on it's level!  Did you ever take time to sniff a rock?  Ever wonder where a rock has been or where it may go?  WE DID!  Today we took a "rock walk" and each child found their perfect rock.  The best part is that they did it all on their own and no two rocks were alike! The children drew pictures of their rocks and then talked about them.  Be sure to ask your little geologist about his/her rock and what it means to have one.


We are having such a wonderful time this November!  
We've been practicing our poem for Poetry In The Park on Friday.  Don't miss it! :)  We'll begin at 8:30 am.  
Don't forget to visit the Book Fair this week.  Reading to them is the best gift you can give your children.


Have a super week!
Mrs. Carson

Nifty November!

I can hardly believe that we are already celebrating the month of November in the Bright-Eyed Bear classroom!  It's here!  We're in full swing of our Living off the Land unit.  The children have really enjoyed learning about the first people and what life was like before there were roads, cars, supermarkets, video games, skyscrapers, homes with plumbing, and homes at all!  They had amazing answers to the questions about where the people lived, how they got food, how they traveled from place to place,  where clothes came from, and so much more.  Here are a few of the bright thoughts of the Bright-Eyed Bears:
What were houses made of before there were factories and builders to make them?
*They could use sticks to make houses.
*Leaves too!
*Maybe some mud with the sticks poked in them.
*Some houses were made with animal skin.
*They could chop trees down to make wood houses. (This led me into my next question)
How would they chop the trees down?  Did they have tools?  What were they made from?
*They could use animal bones for tools.
*Sticks can be tools.
*Rocks are sharp and hard like tools.
*Some people can make tools from shells too.
Maybe the tools could be used to get food too.  There weren't any grocery stores!  Where did people get their food?
*They trapped animals.
*They used bows and arrows to catch animals.
*They could eat fish.  If they catch the fish in the ocean they could eat them and shells too.
*They can plant food to eat, like a garden.
*They could catch alligators to eat.
Uh oh!  How would the people cook their food without ovens and stoves?
*(unanimously) Fire!

BRILLIANT!!!
We have so much more to learn....but I'd say they are certainly on the right track!  :)

Chickee

building the top of our CHICKEE to add to the Exploratorium

The children learned the first people in America built homes that were all different and appropriate to the area in which they lived.  Indeed, twigs, leaves, mud, wooden poles, straw, clay, etc. were all used in different parts.  The Seminole was a people indigenous to Florida.  The Seminole built homes called Chickee's. They were made of palms, wood, etc. and were no more than a roof and floor on stilts. They were a summer home of tribes in the Southeast, who lived in villages ringed with secure barriers.

Stay tuned for more exciting news of our Living off the Land learning!

iPads

 We have iPads!!!
They are filled with wonderful apps for learning!

This week we explored apps for counting, putting things in numerical order, and patterning.  The children really enjoyed working with them and I loved seeing their enthusiasm!

I am excited about getting the opportunity to visit the NAEYC Early Childhood Conference in Orlando this week.  I will not be in school on Thursday or Friday.  However, Mrs. Cummings and a wonderful substitute teacher will keep all the learning rolling.  Please be sure to direct calls and/or emails to Mrs. Cummings and Mrs. Gootson.  Have a wonderful week and long weekend! See you on Tuesday!  

Mrs. Carson

Spooktacular Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Bright-Eyed Bears!!!!

A wonderful time was had by all on Friday.  As dinosaurs and princesses, pirates and superheroes, characters and more lined up to parade their costumes, there wasn't a frown in the bunch!  Everyone was in the "treat" sort of mood, and left the "tricks" to the goblins and ghosts!  Mrs. Cummings and I enjoyed seeing all of the bright and shiny costumes. The air was electric, and luckily the weather turned around!  It was a festive festival indeed!  Thanks for joining us and making our day such a fun and memorable Autumn event! 

Happy Halloween!

The costumes were SPOOKTACULAR! 

The Grins were HAUNTINGLY HAPPY! 

Have a safe and happy Halloween night! 

We Love Halloween!!!

The Bright-Eyed Bears have really been enjoying this song and poem in class. The children have the book and mini pumpkins to act it out along with the video.

Halloween Parade and Fall Festival!

What fun! What fun, under the sun! 

A Halloween parade and Festival fun by the ton!  

It's coming! It's coming!  We're counting down! 

To see smiling goblins, witches and ghosts around Shorecrest town. 

Friday is almost here.  The children have indeed been counting down the days to the Halloween Parade and Fall Festival.  Please be sure to read the letter in your child's bag about the happenings for the big day.

He/She may wear their costume to school and bring play clothes to change into.  Please label their costumes to make sure they all go home with the correct child. Thanks for your help! :)  Just a reminder that all children should be picked up by 10am in our GREEN DOOR classroom.  Hope to see you at the Fall Festival! 

                       Take a look at some of our hauntingly good times from this week and last!

After a "Leaf Walk" around campus we made a cool Fall collage!

Shadow Dancing with homemade Halloween puppets.

Tracing pumpkins, cutting them out, and adding pattern block faces is fun!

We'll dictate a story about our Jack-o-lanterns too!

We made spiders and wrote their names too!!

We love taking turns to add our own flare to the "Five Little Pumpkins" poem. 

We measured the ingredients and made orange play dough to roll Magic C!

.....And so much more!

Happy Wednesday!

Mrs. Carson