Today we are thankful for Blake!  Happy Birthday Blake! 

This morning we were able to attend chapel with the whole school to celebrate National Lutheran School's Week!  During chapel Mr. Debrick talked to us about how special it is that we can learn about Jesus anytime we want!  He talked about how no matter what we decide to do for a career when we grow up, we can always be a disciple of Jesus! 

When we returned to the classroom, we had a shortened small group time!  We worked on making wind chimes for the outside of our classroom!  

We also explored with the magna tiles.  I know you might be thinking, "Magna-tiles again?!" 

There is value in using the same tools over and over.  As children explore the same thing multiple times, they gain confidence with the materials.  As children gain confidence, they more freely explore their creative skills! As the children explore the magna-tiles they gain knowledge and vocabulary concerning 3-D shapes.  Furthermore, the children are working together to re-create favorite constructions. 

"Remember the castle we built with the points on the top?  Let's build that one!" 

We played a fun game with me to learn who controls the wind.  One person pretended to be God, and that person decided if the wind blew soft, hard, or like a tornado.  The other friends responded to the wind accordingly.  

"I want a turn to be God so I can blow the wind!" 

"It's Devereux's turn to be God because he is blowing the wind." 

 After small group time, we had time for free choice in our classroom.  We changed the estimation jar slightly to estimate how many items are in the jar.  The children are practicing writing their names and their numbers!

As the children sign in using the estimation jar, they are learning correct letter and number formation.  They are learning to be confident in their writing skills too!  Fostering confidence in writing helps to create motivated writers.

Sammie checked the radar and saw that a tornado was about to come to St. Charles! 

The children are making sense of their world through play.  I am guessing that the interest in tornados is due to the recent experiences we have had here in St. Charles with tornados.  Through play, children are able to act out such scenarios to help make sense of them.  

Bella talked to the news reporter to assure everyone that the tornado has left St. Charles.  

More magna-tile explorations!

Everyone was excited to see the new rice in the sensory table!  So much learning happens at the sensory table.  Children learn social skills as they ask each other to share the tools and space. 

Student one: "Can I play too?"

Student two: "Sure! (Turns to the person next to him) Can you scoot over to make some room?"

"How many minutes until my turn with the spoon?"

"Here-you can have a spoon; I have two." 

Math concepts are also explored at the sensory table.  JJ, Brian, and Claire wondered how many spoons it took to fill a cup with rice.  They are exploring estimation, counting, and volume.  

As teachers, we scaffold the learning at the sensory table by posing questions.

"Hmm...I wonder if my cup has more rice than your cup?  How can we tell?"

"Oh man...my cup isn't full of rice yet.  How many spoons of rice do you think I need?" 

"I'm trying to decide if the balance is level or not.  How can you tell if it's level?" 

Happy Crazy Clash Day! 

As you know, one of our favorite activities lately during free choice time is the magna-tiles.  The more the children play with the magna tiles, the more they work together to build large structures.  Cooperation and working together are valuable social skills that will benefit the children throughout their lives!

As we celebrate National Lutheran School's Week, we are thankful for so many things about our school!  Lutheran schools not only provide a great education, but we have the opportunity to talk about Jesus whenever we want!  

Here at Zion learning about Jesus is not limited to Jesus time.  We learn about showing Jesus' love when we solve problems between friends. We learn about Jesus' desires for us when we discuss our choices.  We learn about Jesus' forgiveness when we forgive someone for hurting our feelings.  We learn about Jesus' power when we learn about our world.  We are able to learn about Jesus and His precious gift of salvation all through the school day!  

Our estimation jar changed just a little today.  The friends practiced estimating and writing their names and a numeral as they signed in with their estimation. 

Our friends checked the radar and the five day forecast only to find out that there is a tornado on the way!  We discussed what we do during a tornado to stay safe, and our friends went to hide in the basement (the writing center.) 

As we continue in our weather project, one of the friends told a story about a time she was in a tornado.  The other friends discussed time when they were in tornados too.  We discussed the different parts of the tornado, and we learned that tornados have strong wind!  

"When I had a tornado, we had to eat a snack in the basement."

"I had to play games in the basement for a long time!" 

We then discussed some items in the classroom that could blow away if we blew on them.  We predicted which items would blow away and which ones would not.  Before predicting, one of our friends said, "Well if there was tornado wind, all of it would blow away!" 

We tested our predictions, and all of our predictions were correct!  

It is important to attach new information to children's prior experiences.  This creates a brain synapse that connects the new information to the prior experiences making the new information more meaningful and more readily retained.   

We also tested our own 'wind' further.  The children each had a special tornado straw which they used to test if classroom items would move when the children blew on them.  The children predicted what would happen to each one, and tested their prediction.  Allowing the children an active role in the scientific process can help to foster the love of learning! 

Furthermore, the children are exploring concepts such as cause and effect and heavy and light! 

Even if your child had the opportunity to do this activity yesterday, we extended the learning today by exploring what happens when we blow softly as compared to when we blow hard.  

Differentiation during science explorations happens in the questions that teachers use to guide student learning.  Some examples of questions to guide student learning include:

• How did you get the LEGO to move so far?
• Why didn't the block move when you blew on it?
• What will happen if you blew softly on the LEGO?

We also worked on our wind socks! 

We hope to be able to go outside tomorrow, but for today we had fun with indoor recess. 

During Jesus time we learned about the feeding of the 5,000.   We thanked Jesus for providing for our needs! Through His death and resurrection, Jesus provides for our greatest need- the need for a Savior.  

Today we are thankful for Megan and JJ!  Happy half birthday to Megan and JJ!! 

As you know, one of our favorite activities lately during free choice time is the magna-tiles.  The more the children play with the magna tiles, the more they work together to build large structures.  Cooperation and working together are valuable social skills that will benefit the children throughout their lives!

As we celebrate National Lutheran School's Week, we are thankful for so many things about our school!  Lutheran schools not only provide a great education, but we have the opportunity to talk about Jesus whenever we want!  

Here at Zion learning about Jesus is not limited to Jesus time.  We learn about showing Jesus' love when we solve problems between friends. We learn about Jesus' desires for us when we discuss our choices.  We learn about Jesus' forgiveness when we forgive someone for hurting our feelings.  We learn about Jesus' power when we learn about our world.  We are able to learn about Jesus and His precious gift of salvation all through the school day!  

The friends also worked together in the block center today!  

Look at some of the structures we created! 

Ethan checked the radar and gave us the five day forecast! 

As we continue in our weather project, one of the friends told a story about a time she was in a tornado.  The other friends discussed time when they were in tornados too.  We discussed the different parts of the tornado, and we learned that tornados have strong wind!  

"Oh yeah!  I remember the wind shook my house!"

"Mom said we had to go to the basement because the wind was super strong."

"The wind blew down a tree by my house!"

We then discussed some items in the classroom that could blow away if we blew on them.  We predicted which items would blow away and which ones would not.  Before predicting, one of our friends said, "Well if there was tornado wind, all of it would blow away!" 

We tested our predictions, and all of our predictions were correct!  

It is important to attach new information to children's prior experiences.  This creates a brain synapse that connects the new information to the prior experiences making the new information more meaningful and more readily retained.   

During small group time we made windsocks to hang outside to observe the wind. 

We also tested our own 'wind' further.  The children each had a special tornado straw which they used to test if classroom items would move when the children blew on them.  The children predicted what would happen to each one, and tested their prediction.  Allowing the children an active role in the scientific process can help to foster the love of learning! 

Furthermore, the children are exploring concepts such as cause and effect and heavy and light!

"I'm gonna' try this name tag! (Child blows on name tag) Oh- it just wiggles."

"This didn't move because it was too heavy."

"Nope-too heavy." 

We also danced and ran on the blue carpet during small group time! 

Happy Pajama Day!! 

Indoor recess fun! 

During Jesus time we learned about the feeding of the 5,000.  I tried to feed all of the friends a small piece of chocolate, kind of like how Jesus fed so many people with two loaves of bread and one fish, but we quickly learned that I am not Jesus.  My food did not 'grow' in quantity as Jesus' did.  Only Jesus can make the food multiply.  We thanked Jesus for providing for our needs! Through His death and resurrection, Jesus provides for our greatest need- the need for a Savior.