Nature Exploration

As we walked across campus on this windy winter morning to Meeting For Worship, the children were overheard talking about observations they were noticing on our walk. A few of the remembered comments were about the way the branches looked on the bare trees , the way the huge pile of twigs that had blown together looked like a nest and how the clouds in in the sky looked like the ocean.

We knew at that moment that at some point in our day we would try to return to this beautiful area on campus and explore the area through the lens of Andy Goldsworthy . Before going on our nature adventure we talked about the artist Andy Goldsworthy again and tried to imagine what he would think or do if he were on our nature adventure with us.

We collected various items found in nature to bring back to our classroom to further explore. The collection of items grew quite large, and the need to sort and classify became clearly necessary. What a wonderful authentic math lesson t o follow up with later this week.

Enjoy our slide show as we walk through our magnificent outdoor campus together.

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Andy Goldsworthy

Interest in exploring natural materials is very present in our classroom. When watering the plant in our library area the other day we noticed that many of the leaves had turned brown and we decided to trim the tree and in hopes of bringing it back to better health. The children immediately were drawn to the pile of leaves from our trimming and Annabelle said, " Let's use them to make something at the art table!'.

This was a perfect way to enter a conversation about creating art with natural materials. The children were resourceful in scouting out the Art Studio shelves as they looked for materials that were natural that they could use in collage work. Wood chips, wood shaving, leaves and branches were placed on the table for the children to explore. Andy Goldsworthy's book , A Collaboration With Nature was re-introduced to the children at this time as well. The children's thoughts and ideas were the motivation behind this wonderful spontaneous activity. Who knows...this may be the beginning of a new emerging exploration....

The inspiration to continue exploring Andy Goldsworthy's work continued today as Hayden sat down at Choice Time and asked a teacher to look at the photographs of his work in his book with her. Within a few moments, a group of children joined Hayden at the table and together they looked at the photographs very intentionally. Together they discussed the various details that they observed as the teacher read the descriptions and strategies of the art. We were absolutely amazed at the work of this artist! We learned that in one of his pieces of art he used Iris blades and pinned them together with tiny thorns! Hayden and Noah had the idea to get the magnifying glasses in the Science area to look really closely to see if we could identify the tiny thorns that were holding the Iris leaves together. Annabelle said, " I love his work because it's really cool!'

Welcome Mr. Blueberry....

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce a new and beloved member to our PreK 2 community, Mr. Blueberry. This most precious, furry, lovable marionette was aimlessly wondering the halls looking for a new home. He peeked inside our classroom and fell instantly in love with our PreK children. The children asked if we would 'keep' him and the rest is history!

We voted on a name and the decision to call him Mr. Blueberry was established. The discussion surrounding his name reflected the maturing of social and cooperative skills which our children have shared throughout this year. Being able to come to a consensus in a PreK class is quite remarkable and truly reflected the growth our children have experienced. The children are having so much fun learning how to make him move and talk and we are really enjoying the feeling of having a new 'friend' in our classroom. The children love when he walks around our classroom and talks to them personally about things he has observed thus far. The beauty and the excitement that surrounds us as our imaginations come to life has brought much joy to our classroom.

The children love to show Mr. Blueberry their work and we are trying to involve him in the life of our PreK children in various ways. This morning Mr. Blueberry greeted the children after a long weekend and was invited to watch friends as they signed in at our Writing Center. It was just fascinating to observe the children as they interacted with Mr. Blueberry and how they worked more conscientiously in their writing as they 'tried to teach' Mr. Blueberry how to write. He does not know how to write letters yet and the children are feeling very proud to be able to teach him....

Please be sure to stop by and introduce yourself to our newest member of our PreK family!

Mr. Blueberry loves our cozy rest time.....

Hansel and Gretel Perfromance

The energy and excitement about going on our 2nd school bus trip was felt the minute the children entered the classroom this morning! Our trip to see the Storybook Theater production of Hansel and Gretel was rescheduled for this morning and the children were very ready to begin our adventure! We had read several versions of the fairytale Hansel and Gretel and the children were well prepared for the play.

Yesterdays meeting with Jonathan Shandell was a wonderful pre-theater introduction to theater. We discussed and reviewed a few of the new ideas and concepts we learned.

We were going to take notice of the characters involved, the setting and how the story was retold as a play. We will reflect on our observations and continue with discussions and conversations in the days ahead.

The joy and delight of the experience is captured through our slide show. Enjoy!

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The Beginning Steps of Our Play....

Interest in plays and performances has been growing in our Prek class and we are excited to begin to explore this area in a more intentional way. Jonathan Shandell, Miranda's Dad, teaches theater at Arcadia University and has generously offered his time and talents in working with our class to explore play writing. The children's love of community helpers still runs quite deep and we unanimously decided that our Prek play should center on a central theme of community helpers where all of our 'in-house' community helpers would have an important role! Jonathan visited with us today to begin the process of learning how to write a script. This project will extend over several weeks with the hopes of a final celebratory production! We are very much looking forward to this work together.

There were several important things that we discussed at our first playwright meeting with Jonathan this morning. We first learned a new really grown –up vocabulary word that describes Jonathan’s role. Dramaturg is someone who helps write a play. The dramaturg helps synthesize ideas and helps to organize thoughts and puts them into a literary form that can eventually be performed as a play. We discussed the difference between a story and a play and learned that a play needs to be ideas that will be able to be retold in a way that can be performed on stage.

The first step was to think about ways to include in a story all of our community helpers: firefighters, veterinarians, astronauts, nurses, doctors, chefs and police officers. After sharing various ideas, we began to feel like we had a beginning outline of a story We learned that was called a ‘scenario’.

The experience of writing our own play will be an opportunity for the children to engage in a multitude of rich literacy and language experiences. Through our work today, the children practiced expressive language skills, receptive language skills, creative thinking skills as well as reinforcing the connection of spoken words with print.

Our Glorious Walk ....

The weather today was so beautiful and the invitation to be outdoors was calling for all PreK students and teachers! The last minute cancellation of our trip to see Hansel and Gretel left us with an open morning schedule and together we unanimously decided that a winter walk in Jenkintown would be a lovely way to share the morning together.

Before our walk, we had a really interesting conversation about art in nature. The previous day, Kailyn, Davida and Sylvia were working together in the playground creating a "nest " with wood chips, branches and seeds they found scattered throughout the playground. The children were very engaged in their work and excitedly wanted to show their teachers the nest they made with "stuff from the playground". " Will it be here after we go inside? What if it blows away?" were questions that were asked with heart felt emotion. Taking pictures of the nest was a comforting solution to this possible dilemma. Recognizing the deep connection the children were experiencing between nature and art, the thought of introducing the artist Andy Goldsworthy immediately came to mind to follow up with the following day.

A walk into Jenkintown on this glorious day was a perfect opportunity to explore the notion of art and nature. Before we left for our walk, we looked at the magnificent book Andy Goldsworthy A Collaboration With Nature. We focused on several of the incredible photographs of his work as an artist creating art with natural materials. We decided to keep the idea of art in nature on our minds as we walked through the beautiful community of Jenkintown. Of course we brought our camera to document our findings.

To end our winter walk, we stopped at a favorite community spot....Dunkin Donuts and enjoyed a sweet, delicious treat! Being together in a real cafe in Jekintown was so much fun! The children felt so grown -up and truly loved this experience!

AFS Outside!

Please come to hear about AFS Outside on January 5th!  You won't want to miss the student gallery that highlights student reflections on outdoor learning.  It will be a wonderful display of Lower School work!  Hope to see you that evening.