November is Author Study month!

Today, Kindergartners were introduced to Children's Author, Gerald Mc Dermott.  He was selected for his retelling of lively trickster tales and amazing and colorful illustrations.  Mr. McDermott, now a resident of California, hails from Detroit, MI and is also an alumni of my alma mater, Cass Technical High School (More good reasons for being selected.)  He stated that his passion for art blossomed when he was enrolled in an art class at the Detroit Institute of Arts.  ( I hope we can take a trip there some day as a class.)  In the meantime, we will enjoy his series of books about similar tricksters from all over the world, and examine some of his  graphic arts techniques and geographical influences which bring these characters to life.

 Zomo the Rabbit:  A Trickster Tale from West Africa


We read about Gerald Mc Dermott's background in the inside cover of his book.


We discussed  Mr. McDermott's career as both author and  illustrator of the book.

We talked about Detroit being 40 miles away from Ann Arbor, how some of us live in Ann Arbor, that the story setting was in West Africa (not South America:) and that Ann Arbor is in Michigan which is in North America.  


We reviewed the use of "symmetry" while making tangrams at the beginning of the school year then  explored "assymmetry."   This led us right into  making observations on the subject during our  Math lesson.   While viewing pictures of African tapestries, wood carvings (including masks and door panels) and  fabric textiles, we discussed whether the design was symmetrical or not.    We had to refold some paper designs to create balance.  Some designs were "tricky" and required more careful observation.  We afterward drew our own "symmetrical" designs.

Kindergartners  talked about what it meant to be a "trickster"  and agreed on "one that plays jokes on others.     We  tried to predict how the story would end after Zomo received what he wanted.   We also learned that sometimes tricksters are the one's that are tricked!

Later in the afternoon we elaborated on the story, reviewed author/illustrator roles, identified the main and supporting characters, and discussed the setting.  The Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions were also featured in the discussion.   Finally, Kindergartners played a guessing game of "What's in the Bag."  The children were allowed to feel the item through the bag and make comments and predictions after everyone else had a chance to interact with the item.  Some predictions included:  a half of a water bottle (3),  a boat (1), and a mask (1).  We discovered that the item was actually an african mask from Kenya.  The children seemed to enjoy touching the wood carving and  pretending to wear the mask.

Andy's Can's Count:  9 with one casualty (We found out that Ks can open pull tabs!:)




Please don't forget to wear your PJs for our 1st Kinder-Pajama Party on this coming Friday, November 11th.  Also bring in your  stuffed animal for sharing time!

Speaking of which, Kindergartners have been asked to attempt to break a secret number code with clues being given at Circle Time.  The answer will  be revealed on Friday.

 One last note, in case your child mentions it, our Praying Mantis died sometime between Thursday and today.  For those who may not know, he was brought in by Kai (and caught by Mom!) and had been dwelling on our classroom window sill.  We attempted to find food that she would enjoy on several "bug digging" excursions.  She rejected slugs and rolly pollies but enjoyed an unidentified black bug a few weeks ago.  We also found that she looovvvvved worms from Mrs. Carpenter's class' worm bin.  All was well and the mantis even laid an ootheca (egg mass).   We are keeping an eye on them for our research stated that the egg mass could contain 50-300 baby mantis nymphs.

The children gave their reasons why the Praying Mantis may have died:
"Ate too much food"
"(The pavilion) might have been dropped on the floor"
"It didn't have food"
"Maybe someone shook the basket really hard"
"It got sick and old"
"It dies after it lays eggs"
"It's just life"