Our Kindergartners are Blooming!!!!!

I immediately encountered  a "floral" Andy when I visited
the "GRAM"-Grand Rapids Art Museum!

Last week was a perfect example of why I love teaching sooooo much!  Everyone (including myself) appeared happy, energized and rested after the Spring Break and raring to go into the next stretch of the school year.  Here are just a few of the highlights!

Our Circle Time chat and stories this week centered around the life,  artwork, and style of American Pop Artist Andy Warhol.  I  spent my break in Grand Rapids attending and presenting a workshop about integrating art and artists into all domains of the curriculum.   I am now excited to once again introduce (or revisit) Warhol to our class curriculum.  




After reading Fabulous! A Portrait of Andy Warhol  by Bonnie Christensen, the Kindergartners and I had a moving discussion about Warhol's early life.   We learned how Young Andy did not want to go to school because he felt  picked on by classmates and was  called cruel names even by some of his family members. Andy was also a rather sickly child and suffered from a skin condition called St. Vitus's dance which caused muscle spasms and permanent  blotchy skin.   He also began losing his hair at an early age.    Warhol's challenges seemed to really resonate with the kids as they shared at length some of their own school experiences with feeling "picked on",    having illnesses, and/or  not feeling like coming to school some days.

Andy's Mom's Can sketch!

 We  also read that Warhol used  a journal to capture his thoughts, sketches, and ideas- even as a young child.  We also learned that he had a very loving mother who encouraged his artistic abilities, found art classes for him, and even came to live with him when he was an adult. His mom even assisted in creating some of his artwork.  As a bit of trivia, Warhol's Mom's handwriting appears on a lot of his early graphic design work.  She was also one of his inspirations for his "Soup Can" series and even drew her own version of a soup can.  It is on display at the  Warhol Museum of Art in Pittsburgh PA.

We also studied one of Warhol's other Graphic Design series he worked on with his Mom entitled,        "25 Cats Named Sam..."  then we began sketching "Sams" of our own. Fabulous!!!!!

Kindergartners began two simultaneous Math units this week.  Kindergartners were asked to bring in canned goods  for an upcoming long range activity.  We talked about how some people do not use canned goods but others must due to a lack of the availability of proper refrigeration.   Our school's "Project Learning Approach" will hopefully be very evident as child spend some quality time with this unit as we   tease out many sub-topics.

Our other Math lesson was a little more "dicey", literally.  Ks were given the task of problem solving addition problems using large die.   The problems had to be solved initially using the top facades of  4 die and  evolved into  borrowing some die from a neighbor as the math problems became more difficult.  Number recognition, one to one correspondence, grouping, regrouping, and even some multiplication(!) were some of the strategies  implemented.  Cooperation was also a key!

Science Thursday with Dr. George  included a brief talk about the need for generators and  electricity in Guatemala and a lot of elbow grease from Kindergartners.  After being given safety instructions,  Ks were given the task of extracting microwave parts  with Phillips screw drivers!  Soon afterward, you only heard the grunts of effort and the ping of screws falling to the table!  























 

EBs for the Lower School began last week at SK.  Exploratory Blocks (EBs) are opportunities for Homeroom and Specialist Teachers, Administrators and Parents to pursue their passions with a group of willing participants!  Joanna stated how she could just "feel the excitement and enthusiasm in the air as the halls hummed with activity from 9-10 A.M  Above, Math Teacher Sam discussed size and scale while kids jotted their ideas before hauling tons of boxes to the attic for "Cardboard Cities."  The aroma of salsa permeated  throughout the north wing for Mrs. Carpenter's  cooking class, and children happily donned graphite fingers after Elaine's "Oodles of Doodles" sketching EB!

Our Fabbbbbuuuulous week ended with a  rather spontaneous visit from members of  the Community High School Jazz Band!  Kindergartner Skye was so inspired by our discussion of the Jazz Era  and the Harlem Renaissance (please see previous blog entry) that she exclaimed, "We should have a 'Jazz Party'!"  After relaying the comment to Skye's Dad,' he was then inspired to invite his schools' Jazz band to come play for us!   The Band members discussed "improvisation" and showed their ability to seamlessly switch instruments.  They even took a poll of our favorite instruments!  They made their instruments "talk" and played "Rain, Rain, Go Away,"  took a special request  and finished a whole set, all on their lunch hour!  But before returning to their school, one of the gentlemen was so in awe of our school that he began asking about it at length.  We chatted about the many similarities in our learning environments!  Another band member stated that he has played a lot of gigs but "this  had to be one of my favorites," he said.   What nice compliment and a great educational partnership!!

Our week culminated in a session of Yoga with Dom.  Dominique has the amazing ability to interject Yoga poses right in line with our themes and that week's activities without even being informed beforehand!  She introduced the "rainbow pose"  that she just learned.  We had just discussed rainbows during our poetry readings and enjoyed a mid-week downpour with our umbrellas.   She also revisited one of our favorite yoga activities called "yoga telephone."  This game allows the children to whisper their favorite pose to their neighbor and then afterward perform the pose they thought they heard as a whole group!   Hilarious!