Today’s exploration of seeds made connections to the jobs we’ve been practicing in the classroom.  The Tugboats help our classroom run smoothly by ringing the Stop, Look and Listen Bell, feeding the fish, helping set up snack and leading our class as we walk in line.  What is a seed’s job and why is it important?

It should be no surprise that our brilliant students were able to tell us that a seed’s job is to grow a plant.  They were excited to make the connection that we collected our seeds from fully grown plants that had first grown from another seed!  We talked about the two most important things a seed needs to grow: water and sunlight.  When a seed grows in the ground, the soil makes it difficult for us to see how the seed’s progress into a seedling and then a plant.  To create an environment in which the children can still observe the growth, we planted some of our beans in wet paper towels wrapped in plastic and taped them to the window.  We’ll be able to monitor our seeds’ progress and should see some sprouts within a week!

We’ve also been collecting leaves from the park and keeping them in the sensory table.  So far we have collected red leaves and brown leaves.  We’re keeping our eyes peeled for yellow and orange!  This afternoon, we’re looking forward to using tempera paint to try to mix up our own shade of brown.  Wish us luck!

This week, we are beginning to explore seeds.  Since school opened, we have harvested seeds from beans and tomatoes, comparing fresh seeds to dry seeds.  Last week, we cut one of our sunflowers that had lost all its petals and saved it to examine this week.  We also pulled the seeds from the apples we had for morning snack (Thanks, Isa, Liz, and Gotz for the fresh, local produce!).

After our trip to the garden this morning, the whole crew came inside and, armed with magnifying glasses, we began to study the 3 seeds we had: winter beans, apple seeds, and sunflower seeds.  What color are the seeds?  What shape are the seeds?  Which seeds are bigger and which seeds are smaller? How do they look on the inside?  What do the seeds have in common and how are they different?

As we studied the seeds, the Tugboats practiced their observation skills.  They also took turns sharing the magnifying glasses.  As each child made an observation aloud, the other children practiced listening and learning from one another.  One of our friends made a wonderful observation about the apple seed:  “It’s like an oval, but with a pointy tip.”  Our conversation extended from seeds to shapes and vocabulary.

Later this week, we’ll talk about seeds’ jobs and compare those to our jobs in the classroom.  We’ll also try to sprout some of the seeds in a wet paper towel and plastic bag.  I’m looking forward to the many discoveries we’ll have this week!

Oh, how much growth we’ve seen these first two weeks here at Harbor City School!  At the start of any new school year, it is crucial to spend a substantial amount of time establishing classroom norms and routines.  This is even more important for children who are entering school for the first time!  We call this element of what we teach the social curriculum.  Preschool children, many of whom are unaccustomed to the structure of school and large-group play, are learning all about how we work together as a classroom community.  This includes seemingly simple tasks of lining up to go outside or washing our hands before and after we eat.  It also includes the more broad tasks, like the classroom jobs I mentioned earlier this week.

The Harbor City Tugboats are doing a fantastic job mastering all of these new skills!  Each child has had a chance to practice at least one of our 4 classroom jobs, and we’ll introduce the Job Chart at Circle Time next week.  We’ve also been practicing greeting each other every morning at Circle Time, practicing saying, “Good Morning!” and saying each others’ names.  When we began working together just two weeks ago, walking in a line was challenging for friends who’ve never had to do so before.  Now, we quickly line up and file down the stairs (always holding the yellow rail!) When we venture out into the garden or the playground at the Bremen St. Park, one of our neighbors always comments on how disciplined and well-behaved the group is!  Although I’m always proud of the Tugboats, it is especially heart-warming to see their hard work rewarded by relative strangers in our community.  Transitions that once were chaotic and required specific directives and instructions are beginning to happen almost seamlessly.  Many children now automatically put their rest items in their Nap Cubbies or return their cups to the Drink Table without directions from a teacher.  I’d say they’re getting the hang of it!

Soon, you can expect to see more of the academic side of the curriculum.  While we have continued to provide enriching educational experiences and projects in the classroom, many of them have been vehicles for the more foundational social curriculum.  As the children continue to master the structure and routine of the classroom, we’ll be able to spend more sustained amounts of time on exploration and adventures.  We will be able to deepen and broaden the knowledge and experiences that each child brings with him or her into the classroom each day.  We’re looking forward to welcoming new friends, as well as Parent Teachers, into our classroom very soon!

It’s been a bit of a dreary week outside, but these Tugboats don’t let that keep them indoors!

Although the rain has kept us from using the playground, we have enjoyed using the time to explore our neighborhood.  Here we are on Tuesday taking a short walk around the block!  We found plenty of puddles to jump in and explore!  We also use these rainy days to check in our garden plot.  The Tugboats discovered that we don’t need to water our garden on days it rains because the sky waters the garden for us.  How kind and helpful!  We’ve also been harvesting from the garden.  Many of our friends love our home-grown tomatoes!

We also named two more of our aquatic friends today.  While Peter lobbied to name our red/orange fish Dexter (due to the part he may have played in the loss of one of our other fish), the class decided to name this little guy Fire Fish!

We also named the elusive crawfish:  Batman.  He spends so much time hiding in his cave, only emerging at nap time to see if Carissa plans to feed him again, so the kids thought Batman to be an appropriate moniker.  We got 6 new pencil fish last night as well!  If they survive their first few days, we’ll name them next week as well.  Come in and meet our class pets!

We’ve begun introducing classroom jobs this week.  Each day, we will assign a Line Leader, a Fish Feeder, a Snack Helper, and a Bell Ringer (who rings the “Stop, Look, and Listen Bell.”)  At Circle Time, we talked about how each person has a job to do that helps us to follow our 3 classroom rules:

1. We take care of ourselves.
2. We take care of our friends.
3. We take care of our school.

Everyone is very excited to play their part in keeping our classroom community running smoothly!

We also talked about how the grown-ups in our lives have jobs that help our larger community be successful.  We finished by telling our friends what we’d each like to be when we grow up.  The answers included a ballerina, a princess, an astronaut (Mr. Peter), 2 teachers, a circus performer, a train conductor, a deep sea explorer (Miss Carissa), and one person even answered, “I want to be Carissa!”  As flattered as I was, we continued to talk about what made each of us special and unique and that it is far more fun to be ourselves than to be someone else.

The next time you’re at HCS, check out our display based upon the book One, which we’ve been reading almost daily.  We’re working on adding each classroom member to the wall and learning about each others’ strengths.