This Week- We learned about our five senses. We had so much fun with special experiments that highlighted each one.

• Smell – We made smelling jars with fragrances of coffee, pickle juice, peppermint, orange, eucalyptus, lavender, maple syrup and pepper. The children loved guessing at the mystery smell.
• Touch – We introduced a new mystery box containing two compartments with identical objects. The children took turns relying on their sense of touch to describe what they were feeling. Fun descriptive words observed were: squishy, pointy, round, pokey, smooth, rough and furry.
• Hear – We played listening games of silence to isolate sounds heard in the classroom and played a guessing game of recorded sounds like a rooster, rain, train and firetruck to name a few.
• Taste – We did a taste test highlighting our different taste buds. We tasted salty pretzels, bitter broccoli, spicy radishes, sweet blueberries, sour pickles and sour rhubarb.
• Sight – We discussed how light, color and shape through sight send messages to our brain on what we are seeing.

In Art– The Children learned about Henri Matisse. Matisse is considered one of the most important colorists of the twentieth century. Although mostly known for his paintings, his use of color is especially apparent in the paper cutouts he made late in his life. At seventy-two, Matisse became ill. Bedridden, he developed the idea of substituting cut paper for paint. He guided an assistant as she mixed colors of paint and applied them to large sheets of paper. Matisse cut directly into these painted papers, creating large naturalistic shapes. He referred to this process as “drawing with scissors.” Working with cut paper allowed him to move shapes around and achieve the precise balance and effect he strove for in his paintings. Be sure to check out our giant classroom mural inspired by Matisse! The children enjoyed working on the floor for this class project cutting, arranging and pasting.

Coming up – Please see the sign up sheet by our classroom front door for conference dates and times. A peek into next week- Oviparous and viviparous animals, parts of the egg and a Peter Ca Have a terrific weekend!

Ms. Melissa, Mr. Jay, Ms. April and Ms. Colleen