Music, Adventures and Trying New Things

We had a lovely start to our morning, doing our jobs, some imaginary play, some building and some important errand running.

Then we headed to music class.

Keisha worked on the idea of rhythm and beats by first having us listen to our own hearst.

Then we made beats by tapping on our bodies and the floor.

Next we did the snow dance...maybe it will work this time!

We brought our coats to music so that we could head right out on an adventure!

We balanced on the wall.

The Catbirds hid inside the benches and jumped out to surprise their teachers.

We stopped at our restaurant. Here, the Catbirds order one thing, and something else always gets delivered!

We ran around the cemetary in search of treasures and found many.

Back in the room, we had morning meeting. Carol explained that we were going to do something different today. We had four centers open and four friends would be assigned to each place. We discussed what it might be like to play with friends that you didn't usually play with or to try activities that you didn't usually do. The Catbirds had lots of ideas about how to approach these new challenges.

One center was music and friends had to work out how to play together.

Another center, that was new, was the Planning and Construction Center. Here, the Catbirds first went to the Planning table and drew out their ideas for what they wanted to build. The title of their plans was written on and then they went to the construction table to put their idea together. One of the purposes of this activity is to build in more intentionality into their creations - a skill that is just emerging for many of the Catbirds.

Dramatic play was another center and the purpose of having this open was to invite some friends who  don't often get a chance to use this part of the room to have the space and freedom to do so.

The last center was the big block and animal center and here a teacher worked with the group to encourage them to work together and create something using the whole space and all of their ideas.

The results were quite wonderful, with friends playing successfully in new groups and moving out of their usual patterns of play and problem solving. Although a few friends were initially resistant, they were pretty quick to adjust and move into these new activities. 

We have decided that the Planning and Construction Center will be a regular part of our Choice Time for awhile, and that grouping and regrouping will be something that we will be doing regularly.