The Whales’ performance of “Gingerbread Cowboy” opened to a rapt audience of friends on Thursday. Weeks of hard work paid off as Whales delivered their lines with expression and confidence. The Whales agreed even though they felt both nervous and excited (aka “nervited”), just about anything is possible when they work together!
Mr. Mark captured the amazing photos attached below. For a video of the performance, click on the Watch and Listen tab above.
Enjoy!
The Whales were set designers, costume makers, prop creators and amazing actors and actresses this week! Ms. Abby and Ms. Ellie were amazed to see all that the Whales could do when they worked together. Even while producing a play, our strong Whales were busy writing (publishing incredible books!) reading (in brand new reading groups) looking at 2-D and 3-D shapes (it turns out that shapes are EVERYWHERE!) and learning about other celebrations from different cultures and faiths arounds the world. We Whales are fascinated by learning and growing together!
Each Friday, the Whales spend their Classroom Choice time playing some pretty fabulous dice and card games. Studies have shown that children who play games at an early age strengthen more than just their academic aptitude. When children play games they practice important Executive Functioning skills such as:
•The ability to pay attention. Whose turn is next? What did the other player just do?
•Practice in turn-taking. Children learn patience and skills in self-regulation as they wait for their turn.
•The ability to organize, plan and prioritize. Should I put my cards in numerical order first? What card would make the most sense to play first? Second?
•Build stamina. When you start a game, others are relying on you to finish with them. While you are playing, it’s important to stay focused on the game, and the task at hand.
•Regulate emotions. Children are given the opportunity to “lose gracefully” and ”win humbly”. The process of winning and losing gives children a greater sense of empathy.
•Games give children the opportunity to experience actions and consequences (cause-and-effect) in a closed and safe environment.
Most Importantly, our Whales have heaps of fun together!
Whales have been learning amazing things about the ways that trees communicate with one another. We discovered that trees communicate through their root systems (with help from some very smart organisms called mycorrhizal fungi). This fungi helps send messages to neighboring trees when they are under attack, and they help trees collaborate and share resources like water and minerals. In return, the tree supplies the fungi with sugar. This sugar helps produce the fruit of fungi - mushrooms!
Whales spent time playing an intricate game of “tree-to-fungi telephone” and we found that we could spread messages quickly around our entire Whale forest! Following our game of telephone, we went outside onto the Pacific campus to look for evidence of some of this “fungus fruit”, and we were thrilled to discover many beautiful types of mushrooms. Whales even found the exposed root systems of trees and insisted on getting down onto the ground to see if they could hear the roots talking….
The Whales are curious observers of our natural world!
Whales have been working to answer questions like, Can trees get thinner? Do trees have grandparents? How do trees drink? Why don’t trees fall over? and Can trees get pimples?
By studying parts of trees up close in the classroom, and then going outside for scientific field studies, Whales are learning to be tree experts, and even more importantly, tree lovers!
The Whales performed their play in front of a live audience, inside a real theater, on a real stage. It was a truly thrilling experience!
Drama is a way for students to build a concrete understanding of elements of a story (characters, setting, beginning, middle and end), foster a sense of community and belonging, boost self-esteem, encourage risk-taking, and work toward a common goal.
I hope you enjoy the photos (taken by Mr. Mark). To see a video of the performance, click on the Watch and Listen tab above.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
The Whales were treated to a special tour of the Pacific University campus by Dr. Stacey Halpern, a Pacific University biologist (and former ELC parent) who specializes in plants and trees. Whales learned to identify the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees, and did some hands-on exploration of some of the living fossil trees that grace our campus. Whales were surprised to learn that some species of trees they saw were around when the dinosaurs roamed the earth!
Prior to our leaf gathering walk later in the week, Whales learned the reason that leaves turn color and shed their leaves. We discovered that trees (just like animals) have a season of rest. To prepare for their winter rest, deciduous trees get rid of things they don’t need anymore (the chlorophyll that gives leaves their green color and produces food for the tree). We likened this “dumping” of chlorophyll to going to the bathroom before sleep. After the tree has “gone to the bathroom”, the brilliant colors underneath come shining through! Finally, the tree gets undressed before bed, because (just like us) a tree can’t undressed while it’s sleeping! That’s when the tree drops all its leaves right before the first frost sets in.
After our leaf walk, we put on our mathemeticians hats and sorted our leaves by a variety of different attributes. We presented our groupings to our Whale friends.
As if all this leaf and tree work were not enough, the Whales have been excitedly working on their Halloween play for next week! We designed tickets, created invitations, painted the backdrops, and began practicing on our stage. Whales know how to work hard, and they do amazing things together!
To launch a new unit of study in leaves and trees, the Whales put on their scientist’s hats and went for a walk to look for signs of fall. We used our Eagle Eyes and Ninja Listening skills to see amazing things in the world around us! We recalled what we had learned about the life cycle of sunflowers and apple trees, and noticed changes in the trees and plants on the university campus. We know that this next season is a season of rest for many living things. Ms. Abby took notes as we shared our ideas, and we had so many that we decided to turn our ideas into a poem we titled The Cold Season Of Fall. We used our very best Felicity Penmanship skills to write the lines to our poem.
We spent time in the chilly fall air building amazing structures together, and we discovered plenty of autumnal activities in the classroom as well. Whales are scientists, authors and friends!
Guess Who?… loves the color blue, Guess Who?….loves mac and cheese, Guess Who?….is good at drawing? The Whales have been playing a game of Guess Who? each day, trying to guess which friend fits all the clues that Ms. Ellie gives. We are discovering that we Whales like many of the same things. No wonder we get along so splendidly! Once Ms. Ellie shows the Guess Who? contestant’s name, we work on spelling their name, counting out the syllables in their name, making rhymes with their name, and finally Ms. Ellie cuts apart their name letter by letter. The Whales line up at the reading couch with the letters - and oh boy, are they mixed up! Using all that we know about the sounds letters make, we still try to read the name - but it sure does sound silly! Following much laughter, the Guess Who? contestant finally comes up and fixes the problem, spelling their name properly so we can read it. We love letters, and letter-sounds, and rhymes, and syllables, and of course we love our names!
Our apple unit is drawing to a close, but we’ve enjoyed finishing up our Cezanne still-lives. We used a new watercolor technique called wet-blending. The finished product is really beautiful!
We presented The Apple Cake play one last time. It’s been a fabulous activity to help us learn learn skills in teamwork, listening, turn-taking, elements of story, and more!
The Whales have had an amazing week of apple study! We continued to learn about the apples growing in our Piazza, and discovered that an insect in its larval state was enjoying the flesh of our apples! We shared lots of good ideas for how we might solve the apple codling moth problem , and worked together to clean up the diseased apples around the base of the trees.
Whales have become thespians. We have learned the story of The Apple Cake, and have enjoyed performing for one another on our new stage. To celebrate the story of the apple cake, the Whales baked our very own (and very tasty!) apple cake.
We have studied the art of still life artists like Cezanne and Matisse and have begun using oil pastels to practice adding shading and shadow to our apple still life paintings. We are wowed by the way the apples appear to “jump off the page!”
On Friday we worked REALLY HARD and chopped up an entire bushel of apples for cider-making. Whales kept saying “We won’t give up! We can do it!” We finished in record time, then lugged the huge bucket outside and used our muscles to grind the apples and then press them. We enjoyed fresh apple cider for a lunchtime treat!
Whales know how to work together to accomplish spectacular things!
The Whales have learned so much together over the last two weeks! Take a look at the photos below and you will see Whales learning through movement, counting, writing, building, exploring, reading, creating, noticing - and sharing ideas with an amazing new community of friends!
