Colors!

Thank you for attending Back to School Night if you were able.  If you weren't able to join, don't hesitate to ask any questions that may arise!  We appreciate your support and look forward to a fun year working together.

A few weekly highlights...

We started our first preschool project room collaboration this week!  The preschoolers collaborated in small groups to create a learning tree for our hallway.  They put their small motor muscles to work and cut, rolled and crinkled paper to create a trunk for the tree and leaves.  It turned out great!

 

What do you notice about colors?  The children were asked this simple question during an inquiry all about colors.  First, we read the book Pantone Colors and noticed all the different shades colors can be.  We discovered there are many different shades of every color!

Next, the children were introduced to one of our science tools (an eyedropper) and they got to experiment with color mixing.  The children used their new tool to make discoveries with red, yellow and blue colored water in ice cube trays.  They also learned they could create many different shades of the same color, just like in the book we read!  Check it out...

We created art in coffee filters with our color mixtures too!

A few of the"discoveries" from the children:
"Blue and red make purple!"
"Blue and and yellow make green!"
"Red and yellow make orange!"
"If you add more plain water, the color turns lighter."
"Mixing all of the colors together makes brown!"

There were many other questions about what would happen if we mixed other colors together.

Inquiry (the process of engaging children with questions and letting them investigate the answers) is a big part of preschool!  They sure had fun verbalizing their thinking during this experiment.

We took our investigation of colors even deeper, when the children were invited to create their OWN color mixture for a collaborative piece of art for our classroom.  They each thought out the colors they wanted to mix and added and changed it to fit the shade of color they wanted.  After their "color" was complete, they added it to our canvas.  A few examples...

Once it was finished we realized that every shade of color was different and unique.  Just like us!  We also counted 20 squares all together and will add the number symbols next week!

We enjoyed matching colors with objects and color words.  We looked at the initial sound in each word and that helped us match it with the correct color.

Another favorite was building towers with different sized and colored cylinders.

Finding letters in our own names and friends names...

We ended the week creating and telling stories with water color.  It is always fun to hear the thought process behind their work.  Verbally sharing stories helps develop oral language and is a frequent part of our preschool day.

Next week we will begin our apple investigations and we can't wait!  Our first field trip to The Minnetonka Apple Orchard is next Thursday, September 20th.  Just a reminder that this is an outdoor field trip so please dress your child for the weather!  The first day of Fall also arrives on September 22nd so we are anticipating and look forward to more fall inquiries and explorations.  The children have already noticed leaves falling from trees!

Specialists Next Week

9/17- Day 3 Morning art and afternoon P.E.
9/18- Day 4 Morning music and afternoon religion
9/19- Day 5 Morning P.E.
9/20- Day 6 Morning art
9/21- Day 1 Morning P.E. and afternoon library

Dates to Remember:

Tuesday, September 18th- Picture Day

Thursday, September 20th- Field Trip to Minnetonka Apple Orchard

Friday, September 21st- Wear BLUE and GOLD Day

Saturday, September 22nd- Blessing of the Animals and Breck Homecoming

Thursday, October 4th and Friday, October 5th- Conferences- No School

Have a joyful weekend!