Fall has definitely arrived in Chicago over the past two weeks! It has been wonderful exploring, inquiring, and investigating all the seasonal changes that are occurring outside. Our Tree Study is well underway, and the children have been asking a lot of questions about trees and the changes we see.
Through our unit of study, we have been reading a lot of non-fiction books to show how useful trees are for our Earth and us! What are trees used for? How many things in our world are actually made out of trees? The children’s findings have blown us away! Their critical thinking and imagination have sparked many questions and “I wonders” in their conversations with one another. It’s been awesome to observe and see.
We also have been writing and drawing in our journals these past two weeks. We went outside and observed our class tree to see the leaves begin to change. Over the course of four weeks, we will visit our tree weekly to watch the changes that the tree goes through during the fall. This will carry out through the remainder of the school year with each new season.
In our water table we have added colorful leaves, acorns and mini pumpkins for the children to explore with using water. Our light table has beautiful leaves that the children are beginning to trace over and examining different leaves in detail. They are looking at the veins, edges and stems on these leaves. At our art easel, the children are using sticks to paint with! This has been a popular activity for the children to experience. The kids are quickly realizing how hard it is to get paint onto the sticks, but their diligence and creativity have helped them along the way! At our listening center the children have been listening to “There was an old lady who swallowed some leaves”. There have been lots of giggles from this corner of our room as they listen to the sequence of all the things that the little old lady swallowed in the fall!
Last Thursday and Friday I had the children complete a Venn Diagram comparing objects that are made from a tree (wood) and things that are not made from a tree, and then things that are made both from trees and not from trees. Each child was able to pick something out of a basket and then decide whether is belonged on the “Made from a Tree” side, or the “Not made from a tree” side! They were so engaged and excited about their findings!
Enjoy a few pictures from our Tree Study!
Preschool in the City with Mrs. Gabelman 