Drum Those Drums

 Transition Song: The Color Song by Imagination Station

Vocabulary and basic concepts: box, drum, drumming, loud/quiet, fast/slow, stop/go, hear, listening, pattern, rhythm, hands up, wait, experiment.

Miss Carrie brought something black to school today.  It looked like a rectangle.  Then she put it together,  It was a box. But, if you flip it over, it became a drum.

First we had to learn the rules.  When Miss Carrie called out "HANDS UP!", everyone put their hands up in the air, and used their looking eyes and listening ears to look at Miss Carrie and wait for directions.

First, she played the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  We waited with our hands up until it was time to drum. Then we drummed loud and fast.  That was fun!

We listened to another song with a lot of drumming at the beginning.  We talked about if the music was fast or slow. Was it loud or quiet?  We tried an experiment where we drummed really loud and tried to hear what a teacher was singing.  We discovered we couldn't hear them!  We tried to hear them again while we drummed quietly.  We realized that we could hear them.  So, if we use loud voices at school, we may not hear what the teachers are saying.  But if we use quiet voices, we can hear and understand the teachers.

We listened to big band, jazz, classical, Disney, and Piano Guys.  We found other ways to drum instead of flat hands. We talked about if we liked it or didn't like it.

DO THIS AT HOME: Pick something to drum with such as boxes or pots.  Talk about loud and quiet, fast and slow, go and stop.  Talk about when it is okay to be loud and when you need to be quieter.

Hot and Cold and Hot Cocoa!

 Transition Song:  Colors by The Learning Station

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: hot/cold, warm/cold, big/small, short/tall, high/low, fast/slow, heavy/light, day/night, in/out, whisper/shout, wear\k/strong, right/wrong, young/old, wet/dry, hello/goodbye, up/down, same/different, Who questions, What questions.

This week, Miss Carrie read the book Opposites by Sandra Boynton.

We talked about opposites. We knew up and down.  But some of the others were different.  We talked a lot about hot and cold.  Some of our friends sent in pictures which Miss Carrie put up on the Apple TV.  We talked about if they were in a place that was hot or cold.  If it was cold, the friends in the pictures wore coats, hats, and gloves.  Usually there was snow.  If they were warm, they were inside and weren't wearing coats.  It was so much fun to see what our friends did over Winter Break.

We had a special treat this week.  Miss Carrie made hot cocoa with marshmallows!  When asked if we wanted hot cocoa, we could say yes or no.  We talked about if we liked hot cocoa and if we drink it at home. If we didn't want any hot cocoa, we could still feel the side of the pitcher as we talked about warm and then feel the side of a chocolate milk carton that was cold.

Did you know we have child-sized pitchers?  We can pour things ourselves.  While we pour we count "One-two-three! That's enough for me!" so we know when to stop pouring.  If we spill, that's okay! We can get towels to clean it up.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Talk about hot/warm/cold.  Is the food warm or cold? Is the bathwater warm or cold?  Go on a walk out side and talk about it.  Talk about other opposites.  Mom and Dad are big and I am small.  These socks are the same, but this sock is different.

Drumming! (A favorite activity of the year)

 Transition Song: The Color Song by The Learning Station

Vocabulary And Basic Concepts: loud/quiet, fast/slow, stop/go, up/down, beat, drum, experiment,  hear/hearing, speak/speaking.

Miss Carrie brought out black rectangles.  We had no idea what they were.  But when she changed the shaped, we discovered that they were boxes.  Boxes are great for drumming.  Bur first: we had to go over the rules.  When Miss Carrie said "Hands up!", everyone had to stop drumming and put their hands up, look at Miss Carrie, and listen to know what to do next.

Miss Carrie turned on the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It was so hard to hold up our hands and wait! We started drumming loud and fast. Then Miss Carrie called out "Hands up!" When we started again we drummed slow and quiet. We noticed something.  It was easier to hear.  We tried an experiment.  We drummed loud and fast again while Miss Carrie sang something.  We couldn't hear her.  So we tried drumming slow and quiet.  We could hear Miss Carrie singing the A-B-C song.  If we're loud in the classroom, we might not hear the teacher give instructions which means tell us what to do.  We also noticed that some of the kids in our class do not like loud noises.  Now we know why we need to have quiet mouths in the classroom.  We can talk.  But we can't yell. We can be loud outside.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Pick an activity where you can explore fast/slow and loud/quiet.  Marching, singing, actions....it doesn't have to be drums.  Although pots and pans and a big spoon make a great drum.  Follow your child's lead on what to do.