WELCOME ! updated December 13, 2009 Hi Everyone,
I hope that everyone is having a joyful, peaceful, and of course an exciting holiday season. Celebrations started as far back as September for some of our community. So a belated... more >
Our Elementary I class is for 6-9 year olds. We have our wonderful assistant, Ms. Tina. Tina is always willing to give a lesson or help a student. She asks when she needs help and checks lesson plans whenever she needs to help herself. Tina is definitely someone that I count on and adds great quality to our class.
We are one of two El I classrooms. We also have two guinea pigs or cavies named Ella and Piper. A desert tortoise named Cosmic. I am also looking forward to the addition of an amphibian or two. I hope that the website is fun and informative. If anyone has questions or comments that they would like to make then please know that I am available.
Also, make sure to check out the other websites. All the teachers have put together some good information on what we do and why. ALSO, THE PHOTO ALBUMS ARE VERY INFORMATIVE!
These are some links and kids' music that I've heard or heard of and would like to pass on. I will try to put together a playlist of some tunes at some point when I find out how to do it beyond the playlist site that this website uses. Meanwhile, please enjoy what is available.
I can't couch for all the songs, but I think that they are fun. I leave the rest at your discretion. Give it a listen.
Caspar Babypants is actually not the name his parents gave him. He is Chris Bewell from the band " The Presidents of the United States".
The next link is Verve Pipe, which may be familiar to you from the well-known tune "Bittersweet Symphony". "Suppertime" is a fun song. Why do they call it a hot dog if there is no dog in it?
They Might Be Giants also has done a lot of kids stuff like, "The Elements". A They Might Be Giants kids search brings up fantastic videos that they have shared with youtube. They sing about science and math and language. It's totally awesome and too many for me to link up from this site!
Jack Johnson did the ever popular "Upside Down" for Curious George.
The "Elephant Song" is by Eric Herman who is a performer out of the Pacific Northwest. Also, by this musician is "Lucky Day", and those of us who still have a little disco in us there is - "Dance Like an Animal"! Pirate fans may enjoy this ditty.
This is one of my favorite songs from when I was a kid, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". YES!
Of course, the ever classical Beatles- Hello, Goodbye. It's good for reading and contextual clues, really.
This "No More Monkeys" is courtesy of Putomayo.
"The Rhino Song" is perfect for our Africa studies.
"The Dinosaurs Song" is for my large lizard
loving friends.
If you would like to delve deeper into our rich musical past then I offer you Pete Seeger: "Little Boxes", "Abiyoyo", "Little Birdie", "Lolly-Too-Dum" and yes, "If I Had a Hammer" with Arlo Guthrie.
There are also some Frank Leto songs like "Coconut Soap" and "Come on Everybody" that may be best suited for the firsts. I was first introduced to him when I taught Early Childhood in Boulder.
Lew Dite is a from Canada and has put many classic folk songs on youtube such as "Oh Susanna", "Clementine", "You Are My Sunshine", and one I love, "Shortnin Bread".
Okay, I really love this video of the Skating Babies. I apologize for the advertising, but it was too good to pass up. Anyway, water is good.
Have fun! Use the message board to share other tunes or whatever is on your mind.
These are our animal friends in the classroom. Piper, Ella, and Cosmic. We also take care of the fish next to Ms. Mia's room.
The animals are an intangible addition to our classroom. They promote a broader life/world perspective. They also promote responsibility and maturity in our children. The students are responsible for feeding and watering them. Currently, Cole and Jack are our cavy caretakers. Aidan feeds Cosmic, our desert tortoise. Annika and Norri Hope feed the fish. Annika encouraged me to clean out the fish tank one day. To be honest I was avoiding it, but I had no good reason to refuse her. We did it together and it got stinky for awhile. We added a few more plants and a larger filter. The fish swim around more and seem "happy".
The animals also add to the emotional and spiritual well-being of the children. If a child is stressed out by something going on at home or at school then the animals have a calming effect on them.
I am looking forward to the addition of two frogs the Middle School is giving us in trade for the use of my juicer. They will be joining us in January.
Our students will have a new science experiment shelf in January. We run experiments as a class when I do them. Now the students can run some of their own. Science is very exciting for this age group. It is a good time to lay down a foundational interest for science studies in the future. The children really get into it when they can run their own experiments. A student who is unable to focus on other academic work may find that science is their path to math and language. Thus far, a number of our students have given reports on Botany and Zoology. This is not an assignment I generally give, but often comes from their own desire to research and share with the rest of the class. It will be interesting to see what they do when they have a whole experiments shelf to use!
