Wood, wood and more wood - the first week of February

This was a week devoted in part to the exploration of wood and the creation of what proved to be some spectacular wood sculptures. Inspired by Cathy Topal's book Beautiful Stuff, which guides much of my thinking about art in the Gan, I decided it was time to haul in the three boxes of wood scraps I've been collecting for the past year and give the Gan a chance to get elbow deep in sawdust.

We spent a day or two exploring what we had, and giving children a chance to experiment with ways to arrange, balance and create with pieces of wood. We spent one class session on Tuesday thinking about ways to sort our wood, and later that day learned how to use sandpaper to smooth the wood. By Wednesday, everyone was eager to start gluing. Children started by using wood glue to create a sturdy base with three or four large pieces. From there, some sculptures grew wider, while some grew taller. Some children told stories of pirates and train stations with their wood, and some children worked on making something beautiful. Come see the display on the bulletin board in the hallway which documents our progress.

We're going to create a gallery once everyone's sculpture is finished and invite friends and family to come see our exhibit. Stay tuned for details.

This was also the week our bulbs decided to bloom. There was much excitement as children waited for the day flowers would emerge from the buds on their plants. We documented the journey from bulb to flower in science journals which will come tomorrow. By Friday, everyone's plant had flowered. We celebrated by creating some gorgeous watercolor paintings that are on display in the classroom. Next month we'll be visiting the bulb show at Smith College to follow up on our study.

We've been preparing for Tu B'Shevat, the new year of the trees, by singing songs about trees and nature, including Branching Out,  Adamah V'Shamayim, and the chant Standing Like a Tree. Next week we'll begin to study more about the science of trees - what's inside and outside of a tree, why trees are important to our ecosystem, and some of the specific varieties of trees. Sooner than you know it we'll be tapping the sugar maples in the parking lot and making our own maple syrup.

Don't forget to start talking with your child about ideas for his/her hundreds collection!

On other fronts, we celebrated three birthdays and created three fantastic, thoughtful birthday books. We are reading the chapter book Homer Price (dated but a gem nonetheless) and are working on the "short i" sound in CVC words such as BIG and HIT. Children got new sixth grade buddies on Thursday.

Tomorrow I will be out of the classroom most of the day screening students for next year's Gan. Already!  Thanks to Aliya's mom, Kristin Rotas for substituting for part of the day and helping out Moreh Karl.