If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
~ Thomas Edison

Challenging young children to try new things and go beyond what they think they can do is sometimes tricky business. As a teacher, I have to walk a fine line: do I help or not help? Do I extend help when my offer is rejected? How much frustration can a child handle to get to the success on the other side without a melt down? 

We had lots of those scenarios in class this week, starting with a cutting activity. I have a just-turned-3-year-old (youngest child in the class) who just could not get hand-eye coordination together to cut ON a designated line. I have highlighted and darkened lines, modified projects, and tried all the different types of scissors we have. Still, she manages to snip her way into, or directly through whatever shape she is supposed to be cutting out. She refused to let me do hand over hand assistance, so I finally pulled out my own "teacher" scissors, and showed her how to "stretch and squeeze" with maximum control but making a "C" shape with my hand and then closing it into an "O" shape with scissors secured more toward finger tips than palms. She practiced a few times without the scissors, then when she picked up the paper and scissors and cut EXACTLY ON THE LINE, Oh, man...Her expression was priceless! She was shocked and excited, and proud of herself all at the same time! 

The next challenge came on "Airplane Day" in the MGT curriculum. (because of holidays and field trips, we are still in the midst of the "On The Go" theme, which is the November box) The kids made paper airplanes, launched by blowing into a straw. I had several younger ones that had difficulty understanding why their plane wouldn't fly, as they blow, and blow, and BLOW, while still holding on to the airplane instead of the straw. It was rather comical to watch. But despite their frustration, they did NOT want me to interfere with my "help". So I let them blow and blow some more, until I asked if I could hold the airplane/straw and showed them where to put their fingers so the plane would take off. FINALLY!! I mean, I am the teacher, I do occasionally have helpful things to say... 

A little friendly Brother vs. Sister race

I'll blow, and I'll blow, and I'll blow, and FINALLY I'll make the plane fly!

No trouble taking flight here

There was a special science project on "Hot Air Balloon Day". The MGT science cards are simple and easy to follow. Sometimes I have to make "Japan" adjustments, based on materials I have on hand. I had actually done an experiment with the same premise in the upstairs kindergarten class last week, using baking soda and vinegar so I thought I'd just do the same thing. 

1st attempt: FAIL. The balloon got a hole it as soon as I put it over the top of the bottle. I had to grab an administrator from the hallway to come watch the class so I could run upstairs and find more balloons.

2nd attempt: FAIL. I only had about 1/2 cup of vinegar left from the kindergarten experiment, so even though we put several teaspoons of baking soda in, it didn't create enough gas to fill up the balloon.  

At this point the class was disappointed, but still not entirely sure what they were supposed to be anticipating. It was nearing the end of class, and I happened to have an extended break that day, so I promised to go to the store on my lunch break, while they were having Japanese class, and buy more vinegar to try the experiment again. 

3rd attempt: SUCCESS. This time we filled the plastic bottle up half way with vinegar, and used a little less baking soda, along with a fresh balloon. When it started bubbling and fizzing the kids thought it was going to explode and started to duck under the table. I assured them that the balloon would not pop, just to keep watching! As the balloon got bigger and bigger, so did their eyes! When it stopped expanding everyone broke out in applause. BEST EXPERIMENT EVER!! (until the next one...hehe)

Intrigued, or un-enthused...it's hard to tell.

Hooray!! It worked!!

So, in addition to airplanes and hot air balloons, we're also learning it's OK when things don't go as planned, if they don't work the way they should the first time. The important thing to remember is to TRY, TRY AGAIN! 

T Is For Turkey

I try to write down the "quotable quotes" my students say on a regular basis, I'm sure I will have acquired enough for a book in no time. This week's quote came from a 4 year old in response to previewing Mother Goose Time's special Thanksgiving activity guide.

"Kairu sensei, a brown peacock!"

The funnier part is that other teachers asked multiple ages of Japanese students what animal this picture represents, and they ALL said,"Peacock!" As Americans, we take for granted things that are ingrained in our cultural celebrations that other countries have no familiarity with. Case it point, turkeys! Since they are native to North America it's completely understandable that people on the other side of the world would mistake them for their frilly feathered cousins.

Being in Japan, where there are no turkeys (or goldfish crackers), necessitated a few modifications to the Thanksgiving activities provided by MGT. It was still a fun-filled day with lots of opportunities to learn and practice new words and ideas. 

We read The THANKFUL Book by Todd Parr (my favorite children's book author) and talked about the many things we're thankful for. Sadly, we ran out of time to add our colorful feathers to our "I am thankful" turkey poster. 

For centers, they used bubble wrap and ink pads to make "fancy" corn prints. Nine out of ten children managed to NOT get ink all over their  hands in the process. Woohoo! The kids were a bit perplexed when I told them that Indian corn is not generally used for eating at Thanksgiving, but mostly for decoration. They were satisfied with the edible corn options used later in the turkey snack. 

 In the math center, they counted and added turkey manipulatives and "fancy" foam corn beads. 

Instead of "turkey bowling", as suggested in the activity guide, I cut out the 10 turkeys and let each child choose what number they wanted to tape on the letter "T" page of their little journals. I differentiated the journal activity for the varying skill levels. The results were totally adorable! Number 9 "ran away" so I copied the #6 turkey and turned it upside down. OOPS! 

Finally, we made a very Japanese version of the turkey snack, with dried edemame, and fall shaped crackers (the Japanese equivalent of goldfish crackers) for the feathers. Japan loves their popcorn, so the kids had plenty of options. They got to choose between regular, cheesy, or "apple pie" flavored popcorn to fill up the rest of the turkey glove. I discovered that teaching them the turkey call actually turned out to be quite a tongue twister for preschoolers. They kept saying,"Gobble, bobble!" It was too cute! 

Although I am missing celebrating my favorite holiday with family on the other side of the world, I am thankful for the opportunity I have to teach these wonderful students about turkeys...and all the other important stuff!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Clean Energy, Engineering, and Fine Motor Skills

Our November On The Go from MGT has layers and layers of learning opportunities in all areas. I have several students, one in particular, that I could easily see, even at 4-5 yrs old, pursuing some sort of engineering career in the future. I see the most advanced planning, team work, and creative problem solving in un-structured free play time at the beginning of each day. This kind of play requires not only cognitive skills, but also steady hands, so as not to topple everything over (unless that is ultimately the intention, which it sometimes is).

Roads & Bridges & Ramps (and Service Stations)

So many vehicles waiting in line at the service station!

The car craft had science embedded in it, and even language/vocabulary building with a discussion about clean gasoline made from corn (ethanol - they loved that big word!) They used big and small muscles to pound the corn, and then pinch it to place it on the glue after they colored the car. It's a bit tricky to punch the die-cut shapes out of the paper without tearing the important pieces, but the kids are learning to pay special attention to their strength when doing so, and we only had one minor tear.

Some children chose to color the car before they punched it out, and thus wanted to keep the "windows, so we taped them on one side, enabling them to be "up" or "down". 

Centers featured car related fine-motor activities including play-dough and molds, "driving" through colored ink pads to make tire tracks on paper, and writing the letter "C" in their little journals. We used the hands on letters to trace big "C" and little C". Some students decided to make finger print cars, while others filled the letters with lots of colors. 

Looking so studious, tracing swirly lines

With each day's lesson, they continue to build on to their existing knowledge and skills sets, and they are always so excited to discover how all of it is "works" together!