From Here to There

"How did you get to school today?"

"I walked to school in the rain."

"I brought a rocket ship to school."

"My mommy drove her car to my school."

"I took an airplane to Chicago."

"I rode my bike to school."

"I came with my little brother in a stroller."

"Airplanes are loud."

"Say hello to my grandma, she is on that airplane!"

On an airplane!

The flight attendant asks, "Would you like some juice?"

"I'm painting my airplane all orange."

In a car!

"Cars have wheels."

"My car is going to go so fast!"

Making roads and tunnels for our cars 

Green means GO

Reds means STOP

Yellow means SLOW

Tires make tracks

On a Bike!

Transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Vehicles traveling from one place to another include cars, bikes, buses, trains, people, helicopters, spaceships, airplanes and trucks.

Fun books about Transportation that we've been reading in class include:  

Freight Train By,Donald Crews

My Big Truck Book

This Train By, Paul Collicutt

We All Go Traveling By By, Sheena Roberts

We wish you all safe travels during your winter vacation!

What Do People Do All Day?

What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry

In Escuelita, we are students. Playing and learning is our work. What kinds of work do other people do? Our Moms and Dads do different kinds of jobs in our community -- doctor, scientist, firefighter, librarian, chef, office manager, photographer, contractor, computer programmer, architect, teacher, mail carrier, sales associate, farmer, police officer, military officer, artist...

We invited parents to share about their work with us, to help us learn about what people do all day.

By David A Carter

Some of our parents are Architects!

"My dad shows the people what the drawing looks like and then they pick the drawing they like and then they get a new home. My dad is even going to build a new house in Brazil. I'm going to Brazil and I will go on 3 airplanes to get there and then I will be next to my mom. I will see avó & avô."

Thank you Jeff for teaching us what an architect does!

 

Many of our parents work in the medical field.

"Doctors are helpful."

"Doctors are mommies after they take off their white jacket."

"Doctors are not scary all the time."

"Doctors give us tea. My mommy and my daddy don't give me medicine when I'm sick, I have tea and water and mint and ginger its good for my body."

"My mommy give me grape medicine that taste yucky! It makes me feel better when I'm sick."

  

"Doctors help our mommies make us better."

"Doctors check your heart."

Thank you Dr. Elena and Dr.Linda for teaching us about different kinds of doctors!

Some parents in our community are Chemists and Scientists.

We are growing mushrooms in our science classroom! Thank you Chemist Jeremy for visiting our class and teaching us how beneficial fungus is.  

         

 

 

It takes a village

Every morning Can and I drive across the Yolo causeway and feel uplifted by the natural beauty around-the soft colors of the morning sky, the flocks of birds moving in unity, rising, falling, and swooping about, the fascinating shapes and patterns of the rice fields and farmland...all framed by the distant hazy mountains. What an extraordinarily beautiful community!

Escuelita is learning all about our world around us-our community. As we study what makes up a community, we think about the natural elements-land, animals, and growing things, the physical structures of buildings, shops, homes and the roads that connect them, and the people that live within-working, playing, and doing all the things that keep our community safe and thriving.

In Art, we've been thinking about the physical landscape of our community, and what better artist to study than local Wayne Thiebaud! We looked at his paintings of the delta landscape, and noticed the colors, shapes, lines, and patterns. We found ponds, creeks, roads, farms, houses, and trees. We created a collaborative landscape, painting our homes, school, parks, trees, and families.

We were especially drawn to the lines and patterns in the farmlands of Thiebaud's work, and utilized colored tape as a medium to create a dynamic group piece on our whiteboard. Students worked cooperatively to determine where the rivers, roads, and lands would be placed, and helped each other stretch out lengths of tape of appropriate sizes in alternating colors.

What colors, shapes, lines, and patterns do you notice when you are out in the community? Do you see straight or curvy roads? The repetitive vertical lines of street lights? Squares of cement that make up the sidewalks? The rectangles of doors and windows and triangular rooftops? Art is all around us!

My home. My School. The park. The store. The fire station. A tree in front of my house.
This is my neighborhood.

"A tree lives in my neighborhood. It's not living in my house but it lives by my house. The tree is alive. It's in my neighborhood. My mommy and daddy live in my neighborhood too. They live with me."

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs By,Judi Barrett

"We are building a play structure for our neighbors!"