Oobleck and Other Stuff

The Frogs continue to love the challenge of puzzles, and today brought another BIG floor puzzle - this time of dinosaurs. Friends continue to learn puzzle strategies, as well as creative ways to take them apart and use the pieces.

After a monster counting story (another book we found with googly eyes), it was time for Morning Meeting. Initially, we tried to have our Moment of Silence on our bellies, but soon realized it made us the opposite of silent, so we sat back in our criss cross. Some friends are working to develop the core muscles necessary to sit up in this challenging position. Core muscles are important not only for sitting up, but also to support the development of muscles in the arms and legs - so that friends can balance, throw and catch, and hold and manipulate pencils and paintbrushes.

Also at Morning Meeting, we brought out the Giant Pad of Paper to solve 2 Problems: Why is the Cozy Box closed? and What should we do about it?

According to the Little Frogs, the Cozy Box got closed because friends were pushing each other inside it and, more importantly, people were getting hurt! When we brainstormed about what we should do about it, we came up with:

1. We could close it forever and never use it again

2. We could lock it with a key

3. We could open it back up

4. If someone gets hurt, we could get them a boo-boo pack or take them to the doctors.

After some discussion, we decided to try opening the Cozy Box back up. Then, if anybody gets hurt, we will get them a boo-boo pack and close the Cozy Box again. We could not decide for how long, so we're going to play it by ear. This kind of group problem-solving is both another way for friends to ask and answer questions, and a way for all of us to take an active role in reflecting on our behavior and deciding what kind of community we want to create in our classroom.

Next, it was time for Inside Outside day with theTurtles. Today it was apparent that the Turtles and Frogs have formed friendships across classrooms.

We also had our first experience with Oobleck - a magical concoction of cornstarch and colored water. 

"Oobleck is a non-newtonian fluid. That is, it acts like a liquid when being poured, but like a solid when a force is acting on it. You can grab it and then it will ooze out of your hands. Make enough Oobleck and you can even walk on it!" 

Oobleck: The Dr. Suess Science Experiment (Check it out).