Hello Everyone! I just wanted to set up a calendar of events on here, so I can let everyone know when everything is happening. Here is a list of the field trips we will be going on over the next two months:
February 3rd, 2014: Trip to Fenway park in Boston for a indoor & outdoor tour of where the Red Sox play.
February 24th, 2014 : Trip to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It is completely indoors and we will be doing a self guided tour throughout the museum.
March 3rd, 2014: Field to an INDOOR playground! It is called Indoor Outdoor Playground in Watertown, MA. It will be a lot of fun to enjoy a playground
March 10th, 2014: Field trip to the Children's Museum of Boston :-) You can never go there too many times.
March 17th, 2014:Field trip to the Museum of Science in Boston. Completely indoors self guided tour of the exhibits.
March 24th, 2014: TD Garden Sports Museum - completely indoor field trip where we will be going through a museum within the arena and then seeing where the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics play!
SO far these are all the trips we have planned. Keep in mind that all of these field trips occur on Monday's. I have been sending out permission slips only for the first two trips in February, and I will start to send out rest as we get closer to the dates.
Thanks and I will be updating with pictures this weekend on the fun projects and activities we have been completing this week. I have seen a tremendous amount of progress in our color, shape, alphabet, and number recognition.
Best, Allison
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Updates & Reminders
Hello :-)
I hope everyone had a great weekend and stayed nice and warm during this bitter cold winter. We did a lot of fun art projects and activities last week that I cannot wait to share the pictures. I have started to decorate the classroom with the beautiful artwork created by both the toddler and pre school group students. I have also started gathering some paintings done by each classes that I am going to give to the hospital so that they can auction it off as a fundraiser and raise money for the daycare and the hospital in general.
The past few weeks I have been focusing on basic skill sets to see where everyone is at. We are practicing colors, shapes, and the alphabet. I switch between using flash card techniques, group game activities, the use of the iPAD and individual 1:1 assessments. So far, it has been working out really well. On friday, the pre-school class did a great job identifying colors and shapes. I am confident by the end of this upcoming week they will have all of their colors and shapes down...and that I hope to focus more on letter recognition and the alphabet. This will be a bigger challenge for the kids because they are hard concepts, but I plan on making everything fun and keep them interested in learning.
Despite the snow day and holiday, we had a lot of time to still do fun art activities in the middle of our lessons. This week we used straws to blow water color paints on a piece of paper. We used only the three primary colors: blue, yellow, and red. The students were amazed to see what happens when they mix those colors together. Collectively, the class seems to love making the color orange the most. The paintings turned out really cool especially because they all look so different. This was definitely a hard skill for the students to master at first. I had to really explain the concept of slowly blowing air through a straw to make the paint move on the paper. They were really amazed like it was magic! It was a lot of fun.
On Friday I introduced a new lesson on making marbled paper that I think I will continue tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week. It was really messy but....kids love mess and learned a lot doing! So, in order to make marbled paper you only need a few things: white plain shaving cream, paper plates, popsicle sticks or tooth picks, and tempera paint. First, I laid a flat square layer of shaving cream on each students paper plate. After they had their shaving cream down flat and their sticks ready, I asked them to specifically ask me politely for the colors they wanted. Once again, they were only allowed to pick from blue, yellow and red because we are learning about primary colors and the science behind color mixing. I then would place droplets of colors on the students shaving cream and let them mix. Some students were clean and neat and just used their toothpicks while some students were more curious to get the shaving cream all over their hands. The classroom smelled really clean and as if someone just shaved! They had a lot of fun with this sensory art experiment and the paper turned out amazing, everyone was impressed. The best part is after the paper dried, it became extremely soft to touch (and smelled good too!).
Everyone enjoyed this project and did not want to stop playing around, mixing colors, and seeing what they could achieve next. It was a great way to tie in what we are learning about color theory into something spontaneous and fun. We will definitely continue with this throughout the week! Besides that, I hope to introduce students to one of my favorite artist: Jackson Pollock. We are going to do some more experimental painting to learn about color mixing...but I won't spoil any surprises quite yet. :-)
To end this post, I just wanted to post a few reminders. We have an upcoming field trip February 3rd at 9:30 to go on a tour of Fenway Park. Please get the permission slips in! I have extras, so just let me know if you need anymore. We also have a field trip on February 24th to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston - I also need these slips too!! Please let me know if you have any questions: aaubry@fhfc.org
ENJOY THE PICTURES AND HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEK!! :)
I hope everyone had a great weekend and stayed nice and warm during this bitter cold winter. We did a lot of fun art projects and activities last week that I cannot wait to share the pictures. I have started to decorate the classroom with the beautiful artwork created by both the toddler and pre school group students. I have also started gathering some paintings done by each classes that I am going to give to the hospital so that they can auction it off as a fundraiser and raise money for the daycare and the hospital in general.
The past few weeks I have been focusing on basic skill sets to see where everyone is at. We are practicing colors, shapes, and the alphabet. I switch between using flash card techniques, group game activities, the use of the iPAD and individual 1:1 assessments. So far, it has been working out really well. On friday, the pre-school class did a great job identifying colors and shapes. I am confident by the end of this upcoming week they will have all of their colors and shapes down...and that I hope to focus more on letter recognition and the alphabet. This will be a bigger challenge for the kids because they are hard concepts, but I plan on making everything fun and keep them interested in learning.
Despite the snow day and holiday, we had a lot of time to still do fun art activities in the middle of our lessons. This week we used straws to blow water color paints on a piece of paper. We used only the three primary colors: blue, yellow, and red. The students were amazed to see what happens when they mix those colors together. Collectively, the class seems to love making the color orange the most. The paintings turned out really cool especially because they all look so different. This was definitely a hard skill for the students to master at first. I had to really explain the concept of slowly blowing air through a straw to make the paint move on the paper. They were really amazed like it was magic! It was a lot of fun.
On Friday I introduced a new lesson on making marbled paper that I think I will continue tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week. It was really messy but....kids love mess and learned a lot doing! So, in order to make marbled paper you only need a few things: white plain shaving cream, paper plates, popsicle sticks or tooth picks, and tempera paint. First, I laid a flat square layer of shaving cream on each students paper plate. After they had their shaving cream down flat and their sticks ready, I asked them to specifically ask me politely for the colors they wanted. Once again, they were only allowed to pick from blue, yellow and red because we are learning about primary colors and the science behind color mixing. I then would place droplets of colors on the students shaving cream and let them mix. Some students were clean and neat and just used their toothpicks while some students were more curious to get the shaving cream all over their hands. The classroom smelled really clean and as if someone just shaved! They had a lot of fun with this sensory art experiment and the paper turned out amazing, everyone was impressed. The best part is after the paper dried, it became extremely soft to touch (and smelled good too!).
Everyone enjoyed this project and did not want to stop playing around, mixing colors, and seeing what they could achieve next. It was a great way to tie in what we are learning about color theory into something spontaneous and fun. We will definitely continue with this throughout the week! Besides that, I hope to introduce students to one of my favorite artist: Jackson Pollock. We are going to do some more experimental painting to learn about color mixing...but I won't spoil any surprises quite yet. :-)
To end this post, I just wanted to post a few reminders. We have an upcoming field trip February 3rd at 9:30 to go on a tour of Fenway Park. Please get the permission slips in! I have extras, so just let me know if you need anymore. We also have a field trip on February 24th to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston - I also need these slips too!! Please let me know if you have any questions: aaubry@fhfc.org
ENJOY THE PICTURES AND HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEK!! :)
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
New Field Trip Booked!
Quick Update!
We have just received confirmation that we will be going on a field trip Monday, March 10th from 10:00-12:00 to the Childrens Museum in Boston!!! Yay!! We are very excited :-) I have will have more details to follow soon.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Arts Integration: What is it and Why?
As a few of you may know, my background is in the field of art education and special education. Through my professional experiences and undergraduate studies, I have found that the creation of art and exploration of the visual arts for children is extremely beneficial. Art projects can be created to criss cross disciplines and make them interesting and more appealing to students who need sensory experiences. In my curriculum, I like to integrate the visual arts with science, math, language arts, and of course culture and art history. My teaching philosophy is as follows:
I value art making as a gift to be shared with the world. One of my most important objectives as an art teacher is creating lesson plans that enable students to explore and express their personal memories and cultural histories through the creation of art images and ideas. Communication through the visual arts unifies and fosters positive relationships among students, which constitutes a social practice that encourages a sense of community. I value the concentration that is required when creating a work of art and my curriculum encourages students to become engaged in a process of making sense of their world. I approach curriculum development as an interdisciplinary practice through which students learn to make connections between images and ideas across the school curriculum as well as within the visual arts. My teaching strategies accommodate different learning styles in which I have experimentally created adaptive art lessons to allow every student to participate in the engagement of art making. While I am a teacher, I also consider myself as a learner in my exchange of ideas with my students in a mutual process of exploration and discovery.
As I have begun working with the students on art projects in the medical daycare, I notice how much pride and confidence they are filled with when they complete a beautiful painting or drawing. Young children especially love to explore different mediums that allow for sensory exploration and new discoveries. Using art tools is also a good way to improve gross motor skills and practicing the proper way to hold tools in their hands. Art is the core of every lesson I create and I am glad the students are enjoying it!
If you would like to learn more about my lesson plans, the curriculum I write and more pictures of my success please feel free to check out my e-portfolio at:
allisonaubry23.wix.com/arteducation
Thanks and have a great week!
Thank You!
A huge shout out and thank you to the men's hockey team at Arlington Catholic High School. Last week, the hockey team stopped by the medical daycare and bought us a HUGE amount of books for our children. A few of our students were so excited, they could not let go of the books! They had a great time hanging out with the hockey team, having conversation and reading the books together. It really bought a huge smile to everyone's faces and we are so happy with a beautiful and wonderful new collection of books.
Update: Weeks 1+2
Hello Everyone!
I wanted to give a quick update filled with pictures and information on what we have been doing in the Medical Daycare. We have been learning a lot the past two weeks and I am very excited about my students success.
Right now, I hold two separate circle times. At approximately 9:30 in the morning each day I head over to the toddler room and start circle time with them. I like to start each circle time by reading an age appropriate book to the students. After I read the book, I have started teaching the toddlers the basic letters of the alphabet and the letters of their names. We are working at pronouncing each letter correctly and looking at words that start with those letters using flash cards. To keep their attention, I alternate between flash cards, hand writing activities, and use of the iPad. We then sing the alphabet along with the iPad and other singalong songs that the kids enjoy. After we finish our daily lessons, I integrate an art project into their lesson. The past two weeks we have practiced holding paintbrushes, using stamps, and playing with finger paint. The toddler room created a
beautiful collaborative painting that I cannot wait to hang up in the classroom for everyone to see. I have included some pictures in this blog post. I used a tape resist method that made for a beautiful abstract painting.
After I clean up the toddler room and prepare for my next circle time, I promptly start circle time in the pre-school classroom around 10:30. We start with our annual good morning chant and then we are working on recognizing the days of the week, the month and the weather. We count together the days of the month and practice number recognition. Each day I see improvement with counting! After we practice numbers, I switch gears and also read an age appropriate children's book to them. I find reading a book to children everyday is important, especially stories that can teach them about mixing colors, how to share, about different cultures, etc. After the story, we are practicing alphabet recognition, shape recognition, and color recognition and how colors mix. It is a lot of work so we are switching everyday our main focus to keep their attention. After we practice with flash cards and everyone gets a chance to answer a question, we switch over the iPad. We sing the alphabet and color song together, and then we play a few favorites that the kids are allowed to pick if they show good behavior during circle. After we complete all lessons, I move into our art lesson. The pre school classroom has been working on collaborative paintings, printmaking with bubble wrap, and using stamps. They show a strong interest in art which really excites me!
Here are some of the great pictures from this week and I hope you enjoy and I look forward to another great week with everyone.
I wanted to give a quick update filled with pictures and information on what we have been doing in the Medical Daycare. We have been learning a lot the past two weeks and I am very excited about my students success.
Right now, I hold two separate circle times. At approximately 9:30 in the morning each day I head over to the toddler room and start circle time with them. I like to start each circle time by reading an age appropriate book to the students. After I read the book, I have started teaching the toddlers the basic letters of the alphabet and the letters of their names. We are working at pronouncing each letter correctly and looking at words that start with those letters using flash cards. To keep their attention, I alternate between flash cards, hand writing activities, and use of the iPad. We then sing the alphabet along with the iPad and other singalong songs that the kids enjoy. After we finish our daily lessons, I integrate an art project into their lesson. The past two weeks we have practiced holding paintbrushes, using stamps, and playing with finger paint. The toddler room created a
After I clean up the toddler room and prepare for my next circle time, I promptly start circle time in the pre-school classroom around 10:30. We start with our annual good morning chant and then we are working on recognizing the days of the week, the month and the weather. We count together the days of the month and practice number recognition. Each day I see improvement with counting! After we practice numbers, I switch gears and also read an age appropriate children's book to them. I find reading a book to children everyday is important, especially stories that can teach them about mixing colors, how to share, about different cultures, etc. After the story, we are practicing alphabet recognition, shape recognition, and color recognition and how colors mix. It is a lot of work so we are switching everyday our main focus to keep their attention. After we practice with flash cards and everyone gets a chance to answer a question, we switch over the iPad. We sing the alphabet and color song together, and then we play a few favorites that the kids are allowed to pick if they show good behavior during circle. After we complete all lessons, I move into our art lesson. The pre school classroom has been working on collaborative paintings, printmaking with bubble wrap, and using stamps. They show a strong interest in art which really excites me!
Here are some of the great pictures from this week and I hope you enjoy and I look forward to another great week with everyone.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Upcoming Field Trips: Reminders
Dear Parents,
We are planning two field trips in the month of February. Our first tentative field trip is to go on a tour of Fenway Park to see where the Boston Red Sox play on Monday, February 3rd at 9:30 AM. Our second planned field trip is the Museum of Fine Arts also in Boston on Monday, February 24th also at 9:30 AM. It is important our students get their permission slips handed in so that they are able to attend both of these really fun field trips!
We believe that it is important to give our students the opportunity to leave the medical daycare center and see the world around them at every opportunity we get. We are excited for all the fun events we have planned and coming up!
Thanks!
Allison
Monday, January 13, 2014
Introduction: New Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome parents and students to the Medical Daycare at Franciscan Hospital for Children's weekly blog. I am the new teacher the Medical Daycare and I would like to introduce myself to everyone. I am originally from and grew up in New Jersey. I attended the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania and studied Art Education, Special Education and Fine Arts. While my background is within the field of the fine arts and teaching art classes, I have combined that interest with my passion for teaching special populations of students and using art as a form of therapy or a fun way to learn.
Before coming to Medical Daycare, I worked in many different cities in the United States. I worked as an art education at a part hospitalization school servicing students grades 3-12 and a public special education school serving grades PreK-12th grade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before that, I have worked for summer school programs in Woburn, Massachusetts and teaching at the Fitchburg Art Museum in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. I have also tutored after school, taught at inclusive summer school programs, and have helped inner city students become more successful in their schoolwork.
Teaching is my passion and I am excited to come to "work" everyday. It is a lot of fun for me to teach young children and prepare them for the next stages of their learning and school. I look forward to working with everyone and I am so excited to be a part of close knit community and fun team.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at: aaubry@fhfc.org
Thank you!
Allison Aubry
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