March 2014

February in Verde class was full of discoveries. We learned that biomes are regions of the world with similar climate, plants and animals. When you are trying to identify a biome you should always consider soil, air, water, energy from the sun, plants and animals. We looked closely at deserts, oceans, forests and grasslands and plants and animals that live in each of those biomes. We imagined and discussed how it would be to live in each of those biomes. We finished the month talking about landscapes as a form of art and ways in which biomes – places we live in – inspire artists. We looked at paintings by Brueghel, Gainsborough, Turner, Hiroshige, Signac, Van Gogh and Hopper, each different in its style and way of looking at nature. Brueghel and Signac made the biggest impression on everyone, Brueghel for all the wonderful details just waiting to be discovered and Signac for the style of his work – pointillism. We tried our own hand at drawing a landscape from pictures and our imagination and can’t wait for the weather to get better so we can do it in nature.

Also this month we caught the Olympics fever and talked about the winter sport disciplines and discovered that most involve either skies, skates or sleds. We had a lot of fun acting out different sports and imagining how far we could jump or how fast we could sled.

Ms. Angela (Zoe’s mom) came to Verde this month too and introduced the kids to miso soup. They all had so much fun making it together and we heard the exclamations of kids enjoying its taste all through the morning. Thank you Ms. Angela!

In March we are going to talk about mammals, their characteristics, body parts and life cycles. We will also look at how artists see animals and show them in their art.