1. GAN KATANA WALK THROUGH THE COURTYARD

2. WORKING WITH LEAVES AND BEANS TO CREATE PICTURES Children are given the opportunity to gather,collect, and use sorted beans and dried pasta inthe courtyard for creating individual designs 3. SORTING AND CREATINGChoosing materials and Drawing our designs with making designs paper and clip boards 4. SELECTING MATERIALSPlanning Concentrating 5. SORTING AND CREATING WITHDEIDRES GUIDANCE(Focused work) we are quiet and pensive in our small group 6. WORKING TOGETHER TO DESIGN ANDCREATEAlexander is working and Roxie,Kaden, and Johnny are observing 7. OBSERVATIONAL DRAWINGS OF LEAVES AND PLANTSLeaf drawing on the Observing drawings with clipboardDeidre 8. EXAMINING LEAVES AND OURDRAWINGS ON THE CLIPBOARDSJacob and Yan are looking Five different leaf designs on at the tomato leavesthe table 9. FIND IT AND COUNT ITEach child has a clipboard with pictures of differentitems in the courtyard. The children are locating itemsand counting them 10. THE SEARCH IS ON AND WE ARE ALLFINDING AND COUNTING DIFFERENT ITEMS 11. THE WATER BOOK 12. WATER TABLE EXPLORATION AND PAINTING WITH WATERChildren are exploring at the watertable and painting with water andbrushes outside on a warm day 13. EXPLORATIONS WITH WATERWe are using tubes, funnels, brushes, cups and bottles 14. BUBBLES DISCOVERING THE WONDEROF MIXING WATER AND BUBBLES 15. WE PUT OUR HANDS INTO THE WATER AND RUB THE BUBBLES TOGETHER 16. MORE BUBBLES AND WATER. 17. CLEANING THE WINDOWS AND DOORS OF THE SCHOOLSoapy Water and Brushes Soapy Water and Squeegies 18. WE WORK IN PAIRS WITH DIFFERENT TOOLS TO WASH AND CLEAN 19. ADVENTURES WITH CLAYLooking Touching 20. CREATING A MASTERPIECE 21. ORIGINAL ART WITH CLAY ON PLEXIGLASS 22. GETTING OUR HANDS IN THE DIRT 23. GETTING OUR HANDS IN THE WET DIRT Negotiating 24. OBSERVING CLOUDS A Cloud Walk 25. OBSERVING CLOUDS OUTSIDE INNATURETypes of Clouds: Cumulus, Cirrus, Stratus 26. OBSERVING CLOUDS FROM THECLASSROOM WINDOW Our City Extension of observations in GK1 27. SEEDS AND PLANTSLooking at A Seed is Sleepy book with Deidre 28. OUR HARVESTED CORN AND SUNFLOWER SEED STALK CornSunflower stalk 29. HARVESTING TOMATOES, SEEDS, ANDFRUITS FROM OUR COURTYARD 30. HARVESTING BEANS FROM SEED PODS Quiet and thoughtful work 31. BRINGING THE COURTYARD INTO THECLASSROOM WITH THE SEED BOOK ANDSEED PODSWe are extending our work in the courtyardinto the classroom with observationaldrawings 32. OBSERVATIONAL DRAWINGS IN CLASSFROM THE SEED BOOK 33. A SEED IS SLEEPY BOOK BECOMES A PART OF THE CLASSROOM We are observing the pictures and drawing what we see 34. THE SEED POD AND BRANCHES TABLE INGK2 WE USE MAGNIFYING GLASSES TOLOOK AND PENCILS TO CREATE 35. FINISHED SEED AND BRANCHESPICTURES AND SAMPLE BOOK PAGES 36. INDEPENDENT COURTYARD EXPLORATIONS Using multiple senses to discover leaves 37. PURPLE SPARKLE SAND SENSORYTABLE 38. SAND TABLE AND ROCK TABLE FOREXPLORATION Sensory exploration with sand and rocks 39. FRIENDS WORK TOGETHER AT THE SAND TABLE 40. ALL GAN KATAN CLASSES GO IN NEWMIXED GROUPINGS FOR COURTYARDChildren now have opportunities to worktogether with friends from other classrooms 41. FINISHED CAMPSITE CREATION BY BROOKS, RILEY, HERSCHEL, AND ZACHA WORK OF ART IN THE COURTYARD 42. FRIENDS IN THE COURTYARD Quiet and Happy Laughing and Silly 43. WHAT THE CHILDREN ARE LEARNINGRespect for nature and science Math and counting number correspondence Social interactions and working in groupsArtistic and creative expression Sorting and categorizing itemsObservational skillsSensory exploration in dirt, water, clay, sand Following directions Quiet and respectful work time - PatienceCooperation in structured experiencesFine and gross motor skill development Concept of seasons and timeGardening skills 44. A SPECIAL THANKS TO DEIDRE FOR ALL OF THE CREATIVELEARNING AND EXPLORATION THAT TAKES PLACE IN THENATURE COURTYARD EVERY WEEK!