Image by Tony Trần via Flickr

Children are working on their newspaper, which is about news on their classroom learning. I gave the children a collection of black and white prints of their class work. In a kindergarten setting it is difficult to document the work children do because often it is not done on paper. It is hands on, and I took photographs of their play and other hands on activities. The children chose the photos they liked, glued them on the paper, and talked about what they did.

The children could place the pictures in categories. For example, all the pictures about our museum visit, and create a page about it. Photos about their friends, their math learning and so on. They decided how to lay the pictures out on the page and wrote the title of the article. For example, Fiona’s Friend Page.

Furthermore, the children liked to dress up in their roles as reporters. For example, they wore hats, scarves, and hand bags, using dress-up clothes. Nearby, at the office, we hear the secretary making tea, typing up letters, answering phone calls, etc.

At another place of the room, is home. The children read books, play with dolls and blocks, puzzles and games! Children become more aware of how they learn by communicating. They use facial expressions, body language, voice expressions. Through play they learn what’s polite, how an angry voice sounds, and explore feelings. Play is like practicing for life, and children feel comfortable with ‘making mistakes’. This is how they learn, and this prompts them to ask questions such as why things happen and how they work.

We joined our pages and made a newspaper about our learning. As part of our next topic we opened up our own museum. Parents brought antique things from home, and we explored the concept of old and new. We joined the idea of the newspaper and time going by, as we looked back at what we did. We compared this to what we were doing in the present and our plans for the future. This helped the children understand the abstract idea of time.

Children drew the things they liked the most from our museum and were free to ask questions. They acted out the tour guides for parents and other visitors. The topic of museum also led nicely to asking questions about grandparents, their belongings, their stories and the games they played. We included all our learning in our newspaper and read it together as a class.

I will post more ideas on communication and technology in the classroom soon.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to impressions and comments.

Maria Grujicic (Malena)

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IMAGE by Sonja Sofia Yakovleva

Everyone keeps asking
How I am
Expecting a ‘yes’
In reply

How are you?
Alright, alright, alright?
OK?!
Says a tiny voice
deep inside
Upon heads turned
Expecting a ‘yes’ reply

He unlocked his heart,
And watched the times
of passersby
Indifference in sight
He watched
A big heart,
In small containment
Unnoticed
It crushed

The flowers he gave
She froze
Like that of a photo
The flowers froze
Desperate to preserve a smile
Unnoticed
As he watched, watched,
And watched

His heart grew inside
And was released
As a tiny CRUSH

By Maria Grujicic (Malena)

MALENA IMAGE by Sonja Sofia Yakovleva

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Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 23 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Bluddy rubbish!
I’m sick of you.
I’m sick of throwing you away
I’m afraid of doing anything
In case I find more of you!
After shopping
After I eat
After I bluddy sleep!
I find you … and have to throw you away
Recycling
Reusing
Constant sorting
A burden in my head
A chore!
Give me the present, object, thing
And leave the package out the door!
By Maria Grujicic

This is a poem that is very timely for most of us at this time of the year. Feel free to share your stories.
Please note that I use invented spelling in my poems and I chose to spell ‘bloody’ as ‘bluddy’, to emphasize the vowel ‘u’. The pronounced vowel sound feels better when I recite the poem.

The poem is featured in my Book Astrella! By Bike To Australia And Back
To review and buy a copy, click here.
PLUS
Enjoy the video below.
It goes with the theme of gift giving and nagging events that are fun with a bit of humor.

Copyright © Maria Grujicic and poemsthatdance.com, from February 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Maria Grujicic and poemsthatdance.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Hunting For Stuff

Behind the couch
Under my bed
Between the covers
Under my pillow
Places to find stuff
Stuff I’ve forgotten I had
Unloved stuff
Forgive me stuff
Under
A Christmas tree
Wrapped in old toys
A treat
A renewed love
What an imagination!
No money to buy new stuff
Is Santa some kind of creation?
He is not to be seen in sight
Is Santa really true?
A veranda
Looking at the stars
A gentle speech
I’m sorry, forgive me speech
Santa doesn’t exist
It is our spirit that carries us through

By Maria Grujicic

I was pleasantly surprised when I found this video to go with my poem. The boy in the video reminds me of my younger brother, John who I was thinking about when I wrote the poem.

Preview The Book Astrella! By Bike To Australia And Back

Copyright © Maria Grujicic and poemsthatdance.com, from February 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Maria Grujicic and poemsthatdance.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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There are 64 poems in the book. This is just a taste.
Recommended: Watch the video as you listen to the poems. Enjoy!

1. WELCOME!

2. Sensations Of Greece

3. The Wild Cats Of The Sea

4. A Distance Away

5. A Girl, A Boy, A Love Story

6. A Cafe Once Upon A time

7. A Constant Meow

8. A House, Like A Sacred Keepsake Box

9. A Love, A Home Far Away

10. How To Find A Shooting Star

11. Miles On Foot

12. Learning To Drive

13. Room For Noise

14. Places To Rest

Buy the book and find the password. The password is the last word on the last page of the book followed by the page number of the same page. Go to the link below and enter it to get the rest of the free audio of the book!

Full Free Audio Of The Book

Astrella! By Bike To Australia & Back

by Maria Grujicic

Preview this book at FastPencil.com

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The stars were bright
Long ago
I searched for you
On the other side
of the world
And found you

The stars above
You transform
So beautifully
Just the way I want

A girl becomes
A princess
A boy turns into
A prince
A mother turns into
A butterfly
A father becomes
A wizard!

As we enter a dream
A colorful journey
You approach me
With welcoming arms
And we dance!

By Maria Grujicic

And A Face Danced!

If you could change to be anyone and make your wishes come true,
who would you be and what would you do?
Come with me and enter a dream,
a dream of colors, a colorful dance.
Choose the color you like …
mix it with different tones to paint the character of your mask,
and how it is that you feel.
And at that moment…
All will suddenly appear and become amazingly real.

Concept based on Maria Grujicic’ next children’s book A Magical Play.
Thank you for visiting.

© Maria Grujicic and poemsthadance.com, from February 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Maria Grujicic and poemsthadance.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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My name is Megs
Watch my straddled legs
I look like a frog
Sitting on a log
With bent wobbly knees
One, two, three
I see a tree
An easy climb
The world is mine!
Frogs
Slimy and lean
Many are colorful
Others forever green
Toads
Another kind of species
Frogs
Much more fanciful
Squash! Squeeze!
A muddy pool
Breeding with ease
Tadpoles are everywhere
I look like a frog
And I swim, swim, swim!

By Maria Grujicic

A fun poem about frogs from my second book Astrella! By Bike to Australia And Back. The poem is great to share on a rainy day. And what’s more … one could be inspired to go out exploring in mud pools afterwards to see what they might find! Great for a creative mind.

A Follow-up Poem
My Big Bellied Trampoline 

Did you ever fill up a trampoline with water and watch it expand like a balloon? As children we did just that! And what’s more, we then jumped on it and you guessed it… all the water splashed abundantly on us! It was so much fun, and with sun surrounding us in our big yard we were dry afterwards in no time. Water and dirt wasn’t an issue. It was so much fun to just play!

Enjoy, and as always, impressions are welcome!

Astrella! By Bike To Australia & Back

by Maria Grujicic

Preview this book at FastPencil.com

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Keep on dancing!

When I started writing poetry it felt like a fountain that burst into life. I wrote abundantly! And I wrote and published a book called By Bike To Australia And Back, with 156 pages of loads of poems with inspiring photos to go with them. How do I choose my favorites to show you? I don’t … they are all very special to me. I allow the poems to choose me, and instinctively they find me.

Thank you for listening and any impressions are welcome. And as always, I’m delighted when people like my posts. 

Astrella! By Bike To Australia & Back

by Maria Grujicic

Preview this book at FastPencil.com

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via Free Audio For The Book Poems That Dance.

Are you looking for inspiration? Take a look at this fabulous book. The unique poems and photos inspire the children to create and moves their imagination.

I will update you with more information soon. In the meantime if you have any questions, thoughts, opinions and ideas, don’t hesitate to post them right here.

Thank you for visiting.
Keep on dancing!

Maria Grujicic

Poems That Dance

by Maria Grujicic

Preview this book at FastPencil.com

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