Week 21 Day 1

Book choices for today:

How Paper is Made   Neil Curtis
Paper   Chris Oxlade
The Story of the Orchestra   Robert Levine
Those Amazing Musical Instruments   Genevieve Helsby
Meet the Orchestra   Ann Haye

Botany: (first circle)

Need for lesson – The book ‘How paper is Made.” A blender, scrap paper, pitcher of water, bowl, and a screen.

Botany 20

We have learned that plants give us many things. Can you tell me something we get from plants? Today we are going to talk about paper. Paper comes from trees. Old paper can also be recycled to make new paper. What is paper? Paper has many uses. We use paper to write on. It is used to make books and magazines. Paper can be used for art projects or making a paper fan. What about the paper towels to dry our hands with, is that made of paper? Even money is made from paper! So we use paper everyday in some way.

We are going to read this story about ‘How Paper is Made’ and then we can make our very own paper.

In the blender or food processor add pieces of scrap paper. Add enough water to the paper to thoroughly soak it. Place lid on the blender and begin to blend. Check mixture after a few seconds. Add more water if needed for a pulpy mixture. Pour this mixture into a bowl and continue to add paper and water to blender until you have a bowl full of the pulp. Outside pour and spread the pulp mixture from the bowl onto the screen. Leave in a dry area for several hours (overnight is best). Touch the screen to see that the pulp is dry and ready to be peeled off slowly. Cut the paper into small squares, enough for each child to have a piece.

Discuss how we made the paper and why do they think it is different from the paper we use to write on?

Paper Pulp Scraps Soaking in Water (without blender option)

Music: (second circle)

Need for lesson – The book and CD ‘The Story of the Orchestra’. A picture of an orchestra.

Music 2

We are going to learn about the orchestra and some famous composers. What is an orchestra? An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble. It is almost like a very large band. Only an orchestra contains sections of string, brass, wind, and percussion instruments. A full size orchestra may have up to 100 musicians with their instruments! So if you go to an orchestra, you are going to a concert that can have fifty or up to one hundred musicians on the stage. All the stringed instruments are together in one section, all the percussion instruments are together in a section and the brass and wind instruments will be in their section.

What is a composer? A composer is a person who writes songs. They know and understand about music notes, rhythms, and instruments. We are going to learn about some composers from a long time ago. They are considered famous composers, just like the famous artist we learn about, only they are considered famous because of the music they wrote not paintings.

Let’s look at the way an orchestra is set up (choose which pictures in the book you would like to show the children and discuss). We are going to listen to the first song on the CD to an idea of what an orchestra sounds like. On different days we will pick a famous composer and listen to their music.

Play track 1 on the CD

Continue with songs as you feel can fit onto your daily routine. Perhaps a special table can be set up for this book and music listening.